konstantin fominykh: american and british business english with live native speakers
TRANSCRIPT
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP: American and British Business English with Native Speakers
TurnFix Team (New York, US)Professional Coaching and Educational Programs
June 2015
• 15 years of working on Wall Street
• Harvard Business School• Fluent in English,
Russian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian, basic Spanish and German
TURNFIX – OUR TEAM
KONSTANTIN FOMINYKH MICHELLE VER WAY
CHRISTOPHER BAINBRIDGE ANNA IEVLIEVA
• Over 5 years experience of ESL teaching
• University of Central Florida, Orlando
• Native English speaker (American), also fluent in Spanish
• 8 years of experience in Marketing
• Lyngby Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Fluent in English, Ukrainian and Russian and basic Danish
• Over 5 years experience of ESL teaching
• University of Portsmouth, UK
• Native English speaker (British), fluent in English, German and French
CEO AND FOUNDER OF TURNFIX
MARKETING MANAGER
INSTRUCTOR
INSTRUCTOR
1. Introduction – Upgrade Communication
With TurnFix – 5 min – Konstantin about TurnFix
2. Small quiz – 5 min
3. Sounds drilling with Michelle – 10 min
4. Sounds drilling with Christopher – 10 min
5. Cultural Acclimations – 5 min
6. Baseball idioms - 10 min
AGENDA
How much would you pay for this meal?
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION
Pasta al Pomodoro at the El Centro Restaurant in New York
Would you pay $19 for this meal?
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION WITH TURNFIX
DELIVERY MATTERS FAR, FAR MORE THAN YOU THINK!
Nutritional content is EXACTLY the same, but the Delivery is vastly different!
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION WITH TURNFIX
• Instructor guided and computer assisted methodology• Targets most problematic sounds for non-native English Speakers• No traditional testing, no homework, no grammar drills• Idioms and phrases are geared for Business• Professional Native English speaking instructors• Able to arrange learning globally
Improve your English with TurnFix
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION WITH TURNFIX
• 45 minutes long, 3 times a week, approx. 2-4 months
• Individual or semi-individual teaching• Remote instructions guided over
Skype, Google Hangouts, etc. • Structured text and audio materials,
self-recording option
Teaching format
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION WITH TURNFIX
• Course I (intermediate): most problematic sounds, basic intonation, > 200 idioms, 24 lessons
• Course A (advanced): critical sounds, intonation and stress, > 300 business idioms, 24 lessons
Courses structure
1. UPGRADE COMMUNICATION WITH TURNFIX
Testimonials
“Этот курс для тех, кто находится в авангарде общения в американскими клиентами, кому важно чувствовать и понимать тонкости общения с ними, так сказать, быть «на одной волне».”
- O.B. Director of Training Center,
one of the largest IT-outsourcing Companies in Europe.
“Общее впечатление от курса - выше ожиданий, честно говоря ) Не то чтобы я считал свой английский очень хорошим до этого, но не ожидал узнать столько нового, начиная буквально с первого же урока..”
- V.M. Partner, VP Engineering from Russia
“Заказчик отметил, что мое произношение улучшилось и даже похвалил его. Более того, я стал использовать идиомы в ежедневной речи. Считаю, что это реальный показатель качества курса.”
- D.I. Senior Architect from Ukraine
2. QUIZ
GAPS in communication with AMERICANS
1. Translate into English: Садитесь, пожалуйста!
2. QUIZ
GAPS in communication with AMERICANS
DON’T SAY: Sit down! SAY: Take a seat, please
2. QUIZ
GAPS in communication with AMERICANS
2. Give as many versions as possible of saying: Shut up!
2. QUIZ
GAPS in communication with AMERICANS
2. Give as many version as possible of saying: Shut up!
• be quiet please• let me finish, please • can I please finish?• hold on
2. QUIZ
GAPS in communication with AMERICANS
3. Guess the meaning of these idioms:
AN ARM AND A LEG
BACK SEAT DRIVER
ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE
IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
3. SOUNDS DRILLING
With MICHELLE VER WAY – [v] / [w]
3. SOUNDS DRILLING
With CHRISTOPHER BAINBRIDGE – [ɛ] / [æ]
1. SMILE
2. BE ON TIME
3. BE RESPONSIVE
4. FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP
5. SHAKE HANDS WITH EVERYONE
6. BE POLITE
7. DON’T TALK A THIRD PERSON IN A LANGUAGE THAT OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND
8. SPEAK WITHOUT AN ACCENT
3. CULTURAL ACCLIMATIONS
Close communication gaps
5. BASEBALL IDIOMS
America without sports is simply impossible to imagine.
