Category Archives: ESL/Cultural Communications

English as a second language and cultural challenges and differences in communication

Do You Have “A News” or “Some News”?

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I hear this mistake all the time, so I thought I should put it down here.
In English we say “news” not “a news”. It is uncountable.
Eg.
Vanesa:  “I have some (good/bad/strange) news to tell you/share with you/for you!”
Rob:  “Really?  What’s the (good/bad/strange) news?”
Vanesa:  “I’m pregnant!!!”
Rob:  (Faints…)

So please do not say “I have a news” or “a good news” – okay?  Just say “news” or “some news”.
More example sentences:

“Hey, did you see the guy on the news today that won the lottery?  he looks so happy!”
“I heard on the news today (meaning TV or radio) that Toyota is recalling a lot of cars.”
“My co-worker shared with me the secret news that our company is down-sizing again.  I wonder if I’ll survive the chopping block?”  (That means stay working and not get fired)

Confidently Asking for a Raise in Salary

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Asking for a raise can be very uncomfortable, especially if you are a bit shy, new to the company or unsure of your value/worth. Let me give you some hints that have helped me along my career path, and even now during self-employment.

1 – know the industry standards. You have to know what a typical person in that role makes, so that you understand the value of the job. What is the fair market value?

2 – ask for more than you think you deserve. In other words, be confident in your negotiations and valuations.

3 – critically understand why you deserve a raise, or a high starting salary/wage. Think hard about what kind of great worker you are or will be, and convince yourself first that you are worth what you are asking for. Be prepared to verbalize it all, your soft skills and hard skills, with concrete, easy to understand (and remember) examples.

4 – When justifying your newly asked-for raise, do not explain why you need the money. Instead explain from the company’s point of view all the benefits you have brought them, or how you have made life easier/more profitable for them. This is a simple rule of persuasion and negotiation – make it about THEM, not YOU. Also keep in mind the formula E + P = P. Efficiency + Productivity = Profitability. So therefore you must make it clear to the person who is considering hiring you (as an employee or as a consultant/contractor) or who has already hired you (i.e. your manager) how you have made the company money by being efficient and productive. This is a simple formula to remember that you should keep in the back of your head when answering interview questions.

I remember an ex-girlfriend of mine who was so efficient and productive at her company that they threw money at her to keep her, giving her the first raise in less than 3 months. When she had to quit they tried to throw more money at her to stay. When she really had to leave, the company had to hire 3 people to replace her! Talk about making yourself indispensable!

I can also tell you a story about my first office job. I found out the industry standard, and when it came time to answering the question of how much money I wanted, I ‘overshot’ confidently. (I had a good interview though as I was well prepared).
The manager said she couldn’t start me off with that much, but gave me the highest starting salary allowed by the company, which was just a little less than what I had asked for. I was confident in my answer, but did not demand it, plus I backed it up with presumably good interview answers.

A couple months later the company hired a new girl for a similar position who was fully bilingual in French, which I was not. This is well known to be a competitive advantage. Do you know what? They started her off 3 grand a year LESS than me! Why? Because when the question came to her “what kind of salary do you expect?” she answered “well I’m just a new graduate, so whatever you can start me with is fine with me. I’m just happy to be working full-time.” That may not be a direct quote but you get the idea. The company will save money if you let them!

Now, as a self-employed coach & trainer, I ask for what I feel my time is worth, and 99% of the time get it without argument. I know what I’m worth, what my material is worth, what the results of coaching/training is worth to the individual or company, etc. I confidently quote people a price and they accept – but I back it up too!

Anyway enough money-talk for now. The point is you must know your worth, be able to ask for it or more, and be able to justify it both verbally and with your actions.

Now go get your money!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Hello wonderful readers,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

It is funny that this greeting is almost becoming extinct here in Toronto, as some people are concerned with offending others who do not celebrate Christmas. Instead we use phrases like “Happy Holidays” and “Seasons Greetings”. There is nothing wrong with these replacements, of course, but I would like to mention that the spirit behind the words is more important than the actual choice of words strung together. In this regard, the traditional phrase of “Merry Christmas” shouldn’t offend anyone – ideally.

