Integrazione allo studio di. Business English. a cura della Prof.ssa Laura De Gori

Transcript

1 Integrazione allo studio di Business English a cura della Prof.ssa Laura De Gori Autore dei contenuti: Prof.ssa Laura De Gori Docente del corso: Prof.ssa Laura De Gori

2 i Introduzione all insegnamento di: Business English Benvenuto al corso di Business English! Benvenuti al corso di Business English! Mi chiamo Laura De Gori e vi seguirò durante tutto il percorso di studio e a fine corso sosterrete la prova d esame con me. L esame si articolerà in due fasi: una parte scritta e una parte orale. Lo scritto consisterà in: a) esercizi sulle espressioni e sul vocabolario presentati nel corso; b) un analisi di un breve testo con domande a risposta multipla e riassunto/commento. La parte scritta vi darà quindi la possibilità di essere valutati sulle vostre competenze di Reading comprehension e di Writing. Il colloquio che sosterrete in seguito al test scritto comproverà le vostre competenze di Listening e Speaking. Vi suggerisco di studiare con attenzione i materiali didattici che metterò a disposizione e di frequentare il corso. Buono studio! Laura De Gori 2

3 Programma dell insegnamento Lo studio di Business English riguarda principalmente la conoscenza dei seguenti argomenti, suddivisi in 24 LESSONS: 1 Introduction & meeting people: Expressions and building vocabulary. 2-4 Office vocabulary: Jobs and business vocabulary; Work processes and organization; frequency adverbs. 5-6 Continuous activities: Describing actions and activities; Role-plays. 7-8: Functional vocabulary Dates, times, numbers and currency Planning and scheduling: Organizing activities and discussion; Role-plays Product vocabulary: Product list; Descriptions and adjectives; Student presentation Telephone techniques: Answering and handling calls; Making calls and enquiries; Vocabulary and expressions Writing and replying to s: Phrases, vocabulary and expressions; Editing and correction Handling requests and assistance: Advice, assistance and complaints Written and aural Travel and socialising: Vocabulary and expressions; Comprehension; Role-plays. 3

4 Esame finale L esame finale di Business English prevede il superamento di una prova scritta e di una prova orale a fine corso. Testi di studio e materiali didattici I testi consigliati per lo studio di questo insegnamento sono: UN BUON VOCABOLARIO BILINGUE di qualsiasi casa editrice; VOCABOLARIO "L INGLESE DELL ECONOMIA + CD ROM Zanichelli; IL MULTIDIZIONARIO BUSINESS E FINANZA De Agostini I materiali didattici per lo studio di questo insegnamento saranno messi a disposizione durante il corso. 4

5 Lezione Lezioni Introduzione generale alle lezioni Functional vocabulary: Dates, times, numbers and currency. Il nostro studio del corso di Business English, presuppone la conoscenza delle strutture grammaticali e lessicali della lingua di livello base e preintermedio, senza la quale non è possibile comprendere gli argomenti trattati in queste dispense, adatte a studenti di livello almeno pre-intermedio. Argomenti La lezione si articolerà nei seguenti ARGOMENTI: 7-8 Functional vocabulary: Dates, times, numbers, currency. Obiettivi della lezione Gli OBIETTIVI delle UNIT 7-8 sono: 1. Saper scrivere e dire le date in inglese 2. Saper scrivere e dire l ora in inglese 3. Saper scrivere e dire i numeri e cifre in inglese 4. Saper parlare di valute e prezzi in inglese 5

6 Integrazione allo studio delle Lezioni 7-8 Functional vocabulary: Dates, times, numbers and currency. Dates There are several different ways to write the date in English. They vary from formal to informal, and there are differences between British and American English. The following table shows some typical formats. format British: day-month-year American: month-day-year A the Fourteenth of March, 2016 March the Fourteenth, 2016 B 14th March 2016 March 14th, 2016 C 14 March 2016 March 14, 2016 D 14/3/2016 3/14/2016 6

