Bus. Eng: Vocabulary & Listening- Dragons' Den

"You've entered the Dragons' Den, where brave entrepreneurs get that once in a lifetime chance to strike it rich. First, they must win over Canada's savviest investors."

 

A show originating from Japan, Dragons' Den is a series that features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists. The Canadian version of this show has run for 6 seasons and airs on CBC television. http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/ 

Today we'll be watching two entrepreneurs face the demanding panel. Today's listening exercise will mainly focus on use of financial vocabulary mixed with phrasal verbs, slang and conversational expressions. Before you watch, look up the following expressions.  Make sure you can explain each expression clearly to someone else in one or two sentences.


GROUP A:  Dougie Dog




"The hot dog is actually a recession food, it is a comfort food." (2:27)
"And we've opened up British Columbia's first hot dog restaurant." (2:53)
"But the hot dogs aren't cheap. At $7 a piece, they're more than double what you'd pay for street meat." (3:40)
"$700,000 to break even." (4:15)
"If you had $700,000 in sales and you could convince me you could get to a million by tweaking the menu or the prices, I'd buy into it." (5:20)
"Here's what I'll tell you on the positive side. Great branding. Well done. Whoever helped you with your graphics, the concept behind it, the store design, then you know what, then even more kudos to you." (6:11)
"As an investment, I'm out. But as an entrepreneur, you rock." (6:32)
"So the numbers don't add up." (6:44)
"You lost 10 grand." (7:47)

 GROUB B:  Fabulous Furballs



"You know, I bet that cat has no friends now." (10:29)
"Krista, that cat is freaking me right out. Even the dog is freaked out by the cat" (10:38)
"And this is your franchisee over here?" (11:10)
"We have an average profit margin of 330-450%" (11:41)
"Krista, did you do something funky to the chihuahua (11:47)
"We know we need to beef up our infrastructure to be able to support more franchises (12:10)
"Have you come across anyone in Canada that you're impressed with as a competitor?" (12:17)
"Boy, did you ever dodge a bullet." (12:39)
"I actually cashed out my 401K to start the company, about a month before my company went under." so I really lucked out." (12:45)

    

 Go check out Dougie Dog on Granville Street! http://dougiedog.com/

 and Fabulous Furballs: http://www.fabulousfurballs.com/about_us.html

INT D: Grammar Test Mistakes

Here is a list of common mistakes made by students on this week's grammar test.
Please review the following grammar points related to your mistakes in your own time


How to review:
-Take a worksheet with this specific grammar point from the Learning Centre
-Borrow a grammar textbook from the Learning Centre and look up this grammar point
-Use websites under "Web Resources" to use Internet resources to practice
-Follow the links provided below to review


-Superlatives
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-superlative.htm

-ED/ING Adjectives
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/adjectives-ending-ed-and-%E2%80%93ing
-Past Continuous vs. Simple past
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html
-Passive Sentences
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/passivesum.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive
-Future: will vs. going to  vs present continuous 
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/p/g_futures.htm
-Relative Clauses
 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses
-Infinitive of Purpose
http://www.grammaring.com/the-infinitive-of-purpose
-Question Formation
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/questiontext.htm

-Verb Tense: Present Perfect 
 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/present-perfect-simple
-1st Conditional
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/conditionsum.html
-2nd Conditional
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/2cond.htm-Adverbs of Frequency 
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adverbs-frequency.htm
-Countable/Non-countable Nouns
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable.htm 
-Quantifiers with Countable/Non-countable Nouns
http://www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_grammar/quantifier.htm
-Connectors
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/connectsum.html
http://www.virtualsalt.com/transits.htm 
-Gerunds/Infinitives as Direct Objects
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-language/gerunds
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund
http://www.lkcss.edu.hk/study/english/gerunds_inf.htm
-Modals
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/modalsum.html

-Prepositions
 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/prepositions

$$$

http://www.theindychannel.com/education/31112694/detail.html

Bus. Eng: Loan Sharks

http://www.englishdaily626.com/biz-idioms.php?009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085448/Loan-shark-firm-Wonga-targets-students-4-000-offered.html

ABC's 'Shark Tank'

INT C/D: Reported Speech

More on Reported Speech:



http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/reported-speech.html
http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/reported-speech

21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

"People aren't always awful. Sometimes, they're maybe even just a little bit wonderful. Here are 21 pictures to remind you of that fact."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity

Indian Summer Festival 2012!

