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BUSINESS ENGLISH COMMUNICATION

Does this sound familiar?

You need input from a colleague for an important meeting. The email you receive as answer to your request is incomplete, so you need to email again...and again...

You rejected a guarantee claim from a long-term customer as he missed the deadline. Shortly after, you hear that the customer changed to the competition...

You want to ask your boss for more money as you have worked extremely hard for the last 3 years and have seen younger colleagues passing you by. But you don't know how...

Poor Communication Costs Billions of Dollars Every Year!

3 FACTS about Business Communication

1. TOP business leaders have TOP communication skills!

2. EXCELLENT communication skills have the HIGHEST priority in soft skills!

3. ENGLISH is and continues to be ‘lingua franca’ in international business!

(i.e. language that is used among people who speak various different languages)

The GOOD News

Communication & Language Skills can be learnt

WHAT IF

you had a TOOL that turns you into an excellent communicator teaching you not only the appropriate English expressions but also the necessary communication skills?

WHAT IF

you could use the TOOL whenever and wherever you need it on any pinch-to-zoom device (e.g. smartphone, tablet, Kindle Fire) or your PC?

WHAT IF

this TOOL is highly affordable?

AND WHAT IF

you support education projects in disadvantaged communities through The Affordable Book Project at the same time?!

Would that not be a dream come true? And here it is:

BUSINESS ENGLISH at your fingertips

This is a series of e-books covering communication from Business Correspondence to Presentations to Negotiations for intermediate to higher levelstudents including native speakers (European Assessment CEFR B1 – C2).

The skill-based concept introduces the business skill (e.g. how to reject a claim without losing the customer) using a practical step-by-step method demonstrating the skill’s importance in the work world before proceeding to language work. This approach is similar to the new project-based learning (PBL) in general English.

These books will be published via the new, exciting Kindle Textbook Creator, which allows the incorporation of various media including audio and video.

This is the first textbook series in this field completely designed for electronic media using all their intriguing possibilities not wasting any paper.

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ABOUT the Author

Life and Work

My name is Vera von Weltin. I am a highly skilled Business English Communication Coach & Textbook Author.

I was born in Germany, lived for 5 years in Canada and 13+ years on the small island of Taiwan.

In summer 2015, I moved to Ecuador, where I now reside in the southern city of Loja in a beautiful little house with 4 rescued cats. I enjoy my new home as the weather is always mild and Ecuadorians are incredibly friendly people.

In Germany, I acquired the equivalent of an M.Ed. in mathematics and physics in addition to a management degree from the leading German distance university.

After a short while in teaching, I joined the largest shipping company in Germany in the beautiful city of Hamburg. I was responsible for the negotiation of co-operation contracts with other international shipping lines.

As a result, I traveled extensively around Europe dealing with partners from Britain, France, and Italy, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, and in my most important pool with Japanese. All of this, of course, in English.

Later, I opened a sales agency for construction in Eastern Germany. A very different path that provided me with deep knowledge in sales techniques later enhanced in Canada.

When the market incurred a mini-crash, I sold the house and joined my brother in Canada.

A friend told me about the great chances of teaching English in Asia, a continent which had always fascinated me, so I obtained a TESOL degree and followed her to Taiwan.

I taught first at a university and later at the International Trade Institute, where I instructed over 3.700 students from university graduates to high-level managers from world-leading companies during more than 11.000 hours in communicating successfully on the international business stage.

I also trained university professors as part of the MICE program (Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibitions).

For over a decade, I have created my own courses, curricula, and materials developing the skill-based model teaching classes of between 6 and 80 students. Throughout, I received an average of 95% approval rating from my students in a very competitive environment.

I continue to prepare Global MBA students from 33 countries at National Chiao Tung University, the top national university in Taiwan, to participate in international business plan competitions.

To new students I introduce myself with a reassuring smile, “I am the been-there, done-that girl, and I made all the mistakes. So, I believe I am in an excellent position to support you to become a skillful and confident communicator”.

I now live in Ecuador in semi-retirement enthusiastic about the opportunity to share my unique mix of expertise and experience of over 30 years with students and teachers alike.

The idea to write a series of textbooks came when I wrote my first book Exhibition English in spring 2014 to acclaim from my colleagues. I was surprised how rewarding I found this experience.

I will use this website to write about tips on how to become an outstanding communicator in business. I will also write for teachers of business subjects. Please check my blog posts that I want to release every 3 - 4 weeks for students and teachers.

As someone from a disadvantaged background, I was only able to achieve success through the free education system in Germany. In Taiwan, I supported 7 children from Nepal with 2 of them now attending university.

As a result, my motivation to help children in need through The Affordable Book Project, where I will donate 10% of the proceeds from the books to education projects.

Please check my website for progress.

If you want to see REFERENCES of my employers, students, and colleagues, please click on the certificate.

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BOOKS & SERVICES

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BLOG

LEARNERS

TEACHERS

CULTURE

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The Affordable Book Project

Please check back when the first book is on sale at Amazon.

Please contact me if you have questions to my books or courses or want me to blog about a particular issue.

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Resources

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

A thesaurus showing synonyms is still my favorite tool in particular when writing to avoid repetition.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/english (advantage: synonyms are shown in context)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

If you are new to using an English-English dictionary, wikiHow can help.

www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Dictionary

Collocations

Collocations are word combinations (e.g. noun & verb or noun & adjective etc.) that native speakers regularly use. Knowing collocations can give you the ‘native-speaker’ edge.

http://flax.nzdl.org/greenstone3/flax?a=fp&sa=collAbout&c=collocations&if=flax

Euphemisms for Business

A euphemism is an expression that 'sugarcoats' an issue (euphemism for 'problem'). In business this is often used to soften bad news e.g. instead of 'unemployed' the expression 'between jobs' is used.

http://www.businessenglishresources.com/euphemisms-in-the-workplace/

Grammar

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

Despite the quirky name, she has developed in a respected source for grammar questions.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

OWL for Online Writing Lab of the Purdue University with excellent grammar exercises.

www.eslcafe.com/grammar.html

Practical English Usage

by Michael Swann. It is an expensive book (not as e-book) but very useful for specific grammar questions.

Understanding and Using English Grammar, 5th Edition

by Betty S Azar, Stacy A. Hagen. Like the Swann, it is expensive and not available in electronic form, but in my view, it is the best source available with clear explanations of grammar concepts and abundant exercises.

Online Editor

https://www.grammarly.com/

This website offers editing of texts for free and is more effective than for example the error detection in Word. If you need to write a substantial amount and flawlessly like me, you can upgrade to a paid version. For everybody else the free version is absolutely sufficient.

Business

http://www.investopedia.com/dictionary/ Explains business concepts.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/

Culture

http://www.executiveplanet.com/

This is my personal favorite as it is mostly written by people from the country and divided in easily accessible topics like dress code, usage of names, decision making etc.

http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/

Very comprehensive information going far beyond business (e.g. history).

http://www.commisceo-global.com/country-guides

More general information less focused on business.