Tuesday 3 June 2014

business english: how to improve your pronunciation by watching youtube videos

We can read lots of e-mails and company brochures, look through the trade press and pick up good vocabulary from colleagues' reports.

But that's not enough to get your pronunciation right - as we know that how to write something in English is not the same as how to say something in English.

There are techniques already explored to improve your spoken English:
Jay Doubleyou: speaking fluently
Jay Doubleyou: learn english from movies
Jay Doubleyou: how to learn english from watching tv

Especially for business - and giving presentations:
Jay Doubleyou: sound scripting

One good thing is to listen and read at the same time, because you can see the word on the screen at the same time as hearing it - spelling plus pronunciation.

You can do this by watching films/the TV with the subtitles on:
ijellh.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/The-Effect-of-Movie-Subtitles-on-EFL-LearnersOral-Performance.pdf
How to Use DVDs to Improve Your English
Learning English through a TV series | chiasuanchong

You can go to the BBC's Learning English website and do the listening exercises - then check things by listening with the audio script:
Learning English - Home
Learning English - Words in the News
Learning English - 6 Minute English

Again, especially for business - some very good listening and reading:
Learning English - English At Work
BBC Learning English | Ten Days

But with all of these resources you need to LISTEN AND REPEAT:
> either stop the recording and repeat what you just heard;
> or try shadowing - that is, don't stop the recording but speak at the same time:
English Speaking Practice: How to improve your English Speaking and Fluency: SHADOWING - YouTube
English Shadowing Training - Sarah Jenkins's Diary 1 - YouTube

Try using videos from YouTube in the area of business you need to work on.
Although you don't have a script to use, you should know enough about your business to listen, stop and repeat.
For example:
Bottled Gas & Equipment - Boss Gas - YouTube
Boehlke Bottled Gas - YouTube
THERMONA - trade fair AQUATHERM 2014 - YouTube
Bottled Gas Prices Rise - YouTube
Popular Industrial gas videos - YouTube

But you can find videos with subtitles too:
Big Energy Saving Week 2014 (subtitles) - YouTube

Lastly, what about all those sales training videos - again, with subtitles?
Aberdeen Group: state of the market for service organizations (English subtitles) - YouTube

Or even some specific business vocabulary videos?
VV 36 - English Vocabulary for Sales Management 2 - YouTube
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1 comment:

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