Introduction to business speaking

1. Objctives and Outcomes

This lesson is designed to introduce you to basic business English speaking skills. By the end of
this lesson you will be able to:

 introduce yourself in a business context

 distinguish the differences in spoken English for interviews, meetings, pitches, and
presentations
 use verbal and non-verbal communication

2. Element of Introducing Your self

The very first topic in this course is elements of introducing yourself. This is a fairly basic topic,
but it is an important one to begin with because this is usually how all communication begins
between strangers.

People want to know who they are speaking to, what their background is, and, possibly, the
reason for the meeting. The environment and the format in which a meeting occurs, such as a
face-to-face presentation, an online pitch, or a board meeting, and the number of participants,
influence the language choice for introductions. Additionally, the language you choose will also
influence how a meeting proceeds.

Step 1.
First, we will show a simple comparison between an informal introduction and a formal
introduction when you first meet someone.
________________________________________________________________________
Informal introduction
Delian: Hi. I’m Delian. How’s it going?
Ahmad: Ummmm. Hello. I’m Ahmad. Nice to meet you.
_______________________________________________________________________
That was a simple informal greeting and introduction, and would not be appropriate in a more
formal situation. Instead, greeting and introducing yourself to a stranger in a formal business
setting would sound something like this.
________________________________________________________________________
Formal introduction
Ahmad: Hello, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ahmad Husen. I work for the Nusa
Putra College of Technology.
(Sean extends hand to Delian and they shake hands)
Delian: How do you do, Ahmad? I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Delian, Delian Gaskell. I
work for Duke College, a small liberal arts college here in Hong Kong.
________________________________________________________________________
You will notice that in the more formal introduction, Ahmad and Delian both stated their full
names and where they work. Delian also made a point of using Ahmad’s name when she
acknowledged his introduction and then made a point of saying her own name first name very
clearly so Ahmad could catch it before then stating her full name. This is considered common
practice and very polite in business contexts around the world. It shows that you are interested
in the person who has introduced themselves to you and that you are making an attempt to
remember their name and are trying to make it easier for them to recall your name. Remember
that in business settings, people will often want to quickly know who they are speaking to and
what their background or what company they represent.

In addition, note that Ahmad and Delian shook hands. The person introducing themselves will be
the one who puts forward their hand so the two people can shake hands. Shaking hands is
considered very polite and is a tradition that is often expected in introductions, between both
genders and not just between two men.

In comparison, in the informal introduction, Delian and Sean both used simply stated their first
names and used casual expressions like ‘How’s it going?’ and ‘Nice to meet you’. Both of these
expressions would be too informal for an initial first meeting in a business setting. They also did
not shake hands in the informal introduction as this is not expected.

In fact, sometimes it is better to be more formal in your first interaction with a stranger in a
business setting. Remember that first impressions are very important, so being polite and formal
during first introductions could make the difference between making a positive first impression
leading to a fruitful business relationship or making a negative impression in which this will be
your first and last meeting.

Step 2.
Next, we will discuss what happens once you have introduced yourself to a stranger in a formal
setting. You have already greeted the person, stated your full name and identified which
company or institution you work for, so what do you say next?
_________________________________________________________________________
Follow-up to formal introduction
As a follow-up to the first greeting, you might say something like…
Ahmad: I’m pleased to meet you, Delian. I don’t think we’ve formally met before, so I just wanted
to introduce myself. Please have a seat.
Delian: Thank you very much.
Ahmad: So, what do you do at Duke College, Delian?
Delian: I am a coordinator for a Business Communications course. What are your responsibilities
at the Nusa Putra College of Technology, Ahmad?
Ahmad: I am an integrated marketing communication and am responsible for managing the
marketing strategic communication to build the college branding. It’s very nice to meet you.
Delian: Likewise.
_________________________________________________________________________
So in this follow-up to the introduction, it’s customary to express pleasure in meeting the person
you’ve been introduced to and saying something like ‘I don’t think we’ve met formally before’
makes the greeting more cordial and friendly. Depending on the situation, the host or person
who has introduced themselves will take the opportunity to politely invite the guest to sit down,
though depending on the situation they may also offer coffee or tea.

