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EDITORIAL
New approaches
Winning new customers, designing offices and cities, and
applying for jobs all require new ways of working.
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Attracting new
customers:
is your approach
a winning one?
Flüssigeres Englisch
T
Verbessertes Sprachgefühl
he coronavirus crisis has affected many aspects of business life.
Gesteigerte Sprachsicherheit
One obvious effect has been the increase in the number of people
working from home. We covered this topic in depth in the last
issue; in this issue, Ken Taylor provides further practical tips (p. 58).
Another key area that has been put under the spotlight is the
Das sagen unsere Kunden:
relationship between organizations and their customers. In our • „maximale Effektivität...
cover feature, Bob Dignen argues that it is time for a new mit Spaß und Freude“
approach to winning and keeping customers. Instead of the traditional
• „eine tolle Woche, eine tolle
method of presenting product features and making last-minute con-
Lebenserfahrung!“
cessions to get a deal, Bob says organizations need to engage in more
intimate and honest conversations. This includes challenging customers’ • „ein perfekt abgestimmtes
Titel: HBRH/Shutterstock.com; Illustration: axllll/iStock.com, Foto: Gert Krautbauer
established thinking patterns and destabilizing their current assump- Programm“

tions — food for thought for anyone involved in sales (pp. 34–41).
• „straff, abwechslungsreich
The design of our cities and offices will also be affected by the cur-
und humorvoll gestaltet“
rent crisis. Indeed, as our Global Business article makes clear, “our cities
and buildings have always been shaped by disease” (pp. 14–17).
We also look at a key non-coronavirus-related area in which a new
approach is needed: how to get your job application past the bots.
Deborah Capras provides tips in our How to... section (see p. 68).
IAN MCMASTER,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kostenlose Sprachtests und Beratung
i.mcmaster@
Montag bis Freitag von 9:00 – 18:00 Uhr
spotlight-verlag.de
Tel. 089 23 51 58 72
EDITORIAL 5/2020 Business Spotlight 3
www.englischhausen.de
CONTENTS
5/2020
The Big Picture Language Test
6 Britain M 28 Your Career E M A
Fenced-in athletes Is it time to take control of your
situation at work?
Working World
8 Names & News E M A Cover story
The latest from the world Business Skills
of business 34 Customer Conversations A
Creating a closer connection
Global Business with your customers
14 Architecture A Personal Trainer M
42
Imagining post-pandemic Ken Taylor on lessons learned
workplaces and cities from teaching sign language
Debate Technology
Head-to-Head A
18 60 Artificial Intelligence A
20
Should companies encourage From brain waves to text
fun at work?
Careers & Management
Intercultural Communication 62 Fashion A
20 Japan A Elizabeth von der Goltz,
How an economic giant the woman behind the trends
is dealing with a difficult past
68 How to... M
and an uncertain future
Get your CV past the bots
Intercultural Communication
69 Executive Eye A Japan’s uncertain path to
Adrian Furnham on workplace a brighter future
romances
Language section Work & Relax

70 In the Zone A
44 V
ocabulary Working with a health condition
A chemical lab technician E
72 Away from Your Desk M
Easy English
46 Tips for your off-duty hours
Correcting a mistake E
And Finally...
48 G
rammar
76 One Question M
Negation (2) M
Who am I?
Talking Finance
49
The business of bonds A Regular sections
3 Editorial
Translation
50
33 Classified Ads
Tricky translations M
74 Feedback / Jargon Buster
Language Cards
51 75 Preview / Impressum
To pull out and practise
34
54 S
hort Story
Romcom A
English for…
56
Product design M
English on the Move

58
Working from home M
Key Words
59 Business Skills
Vocabulary from this issue A new way to connect
with your customers
4 Business Spotlight 5/2020 CONTENTS

Learning with
28
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Language Test
Do you have control over SKILL UP!
your time at work? Our vocabulary booklet pro-
vides a wide range of terms and
expressions. In this issue, learn
the language of education.
For more articles, audio and exercises:

www.business-spotlight.de
www.facebook.com/businessspotlight
Language in Business Spotlight

➻ Articles use the style, spelling, punctuation and pronuncia-
Fotos: HBRH, Sean Pavone/Shutterstock.com; Net a Porter; Vectorios2016/iStock.com
tion of British English unless otherwise marked.

➻ Articles that use American style, spelling, punctuation and
pronunciation are marked with “US”.
Approximately Approximately Approximately

at CEF level A2 at CEF levels B1–B2 at CEF levels C1–C2
CEF: European Framework of Reference for Languages
62
ifml.: informal word or phrase
vulg.: vulgar word or phrase; sl.: slang word or phrase
non-stand.: non-standard word or phrase
UK: chiefly British usage; US: chiefly North American usage
➽
READERS’ SERVICE
Careers & Management Email abo@spotlight-verlag.de
Elizabeth von der Goltz: Internet www.spotlight-verlag.de
fashion-industry leader Telephone +49 (0)89/12 14 07 10
Fax +49 (0)89/12 14 07 11
CONTENTS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 5

THE BIG PICTURE
BRITAIN
Fenced-in athletes
MEDIUM
No opponent? No problem. Jo Muir is a modern pentathlon

athlete and an Olympic hopeful for Team Great Britain. She is pic-
tured here fencing with a tree at her parents’ farm in Haugh of Urr,
a village in Scotland, on 27 April. Like many other athletes, she
has had to find creative ways to train because of social distancing
measures in place at the time.
This year’s Olympic hopefuls have been dealt a hard blow. Due
to the coronavirus crisis, the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,
Japan, have been postponed until summer 2021. For an athlete,
whose career may last only a decade — and whose peak is even
shorter — a year is an eternity. Yet, athletes will have no choice but
to reorganize their training programme, renew their motivation
and finance another year of training.
Muir told DailyRecord.co.uk that the delay “is frustrating from a
selfish point of view”. She added, however, that she will be lucky if
waiting a year to compete is the worst she suffers from the crisis.
athlete [(ÄTli:t] fence [fens] , fechten in place: be ~ [)In (pleIs]

