Business English Pod (9to5English) / Business English Vocabulary / Page 23

BEP 222 – Idioms of Success and Failure 2

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms /

This Business English Pod lesson is the second in our series on English idioms related to success and failure.

80% of new businesses fail within the first five years. Those don’t seem like very good odds, do they? But new businesses continue to be born every day. And every one of them is started with a dream of success. Yes, the possibility of success motivates us, inspires us, and keeps us going to work every morning. Or is it the fear of failure that does this? Do we keep trying because if we don’t, we might fall on our face and disappoint everyone around us? Either way, success and failure are two sides of the same coin.

At work and in business, we almost have an obsession with success and failure. Just think of your conversations about colleagues past and present. What is it you talk about? Well, you might talk about their health and their families. But you probably spend more time talking about whether they’ve made a million bucks yet.

Fortunately, English has lots of great expressions for talking about this common topic. We looked at a few in our last episode, and today we’ll learn lots more.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Sam and Dylan, two former colleagues who have been talking about their own successes and failures. Today we’ll hear Sam and Dylan discussing the fortunes of someone they both know named Cameron Smith.

Listening Questions

1. What did Cameron do when his photo-sharing app was successful?
2. What happened as a result of Cameron’s lack of management skills?
3. What did Cameron’s investors decide to do?

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BEP 221 – Idioms of Success and Failure 1

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll look at business English idioms related to success and failure.

Every business has its ups and downs. And so does every person. In other words, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail. Another common way of saying this in English is “You win some and you lose some.” Nobody wins all the time, even the great success stories that we read or hear about.

Think of a successful entrepreneur. Now, do you think that person achieved great success on their first try? In 99% of cases, the answer is no. Every successful businessperson learned through failure. Now have a look at your favorite business news site. You’ll see that almost every story can be put into either the category of success or failure. Businesses either grow or shrink but they don’t remain the same.

It’s clear that success and failure are important and common topics. And to talk about them, there are lots of great English idioms.

In this lesson, we’ll hear a conversation between Sam and Dylan, two former colleagues. They have just run into each other and are catching up on their recent experiences. In their conversation, you will notice many idioms related to success and failure.

Listening Questions

1. How is Sam’s work going?
2. How does Dylan feel about his recent investments?
3. What happened to the wireless company that Dylan was involved in?

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VV 32 – Business English Vocabulary: International Trade

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Video, Supply Chain /
YouTube video

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.

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BEN 20 – US-China Economic Outlook

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, Finance and Accounting /

Business English for Economics

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.

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BEP 218 – Discussing a Website Redesign

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, IT and Computers /

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?

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