Archive for January, 2008
BEP 82 ADV (Transcript & Exercises) - Job Interviews: Previous Experience (Part 1)
This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on discussing your previous experience in a job interview. It is one of a longer sequence of ESL podcasts that will focus on the complete job interview process.
In this episode, we’ll be examining a bad example of what not to do. Since previous experience usually comes up at the beginning of an interview, we’ll look at the casual discussion that takes place when an interview starts.
Listening Questions:
1) Is everything Alex says clear and to the point?
2) Does he seem overly friendly or informal at times?
3) How does Alex account for the gap in his resume?
Meeting Essentials e-Book for Business ESL - Free Samples
Meeting Essentials is a business English study guide to the language and skills you need to participate effectively and confidently in business meetings in English.
Meeting Essentials is free for all Premium Members and can be purchased by non-members for €12.99.
Preview the study notes, online activities and phrase-cast for the first chapter of the e-book, expressing your opinion in meetings, by clicking on the links below.
BEP 81 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Meetings: Finishing Up and Action Points
In this Business English Podcast lesson, we’ll study language you can use to assign work to people and some useful phrases to finish off a meeting. In addition, we’ll cover some advanced grammar tips for using “going to,” the present continuous, and the future continuous to state action points.
We’ll be listening in to a group of bank managers discuss how to deal with credit risk problems before a major year-end report to top management. They have already discussed and decided what to do, and now they need to finish the meeting. As you listen, pay attention to how the boss, Lisa, gives action points to her team, that is, reminds them of what they need to do, as she “wraps up” the meeting.
Listening Questions:
1) When will Lisa’s team have their next round of meetings?
2) What duties does Lisa assign during the meeting, and to whom?
BEP 80 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Travel: Checking In to a Hotel
In this Business English Podcast lesson, we will focus on the language and vocabulary you can use both for checking in and for enquiring about hotel services whilst checking in.
This episode follows on from BEP 79 Travel: Reserving a Hotel Room, in which Sarah Johnson called to reserve a room at the Majestic Hotel in New York. Sarah has now arrived, and she is ready to begin her stay.
Listening Questions: BEP 80 INT - Travel: Checking In to a Hotel
2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center?
3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?
BEP 79 INT (Transcript & Activities) - Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation
Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.
It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel - we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. Of course, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations - conferences, restaurants, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.
That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode - making reservations. Along the way, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.
In the listening, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, Tony, picks up the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.
Listening Questions: BEP 79 INT - Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation
1) What kind of room does Sarah want?
2) What extra request does Sarah have?
3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. What is it?
