notes on expressions

BUSINESS ENGLISH

Εισήγηση: Π.Ηλιοπούλου

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Put these sentences in the best order.

1. A. Very well, thanks. Let’s get down to business, shall we?

B. I’m fine, thanks. How are you?

C. Hello again! How are you getting on?

D. Yes, all right.

2. A. Miss Smith, I’d like you to meet Mrs Jones.

B. Oh, please call me Liz.

C. How do you do, Mrs Jones?

D. And I’m Claire.

3. A. Oh, yes. I’ve heard of you.

B. The name’s Alex White.

C. I’d like to introduce myself.

D. Pleased to meet you.

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

4. A. I wondered if I might take Friday off?

B. Yes. Tony, of course.

C. Oh, Friday’s rather difficult.

D. Mrs Lang, could I have a word please?

5. A. What do you think?

B. Yes, sure, Bob.

C. Geoff, could you come over here a minute?

D. Aha, yes, you’ve put a lot of work into it.

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases to introduce a visitor

Let me introduce you to …

There’s …/ This is …/ Meet …

Don’t hesitate to ask.

I’ll show you round.

Let me show you where the … is.

Socializing

Expressions to guide the conversation or change the subject.

a. Incidentally, …

b. Talking of ...

c. By the way , …

d. Before I forget ,…

e. On the subject of ...

Peggy Iliopoulou

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

The less direct you say something in English, the more polite it sounds.

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Small Talk &Socializing

Welcoming a visitor Talking about the offices

and company

Welcome to [ABcompany]. It’s a lovely space/a very

nice location.

Did you have any trouble The reception area looks

finding us? very nice.

Hello, [name]. Have you been in this

location long?

Nice to see you again. How many people work

here?

You can leave your things How long has the

here/in my office/at the company been around?

reception desk. I’ll take you around to meet

the team.

Peggy Iliopoulou

Small Talk &Socializing

Offering hospitality Accepting hospitality

Would you like something A cup of coffee.

to drink? Some water would be

nice.

How would you like that? Just black./

Milk/Cream (AE)? Sugar? With milk and sugar,

please.

Here you are. Thank you./Thanks.

Please help yourself to

the biscuits/cookies (AE).

Peggy Iliopoulou

Socializing

Try to avoid these common mistakes:

Welcome in our company. Welcome to our company.

Are you in this location long? Have you been in this

location long?

We are fifty employees. There are fifty employees.

Please. (when you give sb sth) Here you are.

Please. (when sb thanks you) You’re welcome./Not at all.

Peggy Iliopoulou

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Make the following sentences more polite What’s your name?

What business are you in?

I want to meet you next week.

Wait until I get my diary.

Give me your contact information.

You work at HT Electronics, right?

Do you want to meet later to discuss the details?

Put your name on our mailing list.

Could you tell me your name,please?

Can I ask what business you are in?

Would you be interested in meeting next week?

Could you just wait a minute while I get my diary?

Could you give me your contact information?

Don’t you work at HT Electronics?

Would you like to meet later to discuss the details?

Would you like to put your mail on our mailing list?

Socializing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Match the sentences on the left with the response on the right.

Socializing

Tell your partner about your job, using the phrases given below.

I am the… at …

I am responsible for…

My job /responsibility is to…

My job entails/ involves

I’m in charge of…

I report to …

I manage …

Socializing

Job – Work

Job: Noun Countable

Work that you do regularly to earn money. When you ask someone about their job, you usually say 'What do you do?', and not 'What is your job?' The answer would usually be 'I am a ...' or 'I work as a...', and not 'My job is'..

Examples: I like my job; I’m a teacher.

My brother has found a good job as a sales manager at Vodafone.

Something that you have to do or deal with, a small task or a piece of work, duty or responsibility

Examples: You did a good job today on the report .

No one wanted the job of painting the ceiling.

Work: Verb and noun (Uncountable)

To have a job, usually one that you are paid to do.

Example: She works as a teacher.

Socializing

Job – Work

ATTENTION:

work in: I hope to work in marketing when I'm older.

work as: She worked as a journalist.

work with: All our nursery nurses are qualified to work with children.

work for: She works for a big law firm in the city.

Activity that involves physical or mental effort.

Example: Thank you for all your hard work.

I have a lot of work to do.

A place where someone goes to do their job.

Example: I walk to work and take the bus home.

Business Writing

The four areas you must take into consideration for any

business letter are:

1. Subject

2. Audience

3. Purpose

4. Style/Organization

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Addressee British English American English

Company Man (name unknown)

Woman (name unknown)

Name and sex unknown

Man

Married woman or widow

Unmarried woman

Woman (the modern way)

Woman (marital status unknown)

Married couple

Unmarried couple

Friend / acquaintance

Dear Sir or Madam

Dear Gentlemen

Dear Mr / Mrs / Ms Jones

Dear John

Family and close friends

Dear Sir or Madam Dear Sir

Dear Madam

Dear Sir / Madam

Dear Mr Blair

Dear Mrs Blair

Dear Miss Blair

Dear Ms Blair

Dear Ms Blair

Dear Mr and Mrs Blair

Dear Mr Cain and Ms McAvoy

Dear Jackie

Yours faithfully

not appropriate

Yours sincerely

(With) Best wishes /regards

(With) love

Dear Gentlemen

The rest is the same as British

English

not appropriate

Sincerely yours

(Very) Truly yours

Yours sincerely / truly

The rest is the same as British

English

Business Writing

Formal e-mails Opening Dear Sir or Madam Dear Sir/ Madam Dear Mr Thomas Dear Dr Thomas

Dear John Thomas Dear Ms Huffington Closing Yours faithfully Sincerely

Regards Yours sincerely

When you don’t know the

name

When you don’t know the

name

When you know the name

When you know the name

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Formal Neutral

Dear Mr Harrison Dear Paul

It was a great pleasure It was very nice

I trust you have fully recovered I hope you're feeling better

I am writing to thank you Many thanks

These will be very useful

indeed

These will really be useful

If you are ever in Delhi please

do not hesitate to contact

me.

If you come to Delhi please let

me know

Yours sincerely Best wishes

Business Writing

Are the following questions true or false?

1. Business e-mails should always be very formal.

2. Legal documents can be sent by e-mail.

3. Internal e-mails in general can be very informal.

4. Business e-mails don’t need the traditional opening and closings.

5. E-mails are confidential and private.

Business Writing

What subject heading could you give for the following e-mails?

1. You want to take two weeks leave next month.

2. You’re e-mailing a client with product information after they

telephoned you with an enquiry.

3. There has been a policy change regarding working hours.

4. Communal e-mail about an in-house Business English training

course next week.

Opening lines

Business Writing

-to make reference to previous correspondence

- to say how you found the recipient's name/address

- to say why you are writing to the recipient. With reference to your letter of 8th June, I ...

I am writing to enquire about ...

After having seen your advertisement in ... , I would like ...

After having received your address from ... , I ...

I received your address from ... and would like ...

We/I recently wrote to you about ...

Thank you for your letter of 8 May.

Thank you for your letter regarding ...

Thank you for your letter/e-mail about ...

