Present Simple Work and leisure Discussion questions

What do you do?

What do you do in your job?
What do you like best about your job?
What do you not like about your job?
How many hours a week do you work?
What hours do you work?
How often do you take breaks?
When and where do you have lunch?
Does someone you know have a better daily routine than you?
What things would you like to do more and less often?
What things should you do more and less often?
What things do people in your company do too often? Why?
What things should people in your company do more often? Why?
Which things in your company are a waste of time?
How often do you use English at work? What things do you have to do in English?
How long do you spend doing them?
How is your working life different from your fathers?
Leisure
How often do you do exercise?
What do you do at the weekend?
What do you do after work?
Do you meet your colleagues after work?
Common Business English verbs Present Simple
Present Simple, needs analysis and functional language review
Choose one of the verbs below and add nouns to it (one that is there or your own
choice) if you like. Describe the present and usual habits associated with that thing
(e.g. how often, times and days, people who do it, how long) until your partner guesses
which verb you are talking about.

Agree
Apologise
Attach
Attend conferences/ trade fairs/ training/ meetings
Be late/ on time/ early
Calculate
Carry a wallet/ mobile phone/ business cards
Read
Write reports/ minutes/ agendas
Chair meetings
Greet
Receive
Correct/ Edit
Clean
Complain
Copy/ Photocopy
Deal with complaints
Decide
Describe your job/ company/ department/ product(s)
Dictate
Disagree
Do overtime
Email
Exchange business cards
Explain
Fax
File/ Organise/ Reorganise
Give advice/ recommendations
Give bad news
Have meetings with customers/ clients/ colleagues/ suppliers
Input data/ figures
Install/ Download
Invite
Leave messages
Make appointments/ Arrange
Meet new people
Meet people again
Negotiate
Offer a discount/ free gifts/ food and drinks/ someone a seat
Phone/ Telephone/ Call
Present
Print out
Refuse/ Reject
Repair
Request
Sign
Socialise with colleagues/ your boss/ clients/ customers/ suppliers
Stamp documents
Staple
Take dictation
Take messages
Take notes
Talk about/ Discuss
Thank
Tidy up
Travel abroad/ domestically/ for work
Type up a report/ a PowerPoint presentation
Use a computer/ calculator/ projector/ laser pen/ photocopier
Wear a tie/ a jacket/ a waistcoat/ cuff links/ a security badge
Discussion
Which things above do you do most often? Are there any things you often do which are
missing from the list?

Are there any things above which you very rarely or never do? Does anyone in your
company do those things?
How do the jobs of other people in your team vary from yours?
Are there any cultural differences above, e.g. the importance of business cards? What
about gender differences?
Which things do you or will you most often have to do in English? What language can
you use to do the things in italics that you often have to do?
How does a typical business email start and end?

Talking about your job Prepositions practice games
Work in teams. Start from the first sentence below. Each team can answer as many
questions as they like, but if they make a mistake their score for that turn goes back
down to zero, so if you are not sure about an answer you might want to stop and let
play pass to the other team.
Prepositions with work
I work ________________ a food wholesaler
I work ________________ Microsoft.
I work ________________ a sales rep
I am working ______________ a project to produce a new product for next year.
We work ___________ the fashion business.
I work ________________ the 23rd floor
I work ___________________ Tokyo
I work ________________ a large, comfortable office
I work __________________ the companys Japanese subsidiary
I work __________ my computer ________ 6 or 7 hours a day.
I work _________ about 11 hours a day.
I work __________________ 10 and 12 hours a day.
I work _____________ people from the HR and R&D departments
Prepositions of position
Our head office is ________________ Norway.
We are the biggest manufacturer of sausages ________ the world.
Our HQ is __________ the city centre, about 25 kms ___________ the airport.
I meet my clients _____________ their offices
Im rarely ______ my desk.
Prepositions of time
I usually start work _________________ 9 a.m.
I hardly ever work _________________ Sundays
I have lots of meetings __________ the morning.
I have been working here ____________ 15 years.
I hope I will be promoted ____________ two or three years.
Prepositions of movement
We import meat products _____________ China
We export farm produce ________________ South East Asia and the Pacific Region.
We deliver our products ____________ ship and air freight.
I report _______ the Head of Sales.
Others
I have a good relationship _____________ my boss
We have more ___________ 20,000 employees.
Im responsible ________ finding new markets or products for the company.
Im ___________ charge of the sales team.
I manage a team ______________ 5 people.
I have to negotiate _____________ suppliers.
I often speak to clients ___________ the phone.
Find the similarities are general rules in the examples above.
Match the answers above with the questions below (more than one answer might be
possible each time and not all of the answers match with questions)
Whats your job? / What do you do?
What are you working on at the moment?
Where do you work?
What is your workplace like?/ What kind of place do you work in?
What does your company do?
Who do you work for?
What kind of company do you work for?
Where is your head office?
What is your usual weekly schedule?
What are your main duties/ responsibilities?
How long have you been working for your company?
What are your career plans?/ What are your ambitions?/ How do you see your career
developing?
Who is your boss/ direct boss/ line manager?
How do you see your career developing in the future?
Ask and answer the questions above in pairs

Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 3- Prepositions practice game pairwork version
Student A
Choose one of the prepositions below and choose the most difficult one for the other
team to guess from. Give them more and more hints for the same preposition until they
get the right answer.
In
Our HQ is __________ the city centre.
Our factory is _________ the suburbs.
I have lots of meetings __________ the morning.
I hope I will be promoted ____________ two or three years.
Im ___________ charge of the sales team.
For
I work ________________ a food wholesaler
I work ________________ Microsoft.
I work _________ about 11 hours a day.
I have been working here ____________ 15 years.
Im responsible ________ finding new markets or products for the company.
From
Our HQ is about 25 kms ___________ the airport.
We import meat products _____________ China
At
I meet my clients _____________ their offices
Im rarely ______ my desk.
As
I work ________________ a sales rep
By
We deliver our products ____________ ship and air freight.
-
Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 3- Prepositions practice game pairwork version- Student B
Choose one of the prepositions below and choose the most difficult one for the other
team to guess from. Give them more and more hints for the same preposition until they
get the right answer.
On
I am working ______________ a project to produce a new product for next year.
I work ________________ the 23rd floor
I work __________ my computer for most of the working day.
I hardly ever work _________________ Sundays
I often speak to clients ___________ the phone.
In
We work ___________ the fashion business.
I work ___________________ Tokyo
I work ________________ a large, comfortable office
Our head office is ________________ Norway.
With
I work _____________ people from the HR and R&D departments
I have a good relationship _____________ my boss
I have to negotiate _____________ suppliers.
Of
We are the biggest manufacturer of sausages ________ the world.
I manage a team ______________ 5 people.
To
We export farm produce ________________ South East Asia and the Pacific Region.
I report _______ the Head of Sales.
Between
I work __________________ 10 and 12 hours a day.
Than
We have more ___________ 20,000 employees.
Match the answers on the Student A and Student B sheets to the questions below (more
than one answer might be possible each time and not all of the answers match with
questions)
Whats your job? / What do you do?
What are you working on at the moment?
Where do you work?
What is your workplace like?/ What kind of place do you work in?
What does your company do?
Who do you work for?
What kind of company do you work for?
Where is your head office?
What is your usual weekly schedule?
What are your main duties/ responsibilities?
How long have you been working for your company?
What are your career plans?/ What are your ambitions?/ How do you see your career
developing?
Who is your boss/ direct boss/ line manager?
Ask and answer the questions above in pairs

Present Simple/ Continuous Business roleplays

Your partner keeps phoning your number and asking to speak to your boss. Give them a
different reason each time why he or she isnt available
You phone your partner on their mobile. You keep hearing different strange noises in the
background. Ask each time what the noise is.
You both want to set up a regular meeting. Talk about your weekly routines and try to find
a regular slot that suits both of you.
Try to persuade your partner that one of your regular duties at work should be transferred
to them
Listen to your partners complaints about the processes in your company. Admit those
faults but tell them how things are changing and how those things are being worked on in
order to keep their business.