One of the things I have noticed about my clients since most of them started working from a home office at the outbreak of Covid, is that they are more relaxed. In many cases they appear to be under less time pressure than when they were permanently in the office.  Of course, commuting time is zilch and starting and finishing times can be more flexible depending on their job.

Have you considered that it is an excellent time to think about improving your language skills?  Perhaps your company does not offer you business English training, but who knows whether your department might go more international next month or next year.  If you want to apply for that plum job that definitely needs business English – it’s no good leaving it until it happens, because you can’t learn a language overnight.

We offer a once a week online After Work Group from 6 pm for 90 minutes on Zoom, so you don’t have to leave your home or your desk to take part.  The group is small – 4 to 6 people – and we cover all aspects of business English from grammar to writing skills, telephoning and small talk, reading business articles with discussion and, most importantly, there is plenty of time to chat in English.  In normal times, we also go to the English Theatre three or four times a year.

Because you are accompanied by people from different companies, you take part in varied discussions and learn about other jobs and businesses.

Perhaps your company will pay for the After Work Group, but if you pay yourself, the cost of the training can be claimed against your tax.

The cost is very reasonable and you pay for 20 sessions each time.

Interested?  Give us a call or email and we can discuss your needs.  You can find more details on my website under “After Work Group”.

Pat Pledger, 22 April 2021

At the request of several of my clients to try a new English teashop in Hamburg Altona to see how authentic it was, I recently went along one afternoon and had a “cream tea”.  The experience reminded me once again of how many differences there are between the UK and Germany in the tea culture.

I would say that “teatime” in the UK is far less popular (and a little outdated) than the ritual “coffee and cake” in Germany.  Life has changed and with most people working and the surge of the coffee culture, people might pop in for a quick coffee, but having tea doesn’t fit with modern day working life.  That is to say, people just “have a cup of tea” – a tea bag in a mug of hot water and a dash of milk.  My small collection of teapots gather dust in my cupboard and my “tea cosy” is lost in a drawer somewhere!  Generally people have their main meal at lunchtime if they don’t work, or in the evening when they return from work, so teatime doesn’t really fit in anywhere.

If you travel to Devon and Cornwall in the Southwest of England, you will find many cafés or teashops offering Cornish or Devonshire “Cream Teas”.  This has become part of the tourist business, but as the scones are usually homemade and the clotted cream is local, it is really delicious.  A Cornish or Devonshire Cream Tea consists of a pot of tea, scones with (strawberry) jam and clotted cream.  The scone is cut in half and the clotted cream is spread over the scone, followed by a “dollop” of strawberry jam.

The largest clotted cream producer in the UK is based in Cornwall.  The cream has a long history – originally made to reduce the amount of waste from the milk produced by farmers in the Southwest of England – and is similar to a middle eastern delicacy called Kaymak or a Mongolian cream called Urum.  When Brits go on holiday to Devon or Cornwall they often send small tins of clotted cream by post to friends or relatives as a gift.

Contrary to what many Germans think, tea bags do not affect the quality of the tea and more or less everyone in the UK uses “tea bags”.  Loose tea is rarely used.  All the best tea producers sell their tea in “tea bags” which is also much more user friendly.  Most Brits bring their tea back with them from the UK as German brands just do not taste the same.  The most popular UK brands of black tea are PG Tips, Tetley, Typhoo, Twinings and Yorkshire Tea.  We never “cook” tea!  Tea kept for a long time tastes horrible.  Germans put their teapot on top of a candle to keep it hot.  We make a completely fresh pot if we want to drink more after half an hour or so!  Brits mostly have fresh milk with their tea, putting the milk in first, followed by the tea.

Other popular cakes that are traditionally found in English teashops, apart from scones, include Victoria Sandwich, Battenburg cake, (toasted) teacake, carrot cake, fruit cake.  Shortbread might be included as might “crumpets” – delicious toasted and spread with butter.

So getting back to the English teashop in Hamburg, the scones and clotted cream were delicious, probably the best I have tasted in Germany so far and the Earl Grey tea was good.  Everything was tastefully served with a pot of tea per person.  I would definitely go back again – so I can say it was pretty authentic.  And, by the way, if you come to my office for business English training, you are offered English tea (“a cuppa”) and biscuits.

Vocabulary:

teatime              drinking tea in the afternoon

tea cosy              a cover for the teapot to keep the tea warm

cream teas        clotted cream, scones and strawberry jam

a dollop              a small amount of something casually

tea bags              small bags containing enough tea for one

tastefully            in a way that shows style and quality

cuppa                 informal word for a cup of tea

Pat M Pledger

Pledger Business English Training

21 July 2020

If anyone had told me on 15 March we would still be “locked down” in our daily life, albeit some of the restrictions have now been lifted, I would not have believed them.  But here we are on 6 May and what has been the biggest work change?

