ESL Guide to American Business English

by
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 1998-10-01
Publisher(s): Barrons Educational Services
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Summary

Focused especially to fit the needs of ESL students, this handbook for communicating in business situations describes a wide variety of business writings, and recommends appropriate styles and formats for each. Samples and instruction cover sales and public relations letters, reports and proposals, resumes, job applications, and much more. A section on usage reviews basics of English grammar, emphasizing sentence construction and verb forms. Students of English as a second language who plan to do business in North America can become confused by jargon and formalisms that sometimes invade business correspondence. Author Andrea Geffner's advice to them is to relax and stop worrying about sounding "business-like" or "official." Correct but relaxed English is always preferable. This book will meet the needs of all ESL students--especially those in business schools--but can also serve as a general quick reference guide in any business office.

Table of Contents

Table of Model Letters
vii
PART ONE: COMMUNICATIONS 3(150)
1. AMERICAN BUSINESS STYLE
3(10)
Tone
3(1)
Outlook
4(2)
The "You Approach"
6(1)
Organization
7(2)
Electronic Mail
9(1)
Gender Neutral Language
9(1)
Summary
10(1)
Practice Correspondence
10(3)
2. LETTER FORMAT
13(12)
Parts of a Business Letter
13(1)
Arrangement Styles
14(2)
Punctuation Styles
16(7)
Postscripts
23(1)
Special Paragraphing
23(1)
The Envelope
23(1)
Summary
24(1)
Practice Correspondence
24(1)
3. REQUEST LETTERS
25(8)
Inquiries
25(3)
Orders
28(1)
Summary
29(1)
Practice Correspondence
30(3)
4. REPLIES
33(18)
Acknowledgments
34(1)
Follow-Ups
35(1)
Confirmations
36(1)
Remittances
37(1)
Order Acknowledgments
37(6)
Stopgap Letters
43(1)
Inquiry Replies
43(3)
Referrals
46(1)
Refusals
46(2)
Summary
48(1)
Practice Correspondence
48(3)
5. SOCIAL BUSINESS LETTERS
51(10)
Letters of Congratulations
51(2)
Letters of Condolence
53(1)
Letters of Appreciation
54(2)
Invitations
56(2)
Announcements
58(1)
Summary
59(1)
Practice Correspondence
59(2)
6. SALES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LETTERS
61(10)
Sales Letters
61(6)
Public Relations Letters
67(3)
Summary
70(1)
Practice Correspondence
70(1)
7. NEWS RELEASES
71(6)
Summary
75(1)
Practice Correspondence
75(2)
8. COMPLAINTS, CLAIMS, AND ADJUSTMENTS
77(12)
Complaints
77(1)
Claims
77(5)
Adjustments
82(4)
Summary
86(1)
Practice Correspondence
86(3)
9. CREDIT AND COLLECTION LETTERS
89(12)
Credit Letters
89(7)
Collection Letters
96(3)
Summary
99(1)
Practice Correspondence
100(1)
10. IN-HOUSE CORRESPONDENCE
101(8)
The Interoffice Memorandum
101(3)
Minutes
104(3)
Summary
107(1)
Practice Correspondence
107(2)
11. BUSINESS REPORTS AND PROPOSALS
109(20)
Reports
109(13)
Proposals
122(4)
Summary
126(1)
Practice Correspondence
126(3)
12. EMPLOYMENT CORRESPONDENCE
129(24)
The Resume
130(6)
Letters of Application
136(5)
Follow-Up Letters
141(1)
Letters of Reference and Recommendation
142(2)
Declining a Job Offer
144(1)
Rejecting a Job Applicant
145(1)
Letters of Resignation
146(1)
Letters of Introduction
147(1)
Summary
148(1)
Practice Correspondence
149(4)
PART TWO: USAGE 153(126)
13. THE BASIC SENTENCE
153(16)
Recognizing Verbs
153(1)
Recognizing Subjects
154(2)
Principal Parts of the Verb
156(3)
Adjectives
159(3)
Adverbs
162(3)
Direct Objects
165(1)
Predicate Nominatives and Adjectives
166(1)
Review Exercises
167(2)
14. BUILDING SENTENCES
169(8)
Basics Sentence Patterns
169(1)
More Complicated Sentences
170(1)
Still More Complicated Sentences
171(3)
Words of Transition
174(1)
Review Exercises
175(2)
15. ADVANCED SENTENCE STRUCTURE
177(20)
Parallelism
177(6)
Misplaced Modifiers
183(3)
Dangling Modifiers
186(3)
Indirect Discourse
189(4)
Review Exercises
193(4)
16. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
197(22)
The Noun S
197(1)
The Possessive S
198(2)
The Verb S
200(15)
Review Exercises
215(4)
17. VERB FORMS
219(28)
Tense Formation
219(3)
Irregular Verbs
222(8)
The Future Tense
230(3)
Tense Use
233(5)
Passive Voice
238(4)
Review Exercises
242(5)
18. MECHANICS
247(32)
Punctuation
247(17)
Capitalization
264(4)
Abbreviations
268(4)
Numbers
272(2)
Review Exercises
274(5)
PART THREE: IMPORTANT DETAILS 279(20)
19. CULTURE AND CUSTOMS
279(10)
General Values
279(2)
Customs
281(5)
Taboos
286(3)
20. ADDRESSING DIGNITARIES
289(10)
Clergy
289(3)
Military
292(1)
Government/Politics
293(3)
Nobility
296(3)
APPENDICES 299(34)
I STATE ABBREVIATIONS 299(2)
II A GLOSSARY OF BUSINESS TERMS 301(4)
III ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN PART TWO: USAGE 305(28)
INDEX 333

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