I wish you all the best in 2010. 3V Communications continues to grow, and with that you can expect to see changes in our posts, ebooks, coaching programs, assessments, and workshops. Please stay tuned for notices of such exciting developments!

As always, if you have an idea of a topic you would like me to discuss in my posts, please just send me an email with your request. Please indicate that you want me to share it on the blog so that I know it is not a private request.

I feel like 2010 is going to be a great year. I hope I am right!

My sincerest thanks and appreciation.

Peace be with you and yours,

Coach Ric

English Acronyms and Short Forms for the Office

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Here are a few acronyms that you most likely will come across as you work in a professional setting, like an office.  These will come in handy (be useful) as you read and write office memos, emails, texts and letters.

Re:  This means “Regarding”, as in “regarding (or in regards to) your question/memo/email etc.”

Appt:  This means “Appointment”.  Be careful not to use “Apt.” which actually is short for
“apartment”!

ASAP:  “As Soon As Possible” – something needs to be done quickly!

ETA:   “Estimated Time of Arrival” – “What is the ETA on that package from Japan?”

Dept.:  “Department”.

H.R.:  Human Resources.  Can also end with “Manager”, “Management”, “Department”, etc.

CEO:  “Chief Executive Officer”

COO:  “Chief Operations Officer”

V.P.:  “Vice President”

VIP:  “Very Important Person”.  “We were given the VIP treatment by our suppliers today.”

RSVP:  French – Respondez sil-vous plait.  “respond if you please” is the literal translation, but in English we just say “please respond”.  This can be used in invitations, networking events, conferences, meetings etc.  “John if you want to come to the Christmas party with me you have to rsvp asap, so I know who is riding with me in my van.”

C.C.:  “Carbon Copy”, or identical copy.  Used in memos and emails.  This way you can send your email to many people at once.  Everyone can see the list of emails in the C.C. section.  We also use this in speaking at the office, for example “Mary can you request a Lunch N’ Learn on communication skills from H.R., and C.C. me on it (the email) please?

B.C.C.:  “Blind Carbon Copy” – same as above, but no one except you can see the email addresses in this section.

There are more but this list is a good start.  Enjoy!

Coach Ric

Christmas/Holiday Party Humour

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Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: November 18

RE: Gala Christmas Party

I’m happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at Calhoun’s. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We’ll have a small band playing traditional carols… feel free to sing along. And don’t be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00 PM. Exchanges of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone’s pockets. This gathering is only for employees!

Our CEO will make a special announcement at that time!

Merry Christmas to you and your family,

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: November 19

RE: Gala Holiday Party

In no way was yesterday’s memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognize that Hanukkah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on, we’re calling it our “Holiday Party.” The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians and to those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas tree and no Christmas carols will be sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment.

Happy now?

Happy Holidays to you and your family,

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: November 20

RE: Holiday Party

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table, you didn’t sign your name. I’m happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, “AA Only”, you wouldn’t be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed to handle this?

Somebody?

And sorry, but forget about the gift exchange, no gifts are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and the executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy.

REMEMBER: NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

To: All Employees

DATE: November 21

RE: Generic Holiday Party

What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20th begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees’ beliefs. Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party or else package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?

Meanwhile, I’ve arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet, and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms.

Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with gay men. Each group will have their own table.

Yes, there will be a flower arrangement for the gay men’s table.

To the person asking permission to cross dress, the Grill House asks that no cross-dressing be allowed, apparently because of concerns about confusion in the restrooms. Sorry.

We will have booster seats for short people.

Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet.

I am sorry to report that we cannot control the amount of salt used in the food. The Grill House suggests that people with high blood pressure taste a bite first.

There will be fresh “low sugar” fruits as dessert for diabetics, but the restaurant cannot supply “no sugar” desserts. Sorry!

Did I miss anything?!?!?

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All F*%^ing Employees

DATE: November 22

RE: The F*%^ing Holiday Party

I’ve had it with you vegetarian pricks!!! We’re going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the “grill of death,” as you so quaintly put it, and you’ll get your f*%^ing salad bar, including organic tomatoes. But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They scream when you slice them. I’ve heard them scream. I’m hearing them scream right NOW!

The rest of you f*%^ing weirdos can kiss my *ss. I hope you all have a rotten holiday!