Step 3.
Small-talk about duties or responsibilities
Strangers getting to know each other in a formal business setting then will often share more
specifics about their duties or responsibilities. This is type of small talk is done in order to network
and find out if the person you’re talking to would be a useful future contact.

Here is a review of the mini-steps to introducing yourself in a formal business situation.

1. Give a greeting such as ‘Hello’ and say something about not having met the person before
such as ‘I don’t believe we’ve met before’ or ‘I just wanted to introduce myself’.
2. Then state your full name and your place of employment. If you are the host, this is often
when you would invite a guest to sit down or would offer the person some refreshment.
3. The other person would then reciprocate by giving their full name and place of employment.
4. After the initial introduction, there is some polite small-talk expected, where both people
express pleasure in having met each other and give some specific details about what they do
in their different jobs.
5. Both speakers then tend to end this initial introduction by repeating that they are pleased to
have met each other.

Elements of introducing yourself Reading.pdf

3. Discussion: Meetings, Meeting, Meetings

Whether it's for school, work, or community gatherings, we all experience meetings at least once in
our lifetime. Share with everyone what you:
1. dislike about meetings and
2. think makes an effective meeting.

4. From interviews to presentations

0:00
Hi, and welcome to this video about interviews to presentations. Now, by the end of this
video, you should have an understanding and be able to identify the differences between
interviews, meetings, presentations, and pitches. This is really an introductory type of
video. And I just want to go over some of the basics and the differences that you'll come
across in these different genres. And allude to, or get you prepared for the later modules
in this course that we will go into more detail about interviews, and business pitches, and
presentations. The importance of speech. It's extremely important that you develop some
sort of skill in communicating your ideas. Throughout your business career you'll have
different opportunities to speak. From the job interview, to a business meeting, to perhaps
an internal company meeting. And you may even have the opportunity give some sort of
pitch, or some sort of presentation. So it's extremely important that you learn how to speak
publicly. And how to speak for a purpose. But also, how to make use of the language. We'll
be talking about various elements throughout this course on things that you should improve
on or that you can work on or enhance. To make your speech more meaningful. Let's think
about different things that you might want to consider. For example, from panel job
interviews to business meetings. Now, the important things that we should be
considering. And we'll go into detail about this in the course. Are things like your rhythm of
your speech.
1:40
English is a rhythmic type of language. We don't always speak in the same rhythm. We speed
up our speech. We slow down our speech. We have stressing. We have pausing in our
speech. And these are things that you should be considering. We'll go into more detail about
how you can make use of rhythm and stress in pausing to be persuasive later on in this
course. But you want to make sure that you're using the appropriate style and tone of
language. And you want to make sure that the attitude that you want your audience, or your
people in your meeting, or your panel that you're being interviewed by. You want to make
sure that your attitude is being perceived, the way you want it to be perceived. So, just going
briefly over some differences in different speaking genres or different situations. You have
your one-to-one type of conversation. And then you of course, have your one to many. A
business presentation to an audience would be an example. You have many-to-many, type
of conversations. That could be a large meeting with a group of people. And in those many-
to-many type of conversations, you can have collaborative speaking. Where you're trying to
collaborate, and build upon each other's jobs. Or maybe you're working towards a common
goal. So, your purpose for speaking is more cooperative in a sense. So these are things that
you should be considered when you're planning your communication strategies. Okay, let's
take a look at interviews very briefly. We'll go into more detail later in this course. But things
that you should consider, for now are that there are different types of interviews. You can
have the one-to-one interview. Where there's the interviewer interviewing you for a job, for
example. You can have the panel interview, which is quite common throughout the business
world. Where you are presenting to a panel of people, and those people on the panel could
be from various backgrounds. That would focus on your skills from their perspective and
their needs perhaps. And then there's also the group interviews. Where you will be
participating in an interview with other people. Perhaps applying for the same job, or
multiple positions within a company. And they often look for different things in these type
of interviews. Such as your communication skills. Are you able to collaborate? Are you able
to get your ideas across effectively? Are you able to cooperate? So there's different things
that they might look for in these types of interviews. Now then there's the
meetings. Everyone loves going to meetings. And the important thing you should consider
about when your in a meeting are things like turn taking. What strategies can you use to
make sure that there's some sort of turn taking going on within people in the meeting. From
phrases, to simply saying things like, yes I see what you're saying. However, have we thought
about this? All right. Simple phrases that allow you to interject, allow you to interrupt. But
interrupt politely, and also add meaning to the conversation. So skills in turn taking become
quite important. And then there's also the use of direct and indirect language. When would
you use direct language? When is it appropriate?

