English for Getting Down to Business

This week, we’ll focus on entrepreneurs—people who start a new business, even though they know it may not succeed. What qualities and skills are needed to become an entrepreneur, and what factors determine why some businesses succeed and others fail? You’ll hear about some steps to follow in starting a business and writing a business plan. You’ll also learn about how to use modal verbs for many purposes—to talk about possibilities, predictions, and requirements, or to give advice.

This week’s topic is about sales in a company. Sales is the driving force and money-making activity in business. You will read about sales team activities and listen to a talk about strategies of sales outlets. You will also see presentations about housing sales reports and how sales numbers are reported in graphs and in English writing.

In any type of business, there are many projects. This week, you’ll learn about project management—planning, organizing, and keeping track of projects so the work is finished correctly and on time. You’ll learn about some special concepts and terms used in this field and think about the importance of teamwork in getting a project done smoothly. You’ll also learn some useful expressions for asking for clarification or getting more information if you don’t understand something.