BUSINESS ENGLISH BOOK

Written by: Dwita Laksmita

Module 1: Introduction and Greetings

Unit 1 Greetings and self – introduction

 Begin an introduction
 Close an introduction

1 Begin an Introduction

1. Look at the picture. Discuss the situation with friends in the group discussion. Decide what your
group think of people in the picture are talking about. Suggest various topics and not talking
about
2. Read the text below. Identify the message implied by the text.

Making eye contact

Making eye contact has an important for to build and maintaining a communication. We all knpw
that some eyes are blue, green, hazel, black, and brown. However, it’s more than eye colors, it
reflects what their eyes are saying. People can communicate with their eyes without saying a word
and still showing emotion, interest or thought. Hence, making eye contact can become joyful or
awkward and uncomfortable.

According to conversation aid, there are some points that making eye contact is important to make
conversation:
  Eye contact opens and closes communication
 Increased eye contact is associated with credibility and dominance
 Stares communicate hostility

Now, let’s talk a little deeper about it. Making eye contact is viral when you start until end a
communication. Hence, before making a conversation, start by making an eye contact with the
person whom you want to talk to. It is important to giving vibe or letting other people know that you
are exist and wanted to make a conversation with him/her. Once he/her notices that you want to
make eye contact, then start with showing gestures and start introduce yourself.

Show gesture(s)

After making eye contact, show gestures that you want to approach and making conversation with
the person.

Here are some gestures that commonly used before making an introduction or conversation

 Making eye contact

 Smile and lifting eyebrow
 Approaching the person with enthusiasm
 Show hand gestures according to the culture (e.i. Indonesian uses handshaking gesture)
 Start introduce yourself

By making right eye contact and gestures, people could feel your intention that you want to
introduce yourself.

Introduction Phrases

Introduce yourself

Can/ May I introduce myself? My name is ….

Let me introduce myself. My name is ….

Hi, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m …

Hi, I’m …

I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m ….

Introducing someone else

Can/ May I introduce you a good friend of mine? This is ….

Have you met ….?

I’d like you to meet ….

I want you to meet …

 Making contact

Excuse me, are you Mrs. ….?

Hello, you must be Mrs. …..

You are Mr. ….., aren’t you?

Have we met?

Part of Speech for making a proper sentence

Part of speech is vital to analyze sentences and understand a sentence and constructing a proper
sentence. In English, there are 9 basic types called “parts of speech”.

Part of Speech Function Example in words Example in sentences

Verb Action or state (to) be, have, like, do/does, I like to sing
can, V1 (sing, dance, write),
must, etc.
Noun Thing or person Cat, book, teacher, Taylor, Taylor is my teacher
music, students
Adjective Describes a noun Beautiful, bad, yellow, My handbag has a good design
good, interesting
Determiner Limits or The, a/ an, some, little, to I receive an envelope
‘determines’ a noun
Adverb Describe a verb, Quickly, well, badly, really I can write quickly
adjective or adverb
Pronoun Replaces a noun I, he, she, them, you I know them
Preposition Links a noun to To, after, before, above, We will go after you
another word but, at
Conjuction Joins clauses or And, but, when, while I love to sing while dancing
sentences or words
Interjection Short exclamation, Oh!, Well, Hi, there! Well, that’s all I know
commonly inserted
into a sentence

Practice: part of speech

Try to answer these questions and keep present tense in mind!

1. Fill the boxes with proper word of your choice

Verb

Noun Verb
 Noun Verb Verb

Pronoun Verb Noun

Noun Verb noun adverb

Noun Verb adjective noun

Pronoun Verb preposition determiner noun adverb

Pronou Verb adjective noun conjunction pronoun verb pronoun

n

2. Choose the right answer for the following questions by identifying which parts of speech that
is marked bold
i. What did she ask to you?
a. conjunction
b. preposition
c. pronoun
ii. I buy a car today
a. preposition
b. adjective
c. noun
iii. On the weekdays, I work from nine to five
a. adverb
b. verb
c. preposition
iv. If we finish our work quickly we can go home earlier
a. verb
b. adverb
c. conjunction

3. Make most suitable sentences from the following words

 a) fast : __________________
b) him : __________________
c) smart : _________________

2 Close an Introduction

Once you start a conversation with an introduction, you need to end it too because of the time, the
next agenda that you have, or simply want to end it.

