English Explained Simply

I offer you the first part of some commonly used business expressions that you should learn by heart depending on your priorities. Happy reading! 1) A business loan        =      money gotten from a bank 2) A focus group        =      a bunch of people for market analysis 3) A huge marketing campaign        =      a massive publicity 4) A job benefit      =      an advantage related to the job 5) A lot of cold calling      =      to call unaware of the called party 6) A recruitment drive      =      a recruitment campaign 7) A shop is up for lease      =      ready to be rented anew 8) A sizeable raise      =      an important salary increase 9) Accounts receivable      =      money to be paid ...

Dear learners, why is it essential to develop a plan for any written or oral presentation ?  This question is worth asking because, believe it or not, I still receive papers to mark under my responsibility as a teacher without any plan. In this article, I'll explain why it's absolutely essential to make a plan.       I always tell learners that I have had the honor of teaching over the years how fundamental it is to systematically develop a plan during a written or oral presentation. And it's not subject to negotiation, which means any type of presentation without a plan is doomed to a poor grade.              Let me just get into the nitty-gritty of why and how you should design your presentations of all kinds with a well-organized plan. Developing a plan is very important because it: 1) IMPROVES CLARITY AND CONSISTENCY - A plan helps you, the learner, avoid rambling or going off topic by moving your ideas forward reasonably....

FOREWORD: In order to achieve a good overall grade in English, you should study the text below in conjunction with other previously published articles, including the oral articles contained in this blog, to which you should add linking words and starter phrases also appearing in this blog. Just learn a few phrases from each section of the documents described above and any other documents you deem useful in this blog. I am not asking you to learn a whole bunch of posts because it may seem indigestible to you. It only takes a few, hammered out regularly to stand out during your oral or written tests and thus obtain a good grade. I) GENERAL COMMENTS / NEUTRAL COMMENTS A) ON THE TEXTS 1- Each of these texts presents a unique perspective on the subject, providing a comprehensive view. 2- It's interesting to note how the tone and approach differ between the texts, even though they all address similar themes. 3- The authors make convincing arguments, particularly in the way they support...

I) CONSIDER THE QUESTION CAREFULLY - Read the question carefully and identify exactly what is being asked, e.g. main idea , detail , inference , vocabulary meaning , tone . - Pay attention to the keywords in the question which is an effective way to get the right answer. II) BROWSE THE OPTIONS BEFORE READING IN DETAIL - Quickly review the suggested answers. - This prepares your brain to locate relevant information in the text. III) LOCATE EVIDENCE IN THE TEXT - Go back to the passage and find the part that relates to the question. - Underline or mentally note the exact sentence or phrase that provides the clue. IV) MATCH, DON'T ASSUME - The correct answer must be supported by the text, not by outside knowledge or assumptions . - If an option generally seems true but is not listed in the text, it is a trap. V) USE ELIMINATION - Cross out answers that contain extreme words like always , never , only , unless the text clearly confirms it. - Go beyond what the text says and misinter...

1) ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION As regards … =  With regard to … / In regard to … / Concerning … / Regarding … / In line with … / In relation to … / Relating to … / In parallel with … / In sync with … 2) TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING MORE By the way, … = While we're on the subject, … / While on the subject, … / In passing, … / On another note, … / Speaking of somebody, … / Speaking of something, … / One could also note, … / By way of explanation, … / As it happens, … / In related manner, … / It might also be noted, … / Funnily enough, … / As an aside, … / Another thing, … / Speaking of which, … 3) REMEMBERING A SITUATION AND TAKING IT INTO ACCOUNT    Consider the situation, … = Take into account the current situation, … / Take into consideration … / Think about … / Consider the current circumstances, … / In view of the current state, … / According to the current affairs, … / Make allowances for the current situation, … / Take into account the current state of things … / In the lig...