4:52
Sometimes indirect language might be appropriate in a meeting where there's a lot of
controversy. It really depends on the situation. And body language is also important. We'll
have a short video language later on about body language. But you can make use of your
body language to enhance your message. And also different ways of showing agreement or
showing disagreement.

5:16
Negotiating skills in a meeting then these all become important. Presentations again are a
little bit different. You should be aware of your audience. As usual we should always, we
always recommend that. Be aware of your purpose, and also your body language is quite
important. But here, your delivery starts to apply a large role in getting your message across.

5:40
Delivery is extremely important. Although it's not everything. Still the content. The content
of what you're saying. The logic, or the meaningfulness of what you're trying to say is the
most important. But, how you deliver that. Are you engaged in your audience? Are you using
body language? This is all quite important in presentations. Pitches, quite similar to
presentations. You need to be aware of your audience. You need to be aware of your
purpose. And you also need to be aware of body language as well. But you also need to be
aware of the type of language that you're using to make your speech persuasive. Are you
using rhetorical devices? We'll talk a little bit about that later on. Are you using stress and
pausing to emphasize a particular meaning? Are you using the rhythm of your language to
emphasize a main point? So these are things that you should really consider. And these are
some of the main differences that you can see across these different genres of speaking. So
the importance of speech. There's a lot there to think about. Every genre has a particular
skill that you might want to focus on. In meetings, as I said. You might want to focus on your
turn taking strategies. Your ability to use direct and indirect language. How you show
agreement. How you're able to collaborate and cooperate. In job interviews, you might want
to show how confident you are in your language choice, your word choice. Are you using
words that emphasize your authority in a subject, in your expertise in a subject? Are you
presenting yourself with your speech, or the rhythm of your language, in a way that makes
you sound enthusiastic about the job? Body language plays a role. So these are all a lot of
things that you need to consider. We'll go to more detail throughout this course. But for
now, this is what I want you to think about. I want you to think about the differences among
the different genres of speaking. But also, some of the important points and skills that are
necessary to make yourself an effective speaker in different business contexts. Thank you
for watching.

5. Verbal and Non Verbal Communication Part 1- Verbal

0:00
Hi, and welcome to part one of two videos where we'll be exploring verbal and non-verbal
communication in business speaking.

0:09
Think of this situation where you see a manager smiling and speaking enthusiastically as she
tell's her employees they're fired. Situation doesn't seem appropriate. You're probably
thinking the manager's quite evil. The way you speak and look is very important, especially
in work or business context.

0:27
By the end of this video, you'll be able to identify different methods of verbal communication
and utilize appropriate verbal communication strategies for effective business speaking.
0:40
Business speaking situations can range from face to face meetings, interviews,
presentations, public speaking, and even phone calls.

0:52
Here's a list of the most common types of verbal communication. Remember, they enhance
the message that we're trying to convey whether it be in a positive, negative or neutral
way. Intentionally or unintentionally. We must be aware of how we use these. So, how do
we do this in the right way?

1:12
Well, let's look at some of the major features of verbal communication.

1:16
In previous videos, we covered how language, tone, and style can determine how messages
sound and are delivered. But let's focus on how other features can affect your business
speaking.

1:28
Intonation basically describe the rising and the falling of the pitch of our voices. Someone
who uses good intonation Sounds interested and enthusiastic or motivated.
1:42
Intonation can be used to express the feeling and emotion in our voice. If you use flat
intonation, it can sound uninterested and this can actually be a barrier to
communication. People will feel you sound bored or you're boring. Varied intonation gives
a human element to our communication, for example if you want to give a motivational
speech to employees.