 

http://indiansummerfestival.ca/

Bus. Eng: Answers- Sharks and Angels

p.62

4)
1. What kind of reception can you expect at a bank
-A polite and fair hearing

2. What is more important than enthusiasm?
-Evidence that you've thought seriously about your proposal

3. What should you take to your loan interview?
-Realistic budgets, a cash flow forecast, details of projected income/expenditure, supply evidence of firm orders or contracts

4. What can you expect to happen during the loan interview?
-To be asked tough and searching questions 

5. What should the bank manager's questions show?
-That your ideas make business sense

5)
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. F

p. 63

1) 1. If the business fails/ If you were in the bank manager's position
    2. If + simple present (1st Conditional) If + simple past (2nd Conditional)
    3. Sentence A (will)
    4. Sentence B (would)


2)  1. were/ would make
     2. will lose/ invest
    3. would be/ knew
    4. are/ will never place
    5. meet/ have to
    6. would do/ managed
    7. are able/ will you give
    8. get/ will pay

INT C/D: Answers- 35 Reported Questions

A. 1. if/whether... .
2. why...?
3. how many... .
4. if/whether... .
5. if/whether... .
6. What... ?
7. when... .
8. why... .
9. where... .
10. if/whether... .
11. Where... ?

B. 1. Does Jim often play football?
I wondered if Jim often played football.

2. What have the children eaten?
She wanted to know what the children had eaten.

3. Where is Mark going?
I asked where Mark was going.

4. When is the next bus?
We wanted to know when the next bus was.

5. Has Ann seen this film?
Tom asked if/whether Ann had seen this film.

6. How many students will come on the trip?
Sara wondered how many students would come on the trip.

C. 1. if/whether he had worked since then
     2. if/whether his sister gave him money
     3. who else gave him money
     4. if/whether he knew Steven Ellis
     5. how long he had known him
     6. if/whether he had seen Steven recently

INT D: Get Exercises- Answers

ANSWERS: We've got to get going

p.36 C
1. get out of it
2. get over it

p.37
1. get off work
2. get through the week
3. get out of going
    get over their shyness
4. get out of an invitation
    get away with it
5. get through your email
    get around to answering
6. get around to it

p.28A
2. get around to
3. get out of
4. get over
5. get it
6. get used to
7. get off
8. get the feeling
9. get to know
   get home
   get through
10. get going

p.28B
1. get away with
    get it
    get off

2. get off
    get out of
   get the feeling
   get around to

p.29
1.get through a day
2. get out of it
    get off work
    get away with it
 3. get around to paying
    get away with paying 
    get used to eating

INT C/D: "The One with the Dirty Girl"

Today we will watch a short clip from the popular sitcom Friends to introduce the grammar topic we'll be studying this week.

1) VOCABULARY
Follow the links below to look up some vocabulary you will come across in the clip

"Mitzi is.. my hamster"
"I mean, who cares about a little sloppiness."
"It's endearing really."
"I must have freaked out."
"Department of Sanitation?"

 
Cheryl "Dirty Girl"  + Ross                                    Joey + Ross

2) Click on this link to watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHSZQUpDYfk

3) While you watch, you need to write down six different sentences. The sentences must be said from one person to another (Either Cheryl-Ross/Ross-Cheryl  OR Joey-Ross/Ross-Joey) and be written down exactly as they are said (DIRECT QUOTATION). 

-Use quotation marks "  "  to mark the quoted speech
-The 6 sentences must be one of the following categories:

1. Question
2. Imperative (Command) 
3. Simple Present
4. Simple Past
5. Present Perfect
6. Future (will or be going to)

For example:

1. Question-  Cheryl to Ross: "Would you like to come in?"

REPORTED:  Cheryl asked Ross if he would like to come in. 

2. Imperative- Cheryl to Ross: "Take a seat."

REPORTED: Cheryl told Ross to take a seat

INT D: Expressions With GET

to get off work = to finish work for the day
"I get off work at 5pm every day."
 
to get home = to arrive at home
"When you get home, call me."


to get around to doing s.t. = to finally do s.t. after planning to do it for a long time
"I put off cleaning my room for 3 months and I finally got around to it."  

to get going =  said when you want to leave a place or start s.t.
"Let's get going!"

to get the feeling= to have a specific feeling
"I get the feeling that he doesn't like me."

to get through s.t.= to finish s.t. (most often s.t. difficult)
"I just need to get through this homework, then we can go out." 

to get s.t.= to understand s.t.
"I don't get this question."

to get to know s.o. - the process of becomign friends with s.o., finding out more about them
"He might seem shy at first. But once you get to know him, he is very open and friendly."

to get used to s.t.= to become comfortable with s.t. because you've been doing it for a while
"After living in Vancouver for 3 months, I've gotten used to the rain and speaking English every day."

to get away with s.t. = to do s.t. bad/inappropriate and not receive the punishment for it
"The students got away with cheating on the test."

to get out of doing s.t.= to avoid doing s.t. that you are responsible for
"I told my mom I had so much homework, so I got out of doing my chores."

to get over s.t. = to overcome/ recover from s.t.
"I really want to get over my fear of heights."
"I caught a cold two weeks ago and I just got over it."

to get ready for s.t. = to prepare to do s.t.
"Before I go out,  it usually takes me an hour to get ready."

Other Phrasal Verbs with GET:
http://jetlag-english.blogspot.ca/2012/05/phrasal-verb-get-2.html
http://jetlag-english.blogspot.ca/2012/05/phrasal-verb-get.html

Phrasal Verb: MAKE

to make out with s.o. -to kiss passionately (lasting a period of time)
"In my country, making out in public is rude."
"Sara made out with John at the party."

to make s.t. out to s.o - to write a cheque to s.o.
"Please make the cheque out to John Smith." 

to make s.t. up- to pretend s.t is true in order to trick/deceive s.o.
"He made up so many excuses."
"He had to make up a lie to tell his mom."
"I don't believe it. You're making this story up!"

to make up with s.o.- to reconcile with s.o./ to become friendly again after an argument/fight
"Have you made up with your girlfriend yet?"
"Sara and Jake had a huge fight and didn't speak to each other for 3 weeks. They finally made up yesterday."

to make up for s.t. 
to make it up to s.o. -to do something to show that you are sorry for doing something wrong
"Jane, I'm so sorry I forgot our anniversary, I will make it up to you. I promise."
"I'm sorry for being late. I'll make up for it by buying you coffee."

to make s.t. up: to work at a time when you don't normally work because you have not done as much work as you shove have (to compensate for lost time/work)
"I missed the exam, but I will make it up next week."
"Can I make up the work next week?"

Expression with MAKE:


to make it/ to be able to make it- to be able to go to a meeting or event that has been arranged
"Sorry, I won't be able to make it to your party."
"We're having dinner next week, can you make it?"

to make the most of s.t. - to take advantage of a situation as much as possible
"If it's sunny in Vancouver, you have to make the most of it."
"When you are living in a foreign country, you need to make the most of your time."

Bus. Eng: Reading- "Communication- it's much easier said than done" Vocabulary

VOCABULARY 

5 hardest nut to crack- a difficult problem to solve
6 comes up- arise (if a problem or difficulty comes up, it appears or starts to affect you)
8 repercussions- consequence (the effects of an action or event, especially bad effects that continue for some time)
19 paperwork-work such as writing letters or reports, which must be done but is not very interesting
21 logistical- the practical arrangements that are needed in order to make a plan that involves a lot of people and equipment successful 
38 duplicating- to repeat something in exactly the same way
47 to screen calls- to see who is calling before accepting a phone call (to only talk to who you want)
60 allocating- to use something for a particular purpose
67 bombarding- to do something too often or too much, for example criticizing or questioning someone, or giving too much information 
70/71 leaving it up to individuals to sort it out-  to let someone else decide something or be responsible to organize/deal with the problem
76 information overload- when someone gets too much information at one time, for example on the Internet, and becomes tired and unable to think very carefully about any of it
84 error of judgement- making a wrong decision
86 group dynamics-the way in which people in a group behave towards each other when they are working together or doing an activity together
91 loyalities-  the quality of remaining faithful to your friends, principles, country etc
103 highly identified with- very loyal to
108 cost-cutting- when a company tries to reduce its costs