Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on Business English idioms for giving advice and warnings.

Everyone needs a bit of advice from time to time. Maybe we’re dealing with a difficult colleague, or maybe we’re deciding whether to accept a job offer. At some point we all turn to a colleague, a mentor, a boss, or a friend for a bit of guidance. And sometimes we get advice when we’re not even looking for it. These same people might warn us about things we aren’t even aware of.

At some point, all of us will be called to serve on the other side of the advice equation. Colleagues and friends may come to us for help when they have problems. Our job is to advise, to warn, and to guide them. Whichever side of the equation you’re on, there’s lots of useful Business English idioms for these situations. It’s these English idioms for advice and warnings that we’ll learn today.

In the lesson, we’ll hear a conversation between two friends. Sheldon is having difficulties at work and is considering quitting his job. His friend Tanya is providing some advice and guidance on Sheldon’s situation. She uses many English idioms of advice and warning in their discussion.

Listening Questions

1. What did Tanya previously advise Sheldon to do?
2. What does Tanya think Sheldon should do instead of quitting his job?
3. At the end of the dialog, what does Sheldon say about his own approach?

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Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English idioms for expressing degrees of certainty.

There’s an old saying in English that “nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The idea behind that expression is that we can’t really be sure of anything. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from talking about what might happen or will probably happen or what is unlikely to happen.

This kind of discussion is all about degrees of certainty. In other words: how sure you are about something. It’s important to know, or at least to guess, how certain something is. How else can you plan? How else can you decide the right course of action? And just like other common topics of discussion, English has many idioms for expressing certainty. In today’s lesson, we’re going to look at some of these expressions.

We’ll hear a conversation between Maria, Tom, and Gavin, who work for a company that makes mobile apps for children. The three colleagues are talking about several new ideas being considered in the company. More specifically, they’re discussing how certain they are about the potential for each app.

Listening Questions

1. What does Maria think about the app called Waffle Bunnies?
2. Which app does Maria think they can successfully market and sell?
3. What expression does Tom use to show how certain he is that the music-making app will be a success?

Download: Podcast MP3