Podcast Archive

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)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 102 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: meetings, negotiating | FUNCTIONS: giving feedback, being diplomatic, persuading
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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)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 58 | Rating: 10
TOPICS: people, relationships | FUNCTIONS: asking questions, meeting people, starting conversations
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Today’s lesson is about health. Wherever you are, it is important to be able to go to a doctor or get medicine if you are ill. English is the international language or communication, so if you find yourself feeling sick in a foreign country, we are going to look at how to say what is wrong with you.

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epod_biz136_A53.mp3(11.7mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 40 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: health | FUNCTIONS: expressing, feelings
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Today’s English lesson is about banks. If you move to a foreign country, you will most likely have to set up a bank account. Even if you aren’t planning a move, when traveling you may need to go to a bank for one reason or another. It can be difficult if you don’t know any bank terminology, so today we are going to look at different some English bank vocabulary.

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epod_biz132_A52.mp3(11.7mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 43 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: money | FUNCTIONS: how, do, I?
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Today’s lesson is about scheduling. It is important to be able to arrange a meeting or to talk about your daily schedule so that you can plan things. When describing your schedule and trying to arrange a time for something there are several words and phrases that are commonly used. We will look at some of these today.

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epod_biz128_A51.mp3(8.48mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 52 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: schedules | FUNCTIONS: making, plans|discussing, Time
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Today’s mp3 lesson is about dinner parties. In English speaking countries friends will often invite each other over for dinner and everyone will bring something to the party. The person who is having the party usually tells their friends what to bring to the party. It is important to be able to ask people for things, so we will look at how to politely ask your English speaking friends to bring something to the party.

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epod_biz126_A50.mp3(11.1mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 48 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: food|drinks | FUNCTIONS: request
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Most of us have daily routines. Part of these daily routines involve the times we must get up, be off to work, eat lunch, finish work, and get home. In today’s lesson we will be thinking about some of these times and how to express them properly using the best time preposition.

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epod_biz122_A49.mp3(11.0mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 48 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: Time | FUNCTIONS: discussing, Time
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To sound more like a native speaker of English, it is necessary to learn some of the reduced forms used in daily speech. It is also important if you want to understand what native speakers are saying. As you may have noticed, we do not pronounce every word clearly. While you listen to today’s podcast, make notes of the words that you think are in their reduced forms.

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epod_biz119_A48.mp3(10.2mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 48 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: slang|idioms communication | FUNCTIONS: comparing|contrasting
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In today’s lesson we are looking at how to talk about or avoid sensitive topics.
You need to be careful when expressing ideas about race, religion or other sensitive topics. The United States is a good example of a multi-cultural society. Talking about sensitive topics like religion or politics is often avoided in order to be sure not to offend someone of a different belief system. This is often referred to as being “politically correct”. However, sometimes it is not just the big issues but also small ones like appearance, poor work performance or bad habits that can be difficult to talk about. In the 5 dialogues we will hear, a person will bring up a sensitive topic, and another will either avoid the topic or discuss it carefully.

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epod_biz116_A47.mp3(10.7mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 49 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: etiquette|manners culture | FUNCTIONS: starting conversations
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In today’s Business English podcast we are going to learn some language relating to hotels – in particular the check-in process. In the mp3 dialogue, Christy works at the reception desk of a large hotel, and we will listen as she welcomes a guest and checks him in to the hotel.

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epod_biz114_A46.mp3(10.93mb)

Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate | Popularity: 113 | Rating: 0
TOPICS: hotels, business travel | FUNCTIONS: describing products|services
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