Monday, August 31, 2015

Monday, August 24, 2015

Useful Phrases for Your Business Emails



http://languagelearningbase.com

A Job Interview. Tips and Vocabulary

Have you got a job interview?  Keep calm and prepare it.


Tips

1. Think ahead: Think about your personal and professional qualities and experiences from other jobs, and be prepared to tell a story or two about them. Back up your statements with real life details and remember, the best interviewees always go from the general to the specific.

General: “One of my greatest strengths is problem solving”.


Specific: “For example, when I met a challenge in a recent project, I managed to… and from this experience I learnt that…”.

2. Listen and Understand: Listen carefully to everything your interviewer says. Use eye contact when you speak and if there is anything you would like them to explain or repeat – ask. You don’t want to talk about something they didn’t ask!

3. Prepare set vocabulary: It’s a good idea to develop your vocabulary and learn as many common industry terms as you can before the actual interview. This shows genuine interest in what you do as well as a desire to progress.

4. Use appropriate tenses: When you are asked you about your current position, answer in the present tense (I am working at… etc.). When you are asked about your past positions use the past tense (I worked at…, etc.).

5. Short but sweet: Your answers to interview questions should be direct and precise and you should avoid using too many interjections to fill gaps in conversation.

6. Breathe: Take a moment to relax and keep things in perspective.

Useful Interview Vocabulary 
Work environment – the conditions in which an employee works. (Physical conditions, equipment, processes and procedures, etc.)
Management style – how a company manages its employees and their work activities.
Colleagues – people who work with you.
Background – the type of career, training, or education that you have had
Self-disciplined – the ability to make yourself work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell you what to do.
Great attention to detail – able to ensure information is complete and accurate and all details have been taken into account.
Salary requirements – the financial compensation you would require to accept a position.

For more tips and advice for your first job interview in English, watch 
                                                                                                                             Adapted from Your First Job Interview in English by Cat Symonds

Click here for questions and answers 

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Greeting without feeling embarrassed

Cartoon: a non-guide to avoid awkwardness when greeting human beings by Sarah Glidden

Is it a hug? Is it a kiss? Cartoonist Sarah Glidden had to navigate the confusing world of greetings many times during her travels – and there’s just no way to avoid feeling embarrassed.
 Click here to read the whole article in  http://www.theguardian.com

Just for fun!


Let's take a break!

Which ways to take a break do you prefer?



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

MEALS IN THE UK

The names of meals and mealtimes in Britain is often very confusing to anyone visiting Britain or Ireland.
Breakfast (aka brekkie)
The most important meal of the day, they say. The classic ‘full English breakfast’ can include eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and sometimes a slice of blood sausage called ‘black pudding’. As if that’s not enough, it usually comes with toast and butter, fried bread or hash browns (a fried potato cake) – or even, occasionally, chips (French fries).


Of course, most people in the UK don’t eat a ‘full English’ every day. It’s usually served as brunch, a meal that covers breakfast and lunch together and that tends to be a weekend treat.
On a working day, most people eat cereal with milk, toast with jam or honey, or porridge – a bowl of hot oats cooked in milk. The traditional way to eat porridge is with salt, but many people prefer honey, brown sugar or syrup, or pieces of fruit. More than half of Brits say they start their day with a bowl of porridge – it’s healthy and it keeps you going until lunch!

Elevenses

This is an old-fashioned name for your mid-morning snack. Paddington Bear – the famous English children’s book character – always had marmalade sandwiches at 11am. Winnie the Pooh liked honey on his.
For others, nothing beats the hunger pangs like a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits.



Lunch
On most days, people in the UK eat a light, quick lunch – such as a sandwich, soup or salad – at some time between 12 and 2pm.
Lots of cafés and restaurants do special lunch deals, and you might see ‘meal deals’ in supermarkets, where you can buy a drink, a sandwich and a bag of crisps (potato chips) at a discount.


Sunday lunch – also called 'Sunday roast' because the main dish is roasted – is the classic, big meal at the weekend, and can be served as late as 5pm.
‘Dinner’ usually means the evening meal, which most people eat between 6pm and 9pm, with their family or friends. A ‘dinner date’ is a classic way of getting to know someone better in a romantic restaurant.
Sunday roast
However, some people say ‘dinner’ to describe lunch – especially a cooked lunch served in a school or work canteen.

Tea
Yes, tea is the classic British drink – but it’s also an afternoon snack, like the mid-afternoon version of ‘elevenses’,  and another word for the evening meal too. Confused?
Let’s start with ‘afternoon tea’, which finds its home in ‘tearooms’, particularly in seaside towns. This is usually served as a pot of tea with a selection of small sandwiches, pastries and cakes arranged on a tiered cake stand.

Afternoon tea
A ‘cream tea’, particularly in Cornwall, includes scones – sweet bread rolls, sometimes with raisins or sultanas, served with butter, jam and a very thick cream called clotted cream.
But then some people call their evening meal ‘tea’ instead of ‘dinner’ – especially in northern parts of England.

Supper
There are also people who call the evening meal ‘supper’. Supper tends to be served a bit later (between 7.30pm and 9pm) and is normally home-cooked. This is a more old-fashioned word now, and most young people would have ‘dinner’ instead.

