BEP 97 – Parler de l'économie

Dans cette leçon de podcast d'anglais des affaires, nous étudierons quelques phrases et vocabulaire que vous pouvez utiliser pour discuter de l'économie et des questions économiques, y compris exprimer et rassurer les préoccupations.

Nous souhaitons exprimer notre sympathie et notre soutien au public chinois concernant le récent tremblement de terre au Sichuan,Et espérons que les habitants de la zone sinistrée pourront se remettre du tremblement de terre dès que possible。

Aucun accord n'est conclu, aucun contrat n'est signé, aucune entreprise ne se fait juste entre deux personnes ou deux entreprises. Tout se passe sur fond de réseaux de relations au niveau local, régional, et échelles mondiales. Ces relations de prix et de production forment ce qu'on appelle “l'économie.” Les gens qui étudient l'économie – économistes – tiens à souligner, Par exemple, que le prix du soja au Brésil peut affecter le prix de la viande en Chine. Ce n'est pas étonnant, puis, qu'une activité préférée des gens d'affaires partout dans le monde parle de l'économie. Ce n'est qu'en comprenant l'environnement économique dans lequel nous exerçons nos activités que nous pourrons y travailler efficacement.

Le dialogue a lieu aujourd'hui chez Kendal Marcus, un détaillant mondial de vêtements et d'accessoires haut de gamme. Un détaillant vend des marchandises au client final; les accessoires sont des choses comme des bijoux et des ceintures qui vont de pair avec ou “accessoiriser” Vêtements. Lors d'un voyage à Shanghai, Martin, un vice-président chez Kendal, rend visite à Tony Wu, directeur de pays pour la Chine.

Questions d'écoute:

1) Pourquoi Martin est-il venu en Chine?
2) Tony est-il optimiste quant aux perspectives économiques, c'est l'avenir, en Chine?
3) Quel genre de préoccupations Martin a-t-il?
4) Comment Tony le rassure?

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PIB 02 – Ressources humaines: Responsable de la formation

In the second part of our new ESL podcast series on business vocabulary, we continue with the topic of human resources (HEURE) by looking at useful language and collocations to describe the role and responsibilities of a training manager.

In this fast-changing global world, everything is moving. To make a successful business, it’s not enough just to follow yesterday’s trend. Companies and people need to constantly acquire new skills to succeed in tomorrow’s marketplace. This means driving new training initiatives to enhance performance. Cependant, not all training is equally successful. To ensure training effectiveness, it’s important to track results and to have standard criteria for measuring outcomes.

Dans ce podcast, we’ll listen to Andrea, a training manager, describing her function and responsibilities. Afterwards, we’ll study some key vocabulary. Then we’ll practice what we’ve learned.

Questions d'écoute

1) What kind of training programs does Andrea run?
2) Does Andrea work with vendors? What for?
3) What do the five letters in SMART stand for?

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PIB 01 – Ressources humaines: Responsable des ressources humaines

Today we’re kicking off a new series of ESL business vocabulary podcasts based on people talking about their jobs. In these episodes, we’ll learn vocabulary and language that are useful across a wide range of different professions and industries.

In this podcast we’ll hear an HR manager, Greg, describe his work and responsibilities. Afterwards, we’ll study some key vocabulary. In particular we’ll be focusing on how words are collocated, or used together. Then we’ll practice what we’ve learned.

When we think about human resource managers, many of us just think of hiring and firing, but actually, as Greg explains, the job involves a lot more than that. HR handles everything from job evaluations to settling disagreements between workers and management.

Questions d'écoute

1) What type of employment programs does Greg develop and manage?
2) Are there several HR managers or only one in Greg’s company?
3) Greg says that HR managers play a special role in companies that are unionized. What is this role?

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BEP 74 – Idiomes anglais: Les affaires, c'est la guerre (2)

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod series on English idioms related to war.

Everywhere you look in business, you will find the language of war: We often thinkand talkabout business competition in terms of attacking and defending, gaining and losing ground.

During the first business ESL podcast in this series, we studied many such war and military related idioms. We learned the meaning oftaking flak,” “reinforcing one’s position,” “laying low,” “making a moveand many others. Dans ce podcast, we will continue exploring useful war idioms.

The dialog picks up where we left off at the Luminex management meeting. Jane has just explained that they need to thinkstrategically.He explains that this meanslaying low,” by which he means waiting to take action until the economy improves.

Pendant que vous écoutez, pay attention to the war idioms Jane and her colleagues use. You may not understand them the first time. After you hear the debrief, go back and listen again, then things should be much clearer.

Questions d'écoute

1) What does Jane mean when she says their competitor, Meyers, is its own worst enemy?
2) The speakers describe their new strategy as anambushthat willsurroundMeyers. Why do they say this? What is the strategy?

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BEP 73 – Idiomes anglais: Les affaires, c'est la guerre (1)

Business and war. War and business. It’s no accident that many business strategies and management techniques were first developed in the military. Actually, it’s quite natural that we think about business competition in terms of war. Companies fight each other for market share. We strategize about how to win the battle. You try to attack my market position, and I defend it. Business is full of such war idioms. Though it’s not the only way we think about business, it is certainly the main way we talk about it. Therefore, to communicate effectively in a business environment, we need to learn these war idioms.

Dans la boîte de dialogue d'aujourd'hui, the management at Luminex, a producer of LCD TVs, is discussing how to respond to a attack on their market position by a competitor, Meyers. Traditionally, Meyers has been strong in the premium (high value) market and Luminex has been strong in the mid-range market. Recently, toutefois, Meyers has tried to take mid-range market share from Luminex.

Pay attention to the war idioms that the meeting participants use as you listen. Don’t worry if they don’t make sense to you the first time you listen. After you’ve heard the idioms explained in the debrief, go back and listen again, and the dialog should be much clearer.

Questions d'écoute

1) The first two speakers talk aboutalways being on the defensive” et “taking way too much flak.What do they mean and what do they propose doing?
2) How does Jane’s point of view differ from the first two speakers?

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