Drive drunk and die,

The B*tch from H*ll!!!

Company Memo

FROM: Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director

DATE: November 23

RE: Patty Lewis and Holiday Party

I’m sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery and I’ll continue to forward your cards to her.

In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd off with full pay.

Happy Holidays!

Joan

How to write a 5-paragraph report

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Initial Criteria for Writing Reports

Writing Conventions:

These are the basic parts of your writing: the spelling, punctuation, grammar, and
sentence structure. Do errors make it hard to understand your writing?

Logic:

Logic determines the order of your writing and how easy it is to follow your ideas. Proper logic determines how well your introduction, body, and conclusion work together and how logical your order of ideas are inside each paragraph.

Style:

Here, your sentence variety and use of idioms and vocabulary are very important. How fluent is your language? Are your sentences precise? Good reports exhibit a varied repertoire of sentence types, along with an extensive vocabulary.

Meaning:

Is the topic and ideas specific to your own experience and have they been conveyed well. Did you show with details exactly what you mean? Did you save your assertions for the topic and “statement making” sentences? Are your ideas convincing? Are they explained logically or systematically?

Originality

Originality can dramatically improve the reader’s experience but can be an unnecessary distraction for some topics. Is there a balance between accuracy, statements for effect and originality based on the topic?

Titles

A title should be an exciting and accurate label of the contents of your report.

Simple, short and clear so it is understood quickly.

Directly connected to the reports main ideas.

Interesting, to make the reader want to read the report.

Capitalize all words except the small words (a, the, an, for and so on) or, capitalize the whole word.

Remember a topic is not a title!

Introduction

An introduction contains a topic sentence that conveys the main idea or statement of the report. This is the most important sentence of your whole report and needs to be the most carefully written.

Introductions are general compared to the ideas in the report, but related directly to the ideas in the report. Don’t give away too much. Save the details for the body.

Body Paragraphs (3)

The body is the center of the sandwich. Body paragraphs are a standard design: topic sentence, detailed examples with a concluding sentence. The body paragraphs support the topic and provides supportive examples with descriptions, and details.

Make it easy for the reader to follow from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph. Keep to one idea in one paragraph. Each of these ideas relates directly to the topic.

Put your best paragraph first, weakest in the middle and your second best paragraph last.

Conclusion

The conclusion is usually larger than the introduction.

Restate your topic as the first sentence of the conclusion.

Summarize the ideas of the body paragraphs without repeating everything point-by-point.

Conclusions often contains a final opinion, suggestion or prediction related to the topic that ends the report.

****
Reprinted with permission from:

Blog URL: http://study-english-in-niagara-falls.blogspot.com/

History and Rituals of Halloween

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Halloween is almost upon us!

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all the readers of this blog that even though the category is called ‘Speak English Better’, the blogs’ focus is also on learning and understanding culture.  Why?  Because as I have said a hundred million ka-billion times – English language cannot be used solely as a tool of grammar and spelling.  To truly ‘speak English better’ you must understand the history and culture of English-speaking lands, especially if you are living in one now, permanently or temporarily.

I love Halloween.  As kids we got to make our own costumes (with the help of Mom and Dad of course) and go out ‘trick or treating’ to get a bag full of candy!  What more could a North American kid want?  (All that sugar is soooo bad for you though….but we didn’t care!)

Now as adults we might dress up in costume and go to bars or house-parties to drink instead, or we might stay at home and give out candy to little trick-or-treaters who visit our homes.  It’s still fun!  And we MUST watch scary horror movies as well!

In the olden days, the costumes were ‘evil’ creatures, like devils, goblins, vampires, ghosts, and any of the other Silver Screen Matinee classic monsters.  In the olden-olden days, when Halloween was first being ‘developed’ as a practice, the idea was to dress yourself up as an evil spirit in order to fool the real evil spirits around, so that they would leave you alone.  In fact, did you know that one of the reasons why we have the custom of covering our mouths while we yawn is not just out of politeness, but to avoid ‘spirits’ entering our bodies?  Yes, we humans were very superstitious many years ago!

