LESSON 1: INTRODUCING YOURSELF TO OTHERS

Complete the gaps:

Conversation 1
A Excuse me Mr. Jensen?
B Yes, I am. Are you from Nixdorf?
A Yes, Saskia Slater. How do you do?
B Pleased to meet you.
A very tired after your flight?
B A little, but fine.
A Good. Oh, here we are. Taxi!

Conversation 2
A Hello one of the organizers?
B No. I’m not. I’m a delegate, like you.
A Oh, I’m sorry.
B So Jacques Leclerk.
A Yes, but how…
B Your badge. Jeff Simpson, from
CMG.
A Oh, CMG. big in plastics of
course.
B Yes, we are. And who with?
A Morgan Friedman.

Conversation 3
A Hello, Enrique. How ?
B I’m fine. I’m fine. And you?
A Yes, I’m fine too. alone?
B Yes, I am.
A So, you are free to join me.
B Yes. Yes, . Thank you.
A Over here, the table by the window.

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Conversation 4
A Good Afternoon. I’m from LPG.
B Ah, yes, Mr. Poulson.
A No Mr. Poulson. I’m Mr.
Leeman.
B Right. Sorry about that. Room 303.
A Thank you.
B welcome.

Conversation 5
A Good morning.
B Good morning in the right
place
for British Airways?
A Yes.
B Oh, Good. My ticket and passport.
Here
A Thank you. Nothing to check in?
B No.
A Flight BA372, boarding at Gate 23 in
about ten minutes. Your boarding pass.
B Thanks.

Vocabulary Building: Discuss the meaning of each term, and then work in pairs to practice
them in conversation.

Excuse me Delegate Here we are

Are you from…? / Are you Badge Sorry about that
with…?
Tired Free to join me
Pleased to meet you / How do
you do Right place (for) …by the window
Good morning / afternoon / (to be) big in (something)
evening Check in
Thank you / Thanks / You’re
welcome.

Grammar Link: Look at the grammatical forms provided in the table below, and then work
with a partner. Use the prompts to practice conversations. Use your own names and
companies.

The verb To Be

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 Affirmative Contraction Negative Contraction

I am I’m I am not I’m not

you are you’re you are not you aren’t / you’re not
we are we’re we are not we aren’t / we’re not

a. Excuse me (your e. Morning

name) ? Morning / right place (airline)
Yes / you from (company) ? Yes
Yes / I / how do… ? Good / ticket / passport / here
Pleased / meet Thank / nothing / check in ?
Tired / flight ? No
Little / fine Flight BA372 / Gate 23 / ten minutes
Here / taxi ! Thanks

b. Hello / one / organizers

? No / delegate / you
So / (name)
Yes / but…
Badge / I (name) / from (company)
Oh / you / big in
Yes / with ?
I / (company)

c. Hello / how / you ?

Fine / you?
Fine / too / alone ?
Yes
So / free to join
Yes / thank
by the window

d. Afternoon / from (company)

Yes (name)
No / I (name)
Right / sorry / 303
Thank
Welcome

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READING: Building Relationships - Cross-Cultural Understanding.
Building a business relationship can be difficult if your partner is from a different culture
and you do not understand their expressions.
In many western societies, including the United States, a person who does not maintain
“good eye contact” is suspicious. Americans associate people who avoid eye contact as
unfriendly, insecure, inattentive and impersonal. In contrast, the Japanese teach children in
school to look at the teacher’s neck, and, as adults, the Japanese lower their eyes when
talking to a superior, a sign of respect. Latin American and African cultures have longer
“looking time”, and the British pay strict attention to the speaker, and blink many times to
indicate that they are paying attention.

Meeting and greeting a person is not always the same. In the Western society, you shake
the person’s hand. But the Japanese bow when they meet a new person, and to them
handing out a business card is a sign of respect, and it is very rude to take it and not read it
immediately.

Discuss the passage you just read with the rest of the class. Have you met someone
from a different culture? What is your experience?

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Grammar Link: Read the following passage, and then complete the sentences below.

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz is a Uruguayan professional footballer who

plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Uruguayan national team.
In July 2014, Suárez moved to Barcelona for a fee of €81 million. He is
the third most expensive player in the history of football, and some
people think that is a lot of money.

He is one of the best strikers in the world. But Suárez is a controversial

player. People are saying that he bites his opponents, and he has a
strong personality. One woman is accusing him of racial abuse.
However, his Uruguayan and world fans like him very much, and they
are angry that others criticize him.

The verb To Be
Affirmative Contraction Negative Contraction

he is he’s he is not he isn’t / he's not

she is she’s she is not she isn’t / she’s not
it is it’s it is not it isn’t / it’s not
they are they’re they are not they aren’t / they’re not

Writing: Complete these sentences about the things listed on the

left. a Barcelona FC It’s a Spanish football club.

b Suárez
c People say…
d One woman
e His fans
f €81 million
an Uruguayan football player.
saying that he bites his opponents.
accusing him of racial abuse.
angry that being criticized.
a lot of money!

Complete the sentences below.

A Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz from?

B from Uruguay
A his team Uruguayan?
B No. His team is Barcelona FC. _ a Spanish club.
A And what salary?
B around €81 million a year.

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LESSON 2: COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES

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ACTIVITY 2

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LESSON 3: NETWORKING – ASK ABOUT PERSONAL
INFORMATION

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REVIEW OF SIMPLE PRESENT

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SIMPLE PRESENT: SIMPLE BUSINESS ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Simple present form of the verb is used frequently in business settings. It is used to
introduce a person or a company to others. It is also used regularly in reports to provide
information about the status of a business. We can say that the simple present tense is
widely used in Business English. Let us go through some examples to see how prominent
and useful this tense is. The following paragraph introduces Jack Bender. The second part
introduces a company. The last paragraph is a summary of a sales and marketing status
report. All sentences in these three paragraphs are in simple present.

WHO IS JACK BENDER?

Jack Bender is a business partner in Lotus Ltd. He is one of the founders of the company.
Jack is the head of the marketing department. He is very enthusiastic about his work.
While his partner Lawrence, the CEO of the company, goes on business trips, he also
takes care of his responsibilities. Jack and Lawrence are lifelong friends and successful
business partners. They both trust each other to do what is best for their business. Every
month, Jack prepares marketing reports and presents it to Lawrence and the other heads of
the departments. They discuss possible strategies to improve sales. Jack is quite open
to new ideas and opinions. He considers every suggestion and gives feedback to the team.
The team also relies on his expertise.

LOTUS LTD.

Lotus Ltd. is a trading company in Paris, France. It mainly supplies spare parts to
plants. Lawrence Beckett and Jack Bender are the founders of the company. The company
CEO is Lawrence Beckett and the head of the marketing department is Jack Bender. Lotus
is an international business. The company is a small one but the revenues are not. Currently
Lotus has 12 members of staff, but the company’s annual revenue is about $150bn.
Lotus Ltd. aims to increase this number to
$1000bn in 5 years.

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 THE SALES AND MARKETING STATUS REPORT

Currently we have ten active orders. The orders are mainly from cement plants. Two
manufacturers supply these spare part orders. Out of ten orders, three are ready for
shipping, and two are in the manufacturing process. The other five orders need to be
delivered in three months. We need specifications from one company and
confirmations from the other four to move to place order from manufacturing. The total
orders of this months are fifteen so far. The earnings of this month are higher than the last
seven months.

KEY WORDS:

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LESSON 4: NUMBERS IN BUSINESS

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ORDINAL
NUMBERS

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NUMBERS IN BUSINESS CONTEXT