Online Business English Course

Online Business English Course

Online Business English Course. Now you can receive English Classes from home, the office or your hotel. Sometimes it is difficult to fit everything in when you work long hours, but that doesn’t mean you have to let your English go.

What you will learn in an online class

Many students worry that an online class isn’t as dynamic as an in-person class, but that is not the case. We have small groups and tools for having private and group discussions. We are able to do listenings just as if we were together in a room. Material is sent to you before each class for you to print out or use online.

SOME OF THE TOPICS WE EXPLORE ACTIVITIES WE DO
Communication
Corporate Image
Conference calls
Writing emails- language and registrar
Outsourcing
Logistics and Supply Chain
Managing Conflict
Marketing and Sales
Risk Management
Wind, Solar and Hydroelectric Power
Cultural Differences and Global Teams
…and much more
Discussion
Vocabulary
Reading Comprehension
Listening
Short Videos
Case Studies
Grammar
Writing

Types of Classes

We have different types of Online Business English Courses.

  • Group
    • 3 hours a week, 2 days a week
    • this class has students from various backgrounds and businesses
    • Some topics are more general for everyone and some are specific to the field of work of the members of the group.
  • Private class
    • 1 to 3 hours a week.
    • One-to-one class with a teacher
    • Topics related to general Business English practice, focusing on fluency and communication
  • InCompany class
    • 1 to 3 hours a week
    • One-to-one o groups
    • Specialized Business English Classes tailored to a company’s specific needs
      • examples: presentations, finance, law, video conferences, emails, etc.

Cámara de Comercio de Álava

The Alava Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio de Álava) has more than 30 years experience working with business in and around Alava, Spain. Now you can be a part of this learning experience from anywhere in the world. To find out more information, click here or write us at idiomas@camaradealava

English Vocabulary for Graphs

English vocabulary for graphs

English vocabulary for graphs es una de las lesiones más prácticos y útiles que doy. En un momento en el trabajo hayas tenido que leer, escuchar o explicar el vocabulario de un gráfico. Así que ya es la hora de dejar de usar siempre lo mismo ‘go up’ y ‘go down’ y empezar a usar vocabulario más avanzado. Aquí te presentamos algunas de las varias maneras de hablar de una subido o bajada en un gráfico.

Vocabulary and Examples

Rocket

  • to rise quickly or make extremely quick progress in a short amount of time.
    • Our results rocketed in the third quarter.

Plummet

  • To fall quickly and suddenly
    • Once the pandemic hit, our sales plummeted.

Hit a low

  • Hit a low is used to refer to the lowest point on a graph
    • The sales hit a low of .9% in 2008 before rising to 2.9% in 2018.

Peak

  • When something hits a peak, it reaches the highest point on the graph.
  • The top of the mountain is referred to as the peak, so on a graph the peak usually looks like a mountain.
    • Gas prices peaked last week and will hopefully start to fall now.

Expand

  • To increase in size or number
    • Retail operations expanded in the 1990s.

Shrink

  • To decrease in size or number
    • Once the economic crisis hit, the retail operations began to shrink again.

Rise

  • To move upwards
    • Inflation rose by 2.8% in just one month.

Fall

  • To move downwards
    • Demands for cars has fallen since the rise of gas.

Raise

  • To cause something to increase
    • the government decided to raise taxes by 2%.

Lower

  • To move something to a low position or reduce something. 
    • The bank has lowered the interest rates again.

Climb

  • to increase
    • The cost of housing has climbed over the last 3 years.   

Deteriorate

  • to become worse  
    • The economic conditions continue to deteriorate due to the global pandemic.  

Fluctuate

  • To be unstable.
  • To move up and down.
    • The number of cases of COVID continues to fluctuate from one month to the next. 

Remain stable

  • To maintain the same status.
    • Although the economy is not doing very well, the unemployment rate remains stable.   

Get better

  • To improve
    • Although the sales have remained stable over the last year, we see that things are beginning to get better little by little.

Now that you’ve learned English vocabulary for graphs, check out other Business related posts

Expressions Sessions: Business related idioms
Expressions Sessions: Signposts for Presentations

Click here to sign up for a Business English Course today

English Business Idioms

English Business Idioms

Knowing English Business Idioms is a great way to get ahead in business today.

