Keynote Intermediate Unit 2
Choose one of the situations/ ways of communicating below and say how common that was/ is and might be in the future, in your department, section, division, company, sector, country, etc. Does your partner agree?
| Useful language for discussing trends
I totally agree. That’s pretty much what I would say, but I think it is… more rapidly/ less rapidly. I’d only disagree with… I’m not sure but I’d imagine it has already… According to what I’ve heard,… I think you are right about the past, but in the future I predict… |
- Asking for directions on how to get somewhere
- (Formal) banquets
- Bargaining over prices
- Bargaining over your pay and conditions
- Calling helplines/ support desks
- Chatting by the water cooler/ coffee machine
- Cold calling
- Colleagues from overseas visiting this branch
- Communicating directly with top management
- Communicating via social media
- Conversations with fellow guests
- Conversations with fellow passengers
- Conversations with fellow patrons (of a bar/ restaurant)
- Dealing with late payment
- Drinking with colleagues
- Entertaining (important) business contacts
- Events to say goodbye to someone who is leading the company
- Events to welcome new people entering the company
- Exchanging business cards
- Exchanging business cards electronically
- Exchanging gifts
- Explaining people’s work (to temps, freelancers, interns, etc)
- Formal emails/ Short emails
- Going out for lunch together (with colleagues/ business contacts)
- Going to trade fairs/ trade shows/ conferences
- Helping (lost) tourists
- Informal emails
- Informal meetings (standing meetings, etc)
- Instant messaging (with WhatsApp, Line, etc)
- Interrupting
- Introducing yourself to strangers/ Starting conversations with strangers
- Inviting the families of employees to company events
- Keeping in touch with (foreign) people you meet via social media
- Lunch together in the company cafeteria
- Making bookings by email
- Making bookings on the telephone
- Meeting visitors at the airport
- Meetings in cafés
- Memo(randums)/ Emails to all staff
- Negotiating the agenda for a meeting (by email)
- Networking
- Official inspections (by auditors etc)
- Online chat
- Regular meetings
- Rescheduling
- Sitting next to different people every day (because of hot-desking)
- Skype (job) interviews
- Skype calls (with or without video)
- Small talk about sport
- Small talk at the beginning of meetings
- Small talk at the beginning of phone calls
- Small talk at the end of meetings
- Small talk at the end of phone calls
- Speaking with visitors (just) in the lobby of the building
- Speeches
- Taking foreign visitors for tours of the area/ city
- Teleconferences (= telephone conferences)
- Telephone (job) interviews
- Texting (= sending SMS messages by phone)
- Tours of your workplace
- Video conferences
Ask about anything above which you can’t understand or can’t understand the trend of.
Choose one of the situations above which you (often) have to do, had to do or will have to do in English and roleplay it with your partner. If none are similar to your past, present or future experiences of using English, choose one which you often do in your own language. There is no need to write anything even if it’s written communication, just say what you would say or write.
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PDF for easy saving and printing: Communication trends and practice
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