In reply to your letter of 8 May, ...

Peggy Iliopoulou

First paragraph

In most types of business letter it is common to use a friendly greeting in the first sentence of the letter. Here are some examples:

I hope you are enjoying a fine summer.

Thank you for your kind letter of January 5th.

I came across an ad for your company in The Star today.

It was a pleasure meeting you at the conference this month.

I appreciate your patience in waiting for a response.

After your short opening, state the main point of your letter in one or two sentences:

I'm writing to enquire about...

I'm interested in the job opening posted on your company website

Business Writing

Second and third paragraphs

Use a few short paragraphs to go into greater detail about your main point. If one paragraph is all you need, don't write an extra paragraph just to make your letter look longer.

If you are including sensitive material, such as rejecting an offer or informing an employee of a layoff period, embed this sentence in the second paragraph rather than opening with it.

Here are some common ways to express unpleasant facts:

We regret to inform you...

It is with great sadness that we...

After careful consideration we have decided...

Business Writing

Business Writing

Final paragraph

Your last paragraph should include requests, reminders, and notes on enclosures. If necessary, your contact information should also be in this paragraph.

Here are some common phrases used when closing a business letter:

I look forward to...

Please respond at your earliest convenience.

I should also remind you that the next board meeting is on February 5th.

For further details...

If you require more information...

Thank you for taking this into consideration.

I appreciate any feedback you may have.

Enclosed you will find...

Feel free to contact me by phone or email

Closing lines

Business Writing

- to make a reference to a future event

- to repeat an apology - to offer help

If you require any further information, feel free to contact me.

I look forward to your reply.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I look forward to seeing you.

Please advise as necessary.

We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Peggy Iliopoulou

Closing lines

Business Writing

Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience.

We hope that we may continue to rely on your valued custom.

I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.

When the recipient's name is unknown to you:

Dear Sir ... Yours faithfully

Dear Madam ... Yours faithfully

When you know the recipient's name:

Dear Mr Hanson ... Yours sincerely

When addressing a good friend or colleague:

Dear Jack ... Best wishes/Best regards

Addressing whole departments:

Dear Sirs ... Yours faithfully

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Useful Phrases

I will contact you later this week to schedule an appointment.

If you need to get in touch with me, please feel free to call me at…

If you have any questions or concerns, I can be reached at…

I will be in your area the week of December 16. I would like to meet

with you to discuss how our product line can help your business.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have and explain

the unique features of our product and its benefits to you.

On behalf of the … COMPANY, I would like to thank you for…

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Fill in the appropriate word from the box. Dear Mr Jacobs,

Thank you very much for your letter ………….. 5 March. ………….. answer to

your request, we have ……………….in enclosing our latest …………….and

price list.

I would like to……………your attention to the special offers. These products

are available at a reduced price for a limited time only.

If you would like any……………….information, please get in …………….with

me.

I look ……………..to hearing from you.

Yours ………………….. ,

Howard Johnson

Sales Manager

………………: catalogue, price list, special offers supplement

of In

pleasure catalogue

draw

further touch

forward

sincerely

Enclosed

In _________ of the increase in our volume of

__________, I am writing to _________

whether you would be prepared to

__________ credit terms of 60 days.

Would you let us _________ your decision as

soon as _________ ?

With _________ to your request for

improved credit __________, I am afraid

that group __________ does not

___________ us to extend more than 30

days’ credit.

view

business

extend

know

policy

possible

allow

enquire

terms

regard

Email type:

Email type:

a request

a refusal

Complete the emails with the appropriate

words. Decide what type of email each

one is e.g. an agreement, an apology, a

final demand, a refusal, a reminder, a

request.

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

allow, regard, know, enquire,

terms, view, extend, possible,

policy, business

__________ to your email of 17 July, we are

pleased to agree to the __________ you

propose, and we look __________ to

receiving your order.

May I __________ you that the sum of

€101,000 is still ___________ on your

account?

We would appreciate your early

___________ of this outstanding __________.

Further

terms

forward

outstanding

remind

balance settlement

Email type:

Email type:

an

agreement

a reminder





request.

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

balance, remind, terms,

further, forward,

settlement, outstanding

We would like to __________ for the delay in

sending the _________ cheque. This was

unfortunate __________ due to

circumstances beyond our __________, and

we can assure you that it will not

__________.

We wrote to you on 11 April __________ the

balance of €15,550 which is still __________.

Unless we receive payment ___________

seven days, we shall have no ___________

but to pass the matter on to our ___________

department.

enclosed

control

oversight

reoccur

regarding

outstanding

alternative

within

legal

apologize

Email type:

Email type:

an apology

a final demand





request.

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

apologize, legal, outstanding,

enclosed, reoccur, regarding,

within, control,

alternative, oversight

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Fill in the blanks with the correct word form those given in brackets.

I am writing to you ……………………………

(affecting/connecting/concerning) the meeting that we

………………………….( combined/appointed/arranged) for this

Friday. I am afraid something urgent has come up and I will not be

able to attend. Can we ………………………………….

( cancel/postpone/schedule) the meeting until next week? I can make

any time Wednesday or Thursday.

I apologise for any ……………………………

(disadvantage/inconvenience/unfortunate) this may cause, and

I …………………………….(look forward/wait/anticipate) to

…………………………………(hear/hearing/know) from you.

concerning

arranged

postpone

inconvenience

look forward

hearing

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou


I was ……………………………..( sorry/unhappy/afraid ) to hear about the

damage to the products that you received this morning. However, I

am…………………(afraid/apologise/regret) that we cannot

…………………………… (accept/except/have)responsibility.

All our products are ……………………(controlled/checked/looked)

very carefully before leaving the factory, and the damage, in this case,

must have been caused in transit.

I……………………………. ( propose/suggest/tell) that you contact the

Shipping company directly about possible compensation.

In the meantime, we can ship the same order to you again, if it would help.

If you give us a firm instruction to do so………………………

(until/by/within) the next few days, it should reach you by the end of the

month.

sorry

afraid accept

checked

suggest

within

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou


I am writing with ………………… (connection/reference/regarding)

to our telephone conversation this morning about your order

7895LG.

I must ………………………(regret/apologise/sorry) for the delay in

processing this order.

I can now confirm that the goods have been shipped and should

…………………………… (arrive/reach/deliver) you within 10 working

days.

Once again, please…………………………… ( take/have/accept) our

apologies.

If you have any further questions, do

not…………………(stop/fail/hesitate) to contact me again.

reference

apologise

reach

accept

hesitate

Business Writing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful Abbreviations

Business Writing

Look at the following examples of abbreviations from e-mail and online chats. Can you understand them?

IDK what the answer is ATM. I’ll tell U ASAP.

TYVM for the proposal.

BTW, I’m going away on holiday next week so CU when I get back.

…so it’s quite difficult, UC.

I’m busy now. PLS can we call me L8R?

OK, CUL8R.

FYI I’m not here tomorrow.

THX for your MSG.

Business Writing

We are interested in..., particularly in...

We would be very pleased/grateful if you could send us ... together

with/along with ...

We would like to receive...

Some samples would also be greatly appreciated.