Well, everyone is communicating online, virtually, digitally or electronically, however you care to name it.  People were touting names like Zoom, Webex, GoToMeeting, Skype for business, Facetime, and even Zoho meeting and  BlueJeans, to name a few.   The problem for all was, what to use.   Zoom has had some publicity about security issues.  Some you have to pay for.  I did some research to see what I should go for and decided Zoom had a lot of flexibility, and so I took part in some live webinars, which were very professionally presented.  I also did several courses specifically for language trainers and decided to pay the basic rate for Zoom registration so I can train groups.  Most of my 1-1 sessions are being done on Facetime – either on the iPad, computer or the iPhone.  I must say that this is the clearest in terms of sound and vision and you just dial into the person you are training, with no prebooking  or registration, but it’s restricted to Apple users.   One of my big clients is not allowed to use Zoom, so they pay for GoToMeeting and dial in to me and that works well too.

People at home or at work are having scheduled meetings, client discussions, team meetings, training sessions, teaching kids – as well as pub meetings, virtual parties and fitness and yoga sessions – all online.  Who would have thought?  I find it quite exciting that such a change can occur worldwide in such a short time and will, I believe continue once we are back to normal, whatever normal will be!

Do you have to go to that meeting in FFM or London?  Couldn’t it be done online?

What started for me as no work at the onset of the Coronavirus, banned from going into my clients’ offices, has gradually developed and I have managed to convince some of my valued clients that online training is a good idea and that some of their people now working at home might have more time to do business English training online, than face to face in the office.  As a result, last week saw me doing a reasonable number of 90 minute online sessions with my clients, all of whom seem to be enjoying the experience.  One company boss who was not enthusiastic dropped me a line after the second session and said how much he had enjoyed the Zoom training.  Several clients have actually referred some of their staff to me, as working at the home office does allow them more flexibility and I have actually picked up a couple of new clients – people who work remotely in other parts of Germany and who had not been able to access business English classes in their local area.

So, what can we learn from all this ?  Online training works and it is enjoyable.  The online platforms have been working hard to get people on board, offering all sorts of training and webinars.  There is lots of room for improvement and lots of opportunity for us to learn more.  It is quite tiring for the trainer or leader as you have to focus all your attention on the screen and on the people in it, to keep the meeting running smoothly and not have everyone speaking at once.  There is an online culture to be learnt.  Variety is the spice of life, they say, so this is something new for us to get our teeth into and Pledger Business English Training can certainly supply you with quality training online during the day, evenings or weekends.  A trial session is available, if you’d like to give it a go.

Glossary of highlighted words from the article:

 albeit – though or although (pronounced – “all be it” like 3 words)

touting names –  to talk about something repeatedly

to go for something – to choose

drop somebody a line – to write to somebody

to work remotely – working outside the company’s offices

variety is the spice of life – new/exciting experiences make life more interesting

to get your teeth into something – to put a lot of time and energy into an                                                                        interesting project

to give it a go  – to try something out

Pat Pledger

Pledger Business English Training

8 May 2020

Dear Ms Client

I often hear my clients say “well, my email writing is OK, because I have more time to think about the right words, (than when on the phone or speaking), or emails are OK because I can put the mail into a translation software programme.   Much better to learn how to write good emails, I think.

The first comment means that they take a lot of work time putting an email together and the second means that they often end up with totally unsatisfactory wording and they have nobody to proofread it.  Translation software is much much better than it was, but it still makes mistakes or gets the wrong end of the stick when words have more than one meaning, which is quite often!

When I teach business writing to my clients, I have various ways of repeating common phrases used in emails (or letters) on the basis that if you know some of these, then the opening and closing of a mail is easy.

Opening phrases such as:

1. a) Thank you for your letter of 20 April about ……
2. b) Further to our meeting last week, we are writing to ……

and endings such as:

1. c) We look forward to hearing from you (not “to hear” from you!).
2. d) We await your early reply.

 can be learnt.

I often feel I am teaching people how to write correspondence generally.  People these days don’t seem to know what a paragraph is and their mails are full of separate sentences with a double space in between?  Paragraphs are usually made up of 2/3 sentences about the same subject.  Or at least they were when I was at school!  Similarly, these short sentences “have no flow” – they are not joined together, so joining words need to be learnt.  Take the following:

“I write to arrange a meeting on 20 May.  Please let me know if this is OK”

 instead of:

“I am writing to arrange a meeting on Thursday 20 May and would appreciate it if you could let us know if this suits you.”

