Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Pearson Brown English Lesson - HR Phrasal Verbs

More Human Resources Phrasal Verbs

‘get on’ = to have a good relationship
  • I don’t like my boss. We just don’t get on.
  • The atmosphere is terrible. He doesn’t get on with his co-workers.
‘follow up’ = to find out more about or take further action on something.
  • Before we offer her the job, we need to follow up on her references.
  • The training is followed up by regular refresher courses over a six-month period.
‘set up’ = to arrange for an activity or event to happen
  • I’d like to discuss it further. Can we set up a meeting?
  • I’ve set up interviews with the remaining three candidates.
‘make up’ = do or pay extra to cover a difference.
  • I’d like to leave early on Friday. I’ll make up the time next week.
  • There was an error in your expenses. We’ll make up the difference next month.
‘hand in’ = to give something
  • He’s leaving at the end of the month. He has handed in his resignation.
  • I haven’t handed my time sheet in yet. I must do it now.
‘work out’ your notice = to continue working through the period after you have resigned.
  • They asked him to leave immediately. He didn’t have to work out his notice.
  • He negotiated a deal so he didn’t have to work out his notice and could leave sooner.
‘sort out’ = to resolve
  • We don’t know who is going to replace Sue. We have to sort it out soon.
  • I have finally sorted out the error on the time sheets. It’s all correct now.
‘carry on’ = to continue
  • We still haven’t found a suitable candidate. We’ll have to carry on looking.
  • Until we get the new software installed, we’ll have to carry on using the old.
‘back out’ = to decide not to do something previously agreed.
  • They had agreed to do it but then backed out.
  • He had accepted the post but backed out at the last minute so we’re considering other
  •  
‘go with’ = to adopt or support an idea or plan.
  • I think your idea is a good one. I think we should go with it.
  • We’re not really sure which agency to go with. We don’t think any of them are really what we are really looking for.
  • candidates.

Exercises

http://www.hrenglish.com/phrasals2/exercise1.html
http://www.hrenglish.com/phrasals2/exercise2.html
http://www.hrenglish.com/phrasals2/exercise3.html 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Pearson Brown English Lesson - 'softening your language 2'.

Softening 2

This is a very simple idea but we find that our students have a lot of problems doing it.
So the explanation is very short but we are giving a lot of practice activities.

If you use a negative adjective, it can sound aggressive and insulting.
You are small.
It’s dirty.
He is stupid.

It is often much better to use not very plus a positive adjective.
You are not very big.
It is not very clean.
He is not very intelligent.

As I said, a simple idea that can make you sound much more professional.

Exercises:

http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening2/exercise1.html
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening2/exercise2.html
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening2/exercise3.html
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening2/exercise4.html
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening2/exercise5.html

Pearson Brown English Lesson - 'softening your language'

Softening 1

Sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give it less importance. Here are some ways to do that:

Little
The quality could have been a little better.
The speaker should have spoken a little louder.

Slight
There is a slight problem we need to deal with.
I have a slight doubt about John’s suitability for the job.

Minor
I have a minor reservation about this plan.
There are a few minor problems still to be dealt with.

Fairly
There are some fairly important changes still to be made.
I think that I have a fairly good understanding of your problems.

Quite
I quite like it but no more than that.
This is quite a good way to do this.

Not quite
He isn’t quite as good as he thinks he is.
I’m not quite sure that we are on the right lines. 

Partially
He has been partially successful with his demands but he didn’t get everything he wanted.
It is partially finished but there is still a lot to do.

Occasional
There are occasional errors in his work.
Everybody makes occasional mistakes.

Rather
He is rather aggressive.
This is rather too complicated. It is difficult to understand.

More or less
The report is more or less finished. I just need to read through it again.
He is more or less useless. Cannot get anything right.

Excercises: 

http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening/exercise1.html
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening/exercise2.html 
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening/exercise3.html 
http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/softening/exercise4.html