Title:
English for Business Communication 1 The Business Pre inter Unit4 Part2
pp46-47
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In part two of Unit 4, the discussion about being successful continues with the focus
shifting to the personal characteristics that underpin business success. Many
adjectives that can be used to describe human characteristics are introduced and are
divided between positive and negative versions of the same concept, that is to say,
they are ‘opposites’ or ‘antonyms’.
Hardworking and lazy
Helpful and unhelpful
Generous and mean
Hands-on and hands-off
Honest and dishonest
Organized, or well-organized and disorganized
Ambitious and lacking in drive
Cooperative and uncooperative
Calm and stressed
The definitions and links to the pronunciation of these words can be found in the text
file that accompanies this podcast.
In the next section of this part, nouns and the adjectives that derive from the noun
are introduced. The following nouns and adjectives are included:
Adventure/adventurous
Ambition/Ambitious
Decision/decisive
Finance/ financial
Flexibility/flexible
Luck/lucky
Organization/organized
Pioneer/pioneering
Success/successful
Stress/stressful
There is also a section which outlines the seven most important habits of successful
business owners and are as follows:
Firstly, Successful entrepreneurs are good role models, that is to say, they are a good
example of good behavior and hard work for their employees. Secondly, good
business owners invest both time and money in their business and the training of
their team. Thirdly, a good entrepreneur knows how to manage their time and their
work effectively. Fourthly, good business owners should be fit and healthy. Fifthly,
good business people should be pioneering, that is to say, they have lots of new and
interesting ideas. Sixthly, a good businessperson should look after their clients. And
seventhly, a good entrepreneur should be able to make decisions and take action
where necessary.
Look at the links posted on the DPUIC website for more learning websites and
downloads.
Keep practicing!
Discussion questions
Which of the seven habits do you think is the most important for a successful business?
What are two more habits of successful business owners?
What sort of worker/student are you?
How would your colleagues describe you?
Links to other resources
Personality adjectives
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/exercises/grammar/adjectives/personality/more-words-fordescribing-personality.html
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/adjectives-personality-positive.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/adjectives-personality-negative.htm
http://www.examples-help.org.uk/parts-of-speech/personality-adjectives.htm
http://www.cytss.edu.hk/cyt-7pyl/car/Testimonial%20Reference.pdf
Vocabulary and useful phrases
Hardworking and lazy : a lot of effort/ a lack of effort
Helpful and unhelpful: assists others/doesn’t assist others
Generous and mean: Gives things to others or spends a lot of money on others/ doesn’t give things to others or spend a
lot of money on others
Hands-on and hands-off: involves him/herself in the business in an active and practical way/ doesn’t involve him/herself
in an active or practical way
Honest and dishonest: can be trusted/cannot be trusted
Organized, or well-organized and disorganized: is able to plan and carry out functions efficiently/ is unable to plan or
carry out functions in an efficient way.
Ambitious and lacking in drive: has a strong desire to succeed/ doesn’t have a strong desire to succeed.
Cooperative and uncooperative: is willing to help others/ is unwilling to help others
Calm and stressed: relaxed/ constantly worried and under pressure
Adventure: a trip into the unknown
Adventurous: someone who is not scared to take a trip into the unknown
Ambition: the desire to succeed
Ambitious: having the desire to succeed
Decision: the choice between various options which leads to a future course of action
Decisive: the ability to make a good decision when faced with different options.
Finance: money or investment
Financial: related to money matters
Flexibility: the ability to adapt to different situations or events
Flexible: the ability to adapt to different situations or events
Luck: good fortune
lucky; having good fortune
Organization: a large-scale company or business
Organized: efficient and well-planned
Pioneer: someone with innovative ideas
Pioneering: implementing new ideas by putting them into practice
Success: the achievement of one’s goals
Successful: having achieved one’s goals
Stress: the pressure one feels when the demands of work seem, or are, too great.
Stressful: a description of a situation or event that puts someone under pressure.