Good-bye Phrases

Basic Good-byes I have something to prepare for ……

Good bye/ bye/ I’ll say good bye/ see you I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow
later/ see you soon
I’ll miss my flight
I must go now
Ending the conversation by showing
I must be off appreciation

I’m afraid I’ve got to go Thank you for coming

Having the next agenda Thank you for everything

I (really) must be going I’ve enjoyed talking to you

I’m afraid I have to go It’s been interesting talking to you

They’re calling my flight It’s been a very useful meeting

 Ending the conversation with future I look forward to see you when I’m in
expectation London next month

I look forward to our next meeting See you on the next meeting

I look forward to see you again I hope to see you again

Practice: Close an Introduction

Try to answer these questions and keep in mind to use proper parts of speech!

1. Identify the difference between these phrases. Match the phrases with the chosen
introduction type below
- basic goodbye - Having next agenda
- Ending with showing appreciation - Ending with future expectation

a) This is _________
(i) See you, I had a good time
(ii) Sure, me too

b) This is _________
(i) I’m sorry, I had to go now
(ii) It’s okay. No problem

c) This is _________
(i) Goodbye. It’s been very interesting to talk with you
(ii) Oh, me too.

d) This is _________
(i) Goodbye. I hope to see you soon
(ii) Let’s catch up at Union Space Avenue next Monday, Shall we?
(iii) All right. See you

2. Complete the following conversation with the most appropriate words or phrases
a) Taylor : Wow, you really are a humble person
Ben : Oh, really?. Thank you
Taylor : Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Jasmin. I really hope to ______ you soon.

b) Ace : It’s been a pleasure to know you in person.

Abbey : Me too, it’s been a __________ to know you too. I look ___________ to see you
again soon.

c) Andrew : You are very knowledgeable person. It was very nice to know you
Abigail : I’ll take it as a compliment. Thank you. Let’s _______ up again at my next
conference, here is the brochure.
 d) Charles : I’m afraid I _____ to _____ now.
Hope : Oh, that’s no problem. I have to prepare for my presentation too.

3. Make most suitable reaction to the following phrases

a) Have a good weekend ____________________________
b) I hope to see you again soon __________________________
c) It was nice to see you _________________________
d) Let’s meet again next Monday in the XWork Space at 11am ____________
e) Will you have time next month? Let’s meet up ______________

4. Spot the grammar error in the following sentences and fix it

a) I am watch TV now
b) I want to going on a vacation
c) I often played the piano
d) Tomorrow I went to my friend’s house
e) I looking forward to it
Module 1: Introduction and Greetings

Unit 2 Invitation

 Making an invitation
 Aceepting and declining an Invitation

1 Making an Invitation

1. Look at the picture. Discuss the situation with friends in the group discussion. Decide what your
group think of people in the picture are possibly talking about. Suggest various topics and not
talking about. Make sure that yours are different from the other/ opposite group(s)
2. Read the text below. Identify the message implied by the text.
Knowing the person that you invite

Before making an invitation, it is essential to know the person that you want to invite. Hence, you
would be able to make a proper sentences based on who he/she is.

Knowing the formal/informality tone

By knowing the formal/informality of the conversation, you would be able to choose the proper
tone to make an invitation sentence.

Using Present Tense for Introduction

What are the present tense used for?

It is used to talk about:

- an action in habitual or repeated action

- an action in current situation
- expressing the nearest future or situation
- expressing a wish or a command
- an action which has started at precise time in the past but still continue up to now

How is the present tense formed?

[+] Subject + Base Form (V1) + ‘s’ or ‘es’ + rest of the sentence

[-] Subject + do not/ does not + base form + rest of the sentence

[?] Do/ does + subject + base form + rest of the sentence +?

Why are the present tense commonly used for an introduction?

 Giving personal information and routine

- I live in Manhattan
- I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers
- I was born in May, so I’m a Taurus
- I barely work out at weekends
- I always skip breakfast during the week

 Describing responsibilities and job

- I work for a multinational company in South Jakarta
- I’m in charge of the administration department
- I respond to customer complaint
- My work involves preparing for preparing presentation and proposal

 Stating opinion
- I think that’s wonderful
 - I’m thinking about my next proposal
- Sorry, but I feel it’s not a wise choice
- In my opinion, it doesn’t feel right.

