Tuesday, March 31, 2020

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ETHOS

Has your company or organization made Employee Morale a fundamental part of its business ethos?

French translation, éthos

Hello Darlings! Happy Tuesday!

Let's talk about the core values and business ethos of your company or organization. What would you say is your company's ethos with regard to employee morale as a genderal rule? Do you feel that employee morale is important to your leaders in your organization? Is it a priority or an afterthought?

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ENVIRONMENT

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ENVIRONMENTWill coronavirus be good for the environment?

French translation is environnement?

Hello Darlings! Happy Monday!

I have no idea if I have the french translation correct on this one so don't quote me, as usual....But I really wanted to know what your thoughts were on this question of the environment and whether the coronavirus will actually be good for the environment. In China, it looks like it is good.

CORONAVIRUS VOCABULARY FOR BUSINESS ENGLISH LEARNERS

Coronavirus Vocabulary for Business English Learners

Best Practices – Refers to a set of practices, actions, behaviors and guidelines that are employed by a company or business to achieve the highest efficacy and efficiency in a situation. So, in other words, what is the smartest and best way to handle specific issues. What actions need to be taken to achieve the best outcome in a situation?

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ZERO SUM

Is Gender Equality treated like a zero sum game in your workplace?

French translation: jeu à somme nulle?

Hello Darlings! Happy Friday!

I don't know if the French translation for ZERO SUM GAME is correct as I have it.

AMAZON

I just looked at Google Translate. I have never actually seen this expression written anywhere in French so I am not sure. Is this expression good french? Jeu à somme nulle?

Wednesday Water Cooler Hot Topics: What would you do if you made a big mistake at work that could cost your company big bucks?

Hello all,

It's Thursday evening. So that means it is time for me to remember that I forgot all about the Wednesday Watercooler hypothetical. Why do I always forget the Wednesday watercooler hypothetical?

This week I would like you to imagine the following:

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS WORD OF THE DAY: FRIVOLOUS

French translation: frivole, vaniteux, peu sérieux

Hello Darlings! Happy Thursday!

I hope you are doing well? And that you are making the best you can of the circumstances...

So, the word for today is FRIVOLOUS. I was just reading an article in Inc.com and I saw the word and I liked it right away for the word of the day. The exact quote in Inc.com was:

Quay Women's Frivolous Sunglasses

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS WORD OF THE DAY: LEADERSHIP

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS WORD OF THE DAY IS LEADERSHIP

Do you consider yourself a good leader with good leaderhsip skills? Or to you prefer to leave the leading to someone else?

French translation is la direction, le leadership

Hello Darlings! Happy Wednesday!

So, today I have chosen the word LEADERSHIP as the word of the day for Business English Paris. How does this word translate in your language?

AMAZON

If we were to have this conversation about leadership, the question I would start out with would be as outlined above: Do you consider yourself a good leader with good leadership skills? How much experience have you had with leadership where you were the one at the helm? Do you like being in a leadership position or do you prefer to leave the leading to someone else?

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: WORD OF THE DAY IS BLAME

THE WORD OF THE DAY IS BLAME: Have you ever been blamed for something at work which was not your fault?

French translation is reproche, blâme, accuse

Hello darlings! Happy Tuesday!

I have lost count of what day it is of the Confinement, however I can attest that it is very difficult to remain motivated during such a long period of sitting at home staring at the walls. Luckily, I had started this blog a week or so before the virus hit the West, so it does offer a reprieve and since then I have opened up all these social media channels including Tik Tok, Linkedin and Youtube.

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: SEDUCTION

Business English Word of the Day: Seduction

Can you use Seduction techniques in a corporate setting to obtain a competitive advantage?

French translation: seduction

Hello Darlings! Happy Monday!

I am very late with my word of the day today. My day just sort of got away from me and I was not able to get to it until now. So sorry. But based on all the comments I have gotten so far (zero!)

The Art of Seduction at Work???

I am not even sure if anyone reads this blog so maybe nobody even noticed that I missed the word of the day. Which, if you want to know the truth, is both good and bad.

Anyway, the word I chose for today is seduction.

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: Incommunicado

The Word of the Day today for Business English Paris is INCOMMUNICADO

In French it means au secret, isolé, séquestrer

Hello Darlings! Happy Sunday!

I am working seven days per week now because it is better than sitting in my studio staring at the walls. What an appropriate word I found today for you. INCOMMUNICADO.

You may need this while you are incommunicado

The French for this is, I think, isolé. But as per usual, don't quote me.

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: Motivational

When was the last time you had to write a motivational letter?BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS Word of the Day is Motivational

French Translation is...explicative?

