Business English Pod (9to5English) / ESL Podcast / Page 25

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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BEP 106e – Presenting for Success: Using your Voice

Business English, ESL Podcast, Presentations /

In this Business English Podcast lesson we’ll look at how to speak naturally and how to emphasize, or highlight, key language and ideas. In addition, we’ll be looking at a few key English expressions and phrases you can use to add extra emphasis to your presentation in English.

Today’s listening takes place at PharmaTek, an international pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Switzerland. A group of European journalists are taking a tour of PharmaTek’s new high-potency production center in Beijing, which is scheduled to start making PharmaTek’s new blockbuster medication, Zorax, in the fall of 2007. “Blockbuster” means hugely successful. “High-potency production” refers to using highly potent or very strong chemicals. This is a manufacturing technique that requires “state-of-the-art” or very advanced technology.

We’ll be hearing PharmaTek employees introduce the new plant. Let’s start with a couple bad examples, where the voice needs a lot of work. Listen to Gunter Schmidt, the manager of PharmaTek’s corporate affairs division. As you listen, focus on his voice. What does he do wrong?

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BEP 77 – Casual English: After-Work Socializing

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Socializing /

In many countries, having a drink after work with colleagues is a popular way to relax: This kind of socializing helps us get to know each other and to build team spirit. To attract customers who are just getting off work, many bars and clubs have a “happy hour.” This is a promotion in the early evening, usually lasting an hour or so, when pubs and bars offer a special prices on drinks, such as “buy one get one free” or “all drinks half price.” So in this business English podcast, we will explore language that we can use to socialize with colleagues during happy hour or during other informal occasions.

Whether you drink alcohol or not, in many places around the world you will likely be invited to the bar or pub with colleagues. It’s important to know how to offer to buy drinks for others and how to make polite excuses when you’ve had enough or when it’s time to go. The same skills are also useful for other types of after-work social activities.

In the dialog, we join Greg, a manager, and three people in his team – Joanna, Gary, and Ben – as they order.

Listening Questions:

1) Who is paying for the first round of drinks? How can you tell?
2) Who is the person who doesn’t drink?
3) When it’s time for her to go, what excuse does Joanna make?

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BEP 76 – Performance Appraisals: Setting Goals (2)

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Human Resources, Management English /

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod lesson on performance appraisals. In the first lesson, we covered giving feedback. In this ESL podcast, we will discuss setting goals.

The American poet Carl Sandberg once said, “Nothing happens unless first we dream.” To this we can add the words of time management expert Diana Scharf Hunt: “Goals are dreams with deadlines.”

To reach our dreams, it’s necessary to set goals. Without goals, there is no change, no development, no success. This is just as true for an individual as it is for an organization. That’s why, along with feedback, goal setting is a very important part of the appraisal process. So in this follow-up podcast on job appraisals, we’ll be focusing on strategies and expressions for setting goals during the appraisal interview. Much of the language we’ll be learning in this lesson is also useful in any meeting where we need to discuss and set targets.

Wendy and Derrick, Wendy’s manager, have already discussed her progress and set goals for the areas of customer satisfaction and job training. As the listening continues, they turn to talking about two important productivity measurements.

Pay attention to the language Derrick uses to structure the conversation and to negotiate and agree goals with Wendy.

Listening Questions

1) What are the two important productivity measurements that Derrick discusses with Wendy?
2) How does Derrick feel about Wendy making one-off (that is, special) solutions for each customer?
3) What does Derrick advise Wendy to tell a customer who has not booked enough bandwidth?

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