Business English
jueves, noviembre 12, 2009 at 9:10PM
People are always talking about “Business English” as if it were a totally different language! When, in actual fact, it is just “General English” geared towards business-related matters. The English is the same; it's just the vocabulary and terminology that needs to be learnt....for the specific job requirements. For instance, someone who works in banking would need financial vocabulary and particular phrases used for dealing with money or the stock market. Likewise, someone who works in Human Resources would need the same but with vocabulary and phrases concerning the job market and related issues such as employee training, professional development and benefits. So although you might be learning Business English, in essence what you are learning is general English but with the additional business area-related support for your particular professional development needs in your field of actuation.
In the global work place in which we now find ourselves, it's also important to realize the differences in culture. Even though you might be speaking in English, you will no doubt be speaking English to a non-native speaker the majority of the time! There are even differences in how business is conducted and specific business terminology used between the United Kingdom and the United States. The British still have a more conservative approach to business, whereas the Americans generally tend to take a 'bottom line' approach. There are also differences in the expressions used in British English, as compared to American English, the vocabulary used, and how words are pronounced and spelled. In many cases, in British English “s” is used in the spelling of words, whereas in American English “z” would be the correct spelling for the word. Also, in British English quite often a double letter is used in spelling a word, but in American English only one letter is used for spelling the same word. For example: organise/organize, memorise/memorize, cancelled/canceled, travelled/traveled.
In my next post I will offer general phrases used when conducting a meeting in English...stay tuned! Heather
Reader Comments (1)
Useful Business English Phrases
Business English: Running a Meeting
The following phrases are used to conduct a meeting, and the phrases used depend upon whether the meeting is formal or less formal.
Opening
Good morning/afternoon, everyone.
If we are all here, let's get started / start the meeting / start.
Welcoming and Introducing
Please join me in welcoming (name of participant)
It's a pleasure to welcome (name of participant)
I'd like to introduce (name of participant)
Stating the Principal Objectives
We're here today to ...
Our main aim today is to ...
Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent
I'm afraid.., (name of participant) can't be with us today. She is in...
Unfortunately, (name of participant) ... will not be with us today because he ...
Reading the Minutes (notes) of the Last Meeting
To begin with I'd like to quickly go through the minutes of our last meeting.
Here are the minutes from our last meeting, which was on (date)
Dealing with Recent Developments
Jack, can you tell us how the XYZ project is progressing?
Has everyone received a copy of the Tate Foundation report on current marketing trends?
Moving Forward
So, if there is nothing else we need to discuss, let's move on to today's agenda.
Shall we get down to business?
Introducing the Agenda
Have you all received a copy of the agenda?
If you don't mind, I'd like to go in order today.
I suggest we take item 2 last.
Allocating Roles (secretary, participants)
(name of participant) has agreed to take the minutes.
(name of participant) will lead point 1, (name of participant) point 2, and (name of participant) point 3.
Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions, timing, decision-making, etc.)
We will first hear a short report on each point first, followed by a discussion of ...
I suggest we go round the table first.
There will be five minutes for each item.
Introducing the First Item on the Agenda
Why don't we start with...
Pete, would you like to kick off?
Closing an Item
I think that takes care of the first item.
If nobody has anything else to add, lets ...
Next Item
Let's move onto the next item
The next item on today's agenda is...
Giving Control to the Next Participant
I'd like to hand over to (name of participant), who is going to lead the next point.
Next, (name of participant) is going to take us through ...
Summarizing
Before we close today's meeting, let me just summarize the main points.
Let me quickly go over today's main points.
Finishing Up
If there are no other comments, I'd like to wrap this meeting up.
Is there Any Other Business?
Suggesting and Agreeing on Time, Date and Place for the Next Meeting
Can we set the date for the next meeting, please?
So, the next meeting will be on ... (day), the . . . (date) of.. . (month) at ...
Thanking Participants for Attending
Thank you all for attending.
Thanks for your participation.
Closing the Meeting
The meeting is finished, we'll see each other next ...
The meeting is closed.