Hi Darlings!

It is Saturday and I am working on the blog, tapping away feverishly on my laptop, like a busy little bee. How committed I am, right? Well, maybe my motivation is not so pure. Maybe I am a little bit selfish. Maybe I am working on Saturday to keep myself occupied and fend off boredom. But I also like to find new words to share with you as well, so it is not just all about me being selfish. :)

https://amzn.to/33B3krK

HOW TO TELECOMMUTE DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CONFINEMENT :10 Tips for the Successful Telecommuter

TELECOMMUTE SUCCESSFULLY WITH THESE 10 TIPS

Hi telecommuting professionals. In this article, I would like to share my ideas of how you can make your telecommuting situation more successful. Do you agree with my ideas? Do you want to discuss your own ideas and what you think will work for you if you had to telecommute?

Here are the things I think you would need to consider:

1. Make sure your job is really suitable to telecommuting before you even agree to it in the first place.

2. Take your shower, brush your teeth and dress like you are really going to work even if you will be staying at home all day long.

3. Set specific "work day" hours like the ones you would really put in at the office.

4. Use your "commuting" time (the time you would normally be in the train or bus on your way to and from work) to catch up on reading the news, learning a new language from an app and listening to music quietly in your headphone.

5. Organize your desk and workspace as if you mean business.

6. Make sure your phones are charged and working properly so that you can keep up with the team by mobile and so that they can get in touch with you easily if needed. And have a system in place where you can get tech support if needed.

7. Take 30 minutes or an hour out of the day for lunch, and get a walk outside of the house during this time. Also factor in two 15 minute coffee breaks as well during the day.

8. Don't encourage interruptions from family members. Keep the door to your workspace closed and put up a "don't disturb" sign.

9. Be sure you understand fundamentally what is expected of you and what you can realistically

deliver and communicate that to your higher ups.

10. Install software that allows you to measure your productivity.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: BOTTOM UP

TODAY'S BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS WORD OF THE DAY IS Bottom Up.

French translation could be "une approche en profondeur" or "une approche ascendante".

Hello Darlings!

It is 01:31 in the morning and I am up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, working like a dog on the Business English Paris blog. No, I did not work all day and night. Don't worry. I actually didn't do much during the day yesterday because the confinement was getting to me and I did not feel productive. But later in the afternoon, after a long nap and a long talk with myself, I got a second wind. And since late afternoon, I have been working on this or the other thing, including a new YouTube video for the yesterday's word of the day: UNCONVENTIONAL. If you are ever curious about my videos, you can check my Instagram or Youtube all of which should be displayed in the sidebar, assuming that you have a browser that does not rearrange my blog (which would be very maddening, to be honest.)

So. I chose a crazy word for the day today at Business English Paris. BOTTOM UP. It is crazy because even in English, it is not a word I use. I am not really an expert on this word. When I think of BOTTOM UP, I think of management styles. You can have either a Bottom up or a Top down management style. What that means is you either have a leadership system where the top management makes all the decisions (top down) or a leadership system where lower level employees as well as upper executives share in the decision-making process of the company (bottom up).

That's about all I know about BOTTOM UP and TOP DOWN. I did do a quick research, though, and discovered that it pertains to more than just management. These terms can be used in various contexts including investing, design, forecasting, budgeting, economics, finance, and construction.

My question for you is how is your company structured? Is it BOTTOM UP or TOP DOWN?

If it is BOTTOM UP, then there is a lot of collaboration and communication between departments and sectors in order to make decisions. All employees have a voice and a say in the decision-making process and they often feel valued, and they have a sense of ownership of the outcomes for the company. In a bottom up company, the managers focus on building morale. Is this the type of company you work for? Can you give specific examples of why you think so?

On the other hand, you may not feel so valued by upper management in your company. You may feel like you have no say in the company's goal setting and macro decision making. Can you talk to me about that? Are high level CEOs the ones to make all the decisions and set the goals for the company? Do they delegate down the ladder to lower level employees? Do they adapt a "Big Picture" approach to decision-making? Do they delegate tasks to lower level employees? Is there a clear hierarchical character to your company where authority figures determine the larger goals of the company and then delegate tasks to the lower level employees?

What group do you belong to in your company? Are you one of the upper level executives or are you one of the lower level employees? Do you think that your company's leadership structure and system is the appropriate one for the company? Why or why not?

Note: During this time, I am offering strictly telephone conversation courses to respect the order of President Emmanuel Macron who has issued a directive as you know that French population must remain under curfew for the next 15 days. If you would like to start or continue with English conversation lessons therefore, it will be strictly by telephone. I look forward to speaking with you, que même.