 Talking about likes and dislikes

- I’m into zumba
- I enjoy listening to opera
- One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is to have my me – time
- I don’t mind boxing, though it’s a little scare me to death
- I can’t stand his behavior, he’s a bit annoying to me

 Talking about people or situation

- He’s a great guy
- They dance really beautifully, I love to watch their moves
- What I like about her is her strong character

Now, try to imagine you are introducing yourself and building a communication. Then make possible
sentences of it

Making Invitation Phrases

Neutral Invitation

I was wondering if you would like to join us for a meal

Perhaps you would like to have dinner at home

I wanted to invite you to dinner

I thought you might like to try some of our local cuisine

There’s a really nice place just a few minutes from here/ round the corner, would you like to join me?

Informal Invitation

Why not come around for a drink?

Fancy going for a drink?

Shall we meet tonight over dinner?

Let’s discuss it later over a drink

Why not join us for a drink?

Practice: Invitation

1. Rearrange the following words to make a good sentence

 a) Would/like/join/you/for/lunch/us/to?
________________________________________________________________________
b) Fancy/for/going/a/meal/out?
________________________________________________________________________
c) Shall/meet/over/we/dinner/later/to discuss it/?
________________________________________________________________________
d) Why/join/for/a drink/us/not?
________________________________________________________________________
e) I thought/would/you/try/some of/like to/local cuisine/our
________________________________________________________________________
2. Read the following expression. In what situations would you use them?
a) I want you to join us, come on
b) Shall we meet at half past eleven?
c) Yes, please
d) Thank you, that’d be very nice
e) What about going out for a meal?
3. Practice the dialogue below with a partner. Change the information in bold to different
information. Practice again.
a) Fina : Hi, Mark. How are you?
Mark : I’m good. Do you still concurring around the town to find new cafes
Fina : I am still. Anyway, there’s a new café down the town, would you join me this
afternoon?
Mark : Really. Sure, I’d love that
Fina: Great. Let’s meet up at 2pm tomorrow at this spot
2 Accepting and Declining an Invitation

Sometimes, we have a situation when we are being invited. However, we can’t always accept their
invitation, sometimes we need to decline too. For that situations, there are several expression used
according to different context of situation

Accepting and Declining Invitation Phrases

Accepting the invitation Thank you very much. But, I’m afraid I can’t
come
That’s very kind of you
That’s very kind of you. Unfortunately I
I’d like that very much
have arranged something else
Thank you. That’d be very nice

I’ll look forward to it

Yes, please.
That’s very kind of you. But I won’t be here
Thanks tomorrow

That sounds good That’s very kind of you. Unfortunately I’m

busy on Tuesday
Declining the invitation
Thanks. But, I won’t make it happen
No. Thank you/thanks Where shall we meet?

I’m all right, thanks. What time should I come?

Sorry, I can’t manage Say at half past seven

Setting the details Shall we meet at half past seven?

Shall I pick you up? Where shall we meet?

Practice: Invitation

1. How would you make, accept, or decline a good invitation sentence from the following
information
a) accept an invitation politely
b) Invite a colleague for a drink
c) Say sorry because you can’t come
d) Suggest a concrete time to meet
e) Declining for a meeting
2. Making a conversation of you and your friends using the keywords below
a) can’t come
b) fancy dinner
c) sounds great, but
Unit 3 Small Talk and Socializing

 Making contact
 Keeping conversation going
 getting away

1 Making Contact

1. Look at the picture. Discuss the situation with friends in the group discussion. Decide what your
group think of people in the picture are talking about. Suggest various topics and not talking
about
2. Read the text below. Identify the message implied by the text.

Making eye contact

Making eye contact has an important for to build and maintaining a communication. We all knpw
that some eyes are blue, green, hazel, black, and brown. However, it’s more than eye colors, it
reflects what their eyes are saying. People can communicate with their eyes without saying a word
and still showing emotion, interest or thought. Hence, making eye contact can become joyful or
awkward and uncomfortable.