2:07
Using stress in speaking is when we put more emphases on articular words or phrases, they
will sound louder than the other words we speak. It's like when we underline a word in
writing.

2:21
Using appropriate stress can highlight key words or phrases we want our audience to
remember, such as stressing the key benefits of a marketing proposal.

2:31
If we use stress on all our words or none at all, then the audience cannot distinguish the
important words or phrases you want to communicate.

2:43
Pausing is basically leaving a gap of silence in between your words. Good communicators
know when to pause to give time for their audience to digest the points that have been
delivered. If you speak with no pauses, then the audience is more likely to miss some of your
points and perhaps End up confused.
3:04
Good pausing can help both the speaker and the audience.

3:09
Pace is the rate at which you speak. Obviously the faster the pace the more words that come
out of your mouth.

3:16
This directly results in whether your audience is able to understand your points. A good
controlled pace can help your listeners follow easily But if you're too slow then you may lose
the attention of the audience. The best use of pace is to be controlled, but also varied. But
above all be natural to your own rhythm. Know when to slow down for important points,
and speed up if you're running out of time or need to move on to the next point to maintain
your listener's attention.

3:46
Volume of you speech can also be used like stressing to highlight your points. The volume of
your speech also depends on the physical environment toward situation you might find
yourself in. At the basic level you need good voice projection to heard speaking too softly
might means some of your audience Simply can't hear you. As mentioned just now,

4:08
physical environment also depends how loud you speak. For example, if in a crowded board
room or with disgruntled managers, might require you to raise your voice. Or in some
sensitive situation, such as making someone redundant, You might want to limit the volume
of your speech.

4:26
So, let's recap, after watching this video you should now be able to identify different verbal
communication methods in business speaking, and utilise appropriate verbal
communication strategies for effective business speaking.

4:40
Remember that our verbal and nonverbal communication enhances our message but it can
also reveal what we really think or feel about something.
4:50
Both need to be controlled and coordinated well to become an effective business speaker.

4:57
So thanks for watching, and I will see you in part two

6. Verbal and Non Verbal Communication Part 2- Non Verbal

0:00
Hi and welcome to part 2 of two videos where we'll be exploring verbal and non-verbal
communication in business speaking.
0:09
Remember the last video where you see a manager smiling and speaking enthusiastically and she
tells her employers they're fired.

0:15
This is where she was inappropriate. Remember, the way you speak and look is very important,
especially in work or business contexts.

0:24
By the end of this video you will be able to identify the different methods of non verbal
communication, and utilize non verbal communication strategies for effective business
speaking. As mentioned before, business speaking situations can range from face to
face meetings, interviews, presentations, public speaking, and phone calls.

0:48
Here are a list of the most common and non verbal communication methods. Remember, they
enhance the message we are trying to convey.

0:57
And they can demonstrate positive, or negative, or neutral feeling intentionally or
unintentionally. So remember, we must be aware of how we use these. So how do we view this
in the right way? Well, let's start with physical appearance. This can range from how you dress to
how you style your hair perhaps. The important thing to be aware of is you need to tailor your
appearance to the appropriate situation, such as dressing in formal business wear in a job
interview.

1:28
Your eye contact with the audience is probably one of the most important types of non verbal
communication.

1:35
Strong eye contact helps you engage directly with the audience. It can also establish a more
human connection, engendering a higher sense of trust or credibility with your listeners.

1:47
In contrast, little eye contact has the opposite effect and your audience is less likely to be
convinced or persuaded with your content or communication.

1:58
Facial expressions can often express your emotions or feelings, and like tone, they need to match
your words or your spoken communication.

2:07
Smiling or looking friendly is often the most preferred facial expression in many common
speaking situations. As you need to establish or maintain a positive relationship. But there are
situations where you might also want to look serious with limited facial expression, such as when
disciplining a subordinate.
2:25
If you don't control your facial expressions they may reveal your true emotions or intentions. For
example, when you need to maintain a professional demeanor under a difficult or challenging
situation, such as a high level business negotiation, where you might need to show an
expressionless poker face.

