UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

Departamentul de Limbaje specializate

PLATFORMA BLACKBOARD

Denumirea cursului: Comunicare de afaceri n limba englez

Manual recomandat:
1. The Language of Business : Accounting Banking Finance Andrei Niculescu,
Sanda Marcoci, Cristina Crian, Vlad Clin, 2006, Bucureti: Editura Fundaiei
Romnia de Mine
2. Engleza de afaceri n economia de pia, vol. 2 (1991) Fulvia Turcu, Bucureti:
Editura Uranus.

Obiectivul principal al cursului: 1. formarea i dezvoltarea competenei de comunicare n

limba englez pe teme cu caracter financiar-contabil i bancar; 2. identificarea
conceptelor pe care le reclam situaia profesional de referin, sub raportul utilizrii
limbii engleze; 3. dobndirea competenei necesare de receptare i producere a diferitelor
tipuri de discursuri i texte de specialitate n situaiile profesionale date; 4. utilizarea
competenei lingvistice n contexte variate, specifice i aplicarea unor strategii adecvate
ndeplinirii sarcinilor; 5. sprijinirea cursanilor n a putea maximiza propriul repertoriu
strategic de nvare i utilizare a limbii engleze i dup ncheierea cursului urmat

Coninutul tematic al cursului: Obtaining information: effective telephoning in a business

environment, appointments, general requests, Recruitment, Higher education and careers,
European union membership, Types of business organizations, company organizational
structures, Financial accounting and Management accounting, Financial statements,
Financial Management, Banking, International Trade, The Stock Exchange, Filing
systems.

Bibliografie facultativ:

A Review of Essentials of Accounting, Anthony R.N, Prentice Hall, 1997

Go Ahead English course for Business Studies, Stefan R, Pricope M, Beldea E.,
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine
English for business purposes- Ciuciuc O., Tnsescu,E., Editura Teora
Sinteze de gramatic englez exerciii i teste de evaluare,Georgiana Gleanu
Frnoag Bucureti, 1992.

Prezentarea cursului/Rezumatul cursului: The Language of Business-accounting-banking-

finance is an upper-intermediate course for learners who need to be able to express the key
concepts of accounting, banking and finance in English. The aims of The Language of
Business are:
To present learners with the language and concepts found in company documents
and in newspaper articles on business

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 To develop reading skills and give practice in the comprehension of business texts
To provide learners with opportunities to express business concepts themselves, by
reformulating them in their own words while summarizing, analysing and
discussing ideas.
Unit structure : most of the units contain an informative reading passage designed to give
an overview of a particular topic followed by a variety of comprehension, vocabulary,
writing and grammar exercises as well as discussion activities. Exercise types include
open-ended questions, true/false statements, multiple-choice, matching, sentence
completion, and summarizing. The units are grouped according to subject matter:
Recruitment, Types of Business organisations, Financial accounting, Management
accounting, Financial Management-sources of funds, Banking, International Trade, The
Stock Exchange, Filing systems. As well as introducing crucial accounting and finance
concepts the reading passages have a high density of relevant technical vocabulary.
Moreover, the Vocabulary development section is meant to help students increase and
practice their business vocabulary in context. The Grammar section highlights language
functions and structures which are particularly useful in business situations. Together, the
texts, vocabulary and grammar exercises build up to a fair collection of business terms
mainly in the area of finance and accounting, the most important of which are collected in
a glossary at the back of the book. The different groups of units are not graded in terms of
difficulty, and so need not necessarily be followed in the printed order. Emphasis is placed
on learner independence and students are encouraged to work out rules for themselves.
Each unit is designed to provide two or three hours work. The handbook offers enough
material for a two-hour a week course lasting a single academic year. Answers or
suggested answers to all the exercises are contained in the Answer Key at the end of the
book.

Lista subiectelor posibile

1. Management accounting has been described as the eyes and ears of management.
What do you think this expression means?
2. What information is usually included in a balance sheet?
3. What is the difference between letters and memos?
4. Prepare a talk about your banks products and services.
5. Accounting information should be understandable. As some managers have a poor
knowledge of accounting we should produce simplified financial reports to help them.
To what extent do you agree with this view?
6. What kind of degrees are awarded by academic / university education institutions?
7. Describe the traditional English units of length, distance and weight
8. Write a letter of application for a scholarship in a member country of the European
Union.
9. Most people think they are overworked and underpaid. Whats your opinion?
10. Suppose you are writing a cover letter to apply for a job. Pick up four adjectives that
best describe you. Then write four sentences that describe your qualities.(Do not
include the four adjectives in your sentences).

Aplicaii
Teste pentru autoevaluare

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 True or False
Mark the following sentences as True or False. If they are false, explain why.

1. Things that you own are called assets and things that you owe are liabilities.
2. Financial accounting reports may provide information concerning future
performance as well as past performance
3. There is no salutation (Dear Mr. / Mrs.) and no ending (Yours faithfully /
sincerely) in a MEMO.
4. If inflation is rising, a central bank will probably raise interest rates.
5. Growth creates wealth and wealth creates jobs.

