Business English Courses in Everest Language School Dublin

Everest Language School has introducing a brand new 4 week business English courses for students who are looking to work in an English speaking country or need to improve their English for their job back home!

At Everest Language School, we believe that improving your general level of English including your grammar, speaking, listening and understanding should come first and foremost. However, we also understand that when applying for a job or starting a new job there is lots of specific vocabulary and skills that you might not learn in a general English course. 

So if you have been looking for business English courses in Dublin to help you with job applications, interview skills and professional writing look no further! You can even combine the business English courses with general English!

Business English Vocabulary

Let’s take a look at some of the business English vocabulary that you might need to use in an English speaking workplace in Dublin!

Start Up – A start-up is a term used to describe a brand new business, generally less than a year old. There are lots of startup tech companies that hire international students so it’s a good one to know!

HR – HR stands for human resources. Most companies will have an HR department whose job is to look after their employees welfare. It’s an important term to know as HR will most likely be your first point of contact when applying for or starting a new job!

Competency Based – Competency based questions are a common interview method used by employers when interviewing candidates. Competency based questions are specific questions that require you to describe specific tasks and responsibilities you had in previous jobs that would make you suitable for the job your applying for. Always have lots of examples ready!

Dress-code – Businesses and workplaces will all have different dress-codes for their employers. It’s important to ask your employer what the dress code is before you start your new job, to avoid showing up in dungarees when everybody else is wearing suits!

Remuneration/Salary/Wage – Any of these words can be used to describe how much money your going to be paid. 

Negotiate – To be able to negotiate is an important skill when both applying for a job and during your job too! It simply means to be able to discuss  something and come to an agreement. You might negotiate your salary with your employer or negotiate a deal with a customer or business partner. 

Bonus: A bonus is a reward system used in many businesses for employees who have worked very well – it’s usually in the form of extra money or annual leave.

Annual Leave: Annual leave is how many holidays you are allowed throughout the year. In Ireland the average annual leave in 20 days per year!

Management – Management are the people in charge of running the business. You may have one or several managers in a workplace, or you may be one yourself!

Headquarters – Headquarters are the location of the main business hub for a company. For example Google’s headquarters are based in Dublin!

Recruitment: Recruitment is the searching and finding of potential candidates for jobs. For example, you might be approached by recruitment companies on Linkedin if they think you might be good for a fit a role they have!

Meeting – A meeting is a get together of employees, managers and other staff members to discuss a certain topic or issue affecting the business, for example, marketing a new product.

Conference Call – A meeting that’s usually held between employees or partners online or through Skype. They’re very common in businesses that may have other offices overseas

‘Minutes’ – Minutes are notes taken down during a meeting in order to record what was agreed and which individual was assigned a responsibility to look after a particular task.

Marketing – Marketing is an umbrella term for the different approaches to selling, distributing and promoting a product or service.

Presentation – To show or display a project to a group of business partners or colleagues, for example a powerpoint presentation on the company profits last year

Profit – Profit is how much money the business is making after all of the expenses are paid out. 

CV – CV stands for ‘Curriculum Vitae’, in many other countries it is also referred to as a Resumé. It’s usually a one or two page document outlining your contact details skills, past work experience and education that you will send to potential employers

Cover Letter – When sending your CV to a business for a job opportunity it is also advised or requested that you include a cover letter. A cover letter is more personal than a CV and you can write more specifically why you would like a particular job and why you would be right for the role 

Entrepreneur – An entrepreneur is somebody who starts their own business, for example Steve Jobs was the entrepreneur for Apple. 

Contract – A contract is a written agreement between you and your employer regarding the terms of your employment. 

Non-Profit Organisation – A business that’s main focus is not to turn a profit – for example a charity organisation 

CEO – CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. In other words, he/she is the boss, so always look busy when they’re around the office 😉

Competitor – A competitor is a business or organisation that has a similar or the same service or product that your business provides. For example McDonald’s biggest competitor is Burger King

Multitask – Many employers will ask if you have the ability to multitask! It means being able to do more than one task at the same time – for example send an email or process a payment whilst on the phone to a customer at the same time. 

Industry – An industry refers to a particular field of business. For example Everest Language School is in the English language industry 

Deadline – A deadline is a specific date or time you have to have a task or project completed by.

