Job Discussion Forums

[Ralf]

Hi everyone,
this term I will teach (average) Chinese students English at an "Institute for Finance and Trade", and their major is International Trade. I am completely free regarding the teaching material; however, I never taught within this area and would like hear some suggestions what kind of book (available here in China) can be used in the class. Probably it doesn't matter, but a book describing other countries (capitals, holidays etc.), money affairs (credits, stock markets etc.), business rules (contracts, appointments) would perfectly fit in.
Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Ralf

[echo2004sierra]

Ralf, do you mean by "Institute for Finance and Trade" that it is Fuyuan Education Centre in Bao'an?

For International Trade you could look at www.cambridge.org/elt to see if there is anything suitable on offer - there are outlets in Guangzhou. For example,

"Business Goals" to help students to prepare for BEC Preliminary exam -- www.cambridge.org/elt/businessgoals &
www.cambridge.org/elt/businessexplorer

New International Business English -- www.cambridge.org/elt/nibe

English for Business Studies

Communicating in Business

English for Business Communication

English for International Banking and Finance www.cambridge.org/elt/infotech
www.cambridge.org/elt/professional

[Yu]

There is the short course in International trade series... books on negotiating, marketing, contracts, payments, business culture, trade documentation, marketing blunders, entreprenurial trade, joint ventures, marketing success, business ethics, intellectual property, and economics.

Published by Shanghai Foreign Language press.

ISBN of Contracts is 7-81026-818-9

[Ralf]

Dear Echo and Yu,
thanks for your comments. I am teaching students here in Hangzhou at the Zhejiang University of Finance and Economy, and the class is actually supposed to increase their speaking and listening skills.
Thus, the course is not aiming to teach straight "Practical English" for future business people. I was thinking about a book which has in each chapter one (easy to read, not too long) text related to business/foreign trade (e.g. holidays/customs in different countries, business rules, e-trade etc.) and interesting enough to have a free discussion with the students, plus some related questions and exercises.
Regards,
Ralf

[mike w]

You might like to try a book called 'Business Options' - Oxford University press - ISBN 0-19-457234-X

It combines English Language skills with business.

[sojourner]

Ralf,

Re international business culture, try: www.executiveplanet.com

One book that you might find interesting is "Decisionmaker", by David Evans ( C.U.P., ISBN 0 521 44805 0 ). It consists of a number of case studies dealing with culture conflict and business ethics (eg, video piracy). Ideal for Business English students at intermediate levels and above. Highly recommended.

Regards,

Peter

[boxcarwilly]

I have been teaching business English for years in numerous countries and used many different books to help me plan lessons. Many of the books I used are listed in the comments above. Lately however, I have been using more of my own prepared materials. For example I recently used this text:

http://www.tradeforum.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/782/Pepper_from_Viet_Nam:_Quality_Makes_a_Difference.html

The topic of the text is the rise of Vietnam to top exporter of pepper. What I do is record the text in my own voice, at a speed the class can grasp, on a casette recorder. Then I copy and paste the text into MS Word and create a gap fill with the vocabulary and phrases I want the class to practice.

I pre-teach some of the vocabulary and then play the cassette and the students complete the gap fill. If the article is too long, I leave paragraphs with no gaps to make the exercise go faster. We then have discussion of the topic and I try to have each student end the exercise with a short, one paragraph writing.

I have found that my business students really enjoy this exercise and they never seem to get tired of it. Also, the topics are new and fresh and the students seem to like that also.

It's good for me also as a teacher because it keeps me connected to current events and emerging language.