Supper can be an evening meal and a snack before bedtime.
 An invitation to supper would mean the arrangement is more casual than an invitation to dinner, which is usually more formal. 

Dessert or pudding?
 It would take a lot of strength to resist all the sweet treats on offer at the end of a British meal. ‘the sweet’ or ‘pudding’ – or in slang, ‘pud’ (rhymes with ‘good’).


Sticky toffee pudding, apple crumble, treacle tart… even the names are enough to make you put on weight!
           
Adapted from  educationuk.org/global/articles/guide-to-uk-meals/

Cooking Objects and Actions

COOKING ACTIONS




CROCKERY AND FLATWARE







Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Tips for job searching and professional writing

1. Update your resumé
 Remove references to obsolete or irrelevant skills, update your summary statement, and delete any work experience that’s more than 10-15 years in the past. However, if your older work experience is extremely relevant to the position you’re applying for, go ahead and include it.

2. Write a cover letter
Your resumé includes your skills and qualifications, but “Your cover letter should be a pitch for why you should be hired.” Use your cover letter to let the employer know why you’re the best person for the job. If you’re applying for multiple jobs at the same time, you need to write a new cover letter to accompany each resumé you send out and tailor it to that specific role.

3. Keep correspondence professional
When writing for work, your main goal is to communicate your message clearly. Avoid slang, acronyms, abbreviations, emoticons, incomplete sentences, and (of course) typos. Sometimes long emails are unavoidable but try to include your main point or question within the first paragraph of your email; people often tend to stop reading or tune out when an email gets too long. Make sure you have a subject line and the correct spelling of the addressee’s name before you hit send!
                                                                                                                                                                       Alison Doyle
Adapted from grammarly.com looking-for-a-job

10 words and abbreviations you need to know for business school

Whether you’re just gearing up for business school or you’ve been in your industry for a long time, it’s a good idea to be familiar with what certain business terms mean. Here are 10 words and abbreviations every businessperson needs to know.
ROI: return on investment.
When push comes to shove, we’ll prioritize the project with the highest ROI.
USP: unique selling position.
The marketing team worked hard to develop the company’s USP so that the sales team would have more to work with.
Forecast: to use data you’ve gathered to predict future trends.
Based on our sales numbers from last year, we can forecast and set our budgets for the third and fourth quarters.
Balance sheet: a summary of the company’s accounts including assets, liabilities, and equity.
Let’s take a look at the balance sheet again before Thursday’s investor meeting.
Brand: a company’s logo, tagline, or other distinguishing identifier that sets them apart in the marketplace.
In today’s meeting, we’ll decide on which colors to use for our brand.
Minutes: notes from a meeting, including what was said and what actions will be taken next.
Please review the meeting minutes from last week before joining the conference call.
Stakeholder: any individual or group who has a stake (interest) in the company or project.
I emailed the relevant stakeholders to get their feedback on our new marketing initiative.
B2B and B2C: business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
As a B2B company, we only spend a small portion of our budget on widespread advertising.
EOD: end of day.
I’ll have that report in your inbox by EOD.
Performance or annual review: An evaluation and assessment of an employee’s contributions to the company.
During her annual review, she was offered a promotion and a bonus.
Which words would you add to this list?
                                                                                                          By 

Common Idioms and Expressions. English/Spanish

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2015
IDIOM: id•i•om /ˈɪdiəm/ n. [countable]: an expression or phrase that does not follow regular rules of grammar, or one whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meaning of its individual parts:

The expression kick the bucket, meaning "to die,'' is an idiom in English.

Every language has its own collection of wise sayings. This List of commonly used idioms and sayings (in everyday conversational English) can help to speak English by learning English idiomatic expressions.
*Make sure you know how and when to use these expressions, If not, you'd better be quiet.
            In for a penny in for a pound– De perdidos al río (UK)
            In for  a dime in for a dollar – De perdidos al río (US) 
            Indeed– Ya lo creo
            Inside out– Del revés
            It's cutting edge– Es el último grito/moda
            It's giving him hell– Le hace la vida imposible
            It's water under the bridge– Es agua pasada (cuando se hacen
            las paces por ejemplo)
            It gives me the goosebumps-Me pone la piel de gallina
            (POSITIVO)
            It gives me creep– Me pone la piel de gallina (NEGATIVO) 
            It sounds Greek to me– Me suena a chino
COMPARE:
    1. It turns out that– Resulta que…
    2. It’s a rip off– Es una estafa
    3. It’s finger licking good– Está para chuparse los dedos
    4. It’s high time/About time– Ya es hora / Ya va siendo hora
    5. It’s in the lap of the Gods– Que sea lo que Dios quiera
    6. It’s my treat / It’s on me– Invito yo
    7. It’s not a big deal / It’s not that of a big deal– No es para tanto
    8. It’s on the house– Invita la casa/por cuenta de la casa
    9. It’s raining cats and dogs– Llueve a cántaros
    10. It’s up to you– Como tú quieras / Depende de ti (en tono amable)
    11. It’s worthless– No vale nada
    12. I’ve enough on my plate– No puedo más (en la vida)