Resign – To resign is to leave your job

PR – PR stands for public relations. Public relations is the process of making sure as business is viewed in a positive light. For example a big company might sponsor a charity run or popular sporting event 

Strategy – A strategy is a plan that’s put in place to ensure a specific goal is achieved

Brand – A brand is often the company name and the slogans/logos that are attributed to that name. For example the infamous branding for Adidas is the 3 stripes.

Feedback – Feedback is advice, criticism encouragement or praise of a piece of work from your employer. For example if you did a great blog on a new product your boss might give you positive feedback 

Best practice – This refers to the best and most efficient way to do something 

Punctuality – Always being on time for work or meetings. 

Business English Idioms and Expressions

In business English there are lots of expressions and phrases used. In our business English courses you will learn these expressions so when you go to the workplace you won’t have to ask your colleagues what they mean! Below are some examples of common expressions used in the workplace. 

Knuckle-Down – To concentrate and get your work done

‘Jamie’s boss asked him to stop chatting to his colleague and knuckle down’

‘Back to the drawing board’ – To start over a plan or strategy that may not have worked initially

‘This marketing promotion didn’t help improve any of our sales, so its back to the drawing board’

‘ASAP’ – An acronym for ‘as soon as possible’

‘I need that report on my desk ASAP’

‘Playing hardball’ – refers to someone who is being difficult to negotiate it and hard to find a compromise with

‘That vendor was playing hardball when we asked him to reduce the price for us, he just wouldn’t budge’

‘Ballpark figure’ – An estimate or guess of an amount or figure

‘Michelle didn’t know the exact profit margin just yet, so she gave her boss a ballpark figure’

‘Pass the buck’ – Passing on the blame or responsibility to someone else if a project or task doesn’t go well

‘Sam missed all his deadlines, so when confronted by his boss, he passed the buck onto his colleague Mary, saying she hadn’t given him enough notice to get his work done’

‘The lion’s share’ – The majority or bulk of the work and responsibility

“Karen was really trying to get a promotion at work, so when a new project was given to her team to complete, she took on the lion’s share of it, so that she could prove herself’

‘Going the extra mile’ – To go above and beyond the normal expectations for an employer or a customer 

‘Ryan was really going the extra mile to help a customer get the lowest price on their car insurance’

To ‘give someone a pat on the back’ – To congratulate someone on doing a good job

‘At the meeting, Sarah was given a pat on the back by the rest of the team for the great job she did on her presentation’

‘Get your foot in the door’ –  To make yourself known and start of in a company or industry with the aim of progressing

‘Mark had just finished his university degree in medicine. Afterwards he applied for a junior doctor job in a small hospital so he could get his foot in the door.’

Business English Writing

Arguably, business English writing in this day and age is one of the most important aspects of learning business English. Most businesses communicate with customers and partners primarily through email. 

Business English writing tends to be more formal than how you would usually write. Below are some techniques and writing skills that will benefit you;

• Writing an Email

Emails are the most common form of communication in today’s businesses. Business emails needn’t be long and wordy – remember the person you are writing to is probably receiving hundreds of emails per week so you want to keep it short, concise and to the point!

You can do this by using bullet points and ensuring that your email has the details you want to communicate to ensure the recipient doesn’t have to come back to you with lots of question!

Example of poorly written email;

‘Hi Tom,

We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss some problems at around half 2, maybe 3. If you could make sure have some ideas and solutions to bring too. 

Thanks!

Karl

The email should be written as below;

‘Hi Tom,

I hope you’re well.

Meeting tomorrow to discuss the problems with our latest marketing campaign.

Time: 2.30pm

Place: Conference Room B

Please read over attached brief, and have 2 or 3 solutions prepared.

Kind Regards,

Karl

The second email is informative, precise and doesn’t allow for a lot of back and forth conversation. 

• Writing a business letter

Business letters are the most formal way to communicate in business English. If you are writing a business letter, you will usually do this on company headed paper. If you don’t have company headed paper, you should always write your address on the top right hand side of the letter.

The date, name of recipient and and their address should be on the top left hand side of the letter. 

If you don’t know the name of who you are writing to, which may be the case a lot of the time when you are applying for jobs and writing cover letters to employers, you can write ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or ‘To whom it may concern’. (But do always try to do some research and find their name, if you really want the job)

In the body of the letter, keep it formal but friendly and ensure you use correct paragraphing. You should end the letter with ‘Yours sincerely,’ with your signature and also your printed name underneath.

It is also a good idea to have your phone number and email address added as a footer to the letter should the recipient have any further questions they would like to contact you about. 

