Background

The world of banking of finance is dominated by the English language. Whether

between negotiating parties or in commercial business English is the prominent
language of choice.
It is estimated that over 1 billion people are learning English worldwide and as the
world economy steadily grows the popularity of English as a major language in
banking and finance is likely to increase.
Benefits
You will:

Benefit from a unique blend of small group training. Taught by qualified

English language experts with finance / business experience
Learn up-to-date terminology on general business and everyday social
English

Practice reading, speaking and listening to financial English using

finance/banking situations

Improve your grammar level through structured grammar sessions and

practical exercises

Why is this course for you?

The objective of this programme is to enhance the participant's abilities to

discuss essential financial topics using authentic, clear, simple, accurate,
modern English.

It is specifically designed to meet the needs both of experienced

practitioners as well as those with little or no financial knowledge.

The programme involves a combination of practical exercises using study

texts, brief videos and short role-plays to introduce and practise various
language areas relating to company finance, banking operations, investment
and economics.

In addition to the materials used during the course itself, there will be an
ample selection of self-study material as well as glossaries and exercises for
vocabulary improvement, together with answers.

To be able to comprehend some complex language relevant to the delegate's

job and to be able to understand the gist of a conversation between native
speakers on general matters even if some of the language is unfamiliar or
there are "gaps"in comprehension.

Financial English Topics available include, for example:

International Markets, Foreign Exchange, Credit Control,
Investments, Loans, Trade Finance, Accounting, Financial Planning,
Mergers & Acquisitions.

Here is a list of points your perfect first lesson would include. The attached grid below
can also be used as a checklist with your class.

1. Students talking about themselves.

2. Students talking about their work/ studies.
3. Students getting to know each other.
4. Students getting to know the teacher.
5. Thorough needs analysis.
6. Response to student needs.
7. Thorough diagnostic testing - of all skills and language.
8. A mix of the 4 skills.
9. Pronunciation.
10. A mix of 'new' language and revision.
11. A mix of fluency and accuracy practice.
12. Error correction.
13. Functional language.
14. Something students can use the same/ next day.
15. Something written down for the students to take away.
16. An introduction to the school's/ the teacher's methodology.
17. A confidence boost for the students.
18. An idea of where the course will go.
19. Development of microskills (e.g. listening for gist)
20. Classroom language.
21. Learning something about how to study/ learn English.
22. Some motivation and guidance for students on self-study.
23. Development of cultural awareness.
24. Development of self-study skills (e.g. dictionary use).
25. Homework.
26. Students learning something about their specialist subject.
27. Interesting topics/ texts.
28. Fun.
It is unlikely that anybody has come up with a class that fits all of the above into 60
minutes, but included here are a lesson plan and some materials that could make up part

of a near-perfect first lesson, when combined with the needs analysis ideas included in
the previous article.

Business and ESP: Needs analysis: Part 1

Author: Alex Case
Type: reference material
Needs analysis: what is it?
Introduction

"There is no such thing as General English."

The statement above is not an actual quote, but more a summary of a point of view that
comes from the world of teaching English for Specific Purposes (of which Business
English is really just a part). The idea behind it is that nobody needs General English,
because they all have their own specific needs for the language. I think that General
English textbooks still serve most of my General English students fairly well, but it
does give an idea of how an ESP approach, and ESP students, are different.
Needs
The magic word is the word needs. We can only start teaching an ESP student when
we know what their needs for the language are. This is also true of all students of
course, even if the only thing we find out is that they have no specific needs. The other
thing we need to know before starting is what the students want. These two things are
often very different from each other!
We can find out student needs and student wants by asking the students questions about
themselves and the language (which is what we will be calling needs analysis here)
and then finding out how much you agree with what they just said (diagnostic testing).
Given the definition of diagnostic testing used here it seems obvious to tackle it after
needs analysis, and it will be dealt with in the second article, on the subject of First
Classes.
Needs Analysis
When we are deciding how to go about needs analysis with a student/group of students,
we need to think about two questions:
1. What do we want/need to know about them?
2. How can we find it out?
Needs analysis: What do we need to know about our students?

A good way of starting to design a needs analysis for a student (or a general needs
analysis format for a school) is to brainstorm all the questions you could possibly want
to ask them, and then edit them down. We can brainstorm and organise the questions
they should/can be asked by several schemes:
a. By question word
b. By skills and language
c. By time
d. By place

By question word

What- e.g. What exactly do you do in English in your job?

