Category Archives: Intermediate

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?

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

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

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

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 €17.95.

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.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice

Expressing Opinions – Quiz

Expressing Opinions (Formal) – Gap-fill

Expressing Opinions (Formal) – Dialog & Vocabulary

Expressing Opinions (Informal) – Gap-fill

Expressing Opinions (Informal) – Dialog & Vocabulary

Expressing Opinions – Formal/Careful Language

Expressing Opinions – Informal/Direct Language

Expressing Opinions – Informal or Formal

Expressing Opinions – Vocabulary Review

Expressing Opinions – Flashcards

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.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Quiz

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Gap-fill

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Dialog & Vocabulary

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Language 1

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Language 2

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Language 3

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Language 4

BEP 81 INT – Meetings: Action Points – Flashcards

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 – 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.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Quiz

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Gap-fill

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Dialog & Vocabulary

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Language 1

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Language 2

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Language 3

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Language 4

BEP 80 INT – Hotel Check-in – Flashcards

Listening Questions: BEP 80 INT – Travel: Checking In to a Hotel

1) When she reserved the room, Sarah asked for a dinner reservation. What is the name of the hotel’s restaurant? Which floor is it on?

2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center?

3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?

BEP 79 – 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.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Quiz

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Gap-fill

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Dialog & Vocabulary

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Language 1

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Language 2

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Language 3

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Language 4

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Language 5

BEP 79 INT – Reserving a Hotel – Flashcards

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?