Use of Business English – Introduction & business

Lesson 1
 Use of Business English
Lesson 1 – Introduction & business

Frank Hubber – trainer

 Use of Business English
Lesson 1 – Introduction & business

Course books:
- Business Benchmark Upper Intermediate – 2nd edition .
Cambridge University press. G. Brook-Hart
- Business Grammar Builder – 2nd edition.
Macmillan. Paul Emmerson
 Use of Business English
Lesson 1 – Introduction & business
- Introduction:
• Course content
• Exam tasks and instructions

- Companies :
• Defining business
• Vocabulary mind map
• Building a business glossary

- A successful business:
• Facts about a successful business
• Amazon– gap-fill text
 Use of Business English
Lesson 1 – Introduction & business
Course content:
• Learning about companies and how they operate.
• Mastering key vocabulary on business topics.
• Business writing – building awareness of different types of texts and writing styles.
• Using grammar correctly in business texts.
• Proof-reading texts on business topics.
• Completing cloze tasks.
• Translating short business texts from Italian to English.
Overview of the Exam
Part 1 – Use of English
Instructions for tasks (example -16th May 2018)
Part 2 – Translation
Instructions for tasks (example - 16th May 2018)

Business text – approximately 120-150 words

Business
How would you define this word?
Business defined:

• the activity of buying and selling goods and services [ U ]

• a particular company that buys and sells goods and services [ C ]
• work that you do to earn money[ U ]
• the amount of work done or the number of goods or services sold by a
company or organization [ U ]

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/business
Brainstorming - business vocabulary [group task in breakout rooms]

company
Brainstorming - business vocabulary [group task in breakout rooms]

departments sectors

business plan company structure

..etc
types of companies
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_industry
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/organisations-and-
management-accounting/content-section-4.1

departments sectors

business plan company structure

types of companies

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/te
am-structure-diagrams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan
https://www.toppr.com/guides/principles-and-practices-of-accounting/intro-to-company-accounts/types-of-companies/
Links used in the mind map – using online resources to build your vocabulary

Departments
• https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/organisations-and-
management-accounting/content-section-4.1
Sectors
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_industry
Structures
• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams
Types of companies
• https://www.toppr.com/guides/principles-and-practices-of-accounting/intro-to-
company-accounts/types-of-companies/
Business plan
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan
Describing companies
 Match the terms on the left with their definition.

subsidiary The money the company makes after taking away its costs and tax

market share A company which owns another company

workforce The employees in a particular country or business

turnover The percentage of sales a company has in a particular market

parent company The main building or location of a large organisation

share price The cost of a company share

net profit A company which is more than 50% owned by another company

head office The amount of money a company receives from sales in a particular period
Market Leader
Pre-intermediate
Vocabulary building 3r ed
page 15
 Answer key - Match the terms on the left with their definition.

net profit The money the company makes after taking away its costs and tax

parent company A company which owns another company

workforce The employees in a particular country or business

market share The percentage of sales a company has in a particular market

head office The main building or location of a large organisation

share price The cost of a company share

subsidiary A company which is more than 50% owned by another company

turnover The amount of money a company receives from sales in a particular period
Market Leader
Pre-intermediate
Vocabulary building 3r ed
page 15
 Complete this extract from a company report with the appropriate words or phrases

Financial performance
workforce
I am pleased to say the (1) parent company has continued its excellent performance. We are
subsidiary
changing, growing and doing well at a difficult time for the industry. (2) Turnover was €57.2
million, an increase of 15% on last year, (3) net profit rose by 15% to €6.4 million.
head office

We are a highly competitive business. We have increased our (4) market share to 20%. Turnover

Consequently, our (5) share price has risen and is now at an all-time high of €9.6.
parent company

market share
Increased production and strong demand have had a positive effect on our cashflow, so we are able
to finance a number of new projects. We have successfully moved to our new (6) haed office in net profit
central London. We are now planning to start full production at the recently opened Spanish (7)
share price
subisidiary in October.

Finally, thanks once again to our loyal and dedicated (8) workforce. . Our employees will always Market Leader
Pre-intermediate
3r ed
be our most valuable asset. page 15
 Listen and check

Financial performance
workforce
I am pleased to say the (1) parent company has continued its excellent performance. We are
subsidiary
changing, growing and doing well at a difficult time for the industry. (2) Turnover was €57.2
million, an increase of 15% on last year, (3) net profit rose by 15% to €6.4 million.
head office

We are a highly competitive business. We have increased our (4) market share to 20%. Turnover

Consequently, our (5) share price has risen and is now at an all-time high of €9.6.
parent company

market share
Increased production and strong demand have had a positive effect on our cashflow, so we are able
to finance a number of new projects. We have successfully moved to our new (6) haed office in net profit
central London. We are now planning to start full production at the recently opened Spanish (7)
share price
subisidiary in October.