2:46
How close you are to the audience or how you position yourself can also have a influential impact
with your audience.

2:54
Being close to your audience can create a more personal sense of communication as opposed to
putting yourself in a position of authority, such as sitting above or far away from your audience.

3:07
It has to match with your intended purpose or communication. For example, you might want to
create a closer relationship with your employees by holding a town hall style meeting instead of
within a form of public space, where you can get up close and personal with them. Next, body
language can be used deliberately in many ways in meetings to presentations.

3:28
Your use of body language is mainly from the upper part of your body, including whether or not
you face your audience, your head movements, and your hand or body gestures.

3:41
There are many body gestures, but they can be divided into natural ones. Where you want to
create a desired effect for the audience, such as sitting back with our legs crossed to make our
audience feel relaxed or forth coming.

3:52
Or they can be deliberate, such as using hand gestures to point and refer to charts or slides in a
business presentation. But the more control you are with your body language, the more
confident and convincing you will look.

4:08
Finally, using silence can be a powerful and non verbal communication tool. It's not commonly
used, but many who do use it are usually in positions of authority.

4:20
It's different to posing and often is used to put your audience on the spot or show your audience
that you're contemplating something.

4:27
Steve Jobs was famous for using this tool on his employees to make them either feel under
pressure, so that they reveal their true thoughts, or they reveal everything and don't hide
anything. So, let's recap. After watching this video, you should now be able to identify the
different non verbal communication methods in business speaking, and utilize appropriate non
verbal communication strategies. Remember, that our verbal and non verbal communication
enhances our message, but it can also reveal what we truly think or feel about something. So,
both need to be controlled and coordinated well to become an effective business speaker. So,
thanks for watching.

Language
7. Objectives and Outcomes

This lesson focuses on language vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation skills. By the end of this
lesson, you will be able to:
 avoid using redundant adjectives,
 pronounce challenging English sounds, and
 use common business vocabulary.

8. Vocabulary List for Module 2

The words that we would like you to focus on in this module are displayed below.
premise analyst earnings specification transmission
revenue arbitration reference clearance liquidate
monetary obviously primarily exclusive consult

9. Challenging English grammar: redundant adjectives

0:05
When we want to express the significance of something like an increase in a company's income,
we could use an adjective. However, many learners of English often rely too much on using
phrases like more and more or less and less. For example, more and more people are investing
in our company. There is nothing grammatically wrong with this sentence. However, the
redundant adjective may not accurately emphasize the main point. It also sounds little
unprofessional.

0:37
This video will give examples to show you when to avoid using redundant adjectives and how to
use adjectives to emphasize key points. Right, let's go back to our skyrocketing
profits. Sometimes, learners might say the value of the company stocks are more and
more. However, this doesn't sound too good. A more accurate sentence would be the value of
the company's stocks are continuously increasing. This sentence has more meaning
and emphasizes the continuous increase of the stock value. Okay, let's look at another
example. More and more people are investing in our company. It would be better to simply say,
more people are investing in our company. But if you want to emphasize the growing number of
people, you could say, a growing number of people are investing in our company. Okay, let's look
at these two sentences. We should never let our workload become more and more. And, we
should never let our workload become many and many. These are not very good sentences. In
fact, you would never say many and many.

1:45
Better sentences might be, we should never let our workload become unmanageable. Or, we
should never let our workload become excessive.

1:55
So, if you find yourself using redundant adjectives like more and more, less and less, or fewer and
fewer, there is probably a more accurate adjective that could be used to emphasize your key
points. Have a look at the readings that follow this video to learn more about using adjectives in
your speech.

10.Adjective and Adverb Word Order

Adjective word order.docx

Usually the modifier (adverb or adjective) comes before the word described. However,
sometimes the modifiers must come after the word described. For example:
 He worked barely. Wrong! INCORRECT
 He barely worked. CORRECT
 This is a far from satisfactory scenario. CORRECT
 This is a scenario far from satisfaction. Wrong! INCORRECT

The meaning of the sentence may change depending on where you put the modifying word.
 Happily she died. Happily describes the writer's attitude to her death (the writer is happy that
'she' died).
 She died happily. Happily describes the condition of the person who died (She was happy when
she died).