Commas are a problem between our two languages as the German comma and the English comma beg to differ on many occasions.  So teaching punctuation is important and is another important aspect I include in writing practice.

There used to be proper opening salutations and closures, but now it seems “Hi”, “Good Morning” and “Cheers” or “Bye” are acceptable.  What happened to “Dear Mr Smith” or “Dear John” and “Best wishes” or “Yours sincerely”  ?

Some of my clients tell me they have arranged training in German writing skills as they are so concerned about the standard.  Pledger Business English Training can certainly solve your writing problems in the English language!

Kind regards.

Pat Pledger

Pledger Business English Training

23 April 2020

On-line Business English Training v Coronavirus

A message to all my clients and potential clients!

 As the world closes down and we are all stopped from working in our companies or on our client premises, so the necessity of training virtually has been pushed forward as the only means of continuing normal life, be it for training, buying groceries at the supermarket, communicating with one’s department in the office, or doing online yoga classes!

I took part in an online webinair this week at 23 00 where – wait for it – 1500 people were taking part!  It was being streamed from Sydney, Australia to people all over the world.  Isn’t this wonderful.  Everybody you speak to is online in one way or the other.  How would we have coped with this situation if we hadn’t had modern technology, the internet and all these online facilities?

I have been stopped from entering my companies here in Germany since 15 March and so I set to (meaning started with determination) last week doing some on-line training myself to enable me to train my clients in the same way as normal, but on FaceTime with their iPhone, their iPad or their computer, on Skype or on Zoom.  There are many other platforms that offer such facilities and everytime I speak to someone, they are using a different programme.

One can schedule 1-1 lessons or group meetings/training and so far my clients have enjoyed this “new method”.  At this time, when we are restricted from meeting people, it’s also good to  see people on the screen too, rather than just listen to a voice.

Opera singers, actors and others have been preparing on-line videos to keep people entertained and offer support.  People have been sharing hobbies, cooking recipes, book recommendations and many other things and new or previously unused words have come into the English language – caremongering*, cough etiquette, coronoia**, elbow bump and social distancing, to mention a few and are spread worldwide by the internet and on-line news.

To those clients who are still working with me, I am giving my usual 90 minute sessions and I am sending handouts in advance by email or What’s App.  If a client working from home doesn’t have a printer to print-off handouts, then we can improvise and anyway, with some programmes you can attach documents so they can be displayed on the screen when one is training.  It seems there is no limit to what one can do on-line and I still have a lot to learn.  I am now registered for some more advanced training sessions!

My hope now is that more of my clients will take me up on the offer of on-line training – some working from home may well have more flexibility than when working in the office and some will have less pressure working from home.  It’s also important mentally for people to focus on other subjects besides work and Coronavirus.  We all have to pull together during this time to keep our businesses running and to enable us to get back to normality when the danger is over.

So, if you or your company would still like you to improve your business English at this time, then offer on-line training I can, and I would be delighted to hear from you. 

Oh, and before I finish, in the interests of  good social contact,  please don’t forget to pick up the good old telephone and call some people who live alone, are elderly or sick to cheer them up during this time.

From Pledger Business English Training to all of you, take care, stay healthy and we wish you all the best at this difficult time.

*caremongering – meaning:  a movement encouraging acts of kindness, especially to help vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic

 ** coronoia – meaning:  the persistent feeling that you have contracted the Coronavirus

Pat Pledger 27 March 2020

Being able “to chat” in English is an important part of the learning process, particularly in business English.  It starts with introductions when you meet people and extends to being able to talk about other things apart from business.

First impressions are very important, so a good introduction is where is starts – a greeting, your name (and company if a business event), followed by one of the key introduction phrases.

“We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility”

                                                                                                   Malcolm Gladwell

Check that you know the difference between “How do you do?” and “How are you?” and what is the correct response?

Well, “How do you do”, “Nice to meet you” and “Pleased to meet you” are the 3 main introductory phrases and you also respond with one of them, giving your name and company.   “ How are you” is what you say when you meet them again and the response to this is “Fine, (or “Very well”) thanks and you”.

Do you know the difference between “Nice to meet you” and “Nice meeting you”?  And how do you ask somebody about their work?   What’s your profession?”  No, way.  So when people engage me to train them, be they 1-1 executives, managers or small groups within a company, I always start with small talk and chatting for the first couple of lessons as this is “a getting to know you process” and an essential input of vocabulary they need to become more proficient and more relaxed.