According to conversation aid, there are some points that making eye contact is important to make
conversation:
Small Talk and Socializing Phrases
 Making Contact
Do you mind if I join you?
Excuse me, you must be …
I really enjoyed to talk with you
 Weather
What a beautiful morning. A bit
windy, but beautiful
It’s been raining for weeks. Is this
never going to end?
It’s never been this hot at this time
of the year
 Weekend
What’s your plan for this weekend?
How’s your weekend?
How did you spend the weekend?
Did you do anything special?
 Family
How’s Carol doing? I haven’t seen
her for ages
We should get together one of
these days. Annie would love to see
you both, too
How are the kids?
Give my regards to your husband
Why don’t you come over for dinner
one of these days?
:: PRACTICE ::
1. Make questions about some of the following topics. Think of the best respond to each question
 The decreased salary
 The tasks for the next semester
 The holiday
 Sports
Did you watch the game last night in channel
Bong?
What was your favorite team from last
match?
 Movies
Have you watch Harry Potter and The Goblet
of Fire?
I think Snape is my favorite character, what’s
yours?
You really love Malvoy? What did you like
about his character?
 People
Have you seen Agnes? She’s married now
It is our secret but I heard that Jennie is going
to be promoted
 Keeping the talk going
Do you often travel to Swiss?
Have you been there before?
Is this your first time to visit Indonesia?
What line of business are you in?
So, where are you staying?
How long have you joined their team?
 Getting Away
Would you excuse me a moment?
If you’ll excuse me, I must just go and say
hello
Would you excuse me? I have to make a call
  Your hobbies
 Health
 Environmental topics

2. Choose a partner who could act to be your business partner or friend/colleagues. Then make a
small talk based on the following topics

No topics Colleague/friend Business partner

.
1 Family
2 Politics
3 Economy
4 Travel
5 Task

3. Choose the most suitable response for the following lines

1) I’ve just bought a new apartment – Billington Hills
a. Really? I’ve heard it is a very bad residence
b. Really? But why did you do that?
c. Really? Woa, congratulation!
2) My sister Ana has entered Princeton University
a. Really? What is her major?
b. Really? It’s too impossible
c. You’re lying
3) Our team will beat the opposite team
a. Impossible. They have a good team work. Ours will not going to win
b. I think their team is better than ours
c. Yes, they have terrible team work.
4. Choose a partner and try to pretend that you both are role playing one of the following
characters:
a. Businessman and businessman
b. A guest and hotel receptionist
c. A café owner and coffee lover who is visiting the café
d. New student and new student
e. Makeup artist and the actress/actor/model

:: GRAMMAR CORNER ::

A Sentence must have a SUBJECT and a VERB. You can spot the SUBJECT by asking
WHO or WHAT is doing the action or VERB in the sentence. SUBJECT is always
noun(s)

Example:
  A girl sits on the desk

Who sits on the desk? A girl. So A girl is the subject

 Hana sings with a band

Who sings with the band? Hana. So, Hana is the subject

:: EXERCISE ::

Underline the verb and circle the subject in the following sentences

1. Mark is a copywriter
2. Marie is a housekeeper
3. Mark loves to type and create a commercial phrases
4. Marie loves to cook and clean the house
5. She enjoys her work
6. Audrey is a youtuber who loves to share about makeup and skincare tips
7. Marsha’s dream is to become a teacher
8. She is satisfied with her salary
9. Audrey loves her job
10. Alan wants to be a programmer

Underline the verbs and circle the subject in the letter below

Dear, Hanna
We would like to inform you that our brand, Lady K, is launching a new fragrance named Dark
Lady. It has sweet and slight rose scented which is loved by the princesses in 70th era. Dark Lady
Perfume and cologne are now available at all of our stores nearest your place. For a limited time,
we offer you a special discount if you purchase for $10 or more.
Yours truly,
The founder of Lady K.
Module 2: Introduction to Business Communication Skills

Unit 1 What is Business Communication Skill?

 Why is it important

1. Look at the picture. Discuss the situation with friends in the group discussion. Decide what your
group think of two people who are hand – shaking in the picture are talking about. Suggest
various topics and not talking about
2. Read the text below. Identify the message implied by the text.

Business English Communication – Why is it demanded today?

Business English is a general term which is used for English related to any international business
including finance, industry, startup, corporation, commerce, and more. For global environment, this
becomes common for non – natives to study business English communication as a tool to interact
with English – non English speaking companies that use/ can use English as a shared language because
English is the third – largest mother tongue in the world.

As a purpose learning tool, the goal of learning business English is to bring the message across and
also to reach agreement. That is the reason why it is demanded for people to learn business English
 communication skills which cover letter writing, delivering proper presentation, negotiation, also small
talk, and more.

Business English dictions and phrases are quite different when are compared to the ordinary and
common English.

To learn more about it, go on to the next page.