, [wg. Aussprache] , hier: gelten
fenced-in [)fenst (In]
Foto: Lee Smith/Reuters/picture-alliance
compete [kEm(pi:t] , hier: eingeengt pentathlon

, an einem Wettbewerb [pen(tÄTlEn]
hard blow: deal sb. a ~
teilnehmen , Pentathlon, Fünfkampf
[)hA:d (blEU]
decade [(dekeId] , jmdm. einen schweren postpone sth.
, Jahrzehnt Schlag versetzen [pEUst(pEUn]
, etw. verschieben
eternity [I(t§:nEti] hopeful [(hEUpf&l]
, Ewigkeit , Anwärter(in), selfish [(selfIS]
Kandidat(in) , eigennützig
6 Business Spotlight 5/2020

Olympic athlete
Jo Muir: keeping her
eye on the ball
5/2020 Business Spotlight 7

WORKING WORLD
NAMES & NEWS
Way of life: a fishing trawler

leaving harbour in Cornwall
BRITAIN
Fresh off the boat EASY
A coastal community is a world of its own. The lives of the fishermen are only part of Fresh off the boat
Lamorna Ash, a British non-fiction writer, the story of a coastal community, however. [)freS Qf DE (bEUt] , Fangfrisch
opens a window to that world in her new book, “For every man at sea, there are three people Cornish [(kO:nIS]
Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town. As [connected to the industry] on land,” Ash tells , aus/in Cornwall
a guest aboard the Filadelfia, a fishing trawler, The Guardian. But these communities are dis- fishing trawler [(fISIN )trO:lE]
, Fischkutter
she explores the everyday lives of the fisher- appearing. There are 29 per cent fewer fishing
men and the community they support. boats in the UK than there were in 1996. Many for weeks at a time
[fE )wi:ks Et E (taIm] , wochenlang
Life on a fishing boat is dangerous and un- of the community’s young people are looking
mental [(ment&l]
comfortable. The fishermen are often at sea for for other forms of employment. For many oth-
, hier: psychisch
weeks at a time, with no way to communicate ers in the community, however, life without the
non-fiction writer
with their families. Many of the men develop pull and push of the sea is unimaginable. One [nQn )fIkS&n (raItE] , Sachbuchautor(in)
alcohol or mental health problems. The work man told Ash that a fisherman at home always
pull and push [)pUl En (pUS]
can be frustrating, too. Fishermen often have counts the days until he is back at sea; a fisher- , hier: Faszination und Schrecken
to throw fish back into the sea to stay within man at sea always counts the days until he is quota [(kwEUtE]
EU quotas. back at home. , Quote, Kontingent
8 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORKING WORLD

GERMANY/UNITED STATES
Sonic vroom ADVANCED US AUDIO PLUS
Rattle, clank, roar, vroom: cars are loud. sound lab in California has created the
The noise is bad for our nerves, but pe- soundtrack for films such as Gladiator,
destrians and cyclists rely on it to know Rush, and the new James Bond film, No
Inventing car sounds: Hans Zimmer (left)
when a car is coming. Because electric Time to Die. Saying yes to the job was easy and BMW sound engineer Renzo Vitale
cars make little noise, the National High- for Zimmer, a German: “I grew up with
way Traffic Safety Administration in the BMW,” he told The New York Times. “There chameleonic sensation [sen(seIS&n]
US ruled in 2018 that they must produce was an emotional connection there.” [kE)mi:li(A:nIk*] , Empfindung, Gefühl
, (sehr) wechselhaft;
artificial sound to warn other road users Zimmer says the new electric BMWs sonic [(sA:nIk*]
hier: vielseitig
of their presence. As of 2021, similar laws will sound “futuristic” and “calming,” , klanglich, akustisch
clank [klÄNk]
will apply in the EU. adding that it’s very difficult to describe in , Geschepper; scheppern
sound lab [(saUnd lÄb]
, Schall-, Klanglabor
In response to the new laws, automo- words. In a report, BMW says the new car
pedestrian [pE(destriEn]
bile manufacturers such as BMW are in- sound generates a “throbbing sensation” throbbing [(TrA:bIN*]
, Fußgänger(in)
, pulsierend
venting the future sound of cars. BMW and describes it as “chameleonic.” rattle [(rÄt&l]
has hired sought-after film-music com- “We are trying to make your life less vroom [vru:m] ifml.
, Geratter; rattern
, Gebrumm; brummen
poser Hans Zimmer to create its elec- chaotic, more beautiful,” says Zimmer. roar [rO:r*] * This symbol marks
tric car “soundtrack.” Zimmer’s exotic That sounds very good indeed. , Gedröhn; dröhnen standard US pronunciation.
PROFILE
Tidying works
Pay no wonders
attention to MEDIUM AUDIO
what the Marie Kondo is famous for showing people
critics say.
that tidying up can bring joy. Based in Japan,
Fotos: Timothy Ball/iStock.com; INTERFOTO/Mary Evans/Grenville Collins Postcard Collection; Sipa USA/ddp; Enes Kucevic
Kondo wrote a bestselling book in 2011: The
No statue
Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. In 2019, she
began hosting a Netflix show, Tidying up with
has ever been