Kindly let us also have ...

to meet requirements / to be up to expectations

to place an order/a trial order within the next three months

ENQUIRIES

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Here enclosed you will find / Please find attached

Your order will be executed with the greatest care

We are delighted to send you ... We are also sending ..., as requested.

We can assure/guarantee delivery within one month.

Payment can be made/effected ...

REPLY TO ENQUIRIES

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We have undertaken to make several shipments of office equipment to

Italy over the next 12 months. We would be

grateful if you could issue an all risks open policy to cover these shipments

from the above address to ports of

destination, through road-ship intermodal transport.

Could you please quote your best rate for this policy at your earliest

convenience?

REQUESTING A QUOTATION

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We are in receipt of your letter of (date) concerning shipments of office

equipment to (Country).

We thank you for choosing our company to insure the goods you want to

ship.

We are sending herewith our best quotation for the value of the whole

consignment, which covers all risks, including

breakage and pilferage.

You will see that our tariff is very low and we hope this will give us the

opportunity to handle your insurance business.

Enclosed(Attached) you will also find several declaration forms, which we

ask you to fill in with all details and then send back to us for each

shipment.

SENDING A QUOTATION

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Following our conversation

your prices compare favourably with others

We therefore have the pleasure of sending our order form No. ...., here

enclosed.

As agreed, we will pay by ... as soon as our bank receives your pro-forma

invoice and the shipping documents.

Please, have the articles carefully packed, as we will be obliged to refuse

any lot in bad condition.

If .... we will be glad to place larger orders with you.

We look forward to your confirmation of order.

PLACING ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We have received your order form 56666 for (product) dated ... and we

thank you very much.

Our sales department informs us that they are able to dispatch your stock

by the end of next week following your packing instructions.

As agreed, we have arranged transport and insurance CIF Genoa with

(shipping company) who will load the cargo on the first available ship.

We are sending herewith a copy of our pro-forma invoice. Please

therefore open a letter of credit in our favour for £... plus VAT. The

consignment will be sent as soon as the bank informs us that the sum is

available.

EXECUTION OF ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We hope you will be satisfied with the fulfilment of this order and that it will

be the beginning of a business relationship

to our mutual benefit.

Will you kindly have the (articles) shipped in two months’ time, that is, not

later than ... Please note that

Payment by draft against documents at 60 days for one third and the

remaining on receipt of your pro-forma invoice.

EXECUTION OF ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We were very glad to receive your order of (date) for: (articles)

Our despatch department is processing your consignment today and can

guarantee delivery by (date) as requested.

I hope you will find this proposal satisfactory and look forward to receiving

immediate confirmation by fax or email.

You can rely on our usual prompt and careful execution of your orders.

As we find that the quality of your produce is of a very high standard, we

are pleased to order ... according to the list

here enclosed.

EXECUTION OF ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Prices: as stated in your offer.

Delivery: since the articles ...., they should arrive by the end of ... at the

very latest.

Packing: .... to avoid breakage during transport

Payment: half on receipt of and the rest on arrival of the consignment by

bank transfer.

We shall reject articles that are not up to the samples given.

we think we will be able to place repeat orders with you in the future.

EXECUTION OF ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Correspondence

Thank you for your order.

It is already being attended to and we can guarantee delivery

well before 31st October, as you requested.

boxes which have always proved an efficient protection against

breakage.

Enclosed please find our invoice: as agreed we ask you to pay ...

we have issued a draft on you at 30 days for the

remaining.

We hope that this initial order will lead to a lasting business

connection with you and we look forward to receiving your

further orders.

EXECUTION OF ORDER

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We are glad to inform you that the 50 cartons of spare parts ... as per your

order No. ..., have been collected by

(shipping company) for shipment by the (ship name) sailing from Naples

on (date) due to arrive in London on 10th June.

Our bank have informed us that you have opened a letter of credit in our

favour and we have handed the following

documents to be transmitted to your bank in London: (commercial

invoice, certification of origin, insurance certificate,

bill of lading)

We trust you will receive the goods in good order and hope you will be

satisfied with our articles and continue to favour

us with your order.

ADVICE OF DISPATCH

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We are completely satisfied with the quality of the goods, which arrived in

perfect condition.

We hope to place further orders with you in the coming months.

We are pleased to inform you that we have today received the (articles)

as per our order No.

ADVICE OF SAFE DELIVERY

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We are pleased to submit here enclosed our quarterly statement of

account for a total amount of £ ...

Will you please check the entries and, if they are correct, arrange

payment by bank transfer as usual at (bank name and

address, IBAN).

We look forward to receiving your settlement.

PAYMENTS

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Dear.........

I am writing with reference to (situation or complaint) of (date).

First of all, I apologise for the inconvenience/distress/problems created by

our error/failure.

We take great care to ensure that important matters such as this are

properly managed/processed/implemented, although due to (give

reason – but be careful as to how much detail you provide - generally you

need only give a broad outline of the reason), so on this occasion an

acceptable standard has clearly not been met/we have clearly not

succeeded in meeting your expectations.

In light of this, we have decided to/that (solution or offer). We hope this

will be acceptable to you.

I will call you soon to check that this meets with your approval/Please

contact me should you have any further cause for concern.

Yours sincerely,

HANDLING COMPLAINTS

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We have just received the cartons of goods ordered on (DATE)-

On checking the goods we discovered that there is a shortage in the

number of articles you sent us. We received only 10

pieces of items No. 78877 and ... instead of ... .

We inspected the packing cases, which were in good order and showed

no evidence of tampering, so that it appears that

the shortage is due to a failure in your packing department.

Please investigate the matter and send us the missing goods ASAP.

We are looking forward ... We trust this kind of mistake will not occur again.

COMPLAINT ABOUT WRONG QUANTITY

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

With reference to your e-mail of … we assure that the remaining items as

per your order of October 15th last, and precisely:

...

...

Are already on their way to your store. We have in fact despatched them

by DHL courier and you should receive the missing goods within three days

at the latest.

As you pointed out, the fault was due to a failure... and we have arranged

new checking procedures to avoid such mistakes happening again.

We hope that you will continue to place our orders with us and that we can

serve you better in the future.

Please, accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

REPLY TO A COMPLAINT ABOUT MISSING GOODS

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We refer to our order of (date) for (articles) No., your Autumn/Winter

catalogue.

Some of our customers report that ... making the article dangerous... and

have asked for a complete refund of their purchase.

We checked the remaining (article) we have in stock and we found that

many ... had the same problem, due to a defect in manufacturing.

Although this is the first time that we have had to complain about your

products and this is the only consignment that

appears to have such problems, you will understand that we cannot

continue to sell your (articles) as they are.

We are therefore keeping the lot at your disposal, pending your instructions

as to what to do with it.

COMPLAINT ABOUT FAULTY ARTICLES

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

Following your complaint of ... , we have checked the matter with our

manufacturing control and we found that a whole

batch of (articles), sent out from our factory after (date) had been poorly

constructed because of an oversight of the assembly line controller.

Fortunately we have constructed a new part, which can easily be substituted

for the faulty one. We are sending you these new replacement parts so that

you can put (article) in order.

