CNBC Business of Innovation: The Future of Work

This week I am posting a video discussion from the excellent program The Business of Innovation with Maria Bartiromo on CNBC. This video deals with the future of work and includes some really amazing guests including among others: James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds; Dwayne Spadlin, CEO of Innocentive; Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, author of The Predictioneer's Game; and Michael Dukakis, former Democratic Governor of Massachusetts.

You can watch the video here or download it for free in iTunes.


The discussion activity can be found here:

Future of Work Video

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Dioxin, Duplicity and DuPont video discussion

Here's an interesting video documentary by the Sierra Club about the DuPont plant in DeLisle Mississippi. The documentary goes into dioxin pollution and its effects. You can find it at the Sierra Club or watch it here:



You can find the discussion activity here:

Dioxin, Duplicity and DuPont Video Preview

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

New France 24 Mobile App for Smartphones

I just discovered last week that France 24 has just developed a new mobile app so you can get live streaming news (or highlights) on your mobile (iPhone, Nokia, Blackberry, and more). You can select between coverage in English, French and Arabic. France 24 has been pushing hard to gain marketshare from CNN, BBC World and Al Jazeera. France 24's definitely not my first choice on cable tv, but I've been using this app quite a bit. They have also developed a desktop widget as well. Most of my students have mobile internet access so I've been recommending they download it so they can practice their listening comprehension when they have time, anywhere they are. And you circumvent the extra cost of TV over 3G.

Mobile app:  http://www.france24.com/en/mobile
Widget:  http://www.france24.com/en/widget/home-stay-connected-with-france-24-widgets-windows-gadget


Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Coca-Cola and the Fall of the Berlin Wall

With the recent 20th anniversary celebrations of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I went looking for articles to use. And I found a great one that had a unique business angle. You can find the article here:
http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/11/09/coca-colas-berlin-wall-blitz-lessons-in-leadership-20-years-later/

You can find the discussion activity here:
Coca-Cola and the Berlin Wall

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

One of my ad agency contacts sent me a link to this video by Jonathan Jarvis. (Thanks Mia!) I thought it was well worth turning into an actual discussion. The video runs 11:10. Very short, easy to follow language with simplified explanation of a complex problem.

You can watch the video here or at Vimeo:


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

You can get the discussion activity here.

Crisis of Credit Visualised    

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

The Dangers and Opportunities of Google Sidewiki

There has been a lot of buzz in the advertising and marketing community lately over the launch of the Google Sidewiki in September 2009. This new free Google toolbar app allows anyone to leave comments on websites that other Sidewiki users can later read. Thus, in one fell swoop, Sidewiki creates a whole new era of company transparency and consumer feedback, both positive and negative. Companies will not have ownership over their website's Sidewiki information which means they will need to do an even better job at managing their customer relationships. 

Advertising Age was one of the first media outlets to warn companies about this powerful new social media tool. The article is available here:

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=139768

You can find the discussion activity here:


Dangers and Opportunities of Google Sidewiki    

You can see a short introductory video here:



Enjoy the discussion!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Offshore Tax Haven Considers Taxation

I think most people have heard of the tax loophole created by offshore tax havens. As this article suggests, it has been a source of intrigue and an important subplot in many crime novels like John Grisham's "The Firm."  However, an interesting phenomena has occurred as a result of the global economic crisis. Some tax havens are actually considering direct taxation to meet mounting financial debt.

You can find the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/business/global/04cayman.html
You can find the discussion activity here:
Offshore Haven Considers Taxation

Enjoy the lesson!

Maurice
Voice One
www.voiceone.fi

Breaking the Bank - The US Financial Meltdown of 2008

Level: Upper Intermediate to Advanced students

Well, it's been one year since the financial meltdown. If you have banking students as I do, I think it's really worth presenting them with an activity on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

I'm a bit of a news junkie so I tend to follow links to new and varied sources. The PBS documentary news series - Frontline - is certainly among the best and one of my favorites. They have 83 full-hour documentaries available online. (I've watched at least 20 of them already) The episode regarding the meltdown is called Breaking the Bank which you can find here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/breakingthebank/view/


You can get the PBS teacher's guide with discussion questions here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/meltdown/meltdown.pdf

Tip: I will sometimes ask students to watch videos for homework and sometimes show them videos in class. You need to gauge whether you think they will actually do the homework or not. Many of my business students are very busy people so it is understandable if they don't manage the time outside of class. However, without putting too much of a point on it, you should always try to encourage them to do more outside of class to expand their contact time with the second language. (And then again, it's often a nice change of pace for students to get to watch the occasional video in class.)