Marie Kondo. And on 7 April, Kondo released
a new book, Joy at Work, co-authored with
erected to a
Scott Sonenshein, an organizational psy-
chologist and professor of management at
critic
Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Good clean fun: tidying guru Marie Kondo
Kondo bases the organizational philoso-
phy of her new book on Shinto spirituality.
Tidying up becomes part of a larger effort to
burgeoning mindful bring a kind of mindful meditation to one’s
[(b§:dZEnIN] [(maIndf&l] work.
, aufkeimend; , achtsam; hier auch:
What are some of her main points? “I ad-
hier: aufkommend tiefsinning
vise beginning with small steps,” Kondo told
host sth. release sth.
[hEUst] [ri(li:s] the Financial Times. You should focus on what
composer , Gastgeber(in) von , etw. herausbringen you are grateful for. Find positive meaning in
[kEm(pEUzE] etw. sein; hier: etw. your work. And, each day, add an activity that
tidy (sth.) up
, Komponist(in) moderieren
[)taIdi (Vp] brings you happiness, such as reading your
critic [(krItIk] meditation , (etw.) aufräumen
Finnish composer , Kritiker(in)
favourite language-learning magazine.
[)medI(teIS&n]
and violinist Those working from home might benefit
, hier: Nachdenken,
Jean Sibelius erect sth. [I(rekt]
Betrachtung from tidying up, says Kondo: “If you feel that
(1865–1957) , etw. errichten
burgeoning feeling, you should do it.”
WORKING WORLD 5/2020 Business Spotlight 9

Good ideas
Die beiden Ideen, die wir hier vorstellen, haben eins gemeinsam:
Sie sollen unser Leben verbessern oder zumindest leichter machen.
MEDIUM
Full marks to… Full marks to…

Full marks to… [)fUl (mA:ks tu] Full marks to… [)fUl (mA:ks tu]
…Dominique Persoone, , Die Bestnote …Sweet Farm, , Die Bestnote
erhält ... erhält ...
for creating jobs in the Democratic Republic for finding an innovative way to raise money.
bar [bA:] animal sanctuary
of Congo (DRC). Are you looking for a way to energize a
, Riegel; Tafel [(ÄnIm&l
The Rolling Stones have snorted it, and dull videoconference with your friends or )sÄNktSuEri]
endangered
naked women have been covered in it. The colleagues? A cameo by a goat would prob , Tierasyl
[In(deIndZEd]
(sanctuary
chocolate made by Belgian Dominique Per , gefährdet, ably do the trick. Sweet Farm, an animal , Zuflucht(sort))
soone is in demand by the rich and bored. But (vom Aussterben) sanctuary in California, has found a clever
bedroht cameo [(kÄmiEU]
expanding production to the DRC is risky, way to cash in on the increase in videocon , Kurz-, Gastauftritt
fuel sth.
even for Persoone. ferences during the coronavirus pandemic.
[(fju:El] cash in on sth.
His new chocolate factory is situated near , etw. antreiben; The programme is called Goat-2-Meet [)kÄS (In Qn] ifml.
the Virunga National Park, home of the en hier: mit Energie ing. In addition to the options for individ , von etw. profi-
versorgen tieren
dangered mountain gorilla. Poaching and uals for virtual birthday parties or online
conflicts among armed groups have desta hydroelectric happy hours, the farm has a range of offers do the trick
power [)du: DE (trIk] ifml.
bilized the region, so few people have been [haIdrEUi)lektrIk for companies. For a $100 (€92) donation, , den Zweck
willing to set up their businesses there. “Peo (paUE] a goat or any one of the farm’s 125 rescued erfüllen, ausreichen
, Wasserkraft
ple have perceptions of eastern Congo as a animals will make an appearance on your donation
disaster area,” park director Emmanuel de perception team’s videoconference. For a $750 (€690) [dEU(neIS&n]
[pE(sepS&n] , Spende
Merode told The Economist. , Wahrnehmung
donation, your team gets an animal cameo
But Persoone sees potential in the area. plus a 25-minute VIP tour of the farm with executive director
poaching [Ig)zekjUtIv
Locally generated hydroelectric power is [(pEUtSIN] its executive director. The money that Sweet dE(rektE]
fuelling the factory, and the jobs and income , Wilderei Farm raises will support its mission to house , Geschäftsfüh-
it provides are bringing stability. Roger Mar animals rescued from inhumane factory- rer(in); Leiter(in)
snort sth.
ora, a factory worker, is optimistic about the [snO:t] ifml. farming conditions and pay for projects that goat [gEUt]
, etw. schnupfen, , Ziege
chocolate he and his co-workers are learning sniffen
promote vegan food production.
how to produce: “It is very nearly perfect.” Goat-2-Meeting has been a huge success. overload sb./sth.
with sth.
Persoone is not yet convinced: “I am put The booking page of the Sweet Farm website [)EUvE(lEUd wID]
ting my name on the bars. They have to be says the organization has been surprised by , jmdn./etw. mit
good.” When he is satisfied with it, the choco the response to the programme and has been etw. überfrachten;
hier: überfluten
late will be sent to Europe to sweeten the “overloaded with requests”. It must be the
raise money
lives of those with money to spend. animal attraction. [)reIz (mVni]
www.thechocolateline.be www.sweetfarm.org , Geld beschaffen

COMPARISON
UP TO
$10,000 (€6,500)
The fine for
WORD throwing a cigarette
WATCHER butt on the pavement
in Singapore
New words from the Covid-19 crisis
coronnial
Sometimes written “coronial”, this is the generation of babies
expected to be born starting in December 2020: “Coronnials may
grow up in a very different kind of world from our own.”
covidiot
A person who disobeys social-distancing rules or generally acts
like a nincompoop during the pandemic: “That covidiot went to
the park to take pictures of people disobeying the rules by going
€55
to the park.”
The fine for
doomscrolling throwing a cigarette
Obsessively checking the latest news about the pandemic: “I can’t
butt on the pavement
stop doomscrolling. It’s all so surreal.”
in Hamburg
quarantini
A portmanteau combining the words “quarantine” and “martini”.
A “quarantini” is any alcoholic drink consumed to ease the stay-
at-home blues: “Pour yourself a quarantini and join our video chat
for happy hour.”
covidiot doomscrolling nincompoop