Some modifiers (such as concern) change their meaning depending on whether they come before
or after the word they describe:
 The concerned man carried the child to safety. Concerned here means a caring man.
 The man concerned carried the child to safety. Concerned here means the man being referred
to.

Here are some other examples:

 The treasurer was present. The treasurer was not absent.
 The present treasurer is Mr. Smith. Mr Smith holds the position of treasurer at the present
time.
 Robin Harris was late. Robin Harris did not arrive on time.
 The late Robin Harris was a friend of mine. Robin Harris is no longer alive.
 My friend is poor. My friend has little money.
 My poor friend had an accident. My friend is in an unfortunate situation.
Adjectives usually go before the noun they describe. When there are several adjectives, use this
order.
FIRST: more general or subjective adjectives; (e.g. pretty, nice):
 She wore a beautiful, golden costume.
LAST: more specific and objective adjectives; (e.g. colors, styles, nationalities and nouns used as
adjectives):
 An exquisite, old carved wooden table.
 A long boring technical book.
 An unbelievable ghost story.
If two adjectives are have similar meanings we put the shorter one first:
 ... a quiet, intelligent woman.

You should generally follow this word order:

1. Determiners
2. Numbers
3. Descriptive adjectives
4. Size
5. Shape
6. Age
7. Color
8. Adjectives of nationality
9. Noun Adjuncts
10.Noun

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Th tw lov bi fl ol bl Chin woo hous
e o ely g at d ue ese den es.

Make your writing vivid and persuasive by using a variety of descriptive words: do not just use
very common adjectives. Try to use more descriptive synonyms (words with similar meanings)
instead of trite adjectives such as bad, good, beautiful, wrong, right etc.

Study this example of a short descriptive passage. Notice the use of the adjectives in bold,
including adjective phrases and clauses in the following passage. Can you find the word near the
end of the passage that is normally an adjective, but acts like a noun here?

"On shorter stops, when only the driver got out, women and children would swarm around the
bus and its load ofpotential buyers like bees to honey to sell their goods through the window:
corn on the cob, roasted, black, fried bananas and hot pepper sandwiches, green oranges, fried
millet-dough balls, long, clear plastic bags of water, and more palm fronds at 20 cents a piece
for those who forgot them at home or for the extravagant who wanted one in each hand."

This passage is from Letters from Mali: Meeting The Dogons. It's a very interesting letter and
shows how descriptive words can be effectively used to convey a sense of place.
11.Challenging English sound - /u/ "full" and /u:/ "fool" AND /I/ "sit" and /i:/
"seat"

0:05
In this lecture we're going to take a look at two pairs of challenging English sounds. They are /u/
as in full, and /u:/ as in fool, /I/ as in sit, and /i:/ as in seat. The first two sets of sounds we'll focus
on are /u/ and /u:/. These two sounds are a set of vowels that are problematic for a wide range
of different languages. For example, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish speakers of English
often have a difficult time replicating /u/ as in the word full and /u:/ as in the word fool. This
difficulty stems from the fact that these sounds don't have close equivalents in the speaker's
native language. For example in French /u/ is not a vowel sound so many French speakers will
use /u:/ instead. But they don't realize that in English there's a difference.

0:55
Similarly for Chinese speakers, the fact that there are so many more vowel sounds in English, and
in this case, there's no equivalent vowel difference in Chinese in such as in /u/ and /u:/, means
that Chinese speakers will often mispronounce this two vowels. Replacing one for the other not
realizing they're changing the meaning of the words. So let's focus on the /u/ sound first. To make
the /u/ sound, you round your lips, opening your lips a little bit, keeping your tongue relaxed in
your mouth. You gently pull your tongue back and you bunch it up quite high in the back of your
mouth.