Top 5 Everest Language School Recommended business English YouTube Channels

1. Anglo-Link – Suitable for students from pre-intermediate level up, this channel’s videos provides very detailed advice and instructions on different business topics. They focus on both listening and speaking 
2. Business English Pod – This is a very popular playlist that also comes in the form of a podcast too. There are over 60 videos to prepare you for the workplace including topics such as ‘talking about your career and how to keep a conversation going in English’
3. Two-Minute English – This is a great channel if your short on time! All videos are free and only two minutes long. Their playlist ‘English Conversations’ have a great example of how to talk to with a difficult customer, how to discuss your future plans with your boss and how to make small talk with your new colleagues. 
4. Boston English Centre – If longer tutorial like videos are what you are looking for this is a great channel as its almost like a class in itself. They also have videos that are suitable for beginners and elementary level students!
5. Crown Academy English – this YouTube channel is run is run by a TESOL qualified teacher named Andrew with over ten years experience. Some of the videos feature actual conversations taking place in the workplace such as meetings or making reservations. 

At Everest Language School, we have our very own podcast you can check out to learn everyday general English and business English!

Top 5 Online business English courses

1. Business English Course for ESL Students – 

If you are learning English for your job or career, then the Business English Course is for you! It will help you communicate better in everyday professional situations.

This intermediate-level English course contains 40 lessons focusing on essential vocabulary and practical phrases for the workplace.

The lessons contain video, audio, and text, and there are also plenty of exercises to help you review and practice your Business English!

2. Formal Email Writing – Business English – 

Become proficient in email etiquette

Compose properly structured emails

Learn most commonly used correspondence phrases

Master the necessary formal tone grammar

Become competent in essential punctuation rules

3. Business English Vocabulary: Learn Essential Business Words

This online Business English course will help you to understand and use over 150 words essential for doing business in English.

This course is designed for people who use Business English and want to improve their ability to speak, write, read and listen in English.

This course uses my unique language learning technique, used by thousands of students worldwide. It shows you how the words are actually used and it gives you the opportunity to use these words using quizzes and practice activities. 

4. Learn Business English (Professional Language)

In this course, you get much more than just the words about marketing and sales. You do get those, but you will also practice interview techniques, negotiating, what to say in a meeting, phone conversations, emails, and more.

Just as one learns business from experience, you also learn Business English Language from experience.

5. Business English: Easy English for Meetings

This course is specifically for non-native English speakers needing skills in planning and participating in meetings. So if you work in administration or management, for a large company or small business, and if you have lower-intermediate or intermediate English language skills then this course is for you!

If your more of a bookworm, below are some great books we recommend for business English;

‘Essential Business Grammar Builder’ by Paul Emerson

‘Essential Business Vocabulary Builder’ by Paul Emerson

‘Business Vocabulary In Use’ by Bill Mascull

‘Key Business Skills’ by Benny Tomalin

‘Business English Language Practice’ by Susan Lowe

‘Email English’ by Paul Emerson

Business English & Exam Preparation Courses at Everest Language School

At Everest language School, we offer Business English, General English and Exam Preparation courses suitable for all levels of English! Below is a list of what we have on offer!

Business English Express Course (3Hrs) – 3 classes per week that focus on a variety of business English topics in combination vocabulary you will need for finding work and communicating with your colleagues. Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday (17:15 – 18:15)

Business English Intensive (18Hrs) – You will be taking General English classes for 3 hours per day from Monday to Friday. In addition to this you will have focused business English classes from Tuesday to Thursday. Monday to Friday (13:50 – 17:00) & Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday (17:15 – 18:15)

IELTS Intensive Course (24Hrs) – This course is for students who need to improve their IELTS band score and want to develop an overall expertise in the exam structure. Your day will be divided into two parts. These classes are on every day (Monday – Friday).

Session 1: (8am – 8:50am) Focus on the exam. You will learn skills, techniques and methods to get the highest mark possible.

Session 2: (9am – 1:10pm) Focus on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, fluency, pronunciation and general English skills.

IELTS Early Bird Course (4Hrs) – Monday to Friday (8am – 8:50am) The part-time IELTS course is aimed at those with less time and those who want to focus exclusively on the techniques for the exam.

In this course you will learn skills, techniques and methods to get the highest mark possible in your IELTS exam

IELTS Evening Course (6Hrs) – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (6:30pm – 8:30pm) The evening IELTS course is aimed at those with less time, who work during the day and want to focus exclusively on the techniques for the exam.

