In this Email Tune-up lesson, we’re looking at an email from Jimmy, who is the training officer for his company. Jimmy wants to notify the various department heads of an upcoming seminar their staff will be attending. This is an internal email, which usually means it’s a bit more informal than something being sent outside the company. However, it’s being sent to managers at a higher rank than Jimmy’s, so the tone must be respectful and not too informal.
In this Business English Pod lesson on business travel, we’ll be looking at how to deal with security checks.
In recent years getting through the security check at the airport has become a chore. In some cities, the whole process can take fifteen to twenty minutes or more. This includes standing in line, sending your bags through the X-ray machine, and walking through a metal detector, which “detects” or finds any metal you might have hidden on your body. Most security checks thus require passengers to take metal items out of their pockets and put them on a tray – or flat container – to send through the X-ray machine. Some countries – notably the United States – may even insist that passengers remove their coats and shoes.
And of course it’s not just airports that have high security – more and more tourist attractions are “beefing up” or increasing their security too. So negotiating security checks is a good skill to practice.
In this episode, Honesto and Alan are on their way home. They arrive at the airport late, so they are anxious about missing their flight. When the dialog begins, they have checked in to get their boarding passes. Now they need to go through security.
Listening Questions
1. At the beginning of the dialog, what does the security officer ask passengers to do?
2. What problem does security find with Alan’s baggage?
3. Alan has to leave an item behind at the security check. What is it?
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In this episode of Email Tune-up we’re looking at an email from Kenny, who works for a bathroom fixtures, or equipment, manufacture. He is writing to his colleague, John, to inform him about the changes he has made to the design of a shower door.
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Today, were talking about Apple’s new mobile phone: the iPhone. Actually it’s a combination of phone, iPod and internet browser all rolled into one gadget. We’ll be looking at the hype – or massive publicity – surrounding the launch of the iPhone and taking a closer look at the marketing vocabulary we use to describe product launches and the retail market.
This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast lesson on softening negative replies – saying “no” politely.
“No” is one of the strongest words in any language. Because it carries so much force, “no” is hard to say politely. Yet giving a negative reply, disagreeing or refusing a request are all things we have to do on a daily basis. So it’s important to learn how to say “no” in a way that enables you to maintain good relationships. In many cases this requires you to take a softer and more indirect approach. So today we’ll work on ways to soften negative replies in a variety of everyday situations.
In the dialog we meet up again with Nicholas Fisher, the European sales director for Harper-Tolland from BEP 35 and 36. He is flying into Kiev to support local sales staff by meeting with a large potential customer, Avitek. This is a Ukrainian company that manufactures cargo and firefighting aircraft. In our dialog, Nick is being met at the airport by Harper-Tolland’s sales manager in the Ukraine, Oksana Ivanchuk.
Listening Questions
1) Has Nick been to the Ukraine before?
2) What day of the week is it?
In today’s Business English Pod lesson, we’ll look at clarifying what was meant, for example, “What do you mean by that?” or “What I’m trying to say is…” Clarifying the meaning is an important part of all communication because it helps us avoid misunderstanding.
This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on clarifying. To clarify means to make clear.
Today we’ll look at phrases and skills for clarifying what was said. For example, “I didn’t quite catch that. Could you say that again?” This is useful when you don’t hear clearly or when someone speaks too fast. Then, in the second podcast (BEP 35), we’ll be looking at language for clarifying what was meant, for instance “What exactly do you mean by that?”
The listening today is from a shipping company. You’ll hear Wim Zeldenhuis and Andre De Vries in Rotterdam call their American colleague Benny McClenahan in Boston.
