Business class on Wednesday 1st April

Our class on Wednesday (April 1st) WILL BE in the same room as usual - LC1-50b at the same time 2-5.
Some good news for your business reports - you have until FRIDAY to hand them in. Some not so good news, please make sure you follow these guidelines (from the module booklet) for submitting your coursework.

'Two copies of the final version are to be handed in with one standard University coursework cover sheet by 4 p.m. Friday of Teaching Week 9 to Academic Registry. Do not hand to your teacher. Late work will receive a Grade of 0.'

Tomorrow I will be setting a task for some of the second half of the class, during which time I will be able to answer any individual questions about reports.

See you tomorrow!

Business 5.2

Here's the advice on writing business reports from Bournemouth University. The University of Western Australia also has some very good advice on report writing which you can find here.

What are two frequent problems students have when writing reports?

What is the main purpose of a business report?

When you identify your readers, what are three things you need to find out?

What advice would you give on collecting information?

What should you assume about the reader?

What is the purpose of appendices?

Why do some people choose to write their conclusion first?

What is your overall aim in writing a report?

Business Negotiations

In today's class we looked at PPPs (can you remember what they are??) and some language for negotiations.
There's a clear explanation of the background to PPP and Private Finance Initiatives on the BBC website here. And a brief article on some of the problems these schemes are now experiencing.

Have a look at the websites below for some good exercises on Negotiation:
BBC Talk about English
Scroll down to find the negotiations exercises.
English Club - Negotiations
Some very good material, including vocabulary and a case study.

For some resources to get you thinking about the business report I would like you to write, have a look at the following links:

Cultural differences

Business etiquette & training courses

Research and intercultural awareness courses

Culture Wise

Itim Culture & Management Consultancy

In the next couple of classes, we'll be looking more closely at the format of business reports and what a good one should include.

Business English 5.2

A business report

You work for a company which is expanding its international operations.
There is a lot of talk in business now about intercultural awareness and communication and your manager has asked you to write a report about the feasibility of arranging Intercultural awareness training for some of the staff.

Business English (5.2) students

Hi.
In this week's class we looked at some 'buzzwords' - some typical words and expressions often used in a business context. Don't forget that you need to revise new vocabulary!
I also asked new students to send a short profile to my email address - what are you studying? Why business English? What are your hopes for the future?
Your homework was to write an email to accept an invitation (from the coursebook page 10).
I've put a few useful links under Business English if you scroll down and look on the right hand side. Have a look at the Cross cultural awareness section of the Kwintessential site - the Country Etiquette guides give you useful information about doing business in different countries.
See you next week.

Welcome new students!

Hi, welcome to my blog. This is a space where I post information, reminders of homework and links to useful online materials for my students. I've put a few links on the right for you to browse. The World Economic Forum in Davos has recently taken place - what's it all about? Find out here and you can also watch some interesting webcasts on a variety of business themes here.
I hope you find this blog useful.... See you next week.