When- e.g. When is your next meeting in English?

Which- e.g. Which parts of the language do you find most difficult?

Where- e.g. Where do you use English? - in meetings

Who- e.g. Who do you speak English with - native / non-native

speakers?

How- e.g. How formal does the English you use need to be?

How much- e.g. How much homework can you do?

How long- e.g. How long have you been studying English?

How often- How often do you watch English language films?

How far- e.g. How far do you want/need to go with your English?

How many-

By skill and language

Which skills do you use/need/lack most?
By time
Past/present/future
e.g. study / use of English / exposure to English in each of these three times.
By place
Inside work (see above) / outside work (e.g. travel/films/TV)

Discussion/thinking point: See Suggested Needs Analysis question list for a result of
this brainstorming. Is there anything you would add/take away from this list for the
students you usually teach?
Needs analysis: questions for the beginning of the course
About the present situation at work
Whats your job precisely?
Do you use English?
What do you do? situations/ medium/ channel/ genre (see Bus Needs 2)
What percentage of each?
Which of these do you find difficult/ need to improve?
What fields/ topics do you need to talk about/ need vocabulary of?
Which of these areas do you need most to improve your English?
What exactly do you need to do that?

About outside work

Are you doing anything to improve your English at the moment?
Do you do anything else in English? (CNN?, subtitled movies?, DVD?, business
papers?)
What resources do you have at home/ work?

Dictionary- bilingual/ monolingual

Internet access

TV/ DVD

Press- general and specialised.

Do you travel to English speaking/ other countries?

About the past

Same questions as above for past.

Whats the last thing you did in English?

Have you studied English before?
How long/ to what level?

About the future

What are your short term and long term aims for English?
Whats the next thing you have to do in English?
Any big conferences / meetings / business trips / conference calls / presentations coming
up?
How far do you want to go with your English (each skill)?

Wants
How do you like studying English?
What did you think of your previous lessons?
Whats the best way to learn a language?
How much homework can you do?

Needs analysis: how to carry it out in the classroom

There are two times needs analysis can be done, with various advantages and
disadvantages:
a. Before class
b. During the first class
Before class
This can be done by giving them a form to fill in or by asking them questions in the
level test and making notes to be passed onto the future teacher

During class
The method depends on the situation:

In one-to-one classes, you can simply ask them the questions and write down the
answers. For this, a reminder list of possible questions and a form to write the
answers down on are useful (see below).
In group classes, they can ask each other questions about themselves and the
language, or they can negotiate priorities or even the syllabus together.
To ask each other the questions, the teacher will need to give them some help by
brainstorming some categories of questions, such as the question words
brainstorm above. They will then need a format to write them down on (see
Interview Form). Negotiating a syllabus can be done by giving them a list of
things to prioritise by importance/usefulness, and then ask them to agree
together on those priorities in ever larger groups (a pyramid ranking debate - see
Lesson Plan below).

Business needs analysis lesson: part 1 (148k)

Needs analysis: discussion and thinking point
Look at the examples of needs analysis forms given below and decide how and when
you could use them. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each form?
Could they be used:

before and/or during the first class?

for a spoken and/or written needs analysis?

in one-to-one classes and/or group classes?

Related Pages

Business needs analysis: interview form (40k)

Author: Alex Case Level: starter/beginner, advanced, elementary, preintermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate Type: reference material

Students complete an interview form to identify their business English

requirements.

Business needs analysis lesson: part 2 (63k)

Author: Alex Case Level: starter/beginner, advanced, elementary, preintermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate Type: reference material

Students discuss and write down their business English requirements.

Needs analysis: comments on discussion and thinking point

Interview form
I use this form in almost every situation - in needs analysis during level test interviews,
in one-to-one, first classes, and for students to interview each other in pairs or group
classes. With group classes, we go through the whole form first brainstorming a couple
of possible questions for each section and writing the relevant question words (but not
the whole questions) on the board.
Business Needs 2
I think this form is too detailed and time-consuming to give as a written needs analysis,
but I also find that a needs analysis where students only need to tick boxes doesnt work
as students tick away without thinking much about the options. I use this form mainly as
a reminder to myself as I am conducting a needs analysis, but write the answers given
on the Interview Form.
Needs analysis: questions for the beginning of the course
About the present situation at work
Whats your job precisely?
Do you use English?
What do you do? situations/ medium/ channel/ genre (see Bus Needs 2)
What percentage of each?
Which of these do you find difficult/ need to improve?
What fields/ topics do you need to talk about/ need vocabulary of?
Which of these areas do you need most to improve your English?
What exactly do you need to do that?