Finally, thanks once again to our loyal and dedicated (8) workforce. . Our employees will always Market Leader
Pre-intermediate
3r ed
be our most valuable asset. page 15
 Answer Key - extract from a company report

Financial performance

I am pleased to say the (1) parent

parent company
company has continued its excellent performance. We are
changing, growing and doing well at a difficult time for the industry. (2) Turnover
Turnover was €57.2
million, an increase of 15% on last year, (3) net profit
net profit rose by 15% to €6.4 million.

marketshare
We are a highly competitive business. We have increased our (4) market share to 20%.
Consequently, our (5) share price
share price has risen and is now at an all-time high of €9.6.

Increased production and strong demand have had a positive effect on our cashflow, so we are able
to finance a number of new projects. We have successfully moved to our new (6) haed
headoffice
office
in central London. We are now planning to start full production at the recently opened Spanish (7)
subisidiary
subsidiary in October.

workforce
Finally, thanks once again to our loyal and dedicated (8) workforce. . Our employees will
always be our most valuable asset.
 English for
Business – Hoepli
Chambers p 15
 English for
Business – Hoepli
Chambers p 15
Match the terms on the left with their correct translation on the right.

parent company organico

turnover valore / prezzo delle azioni

net profit sede centrale

market share fatturato / giro d’affari

share price utile netto

head office Quota di mercato/fetta di mercato

subsidiary casa madre

workforce Società controllata / filiale

Market Leader Intermediate 3rd ed p. 37
 Answer Key

parent company casa madre

turnover fatturato / giro d’affari

net profit utile netto

market share Quota di mercato/fetta di mercato

share price valore / prezzo delle azioni

head office sede centrale

subsidiary Società controllata / filiale

workforce organico
Market Leader Intermediate 3rd ed p. 37
A successful company – Warm-up

• How would you define a successful company?

• Think of some examples of successful companies. What is the key to
their success?
 Over to you!
head office

market share

turnover

share price

1. google a famous company subsidiaries

2. complete the table on your right

workforce
3. describe the company to your partner
by using the information you have further info

collected
 Developing your glossary of business vocabulary

Websites:
• http://www.dottoricommercialistilondra.com/home/glossario-business-english-
uk-vs-it---glossario-inglese-commerciale-uk-vs-it
• https://is.muni.cz/el/1456/jaro2015/XPX_IUDA/um/GLOSSARIO_english_italian.p
df
• etc.
Other ideas:
• Making a list of words as you come accross them in class
• Writing down new vocabulary you read and translating it
• Putting the words in groups by topic
A successful company [self-study task]
Past paper – May 2018
Past paper – May 2018
 Key
1. h
2. c
3. j
4. L
5. g
6. i
7. e
8. m
9. k
10. n

Past paper – May 2018

Next week

• Tips for the multiple choice cloze completion task

• Staff Development and Training – unit 1 Business Benchmark
• The momo – What is a memo?
• Translating a memo
 Homework

Vocabulary task – matching defintions & translation

 Match the terms on the left with their definition.

subsidiary An office where people answer questions and make sales over the phone

factory / plant A building from which goods or supplies are sent to factories, shops or customers

call centre A place through which products are sold

service centre A place where faulty products are mended

headquarters A company which is at least half owned by another company

distribution centre The main office or building of a company

warehouse A building for storing goods in large quantities

outlet A large buildings or group of buildings where goods are made (using machinery)
Match the terms on the left with their correct translation on the right.

call centre stabilimento

warehouse sede centrale

outlet magazzo

service centre filiale

headquarters centro assistenza

distribution centre punto vendita

subsidiary servizio clienti

factory / plant centro di distribuzione

 Match the terms on the left with their correct translation on the right.
Companies limited by shares Società controllata

Companies limited by guarantee Società unipersonale

Unlimited companies Società/Imprese private

One person companies Società/Imprese pubbliche

Private companies Società per azioni

Public companies Società finanziarie

Holding companies Società a responsabilità illimitata

Subsidiary companies Società a responsabilità limitata

Vocabulary building
 Company types
Sole Trader (UK) The shares (AmE stocks) are private in the sense that they cannot
1 A be bought by members of the public. The vast majority of
Sole proprietorship (US) companies fall into this category. They’re often smaller companies,
with shares held by a few business associates or family members.

Partnership UK/US B The shares are openly traded on a public stock exchange. These
2
are large, often well-known businesses.

Company (US and UK) Two or more people work together and share the risks and profits.
3 C Just like a sole trader, the partners are fully liable for any debts the
Corporation (US)
business has. This is referred to in law as “unlimited liability”.

A single person owns and operates a business. Legally, the

Private Company 4 D business has no separate existence from its owner (proprietor). This
means that all the debts of the business are the debts of the owner.

The business is a legal entity that is separate from its owners – the
Public Company 5 E shareholders. The owners are not fully liable for the debts of the
business. Instead, their liability (potential risk) is restricted to their
share capital. This is the amount of cash that they have contributed
to the company. This is referred to in law as “limited liability”.
 Match the terms on the left with their correct translation on the right.
stocks borsa

stock exchange società

shares essere pienamente/illimitatamente/legalmente responisabili

being fully liable azionista

public stock exchange azioni

sole trader azioni

company ditta individuale

shareholder borsa valori

Vocabulary building