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BEP 84 – English for Sales: Site Visit

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Sales English /

There are many different kinds of sites. We often speak of construction sites, a site where something is being built – such as buildings, roads, bridges, airports, and so on. But a site can also be a completed structure, like a factory or even sometimes an office. In a site visit, visitors come on site to have a look around. Someone in your company will usually play host and give them a tour. This is often part of the sales process: Sometimes it’s the visitors who are selling something to the host, and sometimes it’s other way around.

The language we’re going to study in this episode will be useful for anyone who needs to host visitors. No matter whether we are giving journalists a demonstration of a factory, or introducing potential customers to our work site, or giving government officials a tour of a construction project, we need to show people around and point out areas of interest.

In the listening, Stanley Wang works for China Western Railroad Construction Company. Stanley is the site agent – that is, the person in charge of a construction site – for a railway tunnel that is being built. Matt and Paula – who work for a small engineering company called TunnelTech – are visiting potential customers in China. As the dialog begins, Stanley is getting ready to take them into the tunnel for a look around.

Listening Questions:

1) What does Stanley point out in the tunnel? What language does he use to draw everyone’s attention to it?
2) What are the advantages of the machine that Stanley describes?
3) Stanley mentions two safety hazards. What are they?
4) What is the question that Paula asks Stanley about the hazards?

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BEP 81 – Meetings: Finishing Up and Action Points

Business English, English for Meetings, Intermediate English /

This Business English Podcast is a preview of our new audio / e-book for business English learners and teachers: Meeting Essentials

Meeting Essentials is a comprehensive study guide to the language and skills you need to participate effectively and confidently in business meetings in English. Learn on the go with over 4-hours of audio lessons, review key language and techniques with the detailed 100-page study guide, including a transcript of each podcast lesson, and practice useful phrases with the online activities.

It’s the end of a meeting, and everyone wants to go, but wait! We have one last thing to do: Action points. That means: Tell everyone who is going to do what, and when. Having no clear action points is a number one reason meetings are unproductive.

So in this episode, we’ll study language we can use to assign work to people, and also some English phrases to finish off the meeting.

We’ll be listening in to a group of bank managers discuss how to deal with credit risk problems before a major year-end report to top management. They have already discussed and decided what to do, and now they need to finish the meeting. As you listen, pay attention to how the boss, Lisa, gives action points to her team, that is, reminds them of what they need to do.

Listening Questions:

1) When will Lisa’s team have their next round of meetings?
2) What duties does Lisa assign during the meeting, and to whom?

*** This lesson is part of our Business English eBook for meetings: Meeting Essentials. Premium members click here to download the complete eBook.

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BEP 80 – Travel English: Checking In to a Hotel

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

In this Business English Podcast lesson, we will focus on phrases and vocabulary – both for checking in and for enquiring about hotel services whilst checking in.

Arriving at a hotel after a long, hard day of travel, you need to do one last thing before you can take a hot shower and relax in front of the TV – you need to check in. That means registering for the room by filling out any necessary forms and giving the hotel your credit card number.

Checking in to hotels is another important part of travel, whether it’s for business or for pleasure. This episode follows on from BEP 79 Travel: Reserving a Hotel Room, in which Sarah Johnson called to reserve a room at the Majestic Hotel in New York. Sarah has now arrived, and she is ready to begin her stay.

In the listening, Paul, at reception, helps Sarah register for the room. Pay attention to the language Sarah uses.

Listening Questions

1) When she reserved the room, Sarah asked for a dinner reservation. What is the name of the hotel’s restaurant? Which floor is it on?
2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center?
3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?

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BEP 79 – Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.

It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel – we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. Of course, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations – conferences, restaurants, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.

That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode – making reservations. Along the way, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.

In the listening, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, Tony, picks up the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.

Listening Questions

1) What kind of room does Sarah want?
2) What extra request does Sarah have?
3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. What is it?

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BEP 78 – Socializing: Discussing Politics

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Socializing /

They say there’s one rule of conversation that you should always follow in business – don’t talk about politics, sex or religion. Actually, however, it seems like 90% of casual conversations are about just those things – politics, sex and religion. So in this episode, we’ll be focusing on one of these topics – politics. We’ll be learning some language that will help you cope with this difficult topic.

There’s a trick to talking about politics in business. In international business culture, it’s usually better not to express strong opinions. The focus is generally on the exchange of information rather than on debate, because the main goal is to maintain harmonious relations. Often, we state our opinions non-committally. That means we don’t commit ourselves to an opinion – in other words, we don’t voice a strong view one way or the other. Instead, we prefer to be vague, or ambiguous. This strategy helps avoid conflict.

So in this podcast, in addition to covering some general phrases and vocabulary for discussing politics, we’ll be studying how to soften your questions and be non-committal when necessary.

We’ll be listening to Ricardo and Lars, old colleagues who have met each other again at an international conference. They’re talking about the political situations in their home countries, Brazil and Denmark.

Listening Questions

1) Ricardo says he has heard that the Danish government is pretty far “right”, that is, conservative. But Lars seems to think that this has a good side. What is it?
2) Lars mentions that Brazil has won its bid to host the World Cup. Ricardo says that Brazil has a lot of work to do in which areas?
3) Lars talks about a certain kind of problem that has “cropped up”, that is, appeared or occurred during Brazilian President Lula’s presidency. What is it?

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