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BEP 57 – Water Cooler Chitchat: Sports Idioms (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms, Culture, ESL Podcast /

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 world – usually 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. So “water cooler chichat” has 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.

Listening Questions

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

Premium Members:PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3

Business News 11 – iPhone Launch

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, Marketing English /

Our Business English App for iPhone/iPad/Touch is now live in the App Store: Download

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.

PDF Transcript: Study Notes

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 56 – Business Travel 2: Customs and Immigration

A2, Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

Continuing our series on ESL for business travel, we rejoin Alan and Honesto on their business trip to the USA. In BEP 55 – Airport Departures and Take Off, Alan, the main character in our story, and Honesto, his colleague, have left Hong Kong for San Francisco. There they will go through immigration, collect their bags, and change planes to Michigan, which is where their company, Ambient, is headquartered.

Immigration is the process you follow to enter a foreign country. So in today’s ESL lesson, you’ll learn helpful travel vocabulary and phrases you can use when you enter the U.S. or other countries.

Listening Questions

1) What is an I-94 form?
2) How much money can you bring into the U.S.?
3) Where does Alan want to go sightseeing?
4) What does Alan mean by “just pulling your leg?”

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 55 – Business Travel: Airport Departure and Take Off

A2, Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

This Business English Podcast lesson is the first in a series of shows that will follow an employee of a manufacturing company on a training trip to the U.S. Over the series, we’ll practice many situations that will be useful for you on your business trips overseas, including going through immigration, renting a car, checking into a hotel, using wireless internet and so on.

The main character in our story is Alan Chen. He works for a major multinational electronics manufacturer, Ambient, which is headquartered in Michigan in the USA. Having recently received a promotion, Alan is going to America to learn 6 Sigma, which is a system for improving quality.

Today’s episode starts at the beginning of the business trip with “boarding the airplane.”

Listening Questions

1) What row are Alan and Honesto sitting in?
2) What should passengers turn off before the plane takes off?
3) What does Alan mean by “murder a scotch.”

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 54 – Customer Service: Handling Complaints 2: Resolving the Complaint

Advanced, Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Telephone English /

This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on handling angry customers on the telephone. In today’s show we’ll be looking at how to resolve the customer’s complaint.

First a quick review: In part one we learned the first three steps for calming down angry customers and dealing with their complaints: First, we need to acknowledge their emotions by showing empathy. Second, we should identify the background to their problem so that we can take the right steps to fix it. And third, we should listen actively to show them that we care.

Where we left off last time, Sandy, a service associate at the front desk of the Majestic Hotel, had just finished identifying Steve’s problem. Let’s continue listening to see how Sandy resolves the complaint.

Listening Questions

1) How does Sandy show that he is actively listening to Steve?
2) What does Steve need?
3) What steps does Sandy take to ensure that Steve is satisfied with the outcome of the call?

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3