7 format British: day-month-year American: month-day-year E 14/3/16 3/14/16 F 14/03/16 03/14/16 Note: which format to use is a question of formality, politeness and personal choice. Generally, the longer formats, such as B or C, are more polite (since they show more respect for the reader). Shorter formats, such as D or E, are used in less formal situations, for example a memo, a letter between friends or an impersonal business letter. Format F is rather official and is typically seen on an invoice or an official or technical document. Format A is extremely formal and mainly used on printed items, for example a wedding invitation. The numerical formats may use a full stop (.) or hyphen (-) instead of a slash (/), for example: or Note that another format exists which writes the date numerically in the order Year-Month- Day, for example: 2016/03/14. This is rare in British or American English and used mainly in very official or technical documents. months number name abbreviations 1 January Jan J 7

8 months number name abbreviations 2 February Feb F 3 March Mar M 4 April Apr A 5 May May M 6 June Jun J 7 July Jul J 8 August Aug A 9 September Sep S 10 October Oct O 8

9 months number name abbreviations 11 November Nov N 12 December Dec D In English, months are correctly written with an initial capital: January,February... days of the month 1st first 2nd second 3rd third 4th fourth 5th fifth 9

10 days of the month 6th sixth 7th seventh 8th eighth 9th ninth 10th tenth 11th eleventh 12th twelfth 13th thirteenth 14th fourteenth 15th fifteenth 10

11 days of the month 16th sixteenth 17th seventeenth 18th eighteenth 19th nineteenth 20th twentieth 21st twenty-first 22nd twenty-second 23rd twenty-third 24th twenty-fourth 25th twenty-fifth 11

12 days of the month 26th twenty-sixth 27th twenty-seventh 28th twenty-eighth 29th twenty-ninth 30th thirtieth 31st thirty-first 12

13 Times Units of Time We measure time mainly with seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years: 1000 milliseconds = 1 second 60 seconds = 1 minute 60 minutes = 1 hour 24 hours = 1 day 7 days = 1 week 28, 29, 30 or 31 days = 1 month 365 or 366 days = 1 year 12 months = 1 year 10 years = 1 decade 13

14 100 years = 1 century 1000 years = 1 millennium Telling the Time To tell the time means to say what the time is, perhaps after somebody asks the time. Asking the time Here are some phrases you can use when you want to know the time: What's the time? What time is it? Have you got the right time? What time do you make it? Telling the time To tell someone what the time is, we can say "The time is..." or, more usually, "It's...". Here is a typical dialogue: Question: What's the time, please? Answer: It's three o'clock. 14

15 The chart below shows you two different ways to tell someone what the time is. more formal less formal It's... It's three o'clock three 3.02 just gone three o'clock three oh two 3.03 three minutes past three three oh three 3.05 five past three three oh five 3.09 nine minutes past three three oh nine 3.10 ten past three three ten 3.15 a quarter past three three fifteen 3.20 twenty past three three twenty 15

16 more formal less formal It's... It's twenty-one minutes past three three twenty-one 3.25 twenty-five past three three twenty-five 3.30 half past three three thirty 3.35 twenty-five to four three thirty-five 3.40 twenty to four three forty 3.45 a quarter to four three forty-five 3.50 ten to four three fifty 3.55 five to four three fifty-five 3.57 three minutes to four three fifty-seven 16

17 more formal less formal It's... It's nearly four o'clock three fifty-eight 4.00 four o'clock four AD and BC You sometimes see years written with AD or BC, like this: 2000 AD 450 BC What does it mean? AD is AFTER Jesus Christ was born. BC is BEFORE Jesus Christ was born. AD stands for the Latin Anno Domini meaning "In the year of Our Lord". BC stands for Before Christ. BC is always written after the year. AD may be written before the year or (modern style) after the year. If a year is shown without AD or BC, it is usually AD. Here are some examples going back in time: 17