We will be more than happy to refund you fully of this.

We rely on your help to overcome the unfortunate circumstances and we

assure you that an inconvenience of this kind will not be repeated.

Thank you very much for you co-operation.

REPLY TO A COMPLAINT ABOUT FAULTY GOODS

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

On September ... we placed our order for ... .

These articles were ordered on the clear understanding that they should

reach us by mid October. They are in fact a

fashionable novelty, which we intended to advertise particularly for the Xmas

season.

The Xmas sales are now approaching and we received neither the goods nor

an explanation, and we may run out of

stock and be unable to meet our customers’ requirements. You will

understand that this delay could cause us a loss of business.

Under the circumstances, we cannot wait any longer, so if we do not hear

from you be the end of this week, we will have no option but withdraw from

our contract and order from another supplier

COMPLAINT ABOUT DELAY IN DELIVERY

Peggy Iliopoulou

Business Writing

We received this morning your letter complaining about the delivery of ... you

ordered on (date) and we sincerely apologise for the trouble caused by the

delay.

Unfortunately a strike in our factory stopped the production for a period of ... .

The strike has now been settled but we are now faced with a backlog of

orders. We are however doing our best to keep the delay of the scheduled

deliveries within reasonable limits, and we are arranging despatch of your

order by airfreight, so that you will be able to receive the consignment by the

end of the week.

We are extremely sorry for the delay, which you will realise is due to

circumstances beyond our control. Please accept

our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

We look forward to receiving an early reply.

We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible / soon.

We are looking forward to your reply.

REPLY TO A COMPLAINT ABOUT DELAY IN DELIVERY

Peggy Iliopoulou

Telephone Communication


Use the right level of formality – if you are too formal, people

might find it difficult to feel comfortable when they talk to

you. On the other hand, if you are too informal, people might

think you are rude!

Generally speaking, if you are talking to someone in a

business context, you should

use could, can, may or would when you make a request:

'Could I speak to Jason Roberts, please?' 'Can I take a

message?' 'Would next Wednesday be okay?'. You should

also use please and thank you or thanks very much whenever

you ask for, or receive, help or information.

Peggy Iliopoulou


Peggy Iliopoulou

Listen to the dialogues and choose the one correct answer

1. When you telephone a company the person answering the

phone may ask you a question. Which is the correct question?

A. Who’s calling please?

B. Who calls?

C. Who it is?

D. Who called?

2. Which phrase means the same as ‘hang on a moment?’

A. Just a second

B. I’ll put you on

C .Go ahead

D .I’m ready

Answering


Peggy Iliopoulou

3. Choose the correct word: “Please ……. and I’ll put you through.”

A. stop

B. stay

C. talk

D. hold

4. What is the expression used to connect two people on the telephone?

A. I’m sending you through

B .I’m putting you through

C. I’m calling you through

D. I’m talking you through

Connecting


Peggy Iliopoulou

5. You ______ have the wrong number.

A. should

B. would

C. must

D. can

6. His _______ number is 998922.

A. straight

B. direct

C. certain

D. sure

Wrong number


Peggy Iliopoulou

7. I'm ________ to have troubled you.

A. upset

B. apologise

C. sorry

D. sad

8. I'm sorry, you've _______ the wrong number.

A. got

B. had

C. have

D. put

Wrong number


Peggy Iliopoulou

9. Can you call _____later or can I ____ a message?

A.____, leave

B. back, take

C. back, write

D. _____, keep

10. I’ll ______sure he gets the message

A. make

B. be

C. become

D. certainly

Messages


Peggy Iliopoulou

11. I’d like to ___________ an appointment.

A. arrange

B. have

C. do

D. save

12. I could ________ it after four.

A. take

B. fake

C. get

D. make

Arrangements


Peggy Iliopoulou

13. Let’s meet next Wednesday… shall we _____ 4.15?

A. arrange

B. say

C. suggest

D. see

14. Would next _________ be OK?

A. day

B. morning

C. week

D. afternoon

Arrangements


You overhear a colleague say the following things on the phone.

What questions do you think she was asked?

a. Yes, I’d like to speak to Ifakat Karsli, please.

b. Yes, it’s Ivana Medvedeva.

c. M-E-D-V-E-D-E-V-A, Medvedeva.

d. Yes. Can you just tell her Ivana called?

e. Yes, I’ll tell him as soon as he gets in.

f. Of course. Your reference number is 45-81099-KM. OK?

g. Sorry, is that better?

h. Around three, I should think.

i .Can we make that two hours?

j .Certainly. Can you give me your number?

k. Sure. When can I expect to hear from you?

l .Sure. Just a minute. Where’s my pen? OK, go ahead.

Peggy Iliopoulou


Listen and check your answers. Track 1.5

Peggy Iliopoulou


Peggy Iliopoulou

Choose the best responses

1. I’d like to speak to Mr Kahn, please.

A. Yes

B. I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment.

C. Well, you can’t.

2. Can I speak to Mr Kahn, please?

A. Hold on, please.

B. Don’t go away.

C. All right.

3. Could I speak to Mr Kahn, please?

A. Who’s calling?

B. Who are you?

C. What’s your name?


Peggy Iliopoulou

Choose the best responses

4. Can I ring you back later?

A. Yes, ring me.

B. Yes, please do.

C. Of course ring, yes.

5. When can I reach you?

A. One hour.

B. I’ll be in all evening.

C. When you want.


Peggy Iliopoulou

Call 1 3. Put the recorded message into the right order. The first and last parts are in

the right place.

Hello. This is Patterson Meats, 1_

but if you’d like to leave ___

for calling. I’m afraid ___

a fax, please do so ___

your call right now, ___

after the tone, and I’ll get back ___

Sylvia Wright’s office. Thank you ___

I’m not able to take ___

a message or send ___

to you as soon as I can. 10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9


Peggy Iliopoulou

Dealing with difficulties

Which expressions are usually used when talking on a..

landline telephone?

mobile/cellphone?

both?

1. "We seem to be breaking up."

2. "I need to charge up my phone."

3. "Can you speak up? The line's not very good."

4. "We seem to have a crossed line."

5. "The signal is very weak here."

6. "My battery is almost dead."

7. "I think there's a problem with the network."

8. "Sorry about that. I just went through a tunnel."

9. "I think we got cut off."

10. "I can't hear you very well."


Peggy Iliopoulou


Complete the responses and suggestions below for solving the

problems :

back in on that up

1. OK. Is__________ better?

2. I'll try calling you____________ later.

3. I'll call you back_____________ a few minutes.

4. I'll hang____________ and call you back.

5. Hang________ , I'll just move somewhere else.

that

back

in up

on


Peggy Iliopoulou


Complete the expressions below with the pairs of words: catch + say

fast + slowly good + simply mean + explain

up + hear 1. I'm sorry, I don't understand what you_________ . Can you____________ it

another way?