[kE(vIdiEt] ifml. [(du:mskrEUlIN] ifml. [(nINkEmpu:p] ifml.
, [wg. Aussprache] , Wortschöpfung aus , Depp, Trottel
Sources: Singapore Legal Advice (https://singaporelegaladvice.com);
„doom“ (Untergang, Verder-
disobey sb./sth. portmanteau ARAG (www.arag.de)
ben) und „scroll“ (scrollen,
[)dIsE(beI] [pO:t(mÄntEU]
blättern)
, jmdm. nicht gehorchen, , Koffer-, Schachtelwort
etw. nicht befolgen ease sth. [i:z] cigarette butt [)sIgE(ret bVt] pavement
quarantine
, etw. lindern, abmildern , Zigarettenkippe [(peIvmEnt] UK
[(kwQrEnti:n]
, Gehweg
, [wg. Aussprache] fine [faIn]
, Geldstrafe
Fotos: instagram; ddp; michelangeloop, fabphoto/iStock.com
Teachers deserve to American television producer
make a billion dollars Shonda Rhimes, 50, after home-

schooling her children for a total
a year. Or a week
of one hour and 11 minutes
billion [(bIljEn] , Milliarde(n)
homeschool a child [)hEUmsku:l E (tSaI&ld]
, ein Kind zu Hause unterrichten
make (money) [meIk] , hier: (Geld) verdienen

UP and
MEDIUM
DOWN
In March 2020, US citizens purchased 2.5 million guns,
which is 85 per cent more than they bought in March 2019.
The increase seems to be a sign of fear sparked by the coro-
navirus pandemic.
Source: Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (https://smallarmsanalytics.com)
spark sth. [spA:k]

, etw. entfachen; hier: auslösen
Role model:
Professor ’Funmi
Olonisakin Over the course of 2020, global carbon emissions are project-
ed to decrease by as much as 2.5 billion tonnes. The reduc-
BRITAIN tion in emissions can be attributed to the global lockdowns
Portraits of success
put into place during the coronavirus crisis.
Sources: The Guardian; Global Carbon Project (www.globalcarbonproject.org)
MEDIUM billion [(bIljEn] lockdown [(lQkdaUn]

, Milliarde(n) , Sperrung; hier: Ausgangssperre
Of more than 19,000 university professors in the UK, only 35 carbon emissions [(kA:bEn i)mIS&nz] project sth. [prE(dZekt]
, CO2-Ausstoß, -Emissionen , etw. prognostizieren
are black women — so few that their portraits, taken by British
photographer Bill Knight, were easily displayed together at
London’s City Hall in March. The exhibition, titled “Phenome-
5,000
nal Women”, was curated by Nicola Rollock, a reader in equity
and education at Goldsmiths, University of London. She aimed
to highlight the achievements of black women in academia, in
fields ranging from geography to law.
For many of the women, taking part in the exhibition was
personally significant. Cynthia Pine, a professor of dental public
health at Queen Mary University of London, told the Financial
Times that she was glad to meet the other women featured in the
exhibition because usually “we’re very isolated”.
’Funmi Olonisakin, a professor of security, leadership and de-
velopment at King’s College London, hopes that the exhibition
encourages young black women who wish to become a pro-
fessor one day to stick to their dreams: “I’ve seen a lot of young
women leave academia because they are discouraged. This sends
a message that they can do it.”
The exhibition had to close shortly after opening due to the This is the number of gold, silver and bronze medals made
coronavirus crisis. There are plans for a UK tour, depending on from the metal extracted from six million mobile phones
how the crisis develops. In the meantime, the photographs are and nearly 72 million tonnes of electronic waste — all do-
available to the public at www.phenomenal-women.com nated by the people of Japan. The medals were made for the
Fotos: Bill Knight; kasinv, georgeclerk/iStock.com
2020 Summer Olympics, which are now planned for 2021.

academia display sth. [dI(spleI] highlight sth. Source: BBC (www.bbc.com)
[)ÄkE(di:miE] , etw. zeigen, ausstellen [(haIlaIt]
, akademische Welt, , etw. hervorheben
equity [(ekwEti] bronze [brQnz] , [wg. Aussprache] extract sth. from sth.
Welt der Wissenschaft
, Gleichheit, Gerechtigkeit phenomenal [Ik(strÄkt frQm]
achievement [fE(nQmIn&l] donate sth. [dEU(neIt]
exhibition [)eksI(bIS&n] , etw. aus etw. extrahieren;
[E(tSi:vmEnt] , [wg. Aussprache] , etw. spenden
, Ausstellung hier: zurückgewinnen
, Leistung, Erfolg
reader electronic waste
feature sb. [(fi:tSE] [elek)trQnIk (weIst] , Elektronik-
city hall [)sIti (hO:l] [(ri:dE] UK
, jmdn. zeigen, darstellen
, Rathaus , hier: Dozent(in) schrott; hier: Elektronik-Altgeräte

THE RIVALS
Wer hat mehr Zuschauer? Wer sendet welche
Inhalte? DEBORAH CAPRAS vergleicht
eine öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunkanstalt
und einen Streamingdienst.
EASY
BBC NETFLIX
EARLY DAYS The BBC (British EARLY DAYS Software entrepre-
Broadcasting Corporation) start- neurs Reed Hastings and Marc
ed as a public-service radio broad- Randolph started Netflix as a
426 MILLION 182.9 MILLION

caster in 1922. The BBC World DVD-rental business in 1997,
Service was launched in 1932 and sending old films and TV shows
is now available in over 40 lan- Weekly international audience Paid subscribers worldwide in to subscribers through the post.
guages. across all BBC services 190 countries (April 2020) The US firm went public in 2002.
£157.50 €11.99
HISTORY In 2007, the BBC iPlayer HISTORY In 2007, Netflix launched
was released. It allows licence-fee its streaming platform. In 2013,
payers in the UK to stream con- (€177.90) Typical monthly subscription the company released all 13
tent. Apart from a few scandals, Annual fee for a colour cost in the EU episodes of its first original se-
the BBC has focused on family TV licence in the UK ries: House of Cards, a remake of a
entertainment, accurate informa- popular BBC series from 1990.
tion and neutrality. Binge-watching became a trend.
THREATS Changing media habits,