______________________________________________________________________
Business English Paris is a sister site of Jeannie LaCroix. Please visit our sister site where you can find curated products for busy professionals at www.jeannielacroix.com. Thank you in advance for your support.

Wednesday Water Cooler Confessions: Is Your Spouse Getting on Your Nerves During the Coronavirus-Telecommuting-Work-From-Home Situation?

Wednesday Water Cooler Confessions: HYPOTHETICAL 3

Is Your Spouse Getting on Your Nerves During the Coronavirus- Telecommuting-Work-From-Home Situation?

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: UNCONVENTIONAL

The Word of the Day for Business English Paris is UNCONVENTIONAL
The French translation is non conventionnel, peu orthodoxe

Hi Darlings!

I am a little bit low energy today. The coronavirus situation and the resultant confinement is beginning to take a toll on my psyche. It is very difficult to stay motivated in this type of situation. But I will try to stay focused as I am sure you are too. (Btw, check my Instagram feed for a video of this word of the day @businessenglishparis)

So for today, the Business English Paris word is unconventional. I can't even think of an intelligent question to ask you, quite frankly. My head is completely blank. OMG.

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: TELECOMMUTING

The word of the Day is TELECOMMUTING

French translation télétravail

TELECOMMUTING IS THE NEW NORMAL WORLDWIDE AS COMPANIES SCRAMBLE TO STEM THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

Hello Darlings! Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are doing as well as you can under the circumstances.
Today's Business English Paris word of the day is TELECOMMUTING. (There is a video of this word of the day on my Instagram feed @businessenglishparis)

The working lives of people all over the world has been drastically changed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Many people are forced to "telecommute" to their jobs.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS' WORD OF THE DAY: HIRE

Today's Word of the Day from Business English Paris is HIRE
French translation is embaucher

Good morning, Darlings!

I hope you are taking care of yourselves during this global coronovirus pandemic. I am doing my best to stay healthy on my end.

The Brain Sensing Headband - Guided Meditation and Sleep Multi Sensor Headset

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: GLOBALIZED

French translation is mondialisé

Hello Darlings! Happy Monday!

Today's word of the day is globalized. If we were having a conversation, you and I, where could we take the conversation? I guess in so many different directions.

10 Expressions You Will Use at Work at Some Point

HERE ARE 10 COMMON WORKPLACE EXPRESSIONS. CAN YOU HAVE A CONVERSATION USING EACH ONE?

1. Apply for a job

QUESTION: When was the last time you had to "apply" for a job? Talk to me about that process and what it was, or is, like.

2. Get offered a job

QUESTION: When you got offered your last job, why did you decide to accept it?

3. Get Fired

QUESTION: Do you think that getting fired can be a good thing? Why or why not?

4. Be Made Redundant

QUESTION/ Do you think there is a difference between how a person who has been made redundant feels as compared to someone who was put at the door? Or does the impact of both feel the same?

5. Get a promotion

QUESTION: How did you feel when you were last promoted? Was the promotion all it was cracked up to be?

6. Resign

QUESTION: Can you give me 3 scenarios where you can see yourself resigning from your current position?

7. Be on Sick Leave

QUESTION: Do you think that people should take a sick leave if they have a common cold or only if they have flu?

8. Be Out Sick

QUESTION: When your colleagues are out sick, do you ever feel resentful when you have to do their jobs?

9. Be on Paternity Leave

QUESTION: Do you think men should get the same amount of paternity leave as their partners when a new baby arrives?

10. Be on Maternity Leave

QUESTION: Do you think that women who take long maternity leaves should lose their jobs (but not necessarily get fired from the company?)

___________________________________________________________
Contact us if you want to take Business English Conversation lessons by Telephone.

Friday, March 13, 2020

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: UPMARKET.

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY IS UPMARKET

Do You Like Going to Upmarket Bars With Your Coworkers For Happy Hour?

French translation is raffiné

Hello Darlings! TGIF!

I feel like it has been such a long while since I have added a new word to Business English Paris' lexicon. Why is that? Well, not to give you excuses but the week has not evolved exactly as predicted. For two days my Internet was not working and I had to have the technicians come to see wtf was going on. I was very livid because I hate when I have energy and momentum only to be blocked by invisible occurrences. Plus, earlier in the week, I was really tired from the weekend to the French Alps so it was a strange week. I needed to unwind by doing a lot of yoga. I created a couple of new podcasts, though, and I started a new social media. Tik Tok. I am on Tik Tok. Don't laugh. Me. On Tik Tok. Too funny 😜 So it is not like I was a TOTAL slacker.

