In this Business English Pod lesson we continue our look at English idioms related to beginnings and endings.

A new year, a new job, a new office, a new project, a new team – all these new things mean exciting beginnings. And beginning something new usually means finishing something else. Every day at work, at home, and at the coffee shop we talk about these changes.

In English, we have lots of useful idioms for talking about the beginnings and endings that make up the changes in work and life. Today, we’ll look at some of these expressions and talk about how to use them.

In the dialog, we will rejoin Henry and Darren, two old colleagues who are sitting down for coffee and talking about life and work. In our last lesson, they focused on family. In today’s dialog, we’ll hear about their work and careers, and they’ll use lots of great idioms about beginnings and endings.

Listening Questions

1. What big career decision has Henry made?
2. Why did Darren leave his former job?
3. What did Darren decide to do after leaving his job?

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Welcome back to Business English Pod today’s lesson on English idioms related to beginnings and endings.

When someone asks you about your life or work, what do you talk about? Well, chances are that you talk about changes. You talk about the beginning of new things and the end of old things. That means a new job, a new project, or a new house. Or it means quitting your old job, finishing a big project, or selling the home you’ve lived in for 20 years.

Yes, these changes are what make life and work interesting. And in English we have lots of great idioms related to beginnings and endings. Some expressions are used for daily beginnings and endings, some for huge life changes. Today we’ll look at some of these idioms and how to use them.

You will hear a conversation between two friends, Henry and Darren, who used to work together. Now Darren is on a business trip to Henry’s city and has decided to pay Henry a visit. We’ll hear them talk about life and work, and you’ll hear many idioms related to beginnings and endings in their conversation.

Listening Questions

1. What bad news does Darren talk about?
2. What is Darren’s good news?
3. What does Darren think about Henry’s daughter’s current activities?

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In today’s Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at English idioms related to luck and opportunity.

What do you say to a friend who is on his way to an important job interview? If you’re like most people, you’ll say “good luck.” But does your friend really need luck to succeed? Well, it’s clear that luck is not the only factor in success, but it does seem important in some cases. It might have been good luck that your friend saw the job posting online one day. But then again, it might be bad luck that your friend trips on his way into the interview.

In any case, making the most of a good opportunity like a job interview certainly seems to involve some luck. Think back on your own career. You can probably think of your own examples of good and bad luck, and how that affected your success with certain opportunities.

In English, we have many common expressions related to luck and opportunity. In our last lesson, we learned some great idioms such as “lucky break,” “tough luck,” and “opportunity knocks.” In this lesson, we’ll learn many more.

In the dialog, we will rejoin Jim and Oscar, two colleagues riding the bus home after work. They are talking about their own opportunities and luck, and they use many useful idioms.

Listening Questions

1. What does Jim think of his chances of getting the job?
2. What does Jim think would be difficult?
3. What does Oscar say about moving into management?

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