streaming platforms, a damaged
£3.7 BILLION
(€4.8 billion)
$20 BILLION
(€18.5 billion)
THREATS Amazon Prime and mul-
tiple new streaming options, in-
reputation and the current UK Licence fee income Estimated streaming revenue cluding Apple TV+ and Disney+.
government, which is critical of (2018–19) in 2019 Increased difficulty finding new
the BBC and licence fees. subscribers, particularly in the US.
OPPORTUNITIES Its role as a trusted

source of news and education.
£243 MILLION
(€275 million)
- $3 BILLION
(- €2.8)
OPPORTUNITIES Its role as a Holly-
wood-style studio. In 2019, Net-
More commercial operations, in- Profits from commercial income Netflix’s negative free cash flix offered 2,769 hours of orig-
cluding BritBox, a new subscrip- via BBC Studios (2018–19) flow in 2019 inal content. The company has
tion-based streaming service for increased its focus on big-budget
BBC content, which was launched
in 2017 in North America, where
it has more than one million sub-
£170
(€192)
453 MINUTES
Average weekly time
productions with A-list celebri-
ties, such as Martin Scorsese’s The
Irishman, with Al Pacino.
scribers, and in 2019 in the UK. Average fine for not having 18- to 34-year-olds watched
a TV licence. Netflix in the UK in 2018 SLANG “Netflix and chill” for “stay
SLANG Affectionate names: “Aunt- Maximum fine is home and have sex”.
ie”, “Auntie Beeb” and “the Beeb” £1,000 (€1,130)
VISION “Becoming the best global
VISION “Inform, educate and enter- entertainment distribution ser-
tain” vice”
affectionate [E(fekS&nEt] auntie [(A:nti] ifml. broadcaster [(brO:dkA:stE] fee [fi:] , Gebühr release sth. [ri(li:s] subscriber
, liebevoll , Tantchen , Sender , etw. herausbringen [sEb(skraIbE]
fine [faIn] , Geldstrafe
, Abonnent(in)
annual [(ÄnjuEl] billion [(bIljEn] celebrity [sE(lebrEti] rental business
launch (sth.) [lO:ntS]
, jährlich, Jahres- , Milliarde(n) , Prominente(r) [(rent&l )bIznEs] subscription
, (etw.) starten
, hier: Verleih [sEb(skrIpS&n]
audience [(O:diEns] binge-watching entrepreneur
public: go ~ [(pVblIk] , Abonnement
, Publikum [(bIndZ )wQtSIN] ifml. [)QntrEprE(n§:] revenue [(revEnju:]
, an die Börse gehen
, Komaglotzen , Unternehmer(in) , Umsatzerlös

GLOBAL BUSINESS
ARCHITECTURE
CHANGING THE
LANDSCAPE
Futuristic: the new

Fotos: XX
Bee’ah headquarters
in Sharjah, UAE
14 Business Spotlight x/2020 GLOBAL BUSINESS

Sind Großraumbüros und Bürotürme Vergangenheit? Steuern
bald nur noch Smartphones Leuchten und Kaffeeautomaten?
OLIVER WAINWRIGHT hat die Architekten getroffen, die an
der Gestaltung der Welt nach der Corona-Pandemie arbeiten.
F
rom antibacterial brass door- so close together and work in open-plan
knobs to broad, well-ventilated offices?
streets, our cities and build- One design agency has already
ings have always been shaped switched its entire focus to imagining
by disease. It was cholera that what the post-Covid landscape might
influenced the modern street look like. Founded in 1943, the Design
grid, as 19th-century epidem- Research Unit (DRU) has a history of
ics brought the introduction of thinking big. It shaped the appearance of
sewage systems that required much of post-war Britain, including Lon-
roads to be wider and straight- don’s street signs. It has now turned its
er, along with new zoning laws creative energies to imagining the ways
to prevent overcrowding. buildings could help to limit the spread
The third bubonic plague pandemic, of future epidemics, including everything
an outbreak that began in China in 1855, from the layout of interiors and public
changed the design of everything from spaces to surface coatings.
drainpipes to building founda- “How we think about the
tions, in the global war against workplace will be the biggest
the rat. And the wipe-clean “Our cities change,” says Darren Comb-
aesthetic of modernism was and buildings er, chief executive of the in-
partly a result of tuberculosis, have always ternational design firm Scott
with light-flooded sanatoriums
inspiring white-painted rooms
been shaped Brownrigg, which merged with
the DRU in 2004. “We’ve seen
and hygienic tiled bathrooms.
by disease” a huge boom in co-working
Form has always followed spaces. But after this, are com-
fear of infection as much as it has fol- panies really going to want to put their
lowed function. With many people living entire team in one place, where they’re
in socially distanced self-isolation, offices closely mingling with other businesses?”
abandoned and urban centres reduced to The co-working dream was sold on the ba-
ghost towns, it’s hard not to wonder what sis of social interaction, the promise that
kind of lasting impact Covid-19 will have you might communicate with freelance
on our cities. Will homes need to adapt creative types while you’re waiting for
to create room for people to work? Will your coffee. But this may no longer seem
pavements widen so we can keep our so attractive. “I’m not suggesting we all go
distance? Will we no longer want to live back to working in 1950s cellular cubicles,
abandoned doorknob [(dO:nQb] mingle with sb. street grid

[E(bÄndEnd] , Türgriff [(mINg&l wID] [(stri:t grId]
, aufgegeben; hier: , mit jmdm. Kontakt/ , Straßenraster, -züge
drainpipe [(dreInpaIp]
verlassen, verwaist Umgang haben
, Abflussrohr surface coating
brass [brA:s] open-plan office [(s§:fIs )kEUtIN]
foundation
, Messing [)EUpEn (plÄn )QfIs] , Oberflächenbelag,
Foto: © Zaha Hadid Architects
[faUn(deIS&n]
, Großraumbüro -beschichtung
bubonic plague , Fundament
[bju)bQnIk (pleIg] pavement [(peIvmEnt] tiled [taI&ld] , gefliest
hygienic [haI(dZi:nIk]
, Beulenpest UK , Gehweg
, [wg. Aussprache] zoning law
cellular cubicle sewage system [(zEUnIN lO:]
merge with sth.
Fotos: XX
[)seljUlE (kju:bIk&l] [(su:IdZ )sIstEm] , Bebauungsgesetz,

