by Shanthi Streat | 30 Nov, 2017 | British English, Business English, Idioms, Vocabulary
“You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy” Garth Brooks Unless you’ve been holidaying on the planet Zorg, you’ll have noticed or even been caught up in the frenzy of Black Friday, Black Weekend and Cyber Monday sales raging through the retail...
by Shanthi Streat | 23 Nov, 2017 | British Culture, British English, Listening Skills, Vocabulary
It’s the last Friday of November and that means one thing… a new guest blogger. Cara Leopold’s (a listening skills expert) mission is, in her words: “to help bookworms and vocab nerds break free from subtitles so they can stop “reading”...
by Shanthi Streat | 3 Nov, 2017 | Business English, Phrasal Verbs, Vocabulary
“But I LOVE phrasal verbs, Shanthi?” No, you don’t! Alas, using phrasal verbs will help you sound natural when speaking English, so they’re something you need to learn. However, there’s no harm in using their one-word synonym (where there...
by Shanthi Streat | 19 Oct, 2017 | Business English, Communication, How To, Skills, Telephone, Vocabulary
“Hang on….ah yes, I can see the end of the tunnel.” Hello…..Susan? Can you hear me? It’s a terrible line. Hang on…let me call you back…. I said…I’ll call you back. Give me a few minutes. Thanks. Bye. Sound familiar? You’re expecting an...
by Shanthi Streat | 12 Oct, 2017 | Business English, Vocabulary
” Peace and Quiet. Now that’s something I haven’t heard in a long time.” Ever heard of expressions like “more or less”, “ups and downs”, “peace and quiet”? These are known as binomials. Binomials in English are two words that are...
by Shanthi Streat | 21 Sep, 2017 | Business English, How To, Meetings, Presenting Skills, Skills, Vocabulary
“This is such fun. I can’t wait for the next hostile question!” Imagine you’ve been asked to present at a business meeting. The subject is an ongoing project you’ve been working on for nearly a year. Your presentation is a progress report on the...
