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