First, I would like to welcome you to this Business English Course. To start with, we should look at some salient features of this specific course:

  1. We will be concentrating on using English as a communication tool when interacting with other business people globally;

  2. Although grammar skills are very important and sometimes essential in negotiations, this course focusses on the receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (writing and speaking);

  3. We will also be focussing on business vocabulary and business activities for the workplace;

  4. In the course, you're welcome to share your opinions, recommendations, and work situations in the comments below or in the various other contact forms in the Business English Space, Facebook, Linkedin, or Messenger.

  5. Furthermore, the lessons contain exercises to help you to develop your Business English practically.

Should you wish to practise your English or prepare yourself for a meeting/interview/presentation you may also purchase Skype Sessions.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

“There is greater recognition that business English is not ‘native-speaker’ English”

"Many people have researched how best to learn a language and the results are really not that surprising. First, we know that almost anyone can learn a language — all it takes is a lot of time and motivation.

EVAN FRENDO is the joint coordinator of the business English teachers’ organization IATEFL BESIG. He has been active in business English and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and regularly runs courses and works as a consultant in Europe and Asia.

An exercise is probably a good way to start the course:

I would like to introduce myself but in a way where you ask me questions to arrive at one of the exact answers below in the quiz. Once you have read the first paragraph, find out more about me by asking the questions in the quiz. As additional practice, write me a short biography in the comments box.

My name is Dirk Le Roux. I'm South African, born in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. My mother tongue (or language) is Afrikaans, similar to Dutch. English is the accepted language in South Africa for government, business and education communication. Most Afrikaans-speaking people grew up with speaking both Afrikaans and English, they are therefor bi-lingual.

I've made a video basically repeating what is in this Introduction. The reason being to allow you to see what I look like and to relatte to me in a relaxed and easy-going manner. My main aim is that you converse in a relaxed way and enjoy using English.

Before writing your biography, please watch the YouTube video from Oxford Online English.

Please send me a self-introduction in the Comment Box. Write your introduction, take a picture of it and post it in the comments box.