American English has been enriched by expressions derived from the game of baseball. Sometimes referred to as "America's pastime“, baseball has especially affected the language of other competitive activities such as politics and business.
BALLPARK
Ballpark – A park or stadium in which ball games are played.
Idiomatic meaning: a broad area of approximation or similarity.
• “in the ballpark” - within reasonable bounds• “ballpark figure” or "ballpark estimate“ - one that is reasonably
accurate• “out of the ballpark” — to do something well or exactly as it should
be done
BALLPARK
"They said Itanium would never be their fastest 32-bit processor, but it would be in the ballpark. The original x86 hardware execution mechanism was not in the ballpark. It was barely in the parking lot around the ballpark,” Brookwood said.' – Stephen Shankland
- The New York Times, 23 April 2003-
"Patrick Wiles, a vice president of First Pioneer Farm Credit in Riverhead, said the 'ballpark figure' for prime vineyard land on the North Fork is $50,000 to $60,000 an acre, 'assuming the development rights have been sold.'"
– The New York Times, 18 July 2004
BALLPARK
•
INNING
Inning - is the basic unit of play, a game of baseball typically lasts 9 innings.
• “first inning” or “early innings” - do not determine the outcome of the game, which has only just begun.
• “late innings” or "ninth inning“ - an event or process is near the end
INNING
“Geithner: Tax reform debate in 'first inning'" —The Hill, 27 January 2011
"Early Innings of a Banking Recovery" — Smith Street Capital, July 13, 2010
"No Ninth Inning for Credit Crisis". – Might remark financial analyst during a seemingly never-ending crisis.
"'We're in the late innings for U.S. small-cap stocks,'" said Richard Bernstein, chief investment strategist at Merrill Lynch & Co.“
– Wall Street Journal, 31 December 2007
INNING
CURVEBALL
Curveball - is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate.
Idiomatic meaning: A surprise, often completely and totally unexpected, and usually unpleasant.
CURVEBALL
"Because of my personal story, I'm very interested in illness. One thing we discovered as a family is that when you're thrown a curveball like cancer or multiple sclerosis, often people do not know what to do first". – Meredith Vieira, quoted by Jeff Chu
- Time, 27 August 2006
"Desormeaux chalked up the latest loss, his second so close to the Triple Crown, to another twist in a life so full of them. 'Life throws curves,' he said, 'Some of us hit it, and some of us will sulk around. We've continued to hit the curveball'".
– The New York Times, 8 June 2008
CURVEBALL
TOUCH BASE
• “To touch base” - a player who is touching a base is not in danger of being put out. Another explanation is that a player must briefly touch each of the bases in order after hitting a home run.
Idiomatic meaning: To make contact with someone, to inform someone of one's plans or activities, perhaps in anticipation of an event.
• “To cover all the bases” or “to touch all the bases” - in baseball defensive positioning involves having players near all the bases.
Idiomatic meaning: going beyond routine to be extra careful.
TOUCH BASE
"Robert, it's been a while. I'd like to touch base with you next week to discuss our quarterly sales targets.“
“Though Gold is an optimist, he is careful to cover all his bases.”- New York Times
“The quickest way to cover all the bases, however, is to buy a decent bottle of the three “white liquors”—vodka, rum, and gin.”
- NorthJersey.com
“Of course, they also make pizza with topping options that cover all the bases. Prescott Daily Courier
There’s a lot … to chew over – and we only have 15 minutes to cover the bases.”
- Guardian
TOUCH BASE
HIT OUT OF THE PARK
• “Hit it out of the park (knock it out of the park)” - to hit a ball so well that the ball flies over all of the spectators' seats and lands outside the stadium.
Idiomatic meaning: To achieve complete or even a spectacular success.
• “Knock the cover off the ball” - to hit the ball exceptionally hard, so as to make the leather covering come off.
Idiomatic meaning: To succeed beyond expectation.
• “Home run (to hit a home run)” - is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process .
Idiomatic meaning: A complete success.
HIT OUT OF THE PARK
"Kerry stumbled over the question of whether God is on America's side. But Edwards hit it out of the park with his anecdote about Abraham Lincoln saying America is on God's side. He is the more nimble debater and conversationalist". — Katherine Q. Seelye
The New York Times, 29 February 2004
"In the last two quarters, we knocked the cover off the ball. . . . We exceeded analysts' expectations on Wall Street and our own guidance in both quarters".
"It was Silver's later, 15-month training period with the Apollo 15 astronauts, and that crew's brilliant geological performance on the lunar plain between the Apennine Mountains and Hadley Rille, a sinuous gorge, that, in Silver's words, "hit a home run."" — Marcy Drexler
Caltech News, 1999
HIT OUT OF THE PARK
