Business English is about more than begin able to speak English – it is about communicating your ideas in ways other people will want to listen to and accept. In this lesson we examine a basic way to change the structure of your sentence – not the meaning – so that it is softer and more acceptable in a work environment.

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epod_biz148_A55.mp3(5.47mb)

In this lesson you will learn how to “small talk” or the basic conversations to build relationships with people. This podcast shows you how to ask about something that happened – show interest in a friend or colleague’s life.

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epod_biz147_A54.mp3(5.86mb)

This aa podcast covers common phrases people use when they are making presentations, especially one with a visual aid – a chart, PowerPoint slides or handouts. In this podcast, you will listen to Jennifer give a presentation and answer questions from her boss. She uses language to talk about the graphs she is presenting, language to direct people’s attention to what she’s talking about and terms to describe the graph itself.

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epod_biz146_C25.mp3(6.03mb)

The dialogue in this lesson is between two colleagues after a long meeting or negotiation. In this dialogue you will hear new business vocabulary, language to invite someone out informally and language to try and persuade or convince someone to come if they say, “no” to your invitation. This is very common language that can be used between coworkers and friends

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epod_biz145_D31.mp3(6.03mb)

In this podcast Scott and Jessica discuss “downtoning” or speaking diplomatically. Often there are things we want to and have to say but know that it might offend someone. If you are able to tone down your language and speak diplomatically, you’ll be able to express your ideas in a way that someone else will accept.

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epod_biz144_C24.mp3(5.10mb)

In today’s podcast lesson we are going to listen to two friends going shopping. We will hear how they discuss what to buy and try to negotiate a good price with the seller. In England and the United States, bargaining is not done as much as it used to be. In most shops, the sticker price is the final offer by the owner and the buyer cannot suggest a lower price. However, there are still some times when we need to bargain in English: when buying a house or apartment; when buying second-hand items, and many times in business.

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epod_biz143_D30.mp3(18.8mb)

Gossip and rumors are hard to avoid and sometimes when we hear them it’s even hard to keep it to ourselves- that is the nature of gossip. You want to spread it around, but you want to be loyal to the person who told it to you. Today we will learn about three different ways of talking about secrets in English

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epod_biz142_B37.mp3(11.9mb)

Today’s English lesson is about appearance, or what someone looks like. We are going to practice describing people’s appearances and then comparing them to each other. It is quite common for native English speakers to have to make comparisons between people.

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epod_biz141_D29.mp3(10.1mb)

In today’s podcast lesson we are going to learn about the differences between exaggeration and understatement in English and how people use or recognize them. Many of the examples of exaggeration and understatement are idioms.

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epod_biz140_B36.mp3(11.5mb)

Today’s lesson is about shopping. When traveling abroad, it is always fun to go shopping. There are several phrases that native English speakers often use when shopping, so to help you bring home some nice souvenirs, we are going to look at a few of them today.

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epod_biz139_D28.mp3(13.2mb)