[(m§:dZ wID]
, Arbeitszelle , Abwassersystem -vorschrift
, mit etw. fusionieren
GLOBAL BUSINESS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 15

have to touch a surface with their hands to navigate through
the building. Lifts can be called from a smartphone, avoiding the
need to press a button both outside and in, while office doors
will open automatically using motion sensors and facial recogni-
tion. “We’ve looked to eliminate direct contact with communal
services, right from the street to the workstation,” says Kaicker,
adding that the blinds, lighting, ventilation and even ordering a
coffee will be controlled from your phone.
A question of density?
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, some have been blaming the
density of cities for the rapid spread of the disease and seeing
the suburbs as the safest place to be. “There is a density level in
NYC that is destructive,” tweeted Andrew Cuomo, governor
of New York state, at the end of March. “NYC must develop an
immediate plan to reduce density.” Across the US, the virus has
increased the divide between town and country, with some Re-
publicans blaming those who live in cities, who are more often
Democrats, for spreading the disease.
“Density is still a very fraught subject in the US,” says Sara
Jensen Carr, an architecture professor at Northeastern Univer-
Open-plan offices:
sity, in Boston, and author of the book The Topography of Wellness:
a thing of the past?
Health and the American Urban Landscape. “The pandemic is already
giving ammunition to people who are naturally sceptical of
but I do think the density in offices will change,” says Comber. density and want to promote the car-centric suburbs. They’re
“We’ll see a move away from open-plan layouts, as well as better making the same arguments that were made over 100 years ago.”
ventilation and more openable windows.” Such positions risk losing sight of the obesity epidemic and the
climate crisis, made worse by sprawl rather than dense, walkable
Contactless offices cities. “People tend to put the blame on personal choice,” Carr
It’s an opinion shared by Arjun Kaicker, who led the workplace adds, “but the built environment shapes those choices.”
team at the architectural design firm Foster + Partners for a Carr’s book describes a history of urban responses to public
decade, influencing the enormous new headquarters of both health crises, beginning with the work of landscape architect
Apple and Bloomberg. “I think we’ll see wider corridors and Frederick Law Olmsted, who served as a sanitary officer during
doorways, more partitions between departments, and a lot more the US Civil War (1861–65), and went on to design New York’s
staircases,” says Kaicker, who now heads analytics and insights Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace parks, identifying
at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). “Everything has been about “the occasional contemplation of natural scenes” as being “fa-
breaking down barriers between teams, but I don’t think spaces vourable to the health and vigour of men”.
Fotos: monkeybusinessimages/iStock.com; Ana Fernandez/ZUMA Press/picture-alliance

will flow into each other so much anymore,” he says. Furniture After living indoors for months, might we all take more inter-
may change, too. “Office desks have shrunk over the years, from est in the value of urban green space and the public infrastructure
1.8m to 1.6m to now 1.4m and less, but I think we’ll see a reversal
of that, as people won’t want to sit so close together.” blinds [blaIndz] give ammunition to sb. pathway [(pA:TweI]
, Jalousien [)gIv )Ämju(nIS&n tu] , Pfad, Weg
Kaicker believes that legislation might be introduced to man- , jmdm. Zündstoff/
density reversal [ri(v§:s&l]
date a minimum area per person in offices, as well as a reduction Argumente liefern
[(densEti] , Umkehrung
in maximum occupancy for lifts and larger lobbies to minimize (ammunition , Munition)
, Dichte
sanitary officer
overcrowding. All of this could have a big effect on the skyline, developer
insight [(InsaIt]
[(sÄnEtEri )QfIsE]
, Erkenntnis
Kaicker says. “High-rise buildings would become more expen- [di(velEpE] , Hygiene-Inspektor(in)
sive to build and be less efficient, which may reduce the econom- , Bauträger(in) layout [(leIaUt]
sprawl [sprO:l]
, Grundriss
ic attractiveness to developers of building tall — and super tall divide [dI(vaId] , Zersiedelung
— towers both for offices and residential [purposes].” , Kluft motion sensor
vigour [(vIgE]
[(mEUS&n )sensE]
Kaicker’s team is already working on futuristic offices that facial recognition , Vitalität
, Bewegungssensor
[(feIS&l rekEg)nIS&n]
employ some of what he thinks might be post-coronavirus , Gesichtserkennung obesity [EU(bi:sEti]
waste management
principles. ZHA’s new headquarters for the Bee’ah waste man- [(weIst )mÄnIdZmEnt]
, Fettleibigkeit
fraught [frO:t] , Entsorgungs-, Abfall-
agement company in Sharjah, UAE, has been designed around , belastet partition [pA:(tIS&n] wirtschaft
“contactless pathways”, meaning that employees will rarely , Abtrennung, Trennwand
16 Business Spotlight 5/2020 GLOBAL BUSINESS