The Important of the Word Order in English

Before you learn more about business English communication, you need to master the word order to
create a good and logical sentence. The standard word order in English is Subject + Verb + Object

 Subject : Noun or pronoun

 Verb : Action or state of being
 Object : word or words which is/are influence by the verb

EXERCISE: WORD ORDER

1. Choose the correct word order below.

a) Dropped the boy the ball
b) The boy dropped the ball
c) The ball is dropped by the boy
2. Choose the correct word order below.
a) The house is creepy
b) Creepy is the house
c) The creepy
3. Choose the correct word order below.
a) I going home
b) I am going home now
c) Go home me
4. Arrange the word to make affirmative sentences
a) give/ the present / tomorrow / we / him/ will

___________________________________________________________________

b) my sister / breakfast / makes / in the morning

___________________________________________________________________

c) Wants / to the theatre / to go / he

___________________________________________________________________

Common Business English Communication Phrases

Read and learn the phrases which are office – friendly below. Then make sentence out of each phrases.
Make sure you write a good word order!

Phrases Meaning Sentence

Cut corners Complete a task
Back to the drawing To start again from the
board beginning with new start
Call it a day Taking a break/stopping
something completely
Workflow The incoming tasks usually
used as term ‘overwork’
Touch base To talk with a person
Reach out Get in contact with someone
Keep me in the loop Keep someone involved and
updated about the project
development
Drill down into To explore in more depth
As of Yet At the moment
Forward planning Planning for next activity
At the end of When everything is concerned
and taken into a consideration
Proactive Taking initiative on something
Action points Refer to specific action to be
taken. Usually used at the end
of a meeting or a formal email
To action/actionable To do
Cut to the chase Getting the point without
wasting more time
Get the ball rolling Start something
Stay ahead of the Maintaining any advantage
curve you have gained over the
competition
Due diligence Describing the considered
action which is reasonable
Best practice An accepted method
Upskills To train or upgrading the skill
Dynamic Over – used in professional
life and is an office – friendly
word to replace ‘exciting’ or
‘new’
Streamline To simplify the process
Align Ensure that different
departments are working on
the same goal
Go the extra mile Put extra effort to do the task
Expedited Formal way to say “speed up”
but this is an old fashion
 phrase
Down the line An expression to say “Some
point in the future”
Micromanage To manage people on a micro
level
Going forward A formal way to replace “from
now onwards”
Let go Gentle way to fire employee
Close of play Refer to “the end of the
working day”

Brand Names that mostly mispronounced!

Access the video by clicking this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbHfuZNS3oo

Channel name: Linguamarina

Title: 17 Brand Names You are Mispronouncing

BUT, before you access the video, challenge yourself whether you have pronounced the brands below
correctly or not

 Tommy Hilfiger  Coach  BSBG MAXAZRIA

 Levi’s  Michael Kors  Furla
 Converse  Zadig and Voltaire  L’Occitane
 Nike  UGG  Hollister
 Clarins  Ermenegildo Zegna  Abercrombie & Fitch
 Diesel  Versace

Speak like a Manager (delivering the message)

 1. Read carefully the phrases on the left side, then choose one of suitable words below to fill the
blank of the right side. Good luck!

ORDINARY BUSINESS ENGLISH PHRASES HIGHER LEVEL OF BUSINESS ENGLISH PHRASES

Find out what’s wrong …………. the problem
Fix the problem …………. the issues
Give my team confidence …………. my employee
Give clients my attention …………. on our clients
Spend as little as possible …………. our expense
Make money as much as possible …………. our earning
Get more work …………. more business
Use the new ideas …………. the strategies

Choose the suitable word for each blank space above

 Generate
 Maximize
 Minimize
 Focus
 Resolve
 Identify
 Implement
 Motivate

2.

Never say these at workplace (communication profession)

Making

Unit 2Effective Communication

Unit 3 Communication Profession
Unit 4 Delivering Your Message
Unit 5 Understanding Your Audience
Module 2: Introduction to Business Communication Skills

Unit 2 Effective Communication

 Why is it important to communicate well

 Essentials for effective correspondence
 Your responsible as a communicator
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Module 2: Introduction to Business Communication Skills

Unit 3 Communication Profession

 General terms in the workplace

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Module 2: Introduction to Business Communication Skills

Unit 4 Delivering Your Message

 Principles of verbal communication

 Obstacles in a communication
 Emphasis strategies
 Improving verbal communication

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