In this course you will learn skills, techniques and methods to get the highest mark possible in your IELTS exam. These classes are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

If you have any questions about the above courses please contact us at info@everestlanguageschool.com or phone (01) 559 4919 and a member of our team will get back to you!

If you want to book a course please complete our online booking form!

We have Business English courses in Everest and if you cannot make it to one of our business English courses in person you can also listen to our business English podcast for free!

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Episode 4: Customer Service & Formal and Informal English

Formal and Informal English

Main ways of being formal:

1. Vocabulary
2. Grammar
3. Tone of voice

1: Formal and Informal English : Vocabulary

• There’s a range. For example:

• Formal words often sound like Latin (and so Spanish, French, etc)

Please proceed to gate 12 Go

What time would be convenient? Handy /Good 

At what time does it commence? Start

• Phrasal verbs are almost always informal/neutral

Look into investigate

Make up invent

Do up renovate

Look over review

• Formal vocabulary tends to be similar across different English countries but slang changes hugely, often from city to city or generation to generation

“A man” might be: a bloke / a dude / a fellow / a lad / a geezer / etc

• Very formal language is much more common in written English than spoken (e.g. reports, emails, proposals, etc for work)

There are lots of fixed phrases we rarely use in spoken English, especially in emails. E.g 

To whom it may concern / Dear Sir / Yours Sincerely / etc

With reference to / Regarding your recent inquiry…

I look forward to…

• Finally, there’s how we address people – Jane v Ms Murray v Dr Murray, etc

2: Formal and Informal English : Grammar / Sentence Structure

Another thing we can do to be formal English is change the sentence structure. We often use modal verbs or conditional structures or we make things into questions so it sounds more polite.

Help me ->  Would you mind helping me?

Can I have some time off? -> Would it be possible to get some time off?

Can I open a window -> May I open a window?

3: Formal and Informal English: Tone of Voice

In many ways this is the most important way of sounding formal or informal. 

“Go over there, please” could be formal or informal depending on how you say it (just adding please isn’t enough!)

Customer Service

So, let’s have a look at all of this in relation to customer service. When dealing with a client or customer you need to be polite and relatively formal (depending on the type of job)

• Greetings 

How can I help you?

Are you alright? (a phrase students often get confused by)

What can I do for you?

• Explaining / Selling 

If I could interest you in X

Could you tell me what are you looking for exactly? 

Do you need me to explain anything again?

• Giving instructions

If you could just follow me over here

If I could ask you to sign here

Would you mind waiting here for a moment? 

If you’ll just take a seat, I’ll call Mr O’Dea

• Saying “no” 

I’m very sorry but…

I’m afraid that…

Unfortunately…

That’s not available at the moment, unfortunately, but what I can do is…

• Saying goodbye

Thanks again for everything

Very nice to meet you / meeting you

I’ll be in touch

All the best / Take care

In Everest we offer Business English classes in our Dublin English School. Contact us today for more information. We also have lots of podcasts that you can listen to for free!

For more on this topic, check out this BBC video on youtube.

The post Formal and Informal English – BUSINESS ENGLISH PODCAST EP.4 appeared first on Everest Language School.

Business English Podcast Ep.3

Phone English podcast from Everest Language School. Listen to the podcast about phone English and check out the vocabulary below. There are lots more business English podcasts available here, and we will have one more episode next week. Remember, if you are in Dublin and want to improve your business English, we run express and intensive Business English courses in Dublin.

Basic Phone English:

To pick up the phone

To hang up the phone

To make / take a call

To give someone a shout / bell (informal)

Some additional vocabulary for telephone English.

The 5 main things you might do on a call:

1. Answering the phone
2. Introducing yourself
3. Asking to speaking to sb
4. Connecting to a new speaker
5. Leaving a message

• Answering

Hello? Conor speaking

Hello, Everest Language School. How can I help you?

Paul Smith’s office, who’s calling please?

• Introducing yourself

One thing students often confuse is “this is” and “I am”. What’s the difference?

[Meeting in person] Hello, I’m Paul Smith. Are you Mary O’Dwyer?

[On phone]. Hello, this is Paul Smith. Is that Mary O’Dwyer?

• Asking for sb

There are both formal and informal ways to do this.

I was wondering if I could speak to…

Could you put me through to…

Is Paul Smith available?

I’m looking for…

Is Paul there? (Informal)

Can you put Paul on? (Informal)

• Connecting

We also distinguish between “minute”/ “second” and “moment”, which tends to be more formal.