About outside work

Are you doing anything to improve your English at the moment?
Do you do anything else in English? (CNN?, subtitled movies?, DVD?, business
papers?)

What resources do you have at home/ work?

Dictionary- bilingual/ monolingual

Internet access

TV/ DVD

Press- general and specialised.

Do you travel to English speaking/ other countries?

About the past

Same questions as above for past.
Whats the last thing you did in English?
Have you studied English before?
How long/ to what level?

About the future

What are your short term and long term aims for English?
Whats the next thing you have to do in English?
Any big conferences / meetings / business trips / conference calls / presentations coming
up?
How far do you want to go with your English (each skill)?

Wants
How do you like studying English?
What did you think of your previous lessons?
Whats the best way to learn a language?
How much homework can you do?

http://eleaston.com/biz/bizhome.html
http://www.mhhe.com/business/finance/bh/student/olc/

Financial Vocabulary Quiz

Choose the correct word to fill the gap in the phrase or question. Click on
the arrow to see if you have answered correctly.

Exercise # 1
retirement tip receipt wealth credit-card rent loan guarantee safe coin

Magda never carries cash with her and pays for everything by
.

The old couple had only a small

Simon didn't like the waiter so he didn't leave a

They wouldn't have been able to buy their new car without a bank

to live on.

The shop won't change any merchandise without the original

The penny is such a small

The flat is not in very good condition so the

The cd-player has a twelve month

He keeps all his money and valuables in this

My friend Eric made his considerable

land.

that everyone dislikes it.

is low.

behind this painting.

selling plots of building

Exercise # 2
agent teller miser manager retired customer accountant swindler
investors heir

Peter saves as much money as he can and tries to never spend a penny. He is a

My friend just inherited a lot of money and property. He is a

great deal of wealth.

Jack just became the boss at the bank. He is the bank's

My father is over 65, he is now a

man.

to a

Someone who keeps or checks financial records for a company is a

.

I love to go shopping often. Most shops consider me a great

If I need money from the bank, I go to a

If you have any problems with your representation you should see your

to make a withdrawal.

People who like to buy and sell stocks are called

Unfortunately, I bought a piece of worthless junk from a

me it was a masterpiece.

who told

Exercise # 3
Form the correct version of the word using the word root to the right of the
phrase. Click on the arrow to see if you have answered correctly.
I've just bought a new

insure

policy.

He's just spent all his

save

on a brand new car.

The old violin proved to be

worth

The bank

cash

asked to see my passport.

My girlfriend inherited $1,000,000 from a

This is not his

relative.

sign

on the check.

generous

50,000! Thank you for your

We had to take out a

from the bank to purchase the house. lend

profit

Unfortunately, my business is not very

I've always wanted to stay in a

wealth

hotel.

luxury

English for Finance and Banking

English for Finance and Banking is a specialist business English course ideal for
banking professionals. This course will provide the necessary language and business
skills to successfully compete on an international stage.
You will learn to:

Approach, communicate and build relationships with clients

Present your companys range of financial services

Understand the English media in relation to finance and business

Understand how leading financial institutions in the UK operate.

Sample course timetable

Sample timetable
Time

Monday

9.15
10.45

Finance and
Banking in
Context

Coffee

Coffee

Tuesday

Lunch

Thursday

Finance and
The Language
Finance in the Banking in the
of Finance and
Media
UK/London
Banking
Coffee

Presentation
Finance and
11.15
skills for
Banking in the
12.45
Finance and
UK/London
Banking
Lunch