2. I'm sorry, I didn't___________ that. Can you__________ it again?

3. Can you speak __________a bit? I can't ________ you very well.

4. I'm sorry, my English isn't so________ . Can you say that more __________?

5. I'm sorry, you're too________ for me. Can you speak a bit more_________ ?

mean

catch

up good

fast

explain

say

hear simply

slowly

Peggy Iliopoulou


Useful language

International trade terms

Peggy Iliopoulou

Merchandise: εμπόρευμα

Freight or Cargo: φορτίο (freight (ρ.): μεταφέρω με κόμιστρο)

Certificate of manufacture:πιστοποιητικό παραγωγού

Certificate of origin: πιστοποιητικό προέλευσης

Certificate of inspection:πιστοποιητικό ελέγχου

Pro-forma invoice: προτιμολόγιο

Specifications: προδιαγραφές

Letter of credit: πιστωτική επιστολή

Bill of lading: φορτωτική

FOB(Free On Board): ελεύθερο επί πλοίου

CFR (Cost and Freight): αξία και ναύλος

CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight): αξία, ασφάλεια και ναύλος

Bonded Warehouse: αποθήκη τελωνείου

Duties:δασμοί

Customs/Duty: τελωνείο

Customs Broker/Αgent: εκτελωνιστής


Peggy Iliopoulou

Οικογένεια Incoterm

Όλα τα μεταφορικά μέσα

(συμπεριλαμβανομένης της

θαλάσσιας μεταφοράς)

EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAT, DAP, DDP

Θαλάσσια μεταφορά και μεταφορά

μέσω υδάτινων οδών FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF


Peggy Iliopoulou

Αγγλική διατύπωση Ελληνική διατύπωση

Κωδικός Περιγραφή Περιγραφή

EXW EX Works...named place Εκ του εργοστασίου… κατονομαζόμενος τόπος

FCA Free Carrier…named place Ελεύθερο στον μεταφορέα…κατονομαζόμενος τόπος

FAS Free AlongSide ship…named port of shipment Ελεύθερο παράπλευρα του πλοίου …κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι φόρτωσης

FOB Free On Board…named port of shipment Ελεύθερο επί του πλοίου …κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι φόρτωσης

CFR Cost and Freight …named port of destination Αξία και ναύλο...κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι προορισμού

CPT Carriage Paid To…named port of destination Μεταφορά πληρωμένη μέχρι …κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι προορισμού

CIF Cost, Insurance, Freight...named port of destination Αξία, ασφάλεια και ναύλος...κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι προορισμού

CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid to...named port of destination

Μεταφορά και ασφάλεια πληρωμένη μέχρι κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι προορισμού

DAT Delivered At Terminal... Named port of destination Παραδοτέο στο τερματικό...κατονομαζόμενο λιμάνι προορισμού

DAP Delivered at Place …named port of destination Παραδοτέο στον...κατονομαζόμενο τόπο προορισμού

DDP Delivered Duty Paid...named port of destination Παραδοτέο, δασμός πληρωμένος… κατονομαζόμενος τόπος προορισμού

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#EXW

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#FCA

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#FAS

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#FOB

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#CFR

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#CPT

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#CIF

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#CIP

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#DAT

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#DAP

http://www.alphainternationaltrade.com/gr/methods/incoterms-2010#DDP

Legal terms

Peggy Iliopoulou

Contract: συμβόλαιο

Ιntent: πρόθεση

Offer: προσφορά Counteroffer:αντι-προσφορά

(make/accept/reject/amend an offer)

Consideration: εξ’ απεχθούς αιτίας/ υποχρεώσεις, δεσμεύσεις

Acceptance:αποδοχή

Legally binding: νομική δέσμευση (valid under the law)

Βinding agreement: δεσμευτική συμφωνία

Party: συμβαλλόμενος

Representations: διαβεβαιώσεις/ δηλώσεις

Warranties: εγγυήσεις

Repudiation:απόρριψη/ αποπομπή

Lawsuit:μήνυση

Legal terms

Peggy Iliopoulou

Frustration: ματαίωση

Dispute: διαφωνία

(settle a dispute)

Arbitration:διαιτησία

Damages: ζημίες, απώλειες (award damages)

Claim: απαίτηση

Come to terms: καταλήγω σε συμφωνία (reach an agreement) Ratify the agreement: επικυρώνω τη συμφωνία Without prejudice: μετ’ επιφυλάξεως παντός δικαιώματος Condition: όρος Clauses: ρήτρα (insert a clause) Exemption Clauses: ρήτρα απαλλαγής (escape clause: ρήτρα

διαφυγής) Non-compete Clause: ρήτρα μη άσκησης ανταγωνισμού

Legal terms

Peggy Iliopoulou

Liability: ευθύνη, υπαιτιότητα

(Liability rests to the…)

Limited liability: περιορισμένη ευθύνη

Exclusion clause: ρήτρα εξαίρεσης

Breach of contract: αθέτηση συμβολαίου

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Airplane arrangements-Booking tickets -I’d like to book one roundtrip ticket from…to… leaving…(date) and returning…

(date) / I’d like to book an one-way ticket to… for…(date)

-Could you give me a quote on roundtrip flights to… on…(date)?

-I’d like a first class ticket

- We ‘d prefer…, if possible

- Can you put us in economy, please?

- Can you put us on an aisle, please?

- Can you make sure one of us gets a window seat, please?

- Would you please try to put us in an emergency exit row seat?

- Is it possible to request …

- I’d like to get a seat near a window, if possible.

- Can I get three seats in a row together?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Airport Check in

Useful phrases

Checking in you might hear -Next in line, please. Checking in?

-What’ s your destination today?

- Can I have your ticket/ passport, please?/ May I see…?/Do you have an e-

ticket?

- Are you checking any baggage/ luggage?/How many bags are you

checking?

- Can you please put your suitcase on the scale?

- Do you have a carry-on bag?

- Your baggage is overweight.

- Your carry-on luggage is too large/ oversized.

- Here’s a list of items that are prohibited in your carry-on baggage. Please, be

sure to check before you get through the security check point.

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Checking in you might hear - Do you have a seating preference? Window or aisle?

- Your flight is departing from Gate 9, at 11: 45.

- You can either pay for your excess baggage or leave one of your bags behind.

- Here is your boarding pass. Have a nice trip.

- Check in for international flights is in terminal 4.

- Please, proceed through the passport control and then go to the departure

lounge

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Checking in you might say -I’m flying to …, connecting through…

- I have a connecting flight through Madrid.

- I connect in Brussels and then fly on to Prague.

- I’d like to check in for the Paris flight.

- Is the flight on time?

- Is the flight delayed?

- Could you tell me what the international baggage allowance is ?

- Can you tell me if the flight is very busy?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Security check point - Did you pack these bags yourself?

- Have they been with you at all times?

- Has anyone given you anything to carry on?

- Take off your belt/shoes- Remove your …

- Spread your arms, please.

- Do you have any change in your pockets?

- Do you have any liquids or medicine?

- Do you have any metals?

- Walk through

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Arriving at your destination -Where do I collect my baggage?

- Where can I find a taxi/ bus downtown?

- Where is the arrival gate?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Airplane Vocabulary

-Domestic flight ≠ International flight

-Complimentary = free of charge

- Steward-Stewardess

- Itinerary

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Hotel reservation

- I’d like to reserve…

- Do you have a double room for…?

