Archive for February, 2008

BEP 86 ADV (Transcript & Exercises) - Job Interviews: Talking about Accomplishments (Part 1)

This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about your accomplishments in job interviews.

We’ll be listening to a bad and good version of a recent graduate discussing his greatest accomplishment. In this episode we’ll focus on language for providing examples of the positive personal characteristics that our previous success demonstrates. Then, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll hear another good example of someone with more job experience, and we’ll examine a four-part structure for telling our success stories.

Listening Questions:

1) Does Alex put his success into an organized, articulate story?

Not realy. He focuses on details that are irrelevant to his interviewer rather than on those that draw attention to his positive personal attributes.

2) Does he present his accomplishment in a way that provides examples of skills and qualities that will be useful at his new job?

He has done a poor job of providing examples of how his experience demonstrates relevant skills and characteristics. For instance, he has not discussed how completing his Master’s thesis demonstrates qualities or personal characteristics that would be useful to his employer.

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BEP 85 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Sales: Informal Product Presentation

In many countries and cultures around the world, informal occasions - such as a friendly meal or a game of a golf – are more important to the sales process than a formal presentation in the boardroom. And so in this episode, we’ll be studying language for presenting our products in such casual situations (often called “soft selling”). In particular, we’ll see how you can sell your products in relation to your customers’ needs with a few soft-sell techniques.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Listening Quiz BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Gap-fill Exercise BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Turning Questions Around BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Raising Points of Interest BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Talking About Benefits BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Making Comparisons BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Vocabulary Review BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) Were Matt and Paula able to go to the tunnel face, that is, the end of the tunnel?

Yes. The tunnel had been filled with groundwater, but the water got pumped out the day before Matt and Paula’s visit.

2) What is the main point of interest that Matt and Paula pursue in the discussion?

Matt and Paula are interested in groundwater because this seems to be a problem in Stanley and Bill’s tunnel and because their device, the Vision Wireless Sensor, is excellent at detecting groundwater.

3) What are the advantages that Matt and Paula’s device have over traditional surveying methods?

Traditional surveying methods require a lot of cables, which get in the way; Matt and Paula’s device is wireless. Also, traditional methods usually require the use of high explosives (such as dynamite) and a large piece of a equipment, called a seismograph; Matt and Paula’s device is easy to use. Finally, the survey using Matt and Paula’s equipment can be conducted quite quickly, as opposed to older methods which take a long time and disrupt construction work.

BEP 84 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Sales: Site Visit

The language we’re going to study in this Business English Podcast lesson will be useful for anyone who needs to host visitors. No matter whether we are giving journalists a demonstration of a factory, or introducing potential customers to your work site, or giving government officials a tour of a project, we need to show people around and point out areas of interest.

In the listening, Stanley Wang works for China Western Railroad Construction Company. He is the site agent – that is, the person in charge of a construction site – for a railway tunnel that is being built. Matt and Paula – who work for a small engineering company called TunnelTech – are visiting potential customers in China. As the dialog begins, Stanley is getting ready to take them into the tunnel for a look around.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Listening Quiz BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Gap-fill Exercise BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Preliminary Formalities BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Introducing the Project BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Highlighting Points of Interest BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Vocabulary Review BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) What does Stanley point out in the tunnel? What language does he use to draw everyone’s attention to it?

Stanley points out the new Aliva shotcrete concrete (UK grout) sprayer. Stanley says, “and do you see that over there?”

2) What are the advantages of the machine that Stanley describes?

“It gets the job done in half the time”; also, “flow control” (the rate and density the concrete is applied) is really what “sets it apart,” that is, distinguishes it from the competitor’s products.

3) Stanley mentions two safety hazards. What are they?

Unstable rock and groundwater are the two hazards Stanely mentions. He points out the scaffolding (supporting framework) at the end of the tunnel. This is supporting newly exposed rock which is unstable and may fall. The second and most important hazard is groundwater. This is water contained within the ground (i.e., the soil or rock). At greater depths the water pressure increases and there is a danger water could flood the tunnel.

4) What is the question that Paula asks Stanley about the hazards?

Paula is interested in the stability of the rock and groundwater. As we will see in BEP 85, the follow-on episode to this show, Paula is interested in these aspects of tunnel because of the product he and Matt are selling.

BEP 83 ADV (Transcript & Exercises) - Job Interviews: Previous Experience (Part 2)

This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on discussing previous experience in workplace English job interviews. It is one of an ongoing sequence of ESL podcasts that covers the whole interview process.

In this lesson we listen to a better interview performance by someone who has prepared to talk about their previous experience more effectively. In this good example, Sherry Shen, from Hong Kong, is interviewing with a multinational accounting company for her first job after graduating with a Master’s in finance.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Listening Quiz BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Gap-fill Exercise BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Highlighting Experience BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Preposition Review BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Turning Weaknesses into Strengths BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Useful Phrases BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Vocabulary Review BEP 83 ADV - Job Interviews - Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) Does Sherry let her guard down, or does she answer briefly and to-the-point with an appropriate level of formality?

Sherry always answers briefly and to-the-point. For example, she doesn’t take the opening small talk as an invitation to be informal; nor does she seem unfriendly.

2) Does Sherry seem well-prepared to talk about her experience?

Yes, obviously Sherry has carefully prepared for the interview, not just by being able to talk about her successes but also about her potential weaknesses.

3) How does Sherry account for the gap in her resume?

She turns a weakness into a strength by talking about how mothering a child has taught her time management and how to deal with life responsibilities