ثقافة

English lessons on international business culture from Business English Pod. Learn about business english culture and cultural differences.

أفضل الممارسات البيئية 150 – Working in Multicultural Teams (جزء 2)

This is the the second of a two-part Business English Pod series on working in multicultural teams.

هذه الأيام, working with people from different cultures is quite common. You might be meeting with colleagues in another country or on another continent. Business practices vary all over the world. Some cultures are more formal than others. Some have distinct customs regarding greetings, gender roles, and food. So it’s helpful to know as much as possible about other business cultures before you meet your team.

But even if you’ve done your research carefully, problems can still arise, especially in face-to-face meetings. There can be miscommunications, points that need clarification, and different ideas of what’s acceptable in a business environment.

اليوم, we’ll look at issues like slang and idioms, concepts of time, forms of address, and misunderstandings due to culture. We’ll also discuss opening interactions and explaining different business customs.

في الحلقة الأخيرة, we met Cao Ming a U.S.-based manager at a multinational company. Originally from China, Ming has worked in New York for many years and is now headed to Brazil where he’ll lead a research team. He did some background reading and discussed Brazilian culture with a colleague before he left. الآن, he’s heading his first meeting with his new Brazilian team.

أسئلة الاستماع

1. What are two idioms Ming needs to explain?
2. What suggestion does Carla make at the beginning of the meeting?
3. Why does Felipe mispronounce Ming’s name?

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أفضل الممارسات البيئية 149 – Working in Multicultural Teams (جزء 1)

This is the first in a two-part Business English Pod series on working in multicultural teams.

في عالم اليوم, it’s common to work with people from different cultures. And since effective business depends on clear communication, it’s important to consider different aspects of culture. Your colleagues may do business differently than you do. لذا, knowing more about intercultural communication can help your work go more smoothly and avoid any misunderstandings.

في هذه الحلقة, we’ll go over some points to consider for working in a multicultural team. We’ll look at general business culture, specific business customs, levels of formality, and local cultural awareness. And since food is often served in business settings, we’ll talk about that, too.

We’ll be listening to, a manager at a biotechnology company based in the United States. Although Ming is originally from China, he has worked for many years at the head office in New York and is now heading to Brazil to manage a team of international researchers. في هذه الحلقة, Ming is preparing for his trip by talking to a colleague, Tanya, who lived and worked in Brazil for 3 سنين.

أسئلة الاستماع:

1. What has Ming heard about Curitiba?
2. What does Tanya say about relationships in Brazil?
3. What honorary title does Ming ask about?

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أفضل الممارسات البيئية 61 – التعابير الرياضية الأمريكية في اجتماع عمل

This is the first in a series of Business English Practice Pods that review and extend the language that is covered in the regular podcast. Practice pod dialogs will revise key language but in different situations. أيضا, they give you more opportunities to practice what you’ve learned.

We’ll hear several idioms from التعابير الرياضية 1 (أفضل الممارسات البيئية 57) و 2 (أفضل الممارسات البيئية 58) being used in a new context in today’s dialog:

to play ball
to stall for time
to keep/have one’s eye on the ball
to step up to the plate

We’ll see how these idioms are useful in a different context, a business meeting. After the dialog, we’ll hear some further example phrases and then have a chance to practice using these idioms. جين, Ken and Ryan of Ambient are in a marketing meeting discussing Accent’s recent buyout of Telstar.

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أفضل الممارسات البيئية 58 – مبرد مياه شيتشات: التعابير الرياضية (2)

التعابير الرياضية 2, is part of a series that focuses on informal conversation or small talkwater cooler chitchat. We’re continuing where we left off last time in أفضل الممارسات البيئية 57. Jan and Jen, employees of major American telecommunications company Ambient, are chatting about a recent event in the industry: Accent, a European telecom company, has taken over TelStar, one of Ambient’s American competitors.

آخر مرة, Jen had just discussed how she was surprised that TelStar decided to play ball, that is cooperate, with Accent because the shareholders had beenstalling for time,” or delaying, for months. How does Jan respond?

أسئلة الاستماع

1) Who is McConnel and what do Jan and Jen think of him?
2) What do Jen and Jan say about Accent’s future in American market?

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أفضل الممارسات البيئية 57 – مبرد مياه شيتشات: التعابير الرياضية (1)

This Business English Podcast lesson is the first in an ongoing series where we’ll listen in on some typical chitchat around the office water cooler. You’ll find a water cooler in offices around the worldusually in the break room where employees gather to drink a cup of coffee or tea and take a rest from work.

And during these breaks, you might meet with a colleague and exchange words about life, your jobs, your company, sports, politics or whatever. لذا “water cooler chichathas come to refer to all types of informal communication that take place at the office.

We’ll be listening in on Jan and Jen, who work in the same office of Ambient, an American telecoms company, gossiping around the water cooler. They are discussing the latest industry news: Accent, a major European player in the market, has just announced the takeover or buy out of Ambient’s main competitor,TelStar.

أسئلة الاستماع

1) Do Jan and Jen think Accent’s takeover of TelStar was a good idea?
2) Why was there a delay in the takeover?

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