Are enrolled in an ESL program and working in the US? You probably have a boss; unless they own their company, most people have bosses they have to report to and receive instructions from.

Here we will show you how to talk to your manager in correct business English; this is, to let him or her know exactly how you feel or what you need.  We will show you how to properly ask for feedback, for an explanation, for more work, and to show frustration, among others.

1.When you are working on a project and you want your manager to review it before officially presenting it, there are numerous ways in which you can ask your manager to do so:

-Do you want to review my project?

-I just finished my project.  Do you want to review it?

-This is my first big project and I was wondering if you could review it?

-I think I covered everything, but could you do a quick review?

2.After a project you worked on is completed, you should ask for feedback on it, however, make sure your manager has had enough time to go over the work before you ask for his or her opinion.

-Did you finish reviewing the project I concluded?

-Hi Steve, this was my first project and I wanted to know how I did so that I can get better.

-What do you think I could have done better?

-What should I do different next time?

-What did I do well and what needs to be improved?

3.It is good that you ask for feedback if you are new at a job or position.  You can ask for it after you complete an assignment or after a few months on the job.

Some companies have a feedback process set up, where you have weekly or bi-weekly individual meetings with your manager, and this is a good time for you to talk about your work and everything else that concerns you.

If your company does not offer regular feedback meetings, you can schedule some time with your boss to talk about your development:

-Hi Jen, can we meet sometime this week to talk about my work so far?

-I was wondering if we could have a meeting to talk about how I am doing.

4.If your work doesn’t involve a specific project or assignment, you can ask for feedback about your work in general:

-Can you give me some feedback on my performance?

-Where do you think I need to improve?

-What areas you think I should work on?

-Do you think I am ready to work on a specific project?

-Do you think I am ready to get more responsibility?

When you know how to talk to your manager, you convey respect for yourself, your work, your boss, and your company; this is why it is crucial that you learn to communicate appropriately, in a way that enriches your professional growth and your company’s trust in you.

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If you are not a native speaker of the English language but do business with native speakers you must take ESL lessons to learn to write the language well.

It is not that you have to write perfectly; what is truly important is that you learn the art of effective communication.

Here we give you 4 tips that never fail to help you deliver a clear message be it through email or any other informal type of writing:

1. Keep it simple and short

Business people are busy and do not have time to read long emails, notes or letters.  They just want to know what’s important to know.

For example: If you have to schedule a meeting, make very clear the time, date and place of the event.  Do not waste time writing unnecessary details that do not add anything to your goal.

1. When in doubt, look for a synonym

If you are not sure how to use a word, do not use it. 

Instead, look for a word you know that conveys the message you want to deliver, because this is not the time to show off your vocabulary skills.

Remember that native speakers write in a simple way; so, using “fancy” words can look unprofessional and unnatural. 

What really looks bad is for you to use a word incorrectly, so stay with what you know.

1. List the questions you believe the recipient would like answered

Ensure you answer all the questions on your list, because it is very annoying to read an email and discover you have to write back because someone forgot to include a critical piece of information.

Business deals have been lost due to this and your company looks unprofessional.

1. Focus on what the other person wants and not what you want

People will respond to an email that could help them much more than to one that gives them no clear solution.

Before asking for someone’s help, make sure you show them how you can genuinely help them.  Look for a win-win scenario, because people are always happy to do business with someone who shows them they will benefit too.

Use these tips when writing in business English and your communications will be more effective.  The quality of your writing is secondary as long as your ideas and content are clear. 

Just work on getting your point across and eventually you’ll master the rest.  Even so, always try your best and make sure you avoid obvious mistakes… this is easy if you keep your writing short and simple. 

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

Yep, you read right… road signs provide good

ESL lessons for business writing.

ESL lessons for business writing.

How is this?

Well… take for example the signs on I-5, the main highway between Seattle and Portland.  There, all the road signs that are the same category have identical form:

-      The signs for rest areas are blue.

-      The signs for state parks are brown.

-      The signs for roadwork are orange.

-      Road exit signs have the exit number at the top followed by the destination.  All of these signs are green with white letters.

-      When the next exit is the destination, you don’t see an exit number, only the destination.

Ok… and how exactly does this help business writing???  Simple, like this:

1. Keep like things in identical form

When you present the same kind of information in the same way it is easier for the reader to find it and use it.

• Make all bullet points in a section sentences or phrases, not both.

• Start all action items with a verb.

• If you capitalize only the first word in a heading, do the same in all similar headings.

1. Put first what’s needed first

A list of destinations on a road sign shows the closest destination first, equally, when writing in business, the information your readers need first must appear at the beginning of your piece.

If you are writing an email, first tell your recipient what you want them to do so that they know how to manage the rest of the message.

1. Group similar information together

Always keeping in mind how your readers will use it…

On the road signs, businesses in the same category appear on the same sign along with their company logos. 