Yoga mat with Carrying Strap

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Are you Guilty of Any of these BAD Habits While at Work?

Online Shopping, baby

Which of the following 6 BAD habits are you Guilty of While At Work? TELL THE TRUTH!!

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Wednesday Water Cooler Confessions HYPOTHETICAL 2

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is BOOM

French translation is La Prospérité, L'expansion

Good Morning Darlings!

How are you all today? I hope great. 😊 It is Tuesday and the news reports are pretty grim concerning the Corona Virus COVID - 19 which seems to be spreading across the rest of the world at an alarming vitesse after an apparent debut in China, where thousands of people have reportedly died.

Samsung Smart Watch

In Europe the number of casualties and of people testing positive for the virus are increasing daily with countries like Italy being particularly hard-hit.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is LEISURE

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is LEISURE.

How important is leisure for a busy working professional like you? What are your leisure time activities?

French translation is loisir

Good morning darlings! Happy Monday. I am getting a very late start to the day. I can barely keep my eyes open in fact.

Chamonix, Mont Blanc

I am very tired and exceptionally will head to bed right after I finish this post. I probably will have to edit it because I am too tired to edit. I have to recover from my LEISURE weekend. 😄😅😅 .

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: WORD OF THE DAY IS BURNOUT

French translation is: burnout, épuisement

Hello my darlings,

How are you today? I hope great. I feel like I am talking to myself when I ask these questions. Nobody reads my stupid blog. 😆 Well, maybe one day I will have a reader.

Perfect luggage for an adult with burnout

For now, I happily talk to myself....So, today is Friday and I decided to select the word BURNOUT for Business English Paris today. Why? I don't know. It seemed weirdly appropriate to select that word on a Friday in early March for some strange reason.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: PRESENT PERFECT VS SIMPLE PAST

Teaching Business English has its challenges and one of the biggest challenges I have had as a Business English coach is explaining to my students when to use the Simple Past and when to use the Present Perfect. I think the problem is that for native speakers, we often don’t care about the grammatical rules and we conflate these two tenses quite a lot, and we never really think about what differentiates them. So, when it is time to explain to an English learner how to choose between the two, I often feel like a deer in headlights.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is BUSINESS ATTIRE

WHAT CONSTITUTES "BUSINESS ATTIRE" THESE DAYS?
French translation is tenue d'affaires

Good morning darlings, from Business English Paris blog. Today's word of the day is "Business Attire." Google Translate says the French translation is tenue d'affaires. It sounds right but if it isn't you are as usual welcomed to correct me, because I readily admit that my French is off-the-charts horrific.

Adidas cool

https://amzn.to/2ImXdgQ

So what even is business attire these days? Back in the 90s in New York, career women were wearing sneakers with their suits on the subway and I remember visiting Paris

Pourquoi les Français parlent-ils si mal l'anglais ?

Business English Paris is now on Quora. I was browsing there this afternoon and saw this question about why French people speak such bad English. I thought it was a very interesting question and very relevant to Business English Paris' mission to help French professionals improve their English communication skills. So, I left a response on Quora (one of my first) and then I wrote a more lengthy response which I just uploaded to Business English Paris' LinkedIn page If you would like to read my response, you can do so here.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: What would you do if you were offered an exciting job opportunity in a foreign country but your spouse refuses to go?

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Water Cooler Confessions

So, I have just conceived a new section of Business English Paris - the blog, which will be called Water Cooler Confessions. The idea is to use your imagination to imagine what you would do in a certain situation and then discuss it. So, with the Water Cooler Confessions, Business English Paris (that would be me) will provide you with a hypothetical and you are tasked with imagining how you would react, and then discussing that in perfect English with me. One word answers are verboten.

Business English Paris Water Cooler Confessions

https://amzn.to/2PLAgs6

Business English Paris Water Cooler Confessions: HYPOTHETICAL 1

Imagine that, by a stroke of serendipity you have been offered an exciting job opportunity in a far-flung locale. The assignment will be for five years.
The job will mean you will have to relocate to a foreign country.
It is your dream job.
You have always wanted to work abroad, and international opportunities in your field just don't come up that often.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS WORD OF THE DAY: TROUBLESHOOT

Cours Business English Paris word of the day is TROUBLESHOOT
French translation is intervenir pour régler un problème

Has your boss ever asked you to "troubleshoot"a problem that is someone else's responsibility? How did you react?

Troubleshooting

Good Morning darlings!

It's too early in the morning. I woke up before my alarm (it is set for 5:00) and figured I would just get an earlier start to my blogging than planned. But no question I need to troubleshoot this situation with waking up before my alarm!