1:29
Round your lips loosely and push them forward as you would. Then make a short sort of almost
gorilla type sound, like this, u/. Take a minute to watch this animation that shows you how to
pronounce the /u/ sound. >> /u/. /u/. >> Right. Now let's practice the /u/ sound. Repeat these
words after me, look, good, woman, understood, sugar, foot. Great. Now let's practice the /u/
sound with some phrases. Repeat the following phrases with me or after me. A good looking
woman, full of sugar, put it down, could, would or should.

2:28
Now let's focus on the /u:/ sound.

2:31
This is a long vowel sound. That means, and it also has a rising then falling intonation. To
pronounce the sound, open your jaw slightly. Curve your tongue quite high towards the back of
your mouth. Round your lips and push them forward. Sort of when you make that sort of similar
to when you made the /u/ sound. Remember, the rising and falling intonation as a sound begins
then ends. The primary difference between the two vowel sounds /u/ and /u:/ is the length of
their articulation. /u/ is more relaxed and short, while /u:/ is longer, with a rising and falling
intonation, and a more pursed lips, or lip. Try to make these movements with your mouth
and repeat this sound while watching this animation for /u:/. >> /u:/. /u:/. >> Great. Now let's
repeat some words with the /u:/ sound. Blue, school, afternoon, ooze, conclude,
illumination. Now let's practice some phrases which have the /u:/ sound in them.

3:41
Repeat them with me or after me. A rude student.
3:48
Illuminating news. Gloom and doom. A foolproof solution. Constitutional rule. Boots and
shoes. Now let's look at the second pair of vowel sounds we'll focus on, /i/ and /i:/. These are
particularly problematic for speakers of Scandinavian languages, French, Italian, Spanish, and
Chinese. For example, the contrast between these two sounds doesn't have an equivalent in
Chinese, and therefore many Chinese speakers have a difficulty really distinguishing between the
sounds like sit, the /i/ sound, and sea, the /i:/sound. Similarly, French doesn't really distinguish
between these two sounds. Both are rounded vowel sounds and are distinguished by how you
use your tongue. Let's talk about how to pronounce the /i:/ sound first. To pronounce /i:/, raise
your tongue high and keep your mouth slightly open and slightly tense with your cheek
muscles. Like this, /i:/. Take a minute to watch this animation which shows you how to
pronounce /i:/. >> /i:/. /i:/. >> Right, now let's repeat some words which have the /i:/
sound. Seat. Heat. Beet. Eat. Deal. Sheep.

5:22
Good, now let's practice the /i:/ sound with some phrases. Repeat the following phrases with me,
or after me. We need to feed three monkeys. A thief will steal these Jeeps.

5:39
Read these brief deals.

5:41
Steve and Pete will not eat meat. Hold on, in contrast the /i/ sound, to make it you raise your
tongue slightly and keep your mouth slightly open. This time relax your muscles. /i/. Take a
minute to watch this animation showing you how to pronounce /i/. >> /i/. /i/. >> Now let's repeat
some words with the /i/ sound. Hill, it, sit, will, still, ship. Good job. Now let's practice some
phrases which have the /i/ sound. Again, repeat the phrases with me or after me. Rick will rip the
big red lid. That kid will, sorry, that kid bit and hit my sister. This big cat will lick you.

6:54
Well done these two minimal pairs each are easily confused by learners of English. /u/ and /u:/
and /i/ and /i:/ are very confusing for some learners of English. But with time and practice your
speaking will really become clear and easier to understand if you focus on your pronunciation of
these types of minimal pairs. Good luck in your pronunciation

12.Peer-graded Assignment: Say it right.

Was due October 16, 11:59 PM PDT

Switch Sessions
Unfortunately, there are not any classmates around to review your work. This means you will not
receive a grade if you submit. Please check back for an upcoming session of the course to
continue with the assignment and get grades on time.

Peer-graded assignments require you and your classmates to grade each other’s work.

1. How do peer graded assignments work?

After you submit your work, you’ll be asked to review your classmates’ assignments. To pass, you’ll need to earn a passing grade on
your submission and complete the required number of reviews.

