Continuing our series on business travel ( see BEP 55, BEP 56 & BEP 66), this intermediate business ESL podcast covers informal greetings and conversations in the workplace.

What are some examples of informal English you can use to greet your work mates? How do you make friendly chitchat with your colleagues? What kinds of topics can you talk about? We’ll be looking at some answers. In particular, we’ll cover informal greetings and how to chat about movies. As almost everyone loves to go to the cinema, movies are usually a good topic for small talk.

Key Language: Informal Greetings & Talking about Movies.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Quiz BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Gap-fill BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Language 1 BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Language 2 BEP 67 INT – Informal Greetings – Flashcards

Listening Questions: BEP 67 INT – Morning Greeting and Chat

1) What does Brenda mean when she says “veg out”?

This is a slang expression. “Veg” is short for vegetable. As Brenda says, “to veg out” means to relax. It usually refers to doing something that requires no mental effort, like watching TV. Imagine yourself sitting on the couch like a vegetable.

2) What are critics and what did they think about Rush Hour 3?

“Critics” are professional film watchers (journalists) who write reviews for magazines or newspapers. As Brenda explains, they didn’t pan it – that is say it was really bad – but they didn’t rave either – that is say it was really good.

3) How does Brenda like her coffee?

Brenda drinks coffee with no cream and sugar, but she likes Equal, which is a sugar substitute with no calories.

Today is the second in a two-part intermediate Business English Pod series on the basics of socializing and networking. Last time you learned ways to start and finish a conversation appropriately. Today you’ll be studying how to keep a conversation going by maintaining interest.

The listening continues on from dialogue 1 from last time: Penny, an HR officer from Kuala Lumpur, has struck up a conversation with George, the regional learning and development manager. Penny had just used a tag question – “Interesting speech, wasn’t it?” – to help get the conversation started.

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BEP 45: Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 45: Keeping a Conversation Going – Quiz BEP 45: Keeping a Conversation Going – Gap-fill

Listening Quiz: (Click a question to see the answer)
BEP 45 INT – Socializing: Keeping a Conversation Going

Today’s Business English Pod episode is the first in a two-part series on the basics of social English: starting a conversation, keeping it going, and finishing it appropriately. Successful conversation is an important part of networking – the skill of building up a network of contacts and relationships.

In this episode, you’ll be learning skills and language for starting and finishing a conversation appropriately. In the next, you’ll practice how to keep a conversation going.

You’ll hear two dialogues. In the first, Penny, an HR officer from Malaysia, strikes up a conversation with George, the Asia-Pacific learning and development manager. “To strike up a conversation” means to start a conversation, usually with someone you don’t know too well. In the second dialogue, Pat, an HR officer from Australia, then tries his best to strike up a conversation with George.

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BEP 44: Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 44: Striking Up a Conversation – Quiz BEP 44: Striking Up a Conversation – Gap-fill

Listening Quiz:BEP 44 INT – Striking Up a Conversation (Click a question to see the answer)