Idioms – definitions and examples

Ballpark number/figure

  • means a very inexact estimate
  • The ballpark refers to a baseball field, which is big and and hard to estimate due to its size.
    • To give you a ballpark figure, the work is going to cost, I’d say about 230.000 euro

Big picture

  • Everything that is involved with a particular situation.
  • Since a big picture is … well… big, you have to stand back to see all of it at once. If you go too close, you may only see part of it.
    • While working on all these finer details, we have lost sight of the big picture

By the book

  • To do things exactly according to the rules or the law.
    • We confirmed to our lawyer that we do everything by the book, the accountant has nothing to worry about.

Cut- throat

  • Very intense, aggressive, and merciless competition.
  • If you literally cut someone’s throat, they would die. So, the idea is that if something is cut-throat, it is ruthless.
    • Competition in the retail trade is so cut-throat, it’s very difficult for local traders.

Keep one’s eye on the ball

  • To give something one’s full attention.
  • Again, this is a common expression used in baseball. We say it to the batter who needs to watch closely the ball in order to hit it.
    • We should not diversify our product range, instead we should keep our eyes on the ball and concentrate on our core market.

Raise the bar

  • set standards or expectations higher.
    • The iphone definitely raised the bar in the smartphone industry.

Red tape

  • bureaucracy, official rules and processes that seem excessive.
    • There seems to be so much red tape involved in exporting to an un-EU country.

Sever ties

  • To end a business relationship.
  • Sever means to cut and we often refer to ties as connections. So, severing ties means severing relationships.
    • We had to sever ties with our supplier when we heard they had been using child labour.

Now that you have learned out English Business Idioms, take a look at other Business English related posts.
Expressions Sessions : Signposts for Presentations in English
Business emails

Business English 2021

Business English Classes

En la Cámara de Comercio de Álava llevamos más de 30 años preparando a la gente con inglés para el negocio. Nuestros Business English Classes están basadas en situaciones reales y cotidianas del trabajo. En 2022, tenemos dos cursos de inglés para el negocio, Business B2 y Business C1 – preparación para el examen Business Higher (BEC higher).

Business B2

El curso de Business English B2 consiste de clases divididas en dos sesiones de 1 hora y media. En cada una hay tiempo para repasar las cuatro áreas del idioma:  Listening, Speaking, Reading y Writing. En nuestras clases hay oportunidad para dar presentaciones, negociar precios de productos, contestar y hacer llamadas telefónicas así como para practicar “small talk”, hablar sobre el tiempo, preferencias, viajes, etc.

Listenings

  • Mejorar tus habilidades para la escucha a través de Listenings reales
  • Listenings sobre:
    • la promocionan  de los productos de una empresa,
    • Como llevarse a cabo negociaciones en una feria comercial
    • La realización de presentaciones en público, etc.  

Speaking

  • Ganar confianza a la hora de hablar sobre los temas previamente mencionados,
  • Dominar la conversación de networking
  • Aprender tratarse en inglés con clientes difíciles, etc.

Writing

  • Perfeccionar la escritura que utilizas en tu entorno laboral al elaborar correos electrónicos, promociones, informes, propuestas, etc.

Gramática y Vocabulario

  • Consolidar una base gramatical y de vocabulario que te permita seguir mejorando tu nivel de inglés incluso de forma autónoma.
  • Ejemplos de situaciones en los que es necesario:
    • el uso de condicionales en escenarios hipotéticos,
    • manejo de “phrasal verbs” para conversaciones telefónicas o teleconferencias, (hang up, call back, put me through),
    • extender el lenguaje específico de reuniones, Marketing, Finanzas, etc.

Business C1

El Curso de Business English Advanced es una clase única a la semana de 3 horas los viernes por la tarde de nivel avanzado. En este clase, preparemos a l@s alumn@s para el C1 Business Higher (formally known as BEC Higher.

La clase se centra en las habilidades lingüísticas prácticas que se necesitan para trabajar con eficacia y fluidez en un nivel superior en los negocios internacionales.

Para aprender más sobre el examen de Cambridge, pincha aquí.
Aprender más sobre nuestros Business English Classes pinchando aquí.
Si quieres saber más sobre nuestros cursos, contáctanos a 945 150 190 idiomas@camaradealava.com