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Lottery Winners and Sound Financial Advice

Ok, I admit I have been known to play the lottery on occasion. I don't think I ever really expect to win but it's a nice distraction to dream about what you might do with that kind of money. After reading this article, I'm not so sure I would like to win.

This article discusses the real life difficulties that some Americans have had after winning the big one. One cultural point to understand about the article is that in many states in the US, lottery winnings are paid out on an annual basis rather than a lump sum. Consequently, a $1,000,000 lottery win is actually a promise to be paid $50,000 per year over 20 years.


You can find the article here:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8lotteryWinnersWhoLostTheirMillions.aspx

The discussion activity is here:

8 Lottery Winners

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Weird Hotel Signs

I adapted this activity from a very funny book called "Broken English Spoken Perfectly" by Stewart Clark. (Edda UK, 2005) The book is a collection of very humorous, often embarassing, English mistakes found in public spaces.  Students will have a good laugh trying to understand and correct these.

You will need to explain some words such as cock (In this case, it should be faucet (AE) or tap (BE). Cock (aka stopcock or stopper) is a precise word used by scientists or chemists for the valve to control liquid flow in lab equipment.)

Weird Hotel Signs


Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,

Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Gene Simmons Talks Business with Michael Eisner

Okay, you might be thinking this is an odd post for a Business English blog. What does Gene Simmons or KISS have to do with business? Well, think music industry. This is in fact a fantastic interview between Eisner and Simmons on business, the KISS business empire, Simmons' personal projects and Simmons' views on success, life, and love. And Simmons' self-promotion is very funny.

I usually pair this with a vocabulary activity on music. (It is always good to broaden your student's vocabulary.)

The video is available for free on iTunes or you can watch it here.




The discussion activity is here. You will need to brainstorm music genres (rock, classical, jazz, pop, hip hop, country, world music, reggae, heavy metal, etc.) when you fill in the chart.

01.09.2009 Interview With Gene Simmons

Listening Comprehension answers: 80 million albums; Beatles on steroids; Music Trade Magazines (Record World, Cash Box, Billboard), Wall Street Journal; his mother survived the Holocaust; 5000 women; Cher, Diana Ross; If you don't take care of business, it will take care of you; Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, the Apprentice, My Dad the Rock Star (cartoon); for Simmons to get married.

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Little Sweetie's Fortune - Hong Kong Billionaire and Inheritance Law

Article Discussion: The Fight for Little Sweetie's Billions Is Getting More Than a Little Weird

You can find the article here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124217178156212899.html#

The Discussion Activity Sheet is here:
28.09.2009 the Fight for Little Sweeties Fortune
Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Using Business Articles for Discussion in Class

Like most Business English teachers I rely on current news from leading newspapers and magazines to stimulate discussion in class. Here's some general tips for using articles in the Business English classroom.

Tip 1: To avoid getting in trouble over copyright, it is best to send your students a link to the article for the following week's class and let them print their own copy. You are allowed to print for personal use. Otherwise, newspapers and magazines expect payment for reprints.

Tip 2: I get students to take turns reading paragraphs from the article aloud in class. You can correct pronunciation as you go. And by alternating students, they will understand the article more. I've noticed that when people read aloud, they are actually too focused on their pronunciation that they do not actually catch or follow what they are saying.

Tip 3: It is better for students to try to understand the meaning of the words in context. That is why I often wait to explain difficult words after we have read the text.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Classic TV Ads to discuss Advertising

Requirements: A laptop (& projector) to show the videoclips in class.

This is one activity which I love to use in my Business English classes. Since the commercials are short, often entertaining, and use fairly simple language, you can use them with pre-intermediate to advanced.

It has been a hit with every class I have used it in. Everyone loves to see how different the ads were in the 1950s. Since most companies have meeting rooms with projectors nowadays, I usually show it from there--but I've shown them direct from my laptop as well.

First, you need to download the classic TV commercials from the Prelinger Archive.

Get the videos here:
http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger_commercials

It's free to use (big plus) and may be downloaded and shown in public for educational purposes. Choose an assortment -- the Newport cigarette ads are particularly entertaining.

Next, download the PDF activity. I think it's fairly self-explanatory. You should explain to the students what they should look for with each point.

Get the PDF here:
28.08.2009 Classic TV Commercials

Enjoy the lesson!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi

Welcome Note

Welcome to the Voice One Business English exchange point!

We will be regularly posting links to interesting articles, free reproducible teaching materials along with teaching tips. Feel free to share your own ideas, materials and links.

About Voice One: Established 2006; Helsinki, Finland. Our teachers are all experienced professionals -- most have taught in Finland for ten years or more. And a few of us are published ESL authors. Without sounding too corny, we believe that learning English can be fun as well as educational.

www.voiceone.fi