Welcome back to Skills 360 for today’s lesson on receiving feedback with a positive attitude.
How do you feel when you hear something like this from your manager: “Listen, I really need to talk to you about the work you’ve been doing on that big project.” If you’re like most people, your heart starts beating a little faster and your mind starts racing. In fact, this is a common reaction to the idea that we’re about to receive feedback. We naturally don’t like it. But it’s important, so we need to learn how to receive feedback constructively.
Welcome back to Skills 360 for today’s lesson on giving feedback.
Say “feedback” and a lot of people will immediately think of a performance review. You sit down with someone you manage and explain what they’re doing well and what they need to improve. It’s a situation we’ve all been in, on both sides of the desk.
However, feedback is much more than what we do in a structured and scheduled situation. Feedback is an ongoing process, and we give feedback to everyone around us, not just those who report to us. That includes colleagues and co-workers, and our managers or superiors. Feedback happens every day, between everyone in a company.
In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the economy.
In the 21st century, the countries of the world are all closely connected. A company based in the U.S. might employ factory workers in Indonesia to make products they sell to Europeans with the help of a Chinese shipping company. In this global economy, we don’t just talk about what happens within the borders of our own country. We talk about all economies, or “the economy” in general. And we talk about it a lot!
If you’re going to do business, you need to talk about economics. And in English, there are many common expressions we use to describe the economy. Today, we’re going to listen to a dialog and learn some of these expressions.
The expressions we’ll practice today are examples of “collocations.” A collocation is a group of two or more words that we usually use together. For example, maybe you have heard the expression “to have an interview.” We can’t say “do” an interview or “make” an interview. The common expression, or combination of words, is “have an interview.” Learning collocations like these is very important, because they will make you sound more natural. When you hear today’s dialog, listen to how the speakers combine words naturally. Then we’ll explain what they mean and practice using them.
In the dialog, we rejoin David and Gordon, two expats in Southeast Asia talking about the economies in the region. Gordon has recently arrived in the area and done a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma, while David has worked in the region for several years.
Listening Questions
1. What does David predict for Burma’s GDP? 2. What advantage does Burma have, according to Gordon? 3. How does David think their company should approach Burma?
Welcome back to Business English Pod today’s lesson on discussing the economy.
Listen to the news, the politicians, or your coworkers, and what do you hear them talking about? The economy. It’s up or it’s down. It’s good or it’s bad. Conditions are improving or getting worse. And it’s important to us because as the economy goes, so goes our business and careers.
But what do people mean when they say the economy? Is there only one economy? Well, in this global age, the economy often refers to the world economy. But we also say the economy to talk about a specific country, whether it’s our own or another country we’re doing business with. In this lesson, you’ll hear about a few different economies and you’ll learn some common expressions used to discuss economic conditions.
Before we listen, let’s talk a little about collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. For example, in English we say “go online” to talk about using the Internet. But we can’t say “proceed online” or “travel online,” even though “proceed” and “travel” mean “go.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.
You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.
We’re going to hear a conversation between David and Gordon, two expats working in Southeast Asia. David has been around for several years and is familiar with the economic situation. Gordon is new to the region and has recently completed a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma.
Listening Questions
1. What does David say the government of Vietnam has done well? 2. What is happening to the labor force in Vietnam? 3. What is one of the problems in Vietnam mentioned by the speakers?
It wasn’t long ago that many of us could count on a new computer every three years or so. With both hardware and software upgrades coming in leaps and bounds, consumers and businesses sought to replace obsolete machines for shiny new boxes. However, as Forbes explains, things have changed dramatically: “PC shipments are down 14% year-over-year despite the launch of Windows 8. While Microsoft and its fans might not want to admit it yet, Windows 8 is a flop. The failure to generate new sales is bad; the acceleration of the declining trend in PC shipments is downright awful.”