But let’s face it – Germans are not generally natural small talkers!  30 years in Germany has shown me this.   Ask a German did they have a nice weekend and they’ll tell you – of course!  Why would I ask to be told “of course”?  A German friend who has lived in the UK for a few years told me recently that the neigh-bours always say

“How are you”, but they don’t really expect an answer.”  Of course they do, said I – what do you say in reply?  “Fine, thank you” she said.  And what else?  “Well, nothing”.

So that’s the problem I told her, it’s an opening for small talk; you need to start chatting!   Invite a German to do something with you and they’ll tell you “I have no time”, instead of saying “I’m sorry I can’t because …….. .    Lots of my clients have told me they don’t like small talk.  However, sometimes it’s a language problem and that’s why I try to make sure my clients know the phrases and feel more relaxed in this area.

While we are about it, there’s also the directness of the German language versus the English indirectness to overcome!  We usually translate word for word from our native tongue, unless taught otherwise.  So, it’s not “What’s your name?” but “Could I have your name please?” and it’s not “Please sit down”, but ”Would you like to take a seat?” – an offer rather than an order.   Germans think that the British politeness is sometimes a waste of time and they should get to the point, but cultural differences evolve around this and that’s a whole other subject.

Plus the fact that if you want to do business, then this is such an important part of doing it!

If you take part in my training we learn all about introductions and small talk and we practice it regularly and actually it’s a lot of fun!

Pat Pledger 24/3/20

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, preceding Ash Wednesday (which is the first day of Lent) and is celebrated by eating pancakes in the UK and some other countries.  It is also known as Mardi Gras in some countries, a carnival day and the last day of eating well before fasting for Lent.

Where does the name “Shrove” come from – well it comes from the word “shrive”.  “Shrive” in the MacmIllan dictionary is given the following definition:

“when a priest shrives someone, they listen to the person’s confession about what they have done wrong and offer forgiveness”

So actually it means “to absolve” somebody of something.  This date is observed by lots of Christians including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Roman Catholics.

Many of us know people who fast for Lent, either for religious or dietary reasons and abstain from alcohol or certain rich foods during the period of Lent. Originally Pancake Day was a way of using up rich food such as eggs, milk and sugar before the 40 days of (fasting) Lent.  For those of us who are not religious or willing to give up food and drink, Shrove Tuesday is just a day for cooking and eating pancakes and putting on a few extra calories.

A traditional English pancake is very different from an American pancake.  It is a very thin flat cake made from a batter, fried gently in a frying pan and served with lemon juice or golden syrup and castor sugar.  Other toppings have crept in over the years and everyone has their favourite.  Pancakes go back to around the 1400s when the tradition of tossing them in the pan became popular.   Many different pancake races take place in the UK on Shrove Tuesday, where people wear fancy dress race up the street tossing pancakes as they run and the first to the finishing line wins!

At Westminster School in London an annual “Pancake Grease” takes place. An official of Westminster Abbey leads a group of boys into the playground, where the school cook is tossing a very large pancake over a five metre high bar.  The boys race to grab a piece of the pancake and the one with the largest piece receives a prize from the school Dean. 

I prefer to cook and eat my pancakes without running around the street carrying a frying pan!   So here’s a traditional English pancake recipe for you to try:

• 100 g plain flour
• good pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 250 ml milk (or a mix of half milk and half water)
• lemon/castor sugar/golden syrup for serving

Mix the flour and salt.  Make a hole in the flour mix and drop in the egg and a little milk.  Mix in the flour stirring to keep the mixture smooth.  Gradually add half the milk.  Beat the mixture well and then stir in the remaining milk, mixing to a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into a jug.  Heat a little fat or oil in a small frying pan (15-18 cms in diameter).  Pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan and quickly tilt to spread the liquid thinly over the bottom.  Cook for several minutes until lightly brown and then toss to turn it over and cook until lightly brown on the other side.  Serve rolled up with lemon juice and castor sugar.

Delicious!

Pat Pledger

24 February 2020

If you want to update or revise your business English, then one way you can do this – without investing too much time – is by attending a weekend business English workshop– a short intensive delve into some of the most important aspects you need in business.

Instead of taking up your whole weekend, they can start on Friday mid-afternoon and all day Saturday.  But most important, they are out of normal working hours and you can relax without worrying about work.  Some companies are good enough to offer to pay for one or two staff to take part, but if they are economically priced, then you could also consider paying yourself.

