Social Media in Business

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Do you like social media?  Do you think it's useful for businesses?  In what ways?  Please read an article about social media and its uses for small businesses and respond to the questions below.  Send your answers to us at sarah@virtualingua.de.  We'll correct them and send them back to you, and we'll give you further learning tips.  Test us for free!

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/apr/05/innovative-use-social-media

1.  What are some ways that social media can be helpful for small businesses?
2.  Name some advantages and disadvantages of social media for businesses. 
3.  Describe what kinds of marketing work on social media.
4.  Do you use social media?  Why or why not? 
5.  Do you look at company websites or social media profiles?  What do you like or dislike about this kind of marketing?

Too stressed for work?

Have you ever missed work due to bullying, stress or anxiety?  Do you know someone affected by these issues?  It seems like we often hear about people stressing out, breaking down and burning out. 

First, practice your phrasal verbs related to work and stress on the BBC Learning English Site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/148_phrasalverbs/page6.shtml

There you can listen to some conversations, read along and take a vocabulary quiz.

Now that you're warmed up, please read this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10143915/One-in-three-absences-at-work-due-to-anxiety-and-stress-official-Government-survey-finds.html

List any new vocabulary that you find, define it and write an example sentence using it.

Then, answer these questions:

1.  Have you ever been too stressed to work?
2.  Would your doctor excuse you from work due to stress, anxiety or bullying?
3.  Do you know anyone who's burned out because of their job or colleagues? What happened?
4.  How would you or do you handle work-related stress or anxiety?
5.  Is there anything you'd change about your job to make it less stressful?  What?

Send us your vocabulary list and answers to sarah@virtualingua.de for corrections, suggestions and further learning tips!

Money!

Do you think that traditional national currencies have a future?  What do you know about alternative currencies?  Can you name a few?  Do you have any local alternative currencies where you live or work?

Read about the Bitcoin and tell us what you think!

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130412-bitcoin-and-the-illusion-of-money/1

Send us your response at sarah@virtualingua.com and we will respond with corrections and further learning tips.

Business Vocabulary

Practice your business English using the BBC's Talking Business course.  This is a free, interactive business English course with audio and exericses online here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/business/talkingbusiness/unit1telephone/1connecting.shtml

Choose which module you're interested in and work through it.  When you finish, please write us an email using the vocabulary that you've learned; maybe you can write about a meeting or phone call that you've had to do or make at work or imagine a meeting, phone call or other business situation and write a transcript for the dialog you imagine, of course using the vocabulary you've learned.  Send it to us at sarah@virtualingua.de and we will send you feedback asap.  Test us today for free!