of toilets, drinking fountains and hand-washing facilities? Much was discovered that one residential block in Hong Kong became
19th-century public health theory may have been misguided, a site of “superspreading” because of the way contaminated
based on the evils of imaginary fumes, but it had benefits, too. droplets from sewage pipes could enter people’s bathrooms
through dried-up U-bends in the drains. Afterwards, there was
The rats, not the earth no significant change in — or mass-inspection of — plumbing
Since the times of ancient Greece, it was widely thought that and ventilation systems to stop this happening again.
disease came from the earth and was spread through noxious “A one-off pandemic usually has no impact at all,” says Lyn-
vapours, or miasmas. “Miasma theory had a huge influence on teris. “It has to keep coming back for us to take any notice.”
cities, specifically building materials,” says Christos Lynteris, a Some are using the current crisis to look again at fundamental
medical anthropologist at the University of St Andrews, in Scot- assumptions about how cities are structured. “This is the best
land, and co-author of Plague and the City. “The craze for paving time ever to think of a walkable city,” says Wouter Vanstiphout,
streets with flagstones was largely driven by sanitarian logic and professor of design as politics at the Delft University of Tech-
a desire to seal in the earth’s poisonous gases.” As a result, build- nology in the Netherlands. “Could coronavirus be a catalyst
ings were increasingly coated, clad, plastered and varnished, for decentralization? We have these enormous hospitals and
forming a shield against this invisible enemy. Cracks were great people living on top of each other, but still having to travel long
causes of alarm; not only did they suggest structural fatigue, but distances across the city to get to them. The pandemic suggests
also the possibility that deadly fumes might come out. we should distribute smaller units such as hospitals and schools
Lynteris’s study of the third plague pandemic shows how across more of the urban tissue and strengthen local centres.”
the disease caused drastic urban measures to be taken. “Burning The pandemic has also made visible other changes that have
down parts of the city was one of the most popular solutions,” been happening under our noses. Vanstiphout says his friends
he says, citing one extreme attempt in Honolulu in 1900. The in central Amsterdam have had a rude awakening. “Now that
plan was to burn down an infected part of the city’s Chinatown tourism has stopped and the Airbnbs are empty, they have dis-
(a plan with racial overtones), but the fire ended up destroying covered they have no neighbours. There is no neighbourhood.
most of the city when the wind changed direction. There is no city. If you subtract the tourists, there is nothing.”
Other countries experimented with burning down urban
blocks, but once the rat was identified as the main carrier, all at- OLIVER WAINWRIGHT
is an architecture and design critic
tention turned to protecting buildings against rodents. “Every at The Guardian.
city in the world suddenly had committees of engineers trying © Guardian News & Media 2020
to devise ways of rat-proofing,” Lynteris says. “It was a global
craze, spawning thousands of patents in the 1910s and 1920s, assumption [E(sVmpS&n] fume [fju:m] seal sth. in [)si:&l (In]
from drainpipe guards to concrete barriers.” , Annahme , Rauch; hier: Gas , etw. einschließen,
versiegeln; hier auch:
catalyst [(kÄtElIst] guard [gA:d] , Schutz-
einzementieren
Walkable cities , Auslöser vorrichtung, -gitter
shield [Si:&ld]
Lynteris is sceptical about how much coronavirus will actually clad [klÄd] miasma [mi(ÄzmE]
, Abschirmung,
change anything. “Epidemics and pandemics have their own , verkleidet , [wg. Aussprache]
Schutzschild
temporality,” he says. “Panic dissipates very quickly and people concrete [(kQNkri:t] noxious [(nQkSEs]
spawn sth. [spO:n]
, Beton , giftig, schädlich
rarely follow up.” He points to the 2003 SARS outbreak, when it , etw. hervorbringen
craze [kreIz] one-off
structural fatigue
, Begeisterung(swelle) [)wVn (Qf] UK ifml.
Central Amsterdam: without the tourists, [)strVktS&rEl fE(ti:g]
, einmalig
there are no neighbours devise sth. [di(vaIz] , Materialermüdung
, sich etw. ausdenken overtone [(EUvEtEUn]
subtract sb. [sEb(trÄkt]
, Unterton, Beiklang
dissipate [(dIsIpeIt] , jmdn. abziehen,
, sich auflösen, plague [pleIg] herausnehmen
sich verflüchtigen , Seuche
temporality
drain [dreIn] plastered [(plA:stEd] [)tempE(rÄlEti]
, Abwasserleitung , verputzt , Zeitlichkeit, Temporalität
drinking fountain plumbing [(plVmIN] tissue [(tISu:] , Gewebe,

[(drINkIN )faUntIn] , Sanitärinstallation(en) Gefüge; hier auch: Raum
, Trinkbrunnen
proofing: …-~ U-bend [(ju: bend]
droplet [(drQplEt] [(pru:fIN] , Röhrensiphon
, Tropfen, Tröpfchen , Abdichtung gegen …;
unit [(ju:nIt]
hier: Abwehr gegen …
flagstone [(flÄgstEUn] , (Gebäude-)Einheit
, Stein-, Gehwegplatte rodent [(rEUdEnt]
vapour [(veIpE] , Dampf
, Nagetier
follow up [)fQlEU (Vp]
varnished [(vA:nISt]
, eine Nachuntersuchung rude [ru:d]
, lackiert
durchführen , hier: böse, unsanft
GLOBAL BUSINESS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 17

Play at work:
is this the best use
of your desk?
DEBATE
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Should companies
encourage fun at work?
Lassen sich Arbeit und Spaß miteinander vereinbaren? Und sollten Unternehmen Spaß
Foto: iStockphoto/iStock.com
bei der Arbeit nicht sogar fördern, da das der Gesundheit der Beschäftigten und deren
Leistung nützt? Denn schließlich verbringen Menschen einen Großteil ihres Lebens am
Arbeitsplatz. JULIAN EARWAKER gibt Argumente dafür und dagegen wieder.
ADVANCED AUDIO
18 Business Spotlight 5/2020 DEBATE

