An English course book fit for the Intermediate level working adult. This book provides engaging listening, grammar, and reading exercises which will help students apply their newly acquired English skills in the workplace.
Many people are intimidated by the thought of having to give classes to CEO’s, accountants, lawyers, or managers to some of the big-name companies out there. What is even more off putting is when your institute tells you that you need to teach your students how to negotiate with a client in the United States or that he/she needs to be able to give a presentation about marketing strategies. How do you get this done when your student is at a lower intermediate level and only has 2 months to prepare?
It takes some effort, but let me assure you that it can be done. When I first started giving classes to my students at American Express and Accenture, the most commonly used workbook was Longman’s Intelligent Business Course book. This book is available in every level, from elementary to advanced and it provides you with everything you will ever need (listening, reading, grammar, and conversation activities.)
The book in this series that stands out the most to me is the intermediate level workbook. This book has proven to be both a handy tool and a life saver. When you open up the book you will notice that the opening page of unit 1 resembles a cover spread of The Economist (a well-known business/political magazine); through-out the entire book the influence and collaboration with this magazine will be very apparent. Each unit begins with a colorful and vibrant page resembling a magazine cover which presents the unit’s theme through its imagery and unit summary. The book even has the potential to spark an interest in students to read the actual magazine and put their English skills to use outside the classroom. Each chapter offers engaging activities, striking imagery, and useful content which will help your students apply what they’ve learned in the work place.
The book offers more than just a set of exercises and reading activities. It comes fully packed with a CD for listening comprehension exercises, online support for students, grammar review sections, and a set of exercises reviewing the book’s content at the end of the book (which could be used as a final exam.) A very obvious use of up to date business jargon and slang can also be seen, in my opinion this is something ideal that many English books on the market today lack. Something else that I found to be really practical is the fact that each unit ends with a “dilemma and decision” section. In this section the student must analyze, discuss, and come up with a solution for a specific problem they’re given.After having written down their solution the student can then read about or listen to the actual decision that was made. These scenarios are realistic and great ways to prepare your student for meetings abroad, negotiations, common business issues that may occur, and cultural awareness.
"The book offers more than just a set of exercises and reading activities. It comes fully packed with a CD for listening comprehension exercises, online support for students, grammar review sections, and a set of exercises reviewing the book’s content at the end of the book."
One small thing that many teachers out there will love and appreciate, especially those who work with listening activities, is the way the audio CD was put together.The CD comes with specifically labeled tracks and a voice even announces what page, unit, section, and subject is being covered. This is really important because in my personal experience many English books come with CD’s that simply don’t label or specify what unit/topic is being worked with.
This book is also very unique because even though it’s an intermediate level book, it can also be used for Upper Intermediate students (I speak from personal experience). The book also gives you the liberty to rearrange and modify its activities; you will even notice that the chapters in the book don’t even need to be done in their specific order.
Intelligent Business is a book that will save you the hassle of preparing and planning your lessons because everything you need is right there in the book. It’s a book that the modern day English teacher can’t be without. The content in this book will have your students feeling enthusiastic about learning English and you will see quick and noticeable progress within a few months. If you are a teacher who’s just starting out or if you don’t have much experience, this book will also be very handy. As you work with the different activities and exercises you will begin to get a good idea of how a business English class is structured and with time you will be able to construct great lessons of your own.
All in all, this book is a keeper! You will not regret having this material in your collection and it’s a definite must have for any serious teacher.
