Business English lesson 4 : Describing your company
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Beginner level / CECR : A2/B1

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1st Part
Video

2nd Part
Understanding

3rd Part
Vocabulary

4th Part
Writing

5th Part
Reading

6th Part
Game

Lesson 4:
DESCRIBING YOUR COMPANY

  • Objectives: learn how to describe your company to someone else. Improve your communication in a professional context and your business skills.
  • Level : A2/B1
  • Public : for people who want to communicate in a business environment
  • Total duration : 1 hour (approximately 10 minutes for each part)

1️⃣ Start by watching the video

What’s your job? 
Right now I’m an intern. I’m working at a large publishing company for 10 weeks.
I’m head of advertising production. My job is a production editor.
I work as a rare book specialist at Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford.
Uh…. My, my job is a teacher, so I’m a secondary school teacher in a town called Stanley in Hong Kong. Chemistry is my main topic. A little bit of physics, a little bit of biology sometimes comes in.
what type of company do you work for
It’s a publishing company so they make textbooks and also books that people read in their free time.
It’s a large uk newspaper organization.
I work for a large global publishing company
It’s a bookseller.
So it’s a school ,it’s an interesting school in Hong Kong. iI’s a school that…. local hong kong’s go to but it’s based on an English public school so it’s sort of weird and quirky little bit, a little bit of Harry Potter combined with a lot of China.
what type of place do you work in
my workplace is an office and it’s an open plan office so there are many people in one room sharing desks. Sometimes it’s noisy but I like to talk to my co-workers .
It’s a very nice environment. It’s an open plan office and very peaceful, very quiet.
Um ….very technical with computers and printers and everything we need to do our job.
I work in a busy open plan office in the centre of town and there are about 40 other employees in my department.  It’s quite a lot of chatter, lots of phones ringing.
So I work within a a shop …um… but at a desk so it’s…. uh …It ’s …sort of.. a slightly officey feel …um… but it’s nice to be surrounded by books.
Um… it’s …um… quite a beautiful campus right by the ocean looking over the South China sea on a hill ….uh …..so it’s a very very pretty campus…um… the  school is quite old in Hong Kong terms, so over 100 years old and good good history, good traditions and and my colleagues are fun to work with.

Need some help ?

What’s your job? Dans quoi travaillez-vous?
Right now I’m an intern. I’m working at a large publishing company for 10 weeks.En ce moment, je suis stagiaire. Je travaille dans une grande maison d’édition pendant 10 semaines.
I’m head of advertising production. My job is a production editor.Je suis responsable de la production publicitaire. Je suis rédacteur de production.
I work as a rare book specialist at Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford.Je travaille comme spécialiste des livres rares à la librairie Blackwell à Oxford.
Uh…. My, my job is a teacher, so I’m a secondary school teacher in a town called Stanley in Hong Kong. Chemistry is my main topic. A little bit of physics, a little bit of biology sometimes comes in.Euh…. Je suis enseignant, donc, je suis professeur de lycée dans une ville appelée Stanley à Hong Kong. La chimie est ma matière principale. Un peu de physique, un peu de biologie viennent parfois s’ajouter.
What type of company do you work forPour quel type d’entreprise travaillez-vous ?
It’s a publishing company so they make textbooks and also books that people read in their free time.C’est une maison d’édition qui produit des manuels scolaires et des livres que les gens lisent pendant leur temps libre.
It’s a large uk newspaper organization.C’est une grande entreprise de presse britannique.
I work for a large global publishing companyJe travaille pour une grande maison d’édition internationale.
It’s a bookseller.C’est une librairie.
So it’s a school ,it’s an interesting school in Hong Kong. iI’s a school that…. local hong kong’s go to but it’s based on an English public school so it’s sort of weird and quirky little bit, a little bit of Harry Potter combined with a lot of China.C’est une école, c’est une école intéressante à Hong Kong. C’est une école que fréquentent les habitants de Hong Kong, mais elle est bâtie sur le modèle des écoles privées  anglaises, donc elle est un peu originale et excentrique, un peu de Harry Potter et de Chine mélangés.
What type of place do you work inDans quel type d’endroit travaillez-vous ?
My workplace is an office and it’s an open plan office so there are many people in one room sharing desks. Sometimes it’s noisy but I like to talk to my co-workers .Mon lieu de travail est un bureau et il s’agit d’un open space, ce qui signifie que de nombreuses personnes partagent des bureaux dans une même pièce. Parfois, c’est bruyant, mais j’aime bien discuter avec mes collègues.
It’s a very nice environment. It’s an open plan office and very peaceful, very quiet.C’est un environnement très agréable. C’est un open space très paisible, très calme.
Um ….very technical with computers and printers and everything we need to do our job.Euh…. très technique avec des ordinateurs et des imprimantes et tout ce dont nous avons besoin pour faire notre travail.
I work in a busy open plan office in the centre of town and there are about 40 other employees in my department.  It’s quite a lot of chatter, lots of phones ringing.Je travaille dans un open space très animé en centre ville, et il y a environ 40 autres employés dans mon service. Il y a beaucoup de bruits de voix, beaucoup de sonneries de téléphones.
So I work within a a shop …um… but at a desk so it’s…. uh …It ’s …sort of.. a slightly officey feel …um… but it’s nice to be surrounded by books.Je travaille, donc,  dans un magasin… mais à un bureau, donc c’est ……. C’est… une sorte de…un peu un travail de bureau, mais c’est agréable d’être entouré de livres.
Um… it’s …um… quite a beautiful campus right by the ocean looking over the South China sea on a hill ….uh …..so it’s a very very pretty campus…um… the  school is quite old in Hong Kong terms, so over 100 years old and good good history, good traditions and and my colleagues are fun to work with.Euh… c’est… euh… un très beau campus, juste au bord de l’océan, avec vue sur la mer de Chine méridionale, sur une colline ….euh ….. donc c’est un très très joli campus… euh.. l’école est assez ancienne pour Hong Kong, plus de 100 ans, avec un historique solide, des traditions  ancrées et mes collègues de travail sont sympathiques.