One sign lists all hotels, motels and such with the heading “Lodging Exit 21”.

Another sign lists all the places to eat with the heading “Food Exit 21”.

Yet another sign lists the gas stations and another one the tourist activities in the same way.

At the office:

• When making meeting notes, group all the action items and include helpful familiar images. 

You can add photos to the people’s biographies and use the same type of graphics on your newsletter articles every month.

• Unify your pieces using the same type and size of font.  There are some fonts that are easier to read such as “Verdana”, “Times New Roman” or “Arial” so make sure you use one of these.

• Use colors that identify your company, no more than two or three, and keep your pieces simple and clean.

Most surely if you pay close attention you can find many more teachings on road signs.  The next time you are driving along a highway, pay some attention and find new ways to improve your business English writing.

Here we give you a helpful guide to understand 10 types of words that exist in English:

1. Acronym

Is an abbreviation pronounced as a word.  

It consists of the initial letters of a multiword name or expression and can have only uppercase letters¾NASA¾, the initial-cap style for longer acronyms¾Nasdaq¾, or only lowercase letters¾radar¾; the latter are also known as anacronyms.

1. Anepronym

Is a trademarked brand name that is used generically, like aspirin or Kleenex.

1. Antonym

Is a word distinguished from another by an opposite meaning, like large as compared to small.

There are also types of words called autoantonyms, contranyms, or contronyms that are single words with contrasting meanings, like oversight, which can mean either “responsibility for” or “failure to be responsible for”.

1. Eponym

Is a proper or common name that derives from another name, like San Francisco¾in honor of St. Francis¾or many scientific terms such as watt¾named after James Watt¾and volt¾named after Allesandro Volta¾.

1. Heteronym

Is a word that is spelled the same for different meanings, like wear¾to clothe oneself¾and to wear¾to atrophy¾.

An heteronym can be pronounced differently depending on its meaning, such as bass, the musical instrument, and bass, the fish.  This type of word is also called an heterophone.

1. Homonym

Is a word pronounced or spelled the same but different in meaning, like hi and high¾also called homophones¾.

The word bass, named above, is both an heteronym and an homonym.

1. Metonym

Is a term that identifies something by its association, for example: articles about Microsoft often referred to the company metonymically as Redmond¾the city in Washington State where its headquarters are located¾just as Washington stands for the U.S. government.

1. Pseudonym

Is a name adopted by an author, like Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

In a literary context, this is known as a nom de plume¾“name of the pen”¾.

Other pseudonyms are stage names¾performing arts¾, ring names¾professional wrestling¾, and handles¾computer hacking, or CB or ham radio operation¾.

1. Synonym

Is a word with the same meaning as another, like small/little and sick/ill.

1. Toponym

Is a place name or name derived from a place, whether it retains capitalization or is lowercased in generic usage, like burgundy and Chevy Tahoe.

There are many other ‘-nym’ word categories that you should ask about during your ESL classes, we have listed 10 very important ones here, but this is only the beginning!

“May” and “might” are two very common words in the English language; however, many ESL students and even native speakers, don’t know there’s a difference between them. The differences are subtle, but very important.

More often than not “may” and “might” are interchangeable; both refer to the possibility of something happening or being, but “might” suggests, to some extent, a lower possibility.

For example, it is more possible that you will need a raincoat and umbrella if the weather channel says it may rain than if it says it might rain.

Still, you can use either without being guilty of breaking the rules of the English language, on condition that you use it in the present tense.

But it doesn’t stop there… “Might” is also the past tense of the auxiliary verb “may”, and you will have to use it in sentences like this one:

Sarah might not have fallen if she had worn appropriate boots.

When you are talking about an event that might have been different from what it was, never replace “might” for “may”.

However, if you are making a guess about something because you don’t know exactly what happened, then you may wish to use “may”. For example:

I think she may have believed I would truly love a library pass as an anniversary gift.

Last but not least, if you grew up in a very formal and educated family, instead of asking:

Can I go to the bathroom?

You probably formulate the question in this way:

May I go to the bathroom?

And even though the “can” version is much more used than the “may” one, some people still think that “may” should be used when asking for permission while “can” applies only to the physical capacity.

The truth is that you can use either version… you can confirm it at your ESL class.

Some words in English are confusing because they are written and sound similarly, and this is the case of wether, weather, and whether. These types of words are called homonyms: words that share the same spelling, or punctuation, or both, but have different meanings.

Here we explain the differences among these 3 words, so that you can impress your ESL class with knowledge that even a lot of native English speakers don’t have:

Wether

The spell check in your computer may flag this word as wrongly spelled, normally offering you the options whether or weather to correct it; however, this word does exist, and it has two meanings:

• A male sheep or ram
• A castrated ram or billy goat

Example:

• A wether flock invaded the town unexpectedly, scaring everyone in their path.