YES NO
“Playing and having fun make “Work is about connecting people
people more productive” with their professionalism”
Sunny Sandwell David Lebutsch
People are recognizing the It’s a privilege to have fun at

huge benefits of having fun at work, not a right. Leadership
work. Controlling your team should aim to create an atmos-
SUNNY SANDWELL using Victorian principles DAVID LEBUTSCH phere in which as many people
is managing director of is chief technology
fun with Fun at Work
no longer satisfies the goals as possible can enjoy that priv-
officer at IBM R&D Germany
(https://funatwork.co.uk) of a business. It’s far better (https://www.ibm.com/de-de/ ilege. Employees have a right
to improve the work culture. marketing/entwicklung) to meaningful work, to having
The fun we’re talking about is a fair, transparent and humane
structured. It’s fun with a purpose, not silly fun. work environment, and to receiving decent pay for their efforts.
Businesses’ main difficulties typically involve the people who But they don’t have the right to go to work to have fun.
work there. Fun can improve the organizational culture and staff People should take pride in and derive satisfaction from their
well-being, leading to employees taking less time off because work product or output. Fun shouldn’t be the reason they go to
they like going to work. And it helps to recruit and keep staff. work. Success can come from being effective and professional at
The purpose of fun is that we enjoy doing what we do. Playing what you do, however menial or routine. If you’re a nurse, many
and having fun make people more productive because they are of your tasks are mundane; some of them are terrible. But maybe
motivated to give more. They feel as if the company is investing you are part of a great team and you enjoy taking care of people.
in them, so they invest in return. Fun improves the atmosphere You might not have fun, but you concentrate on what you get
of the company — the feeling you get as you walk around. out of the job emotionally. People are sometimes too focused
Fun can come in many shapes and sizes, suited to the particu- on the task itself making them happy, and not the result. Fun can
lar environment. Some have dress-down Fridays or celebrations. distract us from generating that result.
But you can’t force fun. If you try to put fun into an organiza- A workplace should be as much fun as possible, but leader-
tion that doesn’t have the right underlying structure or culture, ship should focus on an outcome for all the stakeholders, not
it doesn’t work. But it does make a difference. just employees. You have shareholders and customers, the gov-
The equipment and games Fun at Work supplies are low-cost, ernment and taxes. The role of leadership is to create something
ready-made solutions designed for people of any age and ability. that everyone can be proud of and get satisfaction from.
Some of the more modern companies we work with allow em- In the Covid-19 crisis, some people might be doing the most
ployees to play how and when they choose. Other companies important work of their lives: doctors, researchers and firms
keep their fun very structured: maybe five or ten minutes of play fighting the crisis. They must be exhausted, but also filled with
during breaks or lunchtime, then back to work. purpose and pride. They don’t need fun to motivate them; pur-
Even this short burst of fun energizes people by taking them pose is the strongest motivator there is.
away from their screens and giving them a break from work. We Some people confuse their workplace with a social environ-
encourage people to organize competitions and collaboration ment. It’s easy to get distracted by reading articles about start-
between departments and with management. This helps to re- ups that have workplaces like playgrounds. The employee isn’t
move hierarchical barriers and silos within organizations. there to play, but to generate a certain output. There may be a
Employees today demand flexibility and enjoyment at work. table-tennis table at work, but no one would think to use it dur-
If they’re not happy, they will move on to the next employer. The ing work hours. It’s for people to enjoy during the lunch break
effect of fun and the boost in morale can be measured through or after work. Enjoying a joke with your colleagues or having
staff engagement surveys and seen in productivity increases and fun with your team is an important part of social bonding. But
profit and loss results. instead of focusing on fun, an employee should ask, what am I
And fun certainly matters during the Covid-19 crisis. If we can here for? Why am I being paid? What outcomes am I expected
help workers get through their day with a little bit of happiness to achieve? Work is about connecting people with their profes-
and a smile, it’s more worthwhile than ever. sionalism and purpose. Maybe some of us have lost sight of that.
boost [bu:st] derive sth. from sth. hierarchical mundane purpose recruit sb.
, Steigerung [di(raIv frQm] [haI&(rA:kIk&l] [mVn(deIn] [(p§:pEs] [ri(kru:t]
, etw. aus etw. herleiten , [wg. Aussprache] , alltäglich , hier: Sinn(haftigkeit) , jmdn. anwerben;
burst of fun [)b§:st Ev
einstellen
(fVn] , etwa: Spaßsalve distract sb. from sth. humane outcome [(aUtkVm] R&D (research &
[dI(strÄkt frQm] [hju(meIn] , Ergebnis(se) development) silo [(saIlEU]
Fotos: privat; Sue Blackhurst
come in many shapes and

, jmdn. von etw. ablenken , menschenwürdig [)A:r En (di:] , isolierte Einheit
sizes [kVm In )mÄni output [(aUtpUt]
, F&E (Forschung &
)SeIps En (saIzIz] dress-down [)dres (daUn] menial [(mi:niEl] , (Arbeits-)Leistung stakeholder
Entwicklung)
, vielfältig ausgestaltet , in legerer Kleidung , niedrig, untergeordnet [(steIk)hEUldE]
profit and loss results
sein ready-made , Interessengruppe
engagement morale [mE(rA:l] [)prQfIt En (lQs ri)zVlts]
[)redi (meId]
decent [(di:s&nt] [In(geIdZmEnt] , [wg. Aussprache] , Ergebnisse der Gewinn- survey [(s§:veI]
, gebrauchsfertig
, anständig , hier: Motivation und Verlustrechnung , Umfrage, Studie
DEBATE 5/2020 Business Spotlight 19

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
JAPAN
STRUGGLING
TO RISE AGAIN
Bright outlook ahead?

The view to Mount Fuji
Schon vor der Corona-Pandemie sah sich die japanische Wirtschaft
von großen wirtschaftlichen Herausforderungen konfrontiert.
PAUL WHEATLEY informiert über die kulturelle, politische und
wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im „Land der aufgehenden Sonne“ und
zeigt Parallelen und Unterschiede zu Deutschland auf.
ADVANCED PLUS
A
sk anyone in Europe what they know about 1989, Panasonic were helping the country become the world’s second-
and their reply will probably be something like largest economy, after the US.
this: “That was the year the Berlin Wall fell — and The 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the bullet train (“Shinkansen”)
the year communist regimes in Eastern Europe network showcased the country’s high-tech modernity and its
started to collapse, eventually bringing democ- development into an economic powerhouse.
racy to millions of people.” And they would be Economic success was followed by rapid social change. The
right. rural population decreased from 50 per cent in 1945 to under 20
A few thousand kilometres farther east, how- per cent in 1970 as people left for work in urban centres. