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depth. (How were these aims decided? Have the aims changed? Where do
these resources come from? Will progress continue to be so good? What
is holding back progress? How will this solution be implemented?) After
receiving the corrected notes and the comments, the students then write a
short report on the project.
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Five-Minute Activities for Business English
12.7 Fact or fiction?
Focus Getting to know you: question formation
Level Elementary Advanced
Procedure
1 Write up on the board three statements about your own professional life:
one true, one half-true, and one false.
2 Students ask you a few questions about each statement. You give short
replies (inventing information where the original was half-true or false).
3 Students work together in pairs or groups to decide which is true, which
is half-true and which is false. Then they check with you.
Follow-up
Students write similar sentences about themselves, read them out, and are
asked questions by the others, as above. The others pick out the fact from the
fiction.
Variation
This also works well with general statements about any aspect of your job,
particularly as a Day One getting to know you exercise.
12.8 I ll never forget
Focus Discussing work experiences
Level Intermediate Advanced
Procedure
1 Write up on the board:
. . . , and I ll never forget that experience.
2 Ask a volunteer to tell the group in a few sentences about something that
happened to them at work, finishing with the words on the board. If there
is time, there can be a question or two.
Follow-up
Invite more volunteers to do the same.
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13 Language work: writing
13.1 Email tips
Focus Discussing how to write an effective email
Level Intermediate Advanced
Procedure
1 Write on the board:
What advice can you give on how to write an effective email?
2 Brainstorm ideas with the class and write them on the board. In Box 57
are some ideas.
Box 57 Tips for writing effective emails
Use a short, clear subject line.
Use short, simple sentences.
Include just one main subject per email the other person can reply and delete it.
Don t use jokes, personal comments, etc, in business emails.
Consider using numbered points instead of continuous text.
End with an action point.
Don t ignore capital letters, spelling and basic grammar when writing to people
outside the company a careless email creates a bad impression.
Tailor your email to the reader: level of formality, buzzwords, etc.
Follow-up
This activity would be a good warmer at the start of a series of lessons on
email writing. Students can then be encouraged to refer back to the list of
tips when they write emails in later lessons, and make any changes necessary
as part of the editing process.
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Five-Minute Activities for Business English
13.2 Follow-up email
Focus Writing emails
Level Elementary Advanced
Procedure
Tell the students to write an email following another classroom activity. Set
an upper limit of 30 words. For example:
following a telephone call, to confirm the details
following a social English role play, to say you enjoyed meeting the other
person and perhaps giving them some useful information
following a Meetings role play, explaining the main points or decisions to
a colleague who wasn t at the meeting
following work on an authentic text. You are emailing a colleague with a
copy of the text as an attachment, so write a one-line summary of its
content and say why you thought they would be interested.
Follow-up
" Students exchange emails and reply.
" Students correct other students emails, working in pairs.
Variation
Tell students to write an email of exactly 30 words.
13.3 Quick email responses
Focus Writing a short email
Level Elementary Advanced
Procedure
1 Write on the board, or dictate, the following email:
Still haven t received the goods. Please contact urgently!
2 Ask the students to write an appropriate response to this. They have just
three minutes.
3 Students read their responses aloud to the class.
Follow-up
" Discuss with the class which response is best, and why.
" Do language feedback on any phrases or expressions the students needed.
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Language work: writing
13.4 Chain letter
Focus Writing a letter or email
Level Intermediate Advanced
Procedure
1 Write up on the board:
I am writing to apply for the job of . . .
Ask the students to write this down on a piece of paper, adding a job.
2 Each student then passes their paper to the person on their left, who adds
one more sentence. They then pass the paper on again.
3 After several passes, ask students to read out the whole text.
Follow-up
" Do language feedback on any of the standard phrases and expressions.
" Build up a collective best version on the board.
Variation
Try the same activity using the opening phrases below, perhaps as revision
after working on the same type of letter in a previous lesson. Many of them
are more likely to be emails than letters.
I am writing to arrange a time for . . .
Before I place a firm order, I would like to know . . .
Just a quick note to say many thanks for . . .
I am writing to complain about . . .
13.5 Writing emails
Focus Writing a short email
Level Elementary Advanced
Preparation Write on the board two or three email topics, relevant to the
background/interests of the group. See Box 58 for ideas. Alternatively,
photocopy and distribute the text in Box 58.
Procedure
Ask the students to choose one of the topics and write a short email. Give
them a word limit of 50 words. As far as possible, they should use ideas from
the emails they have to write in real life.
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Five-Minute Activities for Business English
Box 58 Email topics
An email to a real-life company asking about products or services that you are
interested in
An email to an existing customer providing information about products or
services
An email to a new customer providing information about products or services
An email to a colleague from your department
An email to a colleague from another country
An email to your line manager
An email complaining about products or services
An email replying to a complaint
An email asking for travel or hotel information
An email setting up or cancelling a meeting
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