Weather

This is the “state of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness”, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Example:

• The weather is too harsh to go skiing; it looks like a snowstorm is approaching.

Whether

This word is commonly misspelled many write ‘wether’ instead, including many ESL students.

The word whether introduces an indirect question, involving stated or implied alternatives, or presents alternative conditions or possibilities.

Examples:

• Frank ended up seated next to Ellen, whether by accident or on purpose.
• The training is necessary whether you are an owner, an executive, or a manager.

And here is a shot at using the 3 words in one sentence:

• The shepherd doubted whether his wether would be affected by the tough weather.

Can you come up with any of your own?

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This is a tricky one for ESL students and even native speakers. No matter how many ESL lessons you take and how much ESL practice you complete, in some cases you just have to learn the rules on how to use certain words correctly in English.

These two words, under and below, are very often used indistinctively to denote that something or someone is “lower than”.

For example:

- The plates are in the kitchen under the sink.

- The plates are in the kitchen below the sink.

Other than that, these are the cases in which you should use below:

1. When an object or person is not exactly under another.

For example:

- The sun vanished below the horizon.

- The hikers rested a few meters below the summit.

2. When talking about temperature or height measurements.

For example:

- The temperature dropped to ten degrees below zero.

- Some areas of the city are below sea level.

- These ESL activities are below average.

And these are the cases in which you must use under:

1. When an object or person is covered by what is on top.

For example:

- Mary was wearing a pink dress under her coat.

- The dog is under the table.

- The town ended up under a pile of mud.

2. When you mean ‘younger than’ or ‘less than’.

For example:

- There were under fifteen children in the room.

- In this state you can’t drink if you are under 21.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

Direct and indirect speech are two ways of giving details about other people’s thoughts, words, or ideas.

If your ESL teacher hasn’t tried it yet, it is an interesting ESL activity to suggest. You can practice making dialogues in the classroom or talking about your day’s events using direct and indirect speech.

Here we teach you what each of these speech modalities is all about so that you can take full advantage of this practice during your advanced ESL course:

Direct speech

When you use direct speech, you communicate the words another person said exactly as he or she said them.

Here are a few examples:

- He said, “What is going on?”

- Laura yelled, “I am not to blame!”

- Mike said, “Are you joining us?”

- She said, “I don’t want to be a part of this.”

- Todd says, “I feel very well.”

- Dad replied, “I am not paying for that.”

- The doctor ordered, “You must remain in bed for one afternoon.”

In all the above, the person talking is sharing information by repeating the literal words another person said. This is direct speech.

Indirect speech

You can also communicate a person’s ideas, thoughts, or words by using your own words; this is called indirect speech. To do it, you change pronouns, tenses, words, and use conjunctions as necessary.

These are some examples:

- Linda asked what we wanted.

- He said he would be away for a week.

- Samuel wanted to know if Jane was coming along.

- She asked if I was OK.

- The man told me I look nice.

- Mom asked everyone to be silent and hide.

- George yelled that he didn’t want to talk to Sarah.

When you use indirect speech you are telling someone what another person said in a different place and at a different time; so, you can see that direct and indirect speech are very different grammatically.

The good news is that both happen very naturally and have logic to them, so they are easy to employ in your everyday life.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

“I am writing to you to inquire if you will be able to join us for the event?”

Is the above a statement or a question?

If you’ve been taking ESL classes for some time now you have probably read something like this somewhere¾or maybe you even wrote something like it at one point.

To answer our own question, the sentence above is a statement, so, why does it have a question mark at the end?

A statement ends with a period (.), denoting full stop. Let’s see some good examples:

- Clara asked whether you have thought about signing up for an ESL class.I wonder whether I should go to the beach with this weather.

- He just asked if the ESL program was for advanced ESL students.

- Why Bill would consider buying me a karaoke machine I don’t have a clue.

- The vital question here is not how well you speak English but how much you practice.

If you want to employ the question mark (?) you can turn all the above into questions, like this:

- Clara asked, “Has Jenny thought about signing up for an ESL class?

- I wonder: Should I go to the beach with this weather?

- He just asked, “Is the ESL program for advanced ESL students?”

- Why would Bill consider buying me a karaoke machine? I don’t have a clue!

- The vital question here is not how well you speak English. It is, how much do you practice?

The simple rule to know when a question mark (?) is required and when the sentence is a simple statement that ends with a period (.) is the following:

When the verb goes before the subject, as in ‘can I’ or ‘shall you’, you are asking a direct question that needs a question mark (?).

When the verb goes after the subject, as in ‘I can’ or ‘you shall’, you are asking an indirect question that should end with a period (.).

We wonder if this information was helpful. (Notice… no question mark!) Was it? 

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).