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the day is CAREER. How is your Career Going?

Need a career change?

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: What is the story of your Career? Is Your Career Evolving the Way you Want? Is there anything you would like to change?

French Translation is carrière

Hello darlings!

I am up and quickly scribbling a new post for you. It is already 6:08 in the morning so I am running behind schedule with my planning for today. But at Business English Paris, there is no excuse for missing a day of blogging! …..actually, don't be surprised if my blog posts don't follow a tight formula and schedule. For the moment, I have pledged to throw up a post every day. But let's all just hold our collective breaths to see what develops. :)

So today the word is CAREER. I think the french translation is carrière but I am actually not certain about that. I don't have time to go to Google translate because it's late. But if it is not, please leave a comment and correct me. My french is just notoriously very very atrocious and I don't mind learning from you.

So the idea with these words of the day is to simulate a conversation with Business English learners because with Business English Paris, a huge focus is just simple conversation. It's just about, "let's talk." When I write, I imagine as if I were actually speaking with one of my students. And so I might ask, "can you describe your career history for me?" What I mean by that is to ask the student to tell me all about the different jobs he or she has had in the past and the responsibilities that he or she has enjoyed along the journey. A lot of times, the student is on the verge of a career change when I pose the question and so it can be a very timely question, and a great way for the student to self-reflect as well as wow me with their achievements and accomplishments.

Obviously, if the student is very young and has had only one job, it is a tougher question than if the student has had a couple of jobs. So you do have to judge who this question is appropriate for. But even if the student is entry level in their "career" I would just switch that to, "tell me about your job and the responsibilities that you have." It usually would take up a few minutes of discussion because everyone has their own fascinating story to tell. Often, for a lot of people, their careers, even more than their family, can define who they are.

So, what about you? What is the story of your career? I would love to talk about it with you one day….

If you or someone you would like to have English conversation lessons with me, check this link for our current offer. If not, just enjoy reading, I love having you here. Feel free to leave a comment now and then. That would just fill me with joy. Have a great day, everyone. :)

Oh, and excuse any typos as I am quite an expert at those.

_____________________________________________________________
Business English Paris is a sister site of Jeannie LaCroix. Please visit our sister site where you can find curated products for busy professionals at www.jeannielacroix.com. Thank you in advance for your support.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: What Are Your Skill Sets That Gives You a Competitive Advantage?

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Do You Have a Professional Skill Set that Sets You Apart From the Pack?

French Translation: compétence

Hello from Business English Paris! Happy Monday :)

Today we are talking about job skills. This is really just an excuse to use the word "skills" in English and to get you using your English vocabulary. This word, SKILL, appeared in the post before this one, actually, and I thought I would highlight it for that reason. I think it is the kind of word that I could use when I work with students of Business English Paris to introduce an interesting discussion thread to the student.

I could say to a student for example, "tell me about your soft skills. And how do you think those skills give you a competitive advantage at work?"

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: The Job Interview

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Will Your Level in English Affect Your Job INTERVIEW?

French translation: entretien profesionnel

A lot of my students over the years have had job interviews while they were studying with me and they almost universally were scared stiff about what their prospective new employers would think about their English level. Usually, their English was fine; but they always expressed fear that it was not up to snuff. There is a tremendous amount of pressure in Paris for professionals to speak "good English." I keep telling my students that their English is a lot "gooder" (this is not good English!) than my French.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is GROW

To grow means to increase in quantity and size over time.
French translation is croître, grandir
*It's a verb. (growth is the noun)

Continuing with this word of the day trend at BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS, I have selected the word GROW. I think this is a good word for entrepreneur types or bosses in companies rather than entry level employees; and people working in Finance and Economics will also appreciate this word, I think.

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS word for discussion: ANALYTICAL

French translation: analytique.

So, as I said, with Business English Paris, the whole point is the get French speaking professionals to just relax and speak in English without being intimidated and being obsessed with speaking perfectly on day one. I have found that french learners love new vocabulary words and the love to talk using their newly discovered words rather than sitting there doing vocabulary drills and grammar drills. It makes sense. Right? They are not trying to master English Grammar. They want to know how to speak!

BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS: Word of the Day is Influence

French translation: Influence

Teaching Parisian professionals (I work for BUSINESS ENGLISH PARIS) is very dynamic and fun and for me it is a way to really understand French professionals and what makes them tick. You just never know what drives people or who motivates them to succeed and how they have overcome odds in their lives and in their careers. And the longer you do this you begin to realize that people are the same wherever you go. It does not matter what language they speak.