18 The Second World War ended in The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 AD. Genghis Khan died in 1227 AD. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 and Pompeii was buried under ash. Jesus Christ was thought to have been born in AD 1. But he was probably born a few years earlier, around 5 BC. Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. In 71 BC Spartacus was defeated by the Romans. Rome was founded in 753 BC. The Great Pyramid was completed in Egypt more than 4,500 years ago, around 2566 BC. Evidence of the creation and use of pottery earlier than 17,000 BC has been found in China. PRONOUNCING YEARS Reading years in English is relatively complicated. In general, when the year is a four digit number, read the first two digits as a whole number, then the second two digits as another whole number. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Years that are within the first 100 years of a new millenium can be read as whole numbers even though they have four digits, or they can be read as two two-digit numbers. Millennia are always read as whole numbers because they would be difficult to pronounce otherwise. New centuries are read as whole numbers of hundreds. We do not use the word "thousand", at least not for reading years within the past 1000 years. Years that have just three digits can be read as a three digit number, or as a one digit number followed by a two-digit number. Years that are a two digit number are read as a whole number. You can precede any year by the words "the year" to make your meaning clear, and this is common for two and three digit years. Years before the year 0 are followed by BC, pronounced as two letters of the alphabet. 18

19 Interestingly, these rules apply to reading street addresses as well. Written Spoken 2014 twenty fourteen or two thousand fourteen 2008 two thousand eight 2000 two thousand 1944 nineteen forty-four 1908 nineteen o eight 1900 nineteen hundred 1600 sixteen hundred 1256 twelve fifty-six 1006 ten o six 866 eight hundred sixty-six or eight sixty-six 25 twenty-five 3000 BC three thousand BC 3250 BC thirty two fifty BC 19

20 Numbers and Currency READING DECIMALS Read decimals aloud in English by pronouncing the decimal point as "point", then read each digit individually. Money is not read this way. Written Said 0.5 point five 0.25 point two five 0.73 point seven three 0.05 point zero five point six five two nine 2.95 two point nine five READING FRACTIONS Read fractions using the cardinal number for the numerator and the ordinal number for the denominator, making the ordinal number plural if the numerator is larger than 1. This applies to all numbers except for the number 2, which is read "half" when it is the denominator, and "halves" if there is more than one. Written Said 1/3 one third 3/4 three fourths 5/6 five sixths 20

21 Written Said 1/2 one half 3/2 three halves PRONOUNCING PERCENTAGES Percentages are easy to read aloud in English. Just say the number and then add the word "percent". Written Pronounced 5% five percent 25% twenty-five percent 36.25% thirty-six point two five percent 100% one hundred percent 400% four hundred percent READING SUMS OF MONEY To read a sum of money, first read the whole number, then add the currency name. If there is a decimal, follow with the decimal pronounced as a whole number, and if coinage has a name in the currency, add that word at the end. Note that normal decimals are not read in this way. These rules only apply to currency. Written Spoken 21

22 Written Spoken 25$ twenty-five dollars 52 fifty-two euros 140 one hundred and forty pounds $43.25 forty-three dollars and twenty-five cents (shortened to "forty-three twenty-five" in everyday speech) twelve euros sixty-six ten pounds fifty PRONOUNCING MEASUREMENTS Just read out the number, followed by the unit of measurement, which will often be abbreviated in the written form. Written Spoken 60m sixty meters 25km/h twenty-five kilometers per hour 11ft eleven feet 2L two liters 3tbsp three tablespoons 22

23 Written Spoken 1tsp one teaspoon HOW TO SAY 0 There are several ways to pronounce the number 0, used in different contexts. Unfortunately, usage varies between different English-speaking countries. These pronunciations apply to American English. Pronunciation Usage zero Used to read the number by itself, in reading decimals, percentages, and phone numbers, expressions. o (the letter name) Used to read years, addresses, times and temperatures nil Used to report sports scores nought Not used in the USA EXAMPLE Written Said =5.06 Three point zero four plus two point zero two makes five point zero six. There is a 0% chance of rain. There is a zero percent chance of rain. The temperature is -20⁰ C. The temperature is twenty degrees below zero. You can reach me at You can reach me at zero one seven one, three nine zero, one zero six two 23

24 Written Said I live at 4604 Smith Street. I live at forty-six o four Smith Street He became king in He became king in fourteen o nine. I waited until 4:05. I waited until four o five. The score was 4-0. The score was four nil. 24