Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that the people of the UK woke up on June 24 to learn that they had voted in favour of leaving the European Union, otherwise know as Brexit. After an emotional campaign, 33.5 million votes were cast in the referendum with 17.4 million voting for Leave, and 16.1 million for Remain. Months of warnings from both camps focused on both the political and economic ramifications and rewards.
A job interview is both an opportunity and a challenge. And facing an English interview with confidence requires certain skills and language. In today’s lesson, we’ll hear two interviewees demonstrate some of these skills and language. They’ll use chunks of natural language that we call “collocations” to talk about their abilities.
But what exactly is a “collocation?” Well it’s a combination of words that often go together. Rather than always learning individual words, you can learn these natural chunks of language. Think about the noun “career.” Do you say “follow” a career “at” something? No, we say “pursue a career in something.” That’s a collocation, and you should learn those words together as a natural combination.
As you listen to the two different interviews in this lesson, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.
In the first interview, we’ll hear Dale interviewing Carla for an accounting job at an insurance company. Dale is asking Carla about her weaknesses and her career plans, two common tough interview questions. In the second interview, we’ll hear Sofia interviewing Joseph for a management job. She asks Joseph to talk about his interpersonal and leadership skills, and his attitude to personal development.
Listening Questions
1. What is Carla’s ultimate goal in the insurance industry?
2. What does Joseph say about his relationship with direct reports?
3. What two qualities does Joseph say help him in leadership roles?
A job interview is one of the most stressful and high-pressure situations you experience in your working life. With such high stakes, you don’t want to leave anything to chance. So you prepare by anticipating what questions you’ll be asked and planning how you might respond.
In this lesson, we’ll hear how a couple of interviewees respond to typical – but challenging – English interview questions. And as they respond, the speakers use some useful expressions that we call “collocations.” Learning collocations is a great way to expand your active vocabulary and sound more natural and confident.
But what exactly is a collocation? Well, a collocation is simply a group of words that we usually use together. It’s like a “chunk” of language that you can plug into a sentence. For example, you might have heard the expression “to take an approach” to something. We always use that verb “take” with the noun “approach,” so you can remember them together. Collocations sound natural, and they make language learning efficient, because you can learn chunks of language rather than individual words.
As you listen to the two different interviews, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.
In the first interview, we’ll hear Dale interviewing Carla, who is applying for an accounting job at an insurance company. Carla is talking about her experience, knowledge, and accomplishments. In the second interview, we’ll hear Sofia interviewing Joseph. Joseph is applying for a management position at the company where he works. He’ll talk about his approach to work and his problem-solving skills.
Listening Questions
1. How much experience does Carla say she has in the field of insurance?
2. What special accomplishment does Carla mention?
3. How does Joseph say he has decreased stress in his department?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English collocations for talking about strategy.
Think about the future of your company. How will it remain competitive? What are the long-term goals of your company? What does your company want to achieve? And how will it do that? These are just some of the questions that you might consider when you discuss business strategy. You need to think about what your business does well, how you can use your resources wisely, and what you need to do to grow the company. And when you discuss these ideas, you can use some common expressions, or combinations, which we call “collocations.”
But what is a collocation? A collocation is a group of words that sound natural together. They sound natural because native speakers commonly use them. And you can sound natural too if you learn these collocations. For example, you can say “implement a plan.” That sounds natural. But how about “do a plan?” Well, that’s not a common collocation and so it doesn’t sound natural.
As you listen to the conversation in this lesson, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.
In the dialog, we’ll hear Anne, Jenny, and Max, three executives at a food company called Healthy Organics. They are discussing their strategy for developing the company into the future. They’ll talk about some important strategic decisions, and they’ll use lots of useful expressions.
Listening Questions
1. According to Anne, why do they need to broaden their product offerings?
2. What does Jenny think they need to build on?
3. What specifically does Anne want to figure out for the next three to five years?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English collocations for discussing business strategy.
Look behind any successful business and what will you find? Good strategy and wise planning. Good strategy involves understanding the environment, the market, the customers, and the competition. And good planning means taking all that knowledge and deciding how to compete now and into the future.
In this lesson, we’ll hear how the executives in a food company discuss business strategy. And as they strategize, the speakers will use some useful expressions that we call “collocations.” Learning English collocations will help you improve your vocabulary and sound more natural. So what exactly is a collocation? Well, it’s just a group of words that we commonly use together. For example, we often say “reach a goal.” It sounds natural, because that’s what people say. But what about: “grasp a goal” or “arrive at a goal?” Well, those don’t sound natural because they’re not common combinations or collocations.
As you listen to the discussion, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.
In the dialog, we’ll hear Anne, Jenny, and Max, executives at a food company called Healthy Organics. The speakers have gone on a weekend retreat to try to create a good strategy for moving their company into the future. They’ll talk about their vision and a strategic plan for growth.
Listening Questions
1. What does Anne say they have managed to accomplish so far during the retreat?
2. What does Max say is the goal over the next two days?
3. What does Jenny want to figure out first?