Anyway, if you would like to learn more about the history of Halloween, including the name, the colours, the costumes, the religious influences and the jack-O-lantern (carved pumpkin) please do a little more reading at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween or start asking folks around you about their experience with Halloween.

Enjoy this rather odd but fun celebration, and do not get sick on too much candy! (or ‘sweets’ as my British friends would say!)

Happy Halloween!

Idioms from Farm Animals

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HORSE:
“Horsing around” – means to be fooling around, wrestling or playing physical games.  Little kids are often told to stop this by parents. E.g. “You boys stop horsing around outside and come eat your dinner!”
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” – means to be so hungry that you can eat a lot of food.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” – means that you can guide someone to the answer or to a good solution to their problem/situation, but you cannot force them to do the thing that you recommend.  E.g. John:  “Did Jimmy quit smoking yet?”   Barb:  “No.  I showed him pictures of cancer victims and everything, but you know what they say, you can lead  a horse to water…”
“Work like a horse” – means to work hard.

DOG:
“Dog-tired” – means to be very tired, just like a panting dog.
“Dogging me”: – to ‘dog’ is to pursue.  Just like a hound dog chasing a deer, we can say that a person or issue is dogging us or hounding us.  E.g. “The boss keeps dogging/hounding me about that report that’s due at 5pm, so please help me out and give me your notes!”
“Sick as a dog” – means to be very ill.  We get a wet nose, just like a dog!
“Lazy as a dog” – means to be lazy.
“Work like a dog” – means to work hard, like a sheep dog.

CHICKEN & ROOSTER:
“You’re (a) chicken” – means to be afraid or to be a coward.  E.g. “You won’t go into that old haunted house because you’re (a) chicken!”  Notice that you can use this word as a noun or adjective.
“Cocky” – from the British English name ‘cock’ or what the North Americans call a rooster.  The attitude displayed by the male chicken on a farm is ‘cocky’ because he walks around as if he owns the place!  Calling someone cocky usually means that they are over-confident or arrogant.

PIG:
“Pig out” – means to eat like a pig, and consume a lot of food in a short amount of time.
“Pig-tails” – the cute hairstyle that girls wear when their hair is separated into two ‘pony-tails’ on each side of their head, thus looking like two bouncy curled-up pig-tails.
“Pig-headed” – means to be stubborn.  We can also say ‘bull-headed’ to mean the same thing.

These idioms are up-to-date and ready to use in everyday life, or in the office.  They are the same idioms I teach my clients and students.  Enjoy!

Origins of Canadian Thanksgiving (this weekend!)

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Canadian Thanksgiving – How It Began

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World

. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

Canadian Thanksgiving – Official Holiday

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week.

Canadian Thanksgiving – The 49th Parallel

Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October. So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

What will you be doing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Do you have any family traditions that you’re looking forward to? Let us know all about your Thanksgiving plans!
(This post is from KidzWorld – original post:  http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2614-canadian-thanksgiving )

For more information on Canadian Thanksgiving:
http://www.twilightbridge.com/hobbies/festivals/thanksgiving/canada/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_%28Canada%29 

What am I doing?
I will eat Turkey with tons of side dishes, complete with lots of wine, with my close family tonight.
I am going to gain 5 pounds in 3 hours!

Clink, Then Drink! Do Not Put Down That Glass!

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Hello,

Here is a tradition that I have always known and obeyed, yet I cannot say for sure if it is a Canadian-only tradition. I suspect not.

When someone ‘toasts’ you (proposing a toast means to say something nice about you or your personal/business relationship before drinking) it is polite to listen attentively, make eye contact, smile of course, and then ‘clink’ or touch glasses (or bottles or cans) together once before drinking. You have probably seen this on countless movies and TV shows. However, the small point that is crucial to remember is this: do NOT clink then put your glass/bottle/can down! Ever! It is an insult. When you touch glasses it is important that you have at least a sip of your beverage before replacing your glass. This honours your friend/business partner/family member, and the words that were spoken, even if they were meant in jest (that means joking, having fun).

So the simple way to remember this rule, whether you or your partner have spoken the toast, is, as the title says, Clink, then Drink!

Here’s to you!
Here’s to us!
Here’s to long health and happiness!
Healthy, Wealthy and Wise!
Here Here!
Cheers!