- How many nights are you staying?

- Could you reserve a … for me?

- Are there any rooms available for…?

- How much is it per night?

- Are there any extra special charges I should have known about?

- Does that include breakfast?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Hotel Reservation-Special requests

- Can you put us on a higher floor?

- We ‘d like to be on a non-smoking floor.

- Is there internet access in the hotel? /Do you have wireless internet?

- I’ d like a room with a view.

- Can we get a room facing south?

- I ‘d like to be near the exhibition centre, if possible.

- Does your fitness center have a sauna?

- Do you have a dry cleaning service?

- Are pets allowed?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Hotel reservation

- Types of rooms

Single

Double

Twin

Suite

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Checking out

Useful phrases

Checking out you might be asked

-Did you enjoy your stay with us?

- Did you have anything from the minibar last night?

- We have a record of your Visa card. Do you want to charge everything to

Visa?/ Do you want to put it all on your card?

- We hope you’ll stay with us again./Please come back and stay with us again.

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Asking for arrival information

-When are you getting in?

-What time is your flight coming in?

-Can you give me your flight number?

Offering help to a guest

-What about a hotel? Can we help you book something?

- What are you looking for?

- What exactly do you have in mind?

- Could you give me an idea of what you are looking for?

- What kind of hotel are you thinking of?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Taxi- Useful phrases

Asking someone to call you a taxi -Would you call me a taxi, please? I’m going to…

-Could you give me the number for the taxi service?

Calling a taxi service - Can I get a taxi to the airport? I’m at the King’s Hotel.

- Can I schedule a taxi pick-up for 5 a.m. tomorrow?

- Is there a flat rate to the airport from here?/ What would it cost me to go

from…to…?

- How long is the wait for a taxi right now?

- How long does it take to get to the airport?

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Flagging or hailing down a taxi - Where are you heading?

- Do you need a receipt?

- Can you take me to the airport, please?

- I’m really in a hurry, so can you take the quickest route please?

- I’m going to the Star Hotel, downtown.

- Do you know where the Exhibition Center is?

- Would you mind making a quick stop at …?

- What’s your exchange rate?

- Do you accept credit cards?

- What do I owe you?

- Keep the change.

- May I have a receipt, please?

- Thanks for the ride.

Business Travelling

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful phrases

Questions to ask at the bus stop - Which bus goes to the airport?

- How often does bus number 301 come?

- Does the downtown bus stop here?

- Where do I catch the bus to the hospital/airport/mall/library/university?

- Is this the bus that goes down Main Street?

Responses you may hear

- I’m sorry, I’m not from here.

- The bus comes every fifteen minutes.

- The bus comes once an hour.

- You need bus #14.

- Any bus will take you to the airport.

- It will be here any minute.

The company

Types of companies

Limited by shares, Stock Corporation A.E.

Limited liability Ε.Π.Ε.

General Partnership O.E.

Limited Partnership E.E.

Sole Trader,Sole Proprietorship Πρ.Επιχείρηση

Peggy Iliopoulou

The company

Now answer the questions:

What type of company is this?

What does it do?

How many employees does it have?

Where is it based?

When was the company founded

Peggy Iliopoulou

Marketing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Marketing is the process of planning, designing, pricing, promoting and

distributing ideas, goods and services, in order to satisfy customer needs,

so as to make a profit.

Companies point out how the special characteristics or features of their

products and services possess particular benefits that satisfy the needs

of the people who buy them.

Non-profit organizations have other, social, goals, such as persuading

people not to smoke, or to give money to people in poor countries, but

these organizations also use the techniques of marketing.

Marketing

Peggy Iliopoulou

In some places, even organizations such as government departments

are starting to talk about, or at least think about their activities in terms

of the marketing concept.

The four Ps are a useful summary of the marketing mix, the activities that

you have to combine successfully in order to sell.

To market a product is to make a plan based on this combination and

put it into action.

A marketer or marketeer is someone who works in this area.

Marketing

Peggy Iliopoulou

The various activities of the marketing process are referred to as the

marketing mix and traditionally include the four Ps:

Product (characteristics and features)

Price (appropriate market price)

Promotion (communicating the product’s benefits)

Place (distribution of the product in markets).

In order to gain a competitive advantage over rivals, companies create

brands that represent aspirations and a desirable image of life that the

customer would like to identify with.

Marketing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Complete each sentence by writing in the gap the correct form of the word in

brackets

In the late 1990s market ………………in the field of computers was incredible.

(grow)

Our company is the market …………………in financial software in UK. (lead)

Today, our market ………………is about 60% and it is still growing. (share)

We investigated market …………………and found that there are two main types

of user for our product-small to medium companies and private individuals.

(segment)

We can’t relax because we face stiff ……………… in the US market.(compete)

Our next target is to become a key ………………………in the US market. (play)

growth

leader

share

segmentation

competition

player

Peggy Iliopoulou

Offers, tenders and bids Offer is the general term used to describe what the salesperson is willing to give,

and at what price.

Tender and Bid can often be used interchangeably. Purchasers send out an

invitation to tender (or a tender)when they want to receive offers from different

suppliers. This is also called: a request for proposal. Salespeople file or submit a

tender, often in a competition with other suppliers, when they make their formal

written offer to supply goods or services at a specific price and under specific

conditions.

Salesperson We have sent in our tender/bid.

We have been invited to tender/bid.

Purchaser We should make a call for tenders/bids.

We have put out a tender/bid for this product.

We would like to invite you to make a tender/bid

Sales

Peggy Iliopoulou

Marco Falcone is a sales rep for Vino Rubinetto , a wine distributor located in

Milan. He is calling one of his regular customers , Ines Stoll, a purchaser at

Clever Catering in Copenhagen, to tell her about a new product . Listen and

answer these questions.

What new product is Marco trying to sell?

How does Ines indicate that she may be interested in a possible offer from

Marco?

What will happen after the phone call?

Sales

A new variety of sparkling red wine, Rosso frizzante.

She says that she could be happy to meet him and tells him about the invitations

to tender.

He will send her some bottles of the new wine.

Peggy Iliopoulou

Listen again to the dialogue and complete the sentences.

Well, this month we _____________________ some of our new products in Europe,

and we thought Clever Catering ________________.

We ‘re always interested ____________________ what’s new.

…we___________________ of the quality of our products, of course, but it’s quite

nice to receive ___________________ .

Yes, I saw it mentioned __________________ and I read something ____________ .

Do you think this wine ______________________ to you and your clients?

…I can tell you now that we are _____________________ you special rates for

your first order…

And I’m sure ___________________ with this wine, Ines.

Sales

are promoting

might be interested

in finding out

are convinced

international recognition

in your new brochure on your website

may be of interest

in a position to offer

you‘ll be impressed

Peggy Iliopoulou

Handling orders When handling orders is important for the salesperson and the purchaser to

exchange all relevant information such as:

Specifications (for material, quality, etc.)

Quantity

Contact person

Place of delivery

Delivery rate

Method of payment (Cash on delivery-COD, invoice, direct debit)

Other terms and conditions

Paperwork needed (signed order, confirmation by fax, etc.)