Matching
6. Match the job titles with the job descriptions (a-j)
1. Auditor a. I specialise in advising on
management reporting systems.
2. Bank manager b. I obtain and record financial records.
3. Accountant c. We build bridges
4. Management consultant d. We examine and (usually) approve a
company's financial records
5. Receptionist e. I receive and pay out money in a
bank
6. Civil engineer f. I have about 500 patients on my list.
7. Sales Representative g. I visit all my clients four or five
times a year to tell them about our
latest products.
8. General practitioner h. I welcome and deal with people
arriving in the office building
9. Bank teller i. We are always ready to discuss
lending possibilities with our clients
10. Bookkeeper j. I draw up and check financial
statements, calculate tax, and the
unit cost of products

7. Match the form of revenue with the right recipient

1. commission a. retired employee

2. wage b. shareholders
3. salary c. sales representative
4. fees d. government
5. royalty e. blue-collar worker
6. redundancy pay f. student
7. tax g. financial adviser
8. grant h. author
9. pension i. laid off employee
10. dividend j. white-collar worker

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8. Make management expressions by pairing the words in column B with ones from
column A. Then decide which of the verbs on the right you would use with the
noun phrases you have identified.

A B VERBS
1. Cash flow a. goods I. show
2. stock b. costs II. make
3. book c. policy III. understand
4. work d. forecast IV. provide
5. pricing e. in progress V. maintain
6. opportunity f. keeping VI. invest in
7. capital g. control VII. determine

9. Match the words from column A with the definitions from column B:

A B
1. Broker A) an official document promising that a government or
company will pay back money that it has borrowed, often
with interest
2. Securities B)something such as property that you promise to give
someone if you cannot pay back money you have
borrowed from them
3. Bond C) shares and bonds which are bought as investments
4. Shares D) one of the equal parts into which the ownership of a
company is divided
5. Shareholder E) a holder of one or more shares in a company
6. security F) someone who buys and sells things such as shares in
companies or foreign money for other people

10. Match the abbreviations on the left to the full form on the right:

1) B Sc A. Doctor of Philosophy
2) BA B. Very Important Person
3) PhD C. Master of Arts
4) MA D. Bachelor of Arts
5) M Phil E. Master of Philosophy
6) VIP F. Bachelor in Science.

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11. Match up the terms on the left with the definitions on the right

A B
1. managerial accounting a. the process of using unusual but
not illegal ways to change business
accounts to make them look better
than they really are

2. bookkeeping b. the design and maintenance of the

accounting system.

3. financial accounting c. daily recording of financial

information
4. auditing d. Preparing budgets and other
financial reports for decision-
makers
5. creative accounting / window e. an official examination of a
dressing company's financial records in
order to check that they are correct

12. Match the beginnings of each sentence with the correct ending:
1. Thank you a) for not replying to your letter before.
2. I apologise b) on helping you to prepare the report.
3. I insist c) to seeing you soon.
4. They succeeded d) in getting everything ready on time.
5. We look forward e) for sending the documents.

13. Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right to form common banking
collocations
1. purchase a. bills
2. open b. funds
3. earn c. an account
4. make d. a deposit
5. withdraw e. financial data
6. pay f. goods
7. transfer g. cash
8. download h. interest

Fill in the blanks

14. Choose the right word from the list to complete each sentence.
(overdraft facility, loans, bonds, standing order, pension)

a. We offer __________________ for buying cars and homes.

b. To help a customer cover expenses without any worries, we recommend a/an
_________________.

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c. We can manage investments such as shares, real estate and ___________.
d. For retirement planning we have got excellent ______________accounts available.
e. A customer can arrange a/an _______________to have transfers made on a set
timetable.

Multiple choice
15. The opposite of accounts receivable is...
a. Current Liabilities
b. Long Term Debt
c. Notes Payable
d. Accounts Payable

16. You record how much each of your employees should be paid in the
_________account.

a Employee pay
b Employer pay
c Net pay
d Payroll
e Standard deduction

17. Juan works 8 hours and receives $4.75 per hour and Mary works 24 hours and
receives a total of $180.
Which of the following CANNOT be derived from the above statement?
a. Juans total wages
b. Marys wage per hour
c. The difference between the amount Juan receives and the amount Mary receives
d. The hours Mary worked each day

18. Understanding news stories:

Below is a heading from newspaper reports on the business environment. Choose the best
explanation of the keywords from a ) b) c) or d)
BRD bank writes off Ron 2 million in bad debts:
To write off debts means:
a. get the money back from creditors
b. demand the money back immediately
c. forget the money, since the loans are not going to be paid back
d. write a cheque covering debts

