In this English Video vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at business English vocabulary for international trade. International trade is a cornerstone of our global economy, as goods are constantly flowing by air and ship around the world. In this lesson, we’ll look at how it all works. Along the way, we’ll learn key vocabulary related to the process of international trade.
In this Business English News lesson, we take a look at the economic prospects for the USA and China.
The relationship between the world’s two biggest economies is sure to undergo some major changes in the months ahead. With Obama set to remain in the White House for 4 more years, and Xi Jinping moving in to Zhongnanhai for the next decade, all eyes will be on how the new faces work together amid these tough economic times.
In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the redesign of a website.
In the Internet age, every company needs a web presence. The foundation of this presence is a good website. This is where customers and the public can go to find information, engage with each other and the business, and, in many cases, purchase products and services.
It’s essential that your website is designed to convey the right image and send the right message. Not only does it have to look great, but it needs to be usable as well. This means that it must be laid out in a way that will help people find what they’re looking for with ease. Internet users have a very short attention span, so if they can’t get around your site easily, they’ll quickly move on to something else.
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 a website designer named Andy and his client Penny. Penny’s company has contracted Andy to redesign their site. They are looking at the new website and discussing its features.
Listening Questions
1. What does Penny think of the website’s layout?
2. Why does Andy show Penny the website on his tablet?
3. What does Penny need to learn to do with the website?
In what some have dubbed ‘The Patent Trial of the Century’, Apple and Samsung have been fighting tooth and nail in recent weeks. Samsung was found to have infringed on 7 of Apple’s patents, in what became a $1B levy.
The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ will be in full force this year as London hosts the 30th Olympic Games. However, it won’t be just the athletes trying to go ‘higher, faster, stronger’, but also companies poised to rake in the dough in what many hope will be a financial windfall.
