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BEP 296 – English Idioms for Describing Work Experience (1)

Business English, Business Idioms, Human Resources / November 26, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English idioms for describing work experience.

In business, success depends on putting the right people in the right positions. And decisions about who does what often comes down to work experience. Some jobs are too important to give to someone lacking experience. For other jobs, you might want a person with less experience and a fresh approach.

So, whether you’re hiring new staff, delegating tasks, or putting together a project team, you’ll be talking about experience. And English has many useful idioms to describe work experience. In today’s lesson, we’ll learn some of these expressions.

We’ll hear a conversation between three colleagues: Lola, Shane, and Anne. The group has been discussing who to send to the company’s South Korean office. Previously, they have talked about the personality of the different candidates. Now they’re comparing the candidates based on work experience.

Listening Questions

1. Why do Lola and Anne think Hank might not be a good person for the position?
2. What positive comment does Shane make about Simone?
3. What makes Simone a potentially poor choice for the position?

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925 English – Lesson 6: Talking about your Company

925 English, A2, Business English, English Video, ESL Podcast / November 19, 2016

In our last two lessons, we looked at how to talk about your job and your work. In today’s 925 English lesson, we’re going to learn how to talk about your company.

Any time you talk about your work, you’re probably also going to talk about your company. So what exactly do we talk about? What are the important aspects of your company that might be interesting to people?

925 English is a new series of video English lessons for beginners. 925 English lessons focus on chunks of language and English expressions that you can use in work and business. Each 925 English lesson features English phrases you can use in different situations and advice on why and how we use them in Business English.

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BEP 295 – Business Trip 4: Factory Inspection

Business English, Travel / November 5, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on conducting a factory inspection in English.

In the global economy, a company might have its headquarters in Germany, but outsource production to China and technical support to India. Or you might find a Korean company that contracts out to one factory in Malaysia and another in Vietnam. In any case, to make the right decision on production facilities, you’ll most likely need to conduct a factory inspection.

So if you’re flying halfway around the world to tour a factory or another facility, what kind of questions should you ask? And how can you make sure the factory is the right fit for your needs? Well, you’ll definitely want to ask questions about quality control to make sure the factory can meet your expectations. You might also ask about production capacity so you know they can handle the work properly. And you might ask about their approach to standards, to make sure they’re in line with your values.

Of course, talk is cheap. You might find a factory manager makes claims that are a bit unbelievable. In these situations, you’ll want to show skepticism, or doubt, and ask for evidence. This is all part of the due diligence necessary to make sure you’re making the right choice.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Cam and Vanessa, who work for an American clothing company. They want to find a new production facility, so they’re touring a factory in China. You’ll also hear Chen, a factory manager who’s giving Cam and Vanessa a tour of the facility. Cam and Vanessa want to find out if Chen’s factory is a good fit for their company.

Listening Questions

1. How does Vanessa react to Chen’s claim that they have a .25% defect rate?
2. What important issue does Cam say their company is very serious about?
3. What kind of proof does Vanessa want to see of the factory managers’ training?

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BEP 294 – Business Trip 3: Confidential Discussion

Business English, Communication, Travel / October 29, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on having a confidential discussion during a business trip.

If you’ve got colleagues or clients in other parts of the world, you probably rely a lot on email and the phone. But meeting in person continues to be important for building relationships and trust, and for discussing important issues. That’s one reason, of course, why the overseas business trip remains important.

And there’s one type of discussion that can be especially difficult: discussing a confidential matter. Perhaps you need to deliver bad news, or share sensitive information or tell someone about an important change. Meeting face-to-face in these types of situations is often the best way to break the news.

So what’s the best way to go about this? Well, to begin, it’s important to set a positive tone to put the other person at ease. Next, you might want to ask him or her how things are going. That can help break the ice, and the other person might actually mention the topic you want to discuss. Once you’ve started this way, you can introduce the sensitive information you want to deliver. And because the information is sensitive, you need to ask for discretion. Finally, depending on the nature of the discussion, you might also have to provide reassurances. After all, after we hear important information, we might wonder how it will impact us.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Cam, who works for an American clothing company. He’s visiting the head of the company’s Chinese office, David. The company manufactures some of its clothing in China, and has been considering how to expand their retail activities in Asia. Cam needs to have a confidential discussion with David to share some important news.

Listening Questions

1. How does Cam ask for David’s perspective on the current situation?
2. Cam needs to tell David about a decision regarding retail in China. What point does Cam mention to introduce this decision?
3. How does Cam reassure David near the end of the conversation?

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