Much of the information is included in the frame contract. Also called call-off

purchase agreement

Sales & Negotiations

Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful language

PLACING ORDERS

We would like to order/have…

We’re ready to make our first order under the frame contract.

We’ would like to place an order of 5000 units.

We would appreciate delivery by Friday. Can you manage it/that?


Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful language

TAKING ORDERS

I’ll just take/write down the details.

Let me just write this down/type in your order.

So, how many do you need exactly?

Is there anything else you’d like to order today?


Peggy Iliopoulou

Useful language

CHECKING AND CONFIRMING INFORMATION

Let me just check/repeat that.

Let me make sure I’ve got everything down right.

Yes, that’s right/that’s correct.

Sorry. Did you say…?

Could you say that again/repeat that, please?



Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiation language

STARTING THE CONVERSATION

We’re very happy to be meeting you today.

We hope to come to an acceptable solution for both of us.

I’d like to discuss some of the details in the offer.

We’d like to hear your proposals before we tell you what we can offer


Peggy Iliopoulou


CONCLUDING YOUR ARGUMENTS

So that wraps it up.

That sums up our side then.

We’re sure that you will see the benefits for your company if you take up our

offer.

There you have our proposal. I’m afraid that’s as far as we can go.


Peggy Iliopoulou


FINISHING THE CONVERSATION

That may be a possibility, but I have to discuss it with my boss.

Let me get back to you.

I’m happy we found a solution. I’ll send you an e-mail tomorrow summarizing

our agreement.

Social English & Negotiations

Negotiation Tips

• Use questions to find out what the other person's concerns and needs might

be:

What do you need from me on this?

What are your concerns about what I am suggesting / asking?

• Use listening responses to make sure you heard correctly:

So, you are saying that...Is that right?

If I have this right, you want to make sure that …

Peggy Iliopoulou


Negotiation Tips

• It is important to state not only what you need but why you need it:

I would like to ... I want to make …so I can…

Peggy Iliopoulou


Starting Questions

• Tell me...

• Please tell me…

• Do you know…?

• Can you tell me…?

• Could you tell me…?

• Please, I’d like to ask you…

• I’d like to know…

• Perhaps you could tell me…

• Could you possibly tell me…?

Peggy Iliopoulou


Starting Questions

• Would you mind telling me…?

• I wonder if you could tell me…

• I wonder if you’d mind my asking you…

• I was wondering if you could tell me...

Peggy Iliopoulou


Questions Language

• ASKING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

- Could you give us some more details about…?

- Could you be a bit more specific?

• PLAYING FOR TIME

- That’s a difficult question to answer.

- I’m glad you asked that question.

- That’s a very interesting question.

Peggy Iliopoulou


Questions Language

• SAYING NOTHING

- Well, it’s rather difficult to say at present.

- I think we can leave this problem to one side for the moment. The real issue

is…

- I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on that at the moment.

• QUESTIONING WHAT HAS BEEN SAID

- I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that.

- I’m not quite sure what you mean by that.

- I’m afraid I don’t quite follow...

Peggy Iliopoulou


ASKING LEADING QUESTIONS

- Wouldn’t you agree that…?

- Have you taken into account that…?

- I was wondering if you’d thought…

ADDING INFORMATION

- Seen from another angle one could say…

- There are other considerations. For example…

- If we look at it in another light…

CHALLENGING

- It’d be in your own interests to…

- I wonder if that view is justified in the light of…

- I don’t think you fully appreciate the fact that…

Persuading

Peggy Iliopoulou


EXPRESSING RESERVATIONS

- I’m afraid such a decision would lead to…

- We have certain reservations about…

- Under no circumstances should a hasty decision be made on this.

REASSURING

- Let me assure you straight away that…

- We share your concern and we assure you that we will do everything in

our power to…

- You can rest assured that...

Persuading

Peggy Iliopoulou


OFFERING A COMPROMISE

- We’re prepared to…on the condition that…

- We’re willing to…as long as…

- We are ready to…with the understanding that…

ASKING IF IT’S ACCEPTABLE

- Would that be acceptable?

- Would that be satisfactory?

Compromising

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

ADDING CONDITIONS

- If we agreed, it’d be conditional on…

- We would be reluctant to…unless…

ACCEPTING A COMPROMISE

- I see no objection to that.

- I can’t see why we shouldn’t agree to that.

REJECTING A COMPROMISE

- You put us in a difficult position.

- You leave us with little (or no) alternative but to...

Compromising

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

ASKING FOR OPINION

What's your opinion of ...?

What do you think of ...?

I'd like to hear your views on ...?

I wonder if you'd like to comment, Mrs Jung?

GIVING OPINION

I'm absolutely convinced ... It seems to me that ...

I'm certain that ... I would say that ..

In my opinion ...

As I see it, ...

As far as I'm concerned ....

Opinions

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

COMMENTING

That's interesting.

Good point.

I see what you mean.

ADVISING AND SUGGESTING

Let's ... There's no alternative but to ...

We should ... Perhaps we could consider ...

Why don't you / we ... We should think about ...

How about ...

I suggest / recommend that ...

I think we have to ..

Opinions

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

I agree entirely with your point of view.

I'm of exactly the same opinion.

I think you're right.

I would tend to agree with you on that.

I agree with you on the whole, but it could be said that ...

I agree up to a point, but ...

To a certain extent I agree with you, but ...

You have a point there, but ...

Agreeing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Total

Partial

Negotiations

I totally disagree with you.

I really can't agree with you on that.

I can't say that I share your view.

I really must take issue with you there.

I agree up to a point, but ...

You have a point there, but

To a certain extent I agree with you, but ...

Disagreeing

Peggy Iliopoulou

Total

Partial

Negotiations

Peggy Iliopoulou

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

• Private companies are more efficient than state companies.

• Women make better managers than men.

• Marketing is the most important function in a company.

Negotiations

INTERRUPTING

- May I interrupt you for a moment?

- Excuse me for interrupting.

- Sorry to interrupt, but ...

- If I could just come in here.

COMMENTING

- I wonder if I could comment on that last point?

- Excuse me, but I'd just like to point out that ...

- I'd like to add something here, if I may.

Interrupting

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

COMING BACK TO A POINT

- As I was saying ...

- Coming back to what I was saying ...

- If I could continue ...

FINISHING WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY

- If I might just finish ...

- With respect, I should like to finish the point I was making ...

- If you would allow me to continue ...

Interrupting

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION

- If I've understood you correctly, you're saying that ...?

- When you say ..., do you mean that ...?

- Are you saying that ....?

ASKING FOR REPETITION

- I'm afraid I'm not quite clear what you mean by that.

- I'm sorry, I didn't quite follow what you said about ...

- I'm afraid I didn't quite get/catch your last point. Could you go over that

again, please?

Communication Problems

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

CORRECTING MISUNDERSTANDINGS

- We seem to be talking at cross purposes.

- I think you've misunderstood me.

- That isn't quite what I meant.

RE-PHRASING

- Sorry, I'm probably not making myself clear. Let me put it another way ...

- Perhaps I should make that clearer by saying ...