2️⃣ Learn new words:

an intern

Meaning:
an intern is a student or new graduate who is getting practical experience in a job, sometimes without pay
(Traduction: Un stagiaire est un étudiant ou un nouveau diplômé qui acquiert une expérience pratique dans un emploi, parfois sans rémunération)

Synonyms:
trainee

to work

Meaning: – to do something that involves physical or mental effort, especially as part of a job
– to have a job
(Traductions : de faire quelque chose qui implique un effort physique ou mental, notamment dans le cadre d’un travail.
avoir un travail)

Synonyms:
to have a job, to run a shop, to operate, to do a task

office

Meaning:
a room, a set of rooms or building where people work, usually sitting at desk
(Traduction: une pièce, un ensemble de pièces ou un bâtiment où les gens travaillent, généralement assis à un bureau)

Synonyms:
workplace

desk

Meaning:
a piece of furniture that you sit at to read, write , work…
(Traduction: Un meuble sur lequel on s’assoit pour lire, écrire, travailler…)

Synonyms:
table, bureau, work surface

head

Meaning:
(business) a person in charge of a business or a company
(Traduction: (entreprise) responsable d’une entreprise ou d’une société)

Synonyms:
boss, director, leader, manager

large

Meaning:
big in size or quantity- wide in range and involving many things 
(Traduction: Grand en taille ou en quantité – large gamme et impliquant beaucoup de choses)

Synonyms:
big, great, broad, huge

Antonyms:
small, little, tiny 

global

Meaning:
covering or affecting the whole world
(Traduction: couvrant ou affectant le monde entier)

Synonyms:
international, universal

Antonyms:
local, individual, particular, specific

interesting

Meaning:
attracting our attention because it/ they are special, exciting or unusual
(Traduction: attirer notre attention parce qu’ils sont spéciaux, passionnants ou inhabituels)

Synonyms:
attractive, striking, impressive, stimulating

Antonyms:
boring, ordinary, unimpressive, usual, dull

co-workers/ colleagues

Meaning:
a person that somebody works with
(Traduction: Une personne avec qui quelqu’un travaille)

Synonyms:
partner, teammate, assistant

3️⃣ Read, listen and repeat the following sentences:

I work as a rare book specialist

→ Traduction : Je travaille comme spécialiste de livres rares

I am a secondary school teacher.

→ Traduction : Je suis professeur de lycée

My workplace is an open plan office

→ Traduction : Mon lieu de travail est un bureau en open space.

It’s nice to be surrounded by books

→ Traduction : c’est agréable d’être entouré de livres.

The school is over 100 years old.

→ Traduction : L’école a plus de 100 ans.

4️⃣ Write new words

good

April 24, 2023

good exercice

Good

April 23, 2023

a good revision

interesting

December 7, 2022

there are many new vocabulary

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