You should try to speak to the trainer before the workshop to make sure they know what level of English you have and also to ask if they can include anything that you would particularly like to cover.   It is also possible to find workshops that cover specific topics, like telephoning, the language of business meetings, presentation skills or for specific subjects, such as English for human resources, insurance, finance.

Workshops during the weekend used to be popular some years ago, but these days less people seem prepared to give up part of their weekend.  Short-sighted, maybe, since these intensive short training sessions are an excellent way to brush-up your English skills for work or private.   Improving your English skills might get you that promotion you have been waiting for, or a new job where English is essential.  It’s no good waiting until it happens as you can’t learn a language quickly.

Pledger Business English training can offer such workshops which run from 4 – 8 pm on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.  The workshops are small (max 6 people) and take place in my cosy office close to Othmarschen station. Train and bus are both nearby and parking is easy.

What exactly do you do during a business English weekend?  Well, some time is spent on perfecting small talk, introductions and general communication – questions, enquiries, cultural issues.  Since everybody has to use the telephone, telephoning expressions and roleplays are practised as is the art of writing a good email.  Vocabulary is very high on the list of all my training, so this features throughout the workshops in many different shapes and forms.  Grammar is covered and explained as and when necessary.

I price my workshops at a reasonable price, so that individuals can afford to pay themselves.  There are two levels for the general workshops: lower intermediate at A1 – B1 and intermediate level at B2+.  There are two weekend workshops coming up:

Fri 31 January to Sat 1 February – A2 – B1

Fri 14 February to Sat 15 February – B2+

or you can ask me about other dates and times which suit you later in the year.

The cost is currently €275, plus MwSt.

Phone or write for more details and registration.

Pat Pledger

Pledger Business English Training

 patpledger.bet@t-online.de

Want to improve your Business English out of office hours at a manageable price?

There are people out there who do not have the opportunity to do business English training paid by their company and so some years ago I decided to offer the possibility at my office in Othmarschen.  We start at 6 pm and each session runs for for 90 minutes. The course of 26 sessions is economically priced and English tea is thrown in at every session.  The group also accompanies my business theatre group to the English Theatre three or four times a year.

The course offers good quality training in a small group of 4 – 6 maximum and we cover all aspects of business English from grammar to writing skills, telephoning, small talk, reading articles with discussion and much more. But most important, there is plenty of opportunity to chat in English.  The current group is approximately intermediate level  (B1 – B2).  You work with people of a similar level from different work backgrounds.

Sometimes  the participants ask their company to pay and they do.

I have had a number of freelance trainers attend my After Work Group – people who suddenly find they are asked to give their course or workshop in English and this is a big challenge.  The cost of the training can be claimed against your tax as training expenses.

For those who don’t know the West of Hamburg, Othmarschen is only two stops from Altona and my office is so close to the station you could almost fall out of the train into my office.  This is therefore convenient for those who don’t live in the immediate vicinity.

If you’re interested in taking part, just give us a call or email so that we can talk about your needs.

Happy English learning in 2020!

Christmas is around the corner, meaning mince pies are back in! Every year for the Christmas season the whole of Britain is eating the small fruit filled pastries. They can be made with shortcrust or puff pastry – a thin layer of dough on the bottom and the top encases the filling, which is called mincemeat.  Mincemeat is usually made of chopped fruit, nuts, spices, and often people like to add a dash of alcohol such as brandy or rum.

I personally prefer homemade mincemeat, because you can add all the spices and alcohol you want and experience and explore until you find the perfect mix. Ingredients are usually mixed with spices such as cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg; these spices symbolize the gifts of the three wise men from the Orient.  Mince pies taste best when they are served warm, with a little sprinkling of icing sugar on top. Cream, custard or brandy butter (a Christmas speciality) also go well with them as a dessert after the delicious Christmas meal, or as an accompaniment to Christmas pudding. However, they also taste delicious with a simple cup of tea or coffee…

Britain has enjoyed mince pies since medieval times where they called it Chewette pastry, which was either baked or fried and stuffed with liver or pieces of meat mixed with boiled eggs and ginger. For variation people then started to fill them with dried fruit and other sweet things, and in the 16^thcentury they developed into a Christmas speciality.  During the 17^thcentury, the meat was increasingly replaced by kidney fat, and since the 19^thcentury the sweet form has largely established itself as a typical mince pie.

Of course, Santa cannot miss out on this delicious tradition, so one or two mince pies are traditionally placed in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve, since mince pies are considered Santa’s favourite dish.

I generally like to make several batches of mince pies to take to my clients to serve with their tea or coffee during the training sessions.

Have a look at this video to find out how to make mince pies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtgEV8xBseE