BEP 224 – Anglais financier: Discuter d'un budget (2)

Dans cette leçon d'anglais des affaires, we continue our look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing a budget.

A budget is a plan for spending money. And you’ll often hear the word “budget” used as a noun. But “budget” is also a verb. We can budget carefully or poorly. We can budget not only money but also time. And how we budget can help or harm our business. If we spend too much money, we may decrease profits. But if we don’t spend enough money, the business may not grow or thrive. It’s all about balance.

A typical budget includes a long list of items that we need to spend money on. And in a budget meeting, you’ll hear people talk, or argue, about where to spend more and where to spend less. So, how do we do this? Well, in today’s dialog, we’ll learn some of the common expressions we use when we discuss budgets.

Before we listen, let’s talk a little about English collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. Par exemple, in English we say “budget cuts” to talk about lower spending. But we can’t say “budget slices” or “budget chops,” even though “slice” and “chop” mean “cut.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.

You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.

Today we’ll rejoin Kate, Harry, and Linda as they discuss the budget for their IT department. Kate and Harry are managers, and Linda is their supervisor. Last time, they talked about the past year’s budget. Aujourd'hui, you’ll hear them making a plan for the upcoming year.

Listening Questions

1. What does Kate say the finance department wants to focus on?
2. What is Harry’s concern about replacing the workstations?
3. What does Kate think can be changed to save money?

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BEP 223 – Anglais financier: Discuter d'un budget (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on vocabulaire anglais financier and discussing a budget.

Budgets aren’t just for accountants. Almost everyone in business has to talk about money and how to spend it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager with a million dollar budget or a field tech just tracking your expenses. You’ll be talking about money and budgets.

In fact, talk about budgets is everywhere. Turn on the news and it’s not hard to hear people discussing budget “cuts” or budget “reductions.” You can hear about governments with budget “deficits” and budget “surpluses.” Everyone’s worried about money, and in business, earning more often means spending less. These are the topics you’ll hear about today.

Before we listen, let’s talk a little about collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. Par exemple, in English we say “budget cuts” to talk about lower spending. But we can’t say “budget slices” or “budget chops,” even though “slice” and “chop” mean “cut.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.

You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.

You’re going to hear a conversation between two managers in the IT department of a large company and their boss. Kate and Harry are the managers, and Linda is the boss. They’re discussing the past year’s budget and how they spent their department’s money.

Listening Questions

1. What does Linda want to examine first?
2. What does Harry say about the large one-time cost the department had?
3. According to Linda, what is finance concerned about?

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BEN 21 – Tendances commerciales pour 2013

Business Trends for 2013

Dans ce Business English News lesson, we take a look at the prospects for 2013.

As the world rang in 2013, many analysts and commentators feel that it’s time to pull out the crystal ball and try to determine what’s in store in the coming 12 mois. As the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria explains, there’s still a lot of work to do.

The world economy is far from being out of the woods. The US ”˜debt ceiling debate’, if it materializes, could tip an already weak economy into recession, while failure to solve the euro area crisis could lead to a major financial shock and global downturn. Governments must act decisively, using all the tools at their disposal to turn confidence around and boost growth and jobs.

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BEP 218 – Discussion sur la refonte d'un site Web

Dans cette leçon d'anglais des affaires, nous allons regarder vocabulaire et collocations pour discuter de la refonte d'un site web.

A l'ère d'Internet, chaque entreprise a besoin d'une présence sur le Web. La base de cette présence est un bon site Web. C'est là que les clients et le public peuvent se renseigner, s'engager les uns avec les autres et l'entreprise, et, dans de nombreux cas, acheter des produits et services.

Il est essentiel que votre site Web soit conçu pour véhiculer la bonne image et envoyer le bon message. Non seulement il doit avoir fière allure, mais il faut aussi qu'il soit utilisable. Cela signifie qu'il doit être présenté de manière à aider les gens à trouver facilement ce qu'ils recherchent.. Les internautes ont une durée d'attention très courte, donc s'ils ne peuvent pas se déplacer facilement sur votre site, ils passeront rapidement à autre chose.

Before we listen, parlons un peu des collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. Par exemple, in English we say “go online” to talk about using the Internet. But we can’t say “proceed online” or “travel online,” even though “proceed” and “travel” mean “go.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.

You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.

Nous allons entendre une conversation entre un concepteur de site Web nommé Andy et sa cliente Penny. La société de Penny a confié à Andy la refonte de son site. Ils regardent le nouveau site Web et discutent de ses fonctionnalités.

Listening Questions

1. What does Penny think of the website’s layout?
2. Why does Andy show Penny the website on his tablet?
3. What does Penny need to learn to do with the website?

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BEN 18 – Les affaires des Jeux olympiques

Business English News - The Olympics

Dans ce Business English News lesson, we take a look at the economic aspects of the Olympic Games.

The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortiuswill be in full force this year as London hosts the 30th Olympic Games. Cependant, it won’t be just the athletes trying to go ‘higher, faster, stronger’, but also companies poised to rake in the dough in what many hope will be a financial windfall.

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