I) GENERAL PRESENTATION OF THE TEXT 1- T alk about the text's references: The text is an extract from ... / The text is a passage from ... / This article was published in the magazine ... / This is an article from ... and dates from ... 2- Talk about the general presentation of the text: The text consists of a paragraph with a header and photos / The style is direct / The style is indirect. 3- I dentify the key ideas in the text: List these ideas in their entirety, highlighting what they imply and how they connect to the themes related to the section's topics: The text aims to raise awareness of business relationships / The text is in the form of a monologue / The text is in the form of a dialogue / The text is presented in the form of advice given to readers. Organize these ideas: Around a coherent plan that will group the ideas into 2 or 3 parts maximum.  II) INDICATE YOUR TEXT PLAN Next, make a plan to organize your ideas as follows: The introduction is the privileged par...

I) INTRODUCING THE AUDIO The audio is about ... / This audio deals with the topic of ... / The audio seems to focus on ... / From the beginning, we can understand that ... / To begin with , we can say that ... / First of all, we can emphasize that ... / First and foremost, we can highlight the fact that ... / It should be noted that ... / Let's start by pointing out that ... / We could first mention the fact that ... II) DESCRIBING WHAT WE HEARD In the video, we could hear ... / Scenes could be heard showing ... / It seems the audio takes place at ... From the video, we could say that ... / While listening, we could point out that ... / While listening, one might notice that ... / I heard something like ... / My guess is ... III) GIVING YOUR OPINION In my opinion, the audio conveys a clear message about ... / I think the audio is trying to raise awareness about ... / From my perspective, audio is effective because ... / I think the purpose of the audio is to ... / From my way of th...

I) DESCRIBING THE IMAGE IN GENERAL In the photo, you can see ... / It looks like it was taken during ... / The photo looks like it was taken on vacation / It appears to be a photo of ... / The atmosphere seems heavy / The atmosphere seems lively The image appears to have been taken in ... / The image represents ... / The image gives a feeling of calm / The image gives a feeling of excitement / The image gives a feeling of tension / The image shows ... II) TALKING ABOUT THE SETTING At the bottom of the image, there is ... / At the bottom of the image, there are ... / At the top of the image there is ... / At the top of the image there are ... / In the background, there is ... / In the background there are ... / In the center of the image we have ... / In the foreground, there is ... / In the foreground, there are ... / In the middle of the picture, we have ... / On the left side you can see ... / On the right side you can see ...  III) TALKING ABOUT THE TIME AND PLACE This happens d...

0) SOME TIPS TO OPTIMIZE VIDEO VIEWING A general observation to make is that viewing time and video analysis time are part of the same totality of time. WATCHING must be optimized at all costs to avoid running out of time.  Here are THREE TIPS to maximize your time:  1- It is recommended to watch the entire video once, trying to understand the general meaning and context of this video. 2- Then watch the video a second time and, using a rough copy, note down the important elements identified in the video 3- A third viewing will often solidify your initial ideas by beginning to convincingly understand what the film is about, defining the actors' roles, their words and expressions, without forgetting to analyze and interpret the intonations (she is not happy, for example), the silences (she is thinking, for example) and the general atmosphere of the situation. Once you've identified and analyzed all of these elements, answer the questions posed in the video, those that will b...

BABBLE = chat, discuss, waffle (We babbled again and again about a new project we are preparing = We chatted again and again about a new project we are putting together)  BABEL = tumult, clamour, uproar, din, commotion, (There is too much babel in the back of the room, can't you keep it down? = There's too much noise in the back of the room, can't you keep quiet?) BACK (do something behind someone's back) = do something in a way that is unfair unbeknownst to the person (You are good at doing things behind my back, what's wrong with you? = Stop doing things behind my back at work otherwise I will report you to the line manager) BACK (be glad to see the back of someone) = pleased to no longer be involved with the person (I'm glad to see the back of him and he will stop bullying his employees = We will no longer see him, so he will stay away from his employees who will no longer be harassed)  BACK (get someone's back up) = irritate, annoy, vex make someone...