Wednesday

Lunch

14.00 Finance in the Finance in the

15.30 global context
Media

Coffee
Financial
Strategy

Focus on
language for
Finance and
Banking
Coffee

Visit to
Financial
District

Lunch
Risk
Assessment
and
management

Friday

Presentations
Forum

Lunch
Focus on
language for
Finance and
Banking

15.30
Study Session Guest Speaker Study Session Study Session
17.30

Presentations
Forum and
round up

Introduction to English for Finance

Business English for Finance- Learning Accounting and Financial Terms and
Vocabulary
We should start by asking what is English for finance? It is the learning of English
specifically geared towards accounting, finance, auditing or whatever area of finance
you need to learn.
The next question could be how is learning English for finance different from learning
general English or business English? The main difference relates to vocabulary.
Knowing the technical vocabulary related to your specific job or area of study is
essential if top performance is to be achieved.
Business English classes tend to focus on meetings, negotiations and other business
functions. A business English class might focus on your area of expertise irregularly
(especially if you are learning in a group). English for finance, however, involves
regular study (as in every class) of related financial and accounting themes.
Some students find that learning English for finance in every class is a bit difficult. For
many students, the English class is a break from the working routine. Students want to
relax during their class, have some fun and learn English. They dont necessarily want
to focus on finance during class when they are trying to relax and forget about work for
a while! If this is the case, then they should have classes of general English and forget
about technical financial English.
For the students who want to focus on financial English, they must decide how much
time in class they want to dedicate to financial English. Some students are happy with
30 minutes out of a 90-minute class. Others (usually the boss!) not only want a full
100% of the class dedicated to financial English, but also insist that their subordinates
spend 100% of their classes on financial English!
If you want to learn financial English, there are various methods your teacher can use.
The financial times is great for reading about finance and for learning new vocabulary.
New vocabulary learning can be reinforced by doing vocabulary exercises such as
crosswords, definitions, etc. Your teacher will be able to supply these. Also ask your
teacher for listening exercises related to finance or accounting. Video is fairly easy to
find by recording from financial television stations. Grammar can be revised by
adapting existing grammar exercises to a financial context. Finally and most
importantly, speak to your teacher about your job, financial matters etc. Do role-plays
with your teacher where your teacher puts you in a financial situation and asks you to
speak (always prepare the vocabulary first).
Finally, where do you find a teacher of financial English? Its quite difficult to find a
financial English teacher. The teacher must have knowledge of finance, but is not an
expert. A qualified, experienced teacher who has a diploma or degree in business,
finance or accounting is a good profile. Or a qualified, experienced teacher who has
worked in the financial/accounting world is acceptable also.
Posted by Eoin Baxter at 07:17

Labels: Free Reports

0 comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Com

Trade, World Economic Issues, Accounting Basics and Company Finance.

http://www.proz.com/glossary-translations/spanish-to-english-translations/48/Finance-(general)

Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Business Financial English: Financial Presentations in
English
Are you nervous when giving presentations? Do you need more confidence giving
financial information? Well, read this article to get some hints as to how to improve
your financial presentations.
Its difficult to speak in public in any language, including your native language. But, if
you are working in finance, you will probably have to make a presentation of financial
information some time in your career. Its important to give the presentation correctly so
you communicate the information you want to communicate, and maybe make a good
impression on your boss!
1) Giving any presentation in English means you need to know the standard English
vocabulary for the different parts of the presentation. Here are examples of some of the
vocabulary you need:
Introduction:
Good Morning. Today we are going to discuss this years sales figures.
Summarize the presentation in advance.
First I will summarize the overall position
Then, I will analyze the European sales result
Finally, I will look at South American Sales
Dealing with interruptions
Please feel free to ask questions any time you want
Or: If you dont mind, you can ask questions at the end of the presentation

Moving between different parts of the presentation:

Lets move on or
Moving on to the next part of the presentation or
Now lets look at.
Finishing the presentation:
Thats the end of the presentation. Thank you for your attention. Are there any
questions?
2) It is also very important to know how to correctly use numbers in English. This gives
problems to many people, but is obviously of great importance. Some of the more
common mistakes are:
a) In some languages, a point separates thousands and hundreds and a comma separates
the number from the decimal. In English, its the opposite. It is correct to say that the
company has one thousand three hundred twenty seven employees (1,327), not one
point three two seven employees (1.327). (Would you like to be the .327 of an
employee? I wouldnt!) 1.327 in English is a number between 1 and 2.
b) In English, after the decimal point you must say each number individually. It is
incorrect to say that sales increased by two point seventy five percent ( 2.75%). Sales
increased by two point seven five percent. The main exception to this rule is with
money. $2.66 is two dollars sixty six, not two point six six dollars.
Obviously, this article cannot give enough information to improve your numbers in
English. You need to do a course in numbers in English. I recommend the course in
numbers and trends at www.englishforfinance.com/courses.html .
3) You should also have a good knowledge of the language of trends. Describing
increases and decreases over time is essential when giving financial presentations. For
example, do you understand what it means if I say that sales plummeted last year. Is that
good or bad? Or what about profits soared last month. Is that good or bad? (Answers at
the end of the article? This article cannot give you enough information to learn the
language of trends. You need to do a course on trend language. Go to
www.englishforfinance.com/courses.html and look at the numbers and trends course.
4) Finally, lets look at graphs and charts you use in presentations. It is a very common
mistake when giving a presentation to describe every single movement in the chart.
Dont do this! Let the graph do the talking. It describes movements and trends a
thousand times better than you can with words. You only have to describe the important
elements of the trend- highs, lows and general trends.
And remember practice makes perfect! Study English for presentations, numbers and
trends, give lots of presentations in English and most importantly, have confidence in
yourself!
Oh, before I forget, plummet means a sudden,large decrease and to soar means a
sudden, large increase.
Posted by Eoin Baxter at 07:23 0 comments