2. How are grades calculated?

You and your classmates will be asked to provide a score for each part of the assignment. Final grades are calculated by combining
the median scores you received for each section.

3. What kind of feedback should I give?

Be respectful, encouraging, and honest. Acknowledge what your classmate did well and offer specific suggestions on how they can
improve. Scores should reflect the learner’s understanding of the assignment prompt and points should not be deducted for difficulties
with language or differences in opinion.

4. Is there a penalty for submitting my work late?

No, but it’s important to submit your work as close to the due date as you can. Classmates grade most of the assignments within three
days of the due date. If you submit yours too late, there may not be anyone to review your work.

5. If I fail an assignment, can I try again?

Yes! You’ll can always try again, but you’ll need to resubmit your work as soon as possible to make sure your classmates have enough
time to grade your work.

6. Can I edit my assignment?

Yes, but you’ll need to re-submit your work and any grade you’ve already received will be deleted.

Instructions
Step 1
Listen to the following audio.
Play
Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

Time Left0:00
Step 2
Review the script of the speech given in the audio. Pay attention to the words with the /u:/ sound (e.g.
Andrew and school)

Andrew recently moved to a new school, but he doesn't really approve of it. "There are too many
stupid rules," he complains. "For instance, I like to watch movies in the afternoon and I want to get
some new tattoos but they disapprove. The teachers are not cruel but they do put you in a bad
mood." The teachers soon came to the conclusion that he was a very rude student. They think he
should improve his attitude and show a bit more enthusiasm for his school work.

Step 3

Record yourself giving the speech and make sure that it is perfect before generating the link.

You can use Vocaroo.com, Youtube.com, Soundcloud or other recording services that provide
you with a URL link that you can share.

Once you feel happy with your recording, generate a URL link of your audio recording. You can
do this using Vocaroo or other services of this kind. Before sharing the link, it is your
responsibility to check that the link works. Test it in your browser! If the link does not work, your
peers will not be able to hear it.

After confirming that the link works well, copy and paste the link .

Review criterialess
Everyone enrolled in this course must submit at least three peer reviews.

13.QUIZ Module 2

12 Questions
Deadline The quiz was due October 16, 11:59 PM PDT.
You can still pass this quiz before the course ends.
To Pass Earn at least 80%.
This quiz counts towards passing the course.
Retakes 3 attempts every 8 hours
1. 'How's it going?' is appropriate for which type of introduction?
informal
formal

2. In formal self-introductions, it is considered polite and common practice to ________.

restate your own first name before then giving your own full name very clearly.
wish the person who has introduced themselves to you goodbye.
make eye contact.

3. Shaking hands in formal introductions is considered very polite and is expected

______________.
between both genders, not just men.
between men, not women.
between women, not men.

4. Which of the following words are similar to ‘obviously? (Multiple answers possible)
doubtfully
certainly
questionably
vaguely
definitely

5. Choose the BEST word to fill in the gap for the sentence:
"Unfortunately, we need to ___________ our assets in order to make the loan payments."
liquidate
quit
keep
 delay
clear

6. Choose the BEST options to complete the following sentence: We should never let our
workload become ____. (Multiple answers possible.)
many and many
unmanageable
more and more
excessive

7. Choose the BEST options to complete the following sentence: ____ people are investing in
China. (Multiple answers possible.)
More
A growing number of
More and more
Numerous

8. Which word is pronounced in the following audio?

Play
Progress: 0%
Time Left0:06
pull
pool

9. Which is the correct pronunciation of the word 'mills'?

Play
Progress: 0%
Time ft0:04

Play
Progress: 0%
Time Left0:04
Play
Progress: 0%
Time Left0:04

Progress: 0%
Time Left0:04
10. Which word is pronounced in the following audio?
Play
Progress: 0%
Time Left0:04
wheel
will

11. Using effective verbal and non verbal communication

is the best way to make your audience understand you.
is more important than your presentation content.
enhances the message we are trying to convey.

12. Verbal communication includes the following (Multiple answers possible)

Language, Tone & Style
Body language and gestures
Pace, Pausing, and Volume
Stress & Intonation