- Allow me to rephrase that.

Communication Problems

Peggy Iliopoulou

Negotiations

Peggy Iliopoulou

One word in each of the lines below does not go with the item in bold.

Let’s cross out the word that does not fit.

a. order offer negotiate get a discount

b. agree to guarantee reduce move up a delivery date

c. lower extend reduce agree to the duration of a contract

d. accept reconsider receive calculate an offer

e. reduce increase extend lower the price

f. guarantee quality delivery times a contract cheaper prices

g. negotiate the price the conditions an offer a relationship

Money and Finance

Discuss

Do you think that money can contribute to a person’s happiness?

Imagine you and your friend have €50,000 to invest. Discuss the best

ways of investing this money. What do you consider a good

investment: property/ pension funds/bonds/stocks and shares etc.?

How would you describe the housing market in your country? Are

prices rising or falling?

What do you think will happen in the housing market next year?

Is the tax system in your country fair? Should the wealthy be allowed

to move money to tax-free heavens?

How easy or difficult is it to get a loan in your country?

Money and Finance

Peggy Iliopoulou

Reading numbers English numbers are always read in groups of three.

Eight hundred ninety-seven million, three

hundred sixty-one thousand, five hundred (and)

twenty-four

Money and Finance

Peggy Iliopoulou

Decimals 2.36=> two point three six

$2.36 => two dollars and thirty

six(cents)

Percentages 37%=> thirty seven percent

Fractions 3/8=> three eighths

¼ => one quarter

2/3 => two thirds

½ => one half

Money and Finance

Information about numbers

In English there is a comma between the thousands and a decimal point between a whole number and the part of a fractional number. The fractional number is said in individual digits. (6.45 = six point forty- five)

Large numbers are written and said as below:

10,000 = ten thousand

100,000 = one hundred thousand

1,000,000 = one million

1,000,000,000 = one billion

1,000,000,000,000 = one trillion

Currency symbols are written before the number but the name of the currency is said after the number.

(kn 549,080 = five hundred and forty-nine thousand

and eighty (Danish) Kronen.)

Money and Finance

Peggy Iliopoulou

Common mistakes: borrow vs lend

If you borrow something, someone gives it to you and you agree to give it

back:

- Please may I borrow your umbrella?

- He borrowed an umbrella from his friend.

If you lend something, you give it to someone else and they agree to give

it back to you:

- Could you lend me your umbrella?

- She lent me her umbrella.

Money and Finance

Peggy Iliopoulou

borrow vs lend

-I need some sugar. Can I ________ some, please?

-I need some sugar. Can you ________ me some, please?

- I'd like to buy a house but the bank doesn't want to _______ me the

money.

- I left my wallet at home so Claire _____ me some money to pay for the

dinner.

- Could I ________ 100€ from you, please? I'll pay you back next Saturday.

- Has someone ___________ my stapler without asking?

borrow

lend

lend

lent

borrow

borrowed

Money and Finance

Major differences:

Income statements show profit or loss for a particular period of time. Balance sheets give a report of the assets owned by a company and the debts it has as well as how much of the company is owned by shareholders at a point in time. They are based on information going back to the founding of the company.

The balance sheet shows the financial position of the company at a point in time so that an investor or creditor can see immediately how much the company owns and owes. The income statement shows how much the company earned in turnover and how much they had to spend resulting in a profit or loss for a year. As these are usually produced to compare different years, investors and creditors can see the trend of where the company is heading.

These documents are usually produced once a year.

Human Resources

Think about the organization you work for

How are employees paid for their work? How often do they receive

money? Do they ever receive extra money? If so, why?

What type of benefits are most common in your organization or your

country? For example, free health care, gym membership, free child

care, etc.?

Would it be an advantage to choose the extras most suited to your

own needs? Why or why not? Which extras would you most like to be

offered?

How important are benefits to employees? Why do you think

companies offer benefits like pension schemes, gym membership

and educational courses rather than just giving extra pay to their

employees?

Meetings

arrange/ set up/ fix organize a meeting

bring forward make a meeting earlier

than originally decided

put back/ postpone make a meeting later than

originally planned

cancel not have a meeting after

all

run/ chair be in charge of a meeting

attend go to a meeting

miss not go to a meeting

hold up delay

Meetings

Types of meetings

chat : (informal discussion) with colleagues at the coffee machine.

brainstorming among colleagues: where as many ideas as possible are produced

quickly, to be evaluated later.

project meeting : team meeting of employees involved in a particular activity.

department/departmental meeting: meeting of employees of the department

meeting with suppliers, for example to negotiate prices for an order.

meeting with a customer, for example to discuss a contract.

board meeting: an official, formal meeting of a company's directors.

Annual general meeting / AGM (BrE); annual meeting (AmE): where shareholders

discuss the company's annual report.

EGM( extraordinary general meeting): a shareholders' meeting to discuss an important

issue such as a proposed merge

Meetings

Agreeing

Strong agreement:

a. You're perfectly right. The costs involved must be incredible.

b .I couldn't agree more. We got our latest recruits after we won the industry award for

best advertisement.

c .Precisely. Creativity comes to some of our people in the middle of the night.

d .Exactly. We have to look at the company as one unit.

e .Absolutely. It's the output, not the input, that counts.

Mild agreement:

f. You may be right there. We're already ten per cent over budget.

g. That's true, I suppose. There must be some limits on when they work.

h. I suppose so. They seem to arrive and then go straight out again to eat.

Meetings

Disagreeing

Mild disagreement:

a. That's not really how I see it. Everyone should be allowed to work in the way that's best for them.

b. I don't really agree. The prizes are important, but people would come to work for us anyway.

c. I can't really go along with you there. I think we need to see people at their desks actually working.

d .I think you're mistaken. If the designers get to work late, they don't go out for lunch.

e. I'm afraid I can't agree with you there. All you financial people do is worry about costs.

Strong disagreement:

f. I'm sorry, but that's out of the question. You can't expect people to go home at ten and come back at nine in the morning.

g. I think you're wrong. The design department's costs are justified because of our high quality work. The costs of the other departments are not justified.

h. Of course not. The latest figures I've seen show that the project is within budget.

Match the presentation phrases

a) we’ll look at how this has affected

our share prices

2. First of all

1. I’d like to start

by

3. After that

4. Moving on to

5. Let’s go back and

look at

b) our share prices : the next slide shows

us...

c) giving you a short overview of today’s

presentation

d) showing you how we aim to reach this

target

e) we’re going to look at the sales figures

for the last two years.

6. I’d like to finish by f) the first slide again

Peggy Iliopoulou

Meetings & Presentations

Presentations

Signpost language

A good way to make your presentations effective, interesting and easy

to follow is to use signpost language. 'Signpost language' is the words

and phrases that people use to tell the listener what has just happened,

and what is going to happen next. In other words, signpost language

guides the listener through the presentation. A good presenter will

usually use a lot of signpost language, so it is a good idea to learn a few

of the common phrases, even if you spend more time listening to

presentations than giving them! Signpost language is usually fairly

informal, so it is relatively easy to understand.

Presentations

notes on expressions

Documents