Labels: Financial Presentations, Free Reports

Monday, 9 April 2007

Introduction to English for Finance
Business English for Finance- Learning Accounting and Financial Terms and
Vocabulary
We should start by asking what is English for finance? It is the learning of English
specifically geared towards accounting, finance, auditing or whatever area of finance
you need to learn.
The next question could be how is learning English for finance different from learning
general English or business English? The main difference relates to vocabulary.
Knowing the technical vocabulary related to your specific job or area of study is
essential if top performance is to be achieved.
Business English classes tend to focus on meetings, negotiations and other business
functions. A business English class might focus on your area of expertise irregularly
(especially if you are learning in a group). English for finance, however, involves
regular study (as in every class) of related financial and accounting themes.
Some students find that learning English for finance in every class is a bit difficult. For
many students, the English class is a break from the working routine. Students want to
relax during their class, have some fun and learn English. They dont necessarily want
to focus on finance during class when they are trying to relax and forget about work for
a while! If this is the case, then they should have classes of general English and forget
about technical financial English.
For the students who want to focus on financial English, they must decide how much
time in class they want to dedicate to financial English. Some students are happy with
30 minutes out of a 90-minute class. Others (usually the boss!) not only want a full
100% of the class dedicated to financial English, but also insist that their subordinates
spend 100% of their classes on financial English!
If you want to learn financial English, there are various methods your teacher can use.
The financial times is great for reading about finance and for learning new vocabulary.
New vocabulary learning can be reinforced by doing vocabulary exercises such as
crosswords, definitions, etc. Your teacher will be able to supply these. Also ask your
teacher for listening exercises related to finance or accounting. Video is fairly easy to
find by recording from financial television stations. Grammar can be revised by
adapting existing grammar exercises to a financial context. Finally and most
importantly, speak to your teacher about your job, financial matters etc. Do role-plays
with your teacher where your teacher puts you in a financial situation and asks you to
speak (always prepare the vocabulary first).
Finally, where do you find a teacher of financial English? Its quite difficult to find a
financial English teacher. The teacher must have knowledge of finance, but is not an
expert. A qualified, experienced teacher who has a diploma or degree in business,

finance or accounting is a good profile. Or a qualified, experienced teacher who has

worked in the financial/accounting world is acceptable also.

Name __________________________________________Date
______________________

Present Simple Tense

Write the correct form of the verb in each sentence.

1. John ______________ (play/plays) soccer.
2. They ______________ (dont/doesnt) study after school.
3. We _______________ (take/takes) the metro to the office every day.
4. What ___________ (do/does) you want to study?
5. On Tuesdays, I _________ (go/goes) to the mall.
6. Terry ___________ (play/plays) soccer; he _________________
(practice/practices)
every day.
7. ____________ (Do/Does) Lucy ride her bike to school, or ___________
(do/does) she
take the bus?
8. On Sunday, he ____________ (dont/doesnt) read the newspaper.
9. Where _____________ (do/does) they work?
10. How ____________ (do/does) you spell your name?
Make questions with the word groups, using (do) or (does).
1. (Where/she/live)
_________________________________________________________?
2. (When/you/play/soccer)
____________________________________________________?

3. (What/he/eat/for/lunch)
____________________________________________________?
4.
(When/they/come/home/from/school)_______________________________________
__?
5. (she/want/to/work/in/the/office)
_____________________________________________?
6.
(your/mother/take/you/to/school)____________________________________________
_?
7.
(What/time/you/get/up)____________________________________________________?
8. (Where/your/father/work)
__________________________________________________?
9. (Julia/live/in/Colorado)
____________________________________________________?
10.
(How/Juan/and/David/go/to/school)__________________________________________
_?