Hang on / Hold on / Just one minute / sec(ond) / moment

Please hold and I’ll put you through

To be on hold

She’ll be with you in a moment

• Messages

As if things weren’t bad enough already, if you live in Ireland you have the added fun of local names – “could you tell your boss that Eadaoin O’Shaughnessy from O’Murchu Solicitors called”. Not easy!

Tips for taking messages

• Ask to repeat (Sorry, could you repeat that name again?)
• Spell it back / confirm (So, that’s “H-e-a-l-y”?). We often check confusable letters with “c for Charlie”, etc
• Be aware of variants (double oh / zero zero; 1-2-3-4 / 12-13)

Can I take a message / Would you like to leave a message?

Do you have a pen handy? Let me just grab a pen?

Can you tell her Conor called?

Grammar: Demonstrative Pronouns

This and that are very important for phone calls. These are demonstrative pronouns, they are

used for demonstrating, for showing or pointing out things.

this / that / these / those

Near – this one here / these ones here

Far – that one over there / those ones over there

It can be near in terms of space/distance: “Do you like this t-shirt I’m holding, or do you prefer that one over there?”

But also with time:

“This is a great TV show (now)” / “That was a great TV show (we watched last night)”

They are used in other expressions to “demonstrate” something, especially that:

Yeah, that’s right (what you just said) / Wow, that’s interesting / What’s that?

“This” is used  for jokes, stories, and anecdotes. It makes the story more present, and signposts what is next

“A man walks into this bar / This man walks into a bar”

“I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt I was looking at this big red door and then this man came over to me and said…”

Listen to more General English and Business English Podcasts from Everest Language School

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Everest Podcast Ep 5 (Business Mini-Series Part I)

Making the Perfect CV in English

Business English part 1

10 tips: How to make the perfect CV in English

• Don’t waffle

Your CV in English should be no more than 2 pages

Keep it punchy, succinct, to the point

Think about how many CVs an average employer might have in their pile of applications

For example, if you are applying for a job as a hotel receptionist, instead of writing:

“I met new guests when they arrived at the hotel and I checked them into their room”

You should write something like:

“Greeted and checked-in new guests”

• Keep your CV up to date & accurate

Make sure your CV is current – keep it updated on LinkedIn too or your personal website

Describe accurately what you did in various jobs

Don’t leave suspicious gaps – were you in prison?! You won’t be given the benefit of the doubt

• Tailor your CV

Edit your CV slightly for each job you apply for. Don’t make a single, generic CV. You should have a CV in English for every type of job you are applying for. 

• Make your CV, double-check it, then get someone else (a native speaker!) to take a look

If you can’t write a CV in English without making spelling, grammar, or layout mistakes, why should an employer assume you wouldn’t do the same working for them?

It’s an easy way for an employer to whittle down their applications and rule people out

• Put a profile on your CV

It should be concise, well-written and tailored to the job. It’s a brief summary that will encourage the potential employer to read more

• Try to give useful numbers – don’t be vague

If it’s a marketing job

Don’t say, “I increased the company’s social media following”

Which social media? By how much? Was that expected?

Say “Over my first 6 months in the job I increased the company’s Twitter and Facebook following by 45%, double the previous year’s growth.

• Don’t lie!

You might massage the truth though!

If, in your last job in a pub, you occasionally made coffee, say you have “café experience” but don’t say you’re a trained barista. When you get the job and you can’t make proper coffee this is going to be obvious.

• Talk up other, relevant skills

The key word is relevant. Nobody care if you “love reading”, unless you are applying for a job in a bookshop, in which case, what do you read? Why? Why are you great at giving book recommendations? Maybe you started a local book club? Maybe you write online book reviews?

Include some skills that are unique to you – stand out!

Please avoid the meaningless CV phrases like:

A team player / a good communicator / an outgoing person

• Don’t be put off by employers looking for “fluent English”

Most employers don’t really understand levels of language proficiency in the way that language learners do. Almost every job supposedly requires “fluent” English but that’s clearly not the case in reality

For many jobs what you really need is good, conversational English (B1 – B2 level) and lots of confidence

• Make your CV look good

Everyone judges a book by its cover.

Get a good layout for your CV (there are lots of templates but customize it a little to stand out). If your CV is hard to read, difficult to find key information, or just plain ugly, it’s going to count against you. There are lots of good CV templates available for free, and, if you want to get creative, check out Canva.

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