19. How many inches are there in m yards and n feet?

A. m + n
B. 36m + 12n
C. 36(m+n)
D. 3m + n
E. 12 (m +n)

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20. To change 3 miles to inches, you should:
a. Multiply 3 times 5,280
b. Multiply 3 times 5,280 and then divide by 12
c. Multiply 3 times 5,280 and then multiply by 12
d. Divide 3 into 5,280 and then multiply by12
e. Divide 3 into 12 and then multiply by 5,280

21. Which collocation (word partnership) is more likely?

a. big detail / great detail
b. strong tea / powerful tea
c. a lengthy car / a lengthy meeting
d. strong car / powerful car
e. broad summery / wide summary

22. Choose the correct word to finish the phrase or question

a. I haven't got enough money for lunch. Could you borrow/lend me some?
b. How much does she earn/gain in her position?
c. It was a very good dinner. Can we have the account/bill please?
d. We expect prices to raise / rise by at least 4 percent.
e. We only exchange goods if you produce a receipt / recipe.
f. He's an excellent doctor, but he doesn't charge/spend too much.

COMPLETION

23. The terms profit, earnings and income all have the same meaning. They are the
difference between the __________ of an accounting period and the_______ of
that period.

24. Complete the sentences with the correct prepositions

a. Sales have increased 25% over the last three months.
b. The decrease ..profits is due to the bad market.
c. The rise..consumer prices could lead to the fall of the government.
d. The FT index went up five points..3850, a rise .over 3%.
e. When the index was..3000 our shares were worth 3.20 each.
f. Weve seen a fall prices recently.

25. What adjectives can be derived from the following?

a. occupation
b. skill
c. manager
d. clerk
e. profit

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 26. Business writing- Apology for billing error -
Complete the following business letter choosing the appropriate word or phrase from the list.
MODIFY its grammatical form where necessary. Not all the words should be used. Use
standard English spelling ( to allow, to do, to want, sell, to buy, to contact, to be, to make, to
cancel, to pay )

Dear Mr. Howard

I would like to apologize for the error we _________ on our invoice DCI-987 dated June 15. Im
_______ that invoice and re-invoicing you as follows:
12 tables @ $11,48 each $137.76
48 chairs @ $2.05 each $ 98.40
12 tablecloths @ $1.88 $ 22.56
24 5-piece place settings @ $3.24 each $ 77.76
Subtotal $336.48
Tax (4.5%) $ 15.14
______
Total $351.62
I hope this resolves the issue to your satisfaction. I look forward to ___________ business with
you in the future.

Yours sincerely,
Aneta Carp
Chief accountant

Reading Comprehension
We should spend more time enjoying life than preparing for its challenges, but sometimes
we dont. For example, toward the end of every semester, all students at the university are
tired and grumpy because they have spent long nights preparing for final exams.
Consequently, they rarely look back on college as a time spent enjoying good fellowship
and fine entertainment.

27. To agree with this author, we must accept which of the following implications of
his or her argument ?
a. It is only worthwhile to prepare for enjoyment.
b. School examinations do not require preparation.
c. Preparation is inappropriate only toward the end of the semester
d. The result of preparation for exams is fatigue.
e. College students study too much.

Numeric response
28. Last year Hanks income was $12,000. This year it rose to $15,000. What was the percent
increase in Hanks salary?

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29. How many paintings were displayed at the County Museum of Art if 30% of them
were by Monet and Monet was represented by 24 paintings?
30. Suppose a person 2 m tall casts a shadow 1 m long when a tree has an 8 m shadow.
How high is the tree?
31. A car travels a scenic route of 15 miles in 30 minutes and the 60-mile balance of a trip in one
hour. Its average speed for the trip is: ____mph.

Rezolvri i rspunsuri

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. True. Generally true, but in an age of high technology some sectors can experience
high growth without creating much employment.
6. 1d, 2i, 3j, 4a, 5h, 6c, 7g, 8f, 9e, 10b.
7. 1c, 2e, 3j, 4g, 5h, 6i, 7d, 8f, 9a, 10b.
8. 1DII, 2GV, 3FIV, 4EI, 5C7, 6BIII, 7AVI.
9. 1F, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5E, 6B
10. 1F, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5E, 6B
11. 1D, 2C, 3B, 4E, 5A.
12. 1e, 2a, 3b, 4d, 5c.
13. 1.f, 2.c, 3.h, 4.d, 5.g, 6.a, 7.b, 8. e
14. a. loans, b. overdraft facility, c. bonds, d. pension, e. standing order.
15. d
16. d
17. d
18. c
19. b
20. c
21. a. great detail, b. strong tea, c. lengthy meeting, d. powerful car, e. broad summary
22. a. lend, b. earn, c. bill, d. rise e. receipt, f. charge
23. revenues.expenses
24. a. by, b. in, c. in, d. to, .of, e. at, f. in
25. a. occupational, b. skilful, c. managerial, d. clerical, e. profitable
26. made, cancelling, doing
27. e
28. 25
29. 80
30. 16
31. 50

Teme de cas
Rezolvarea tuturor exerciiilor din manualul The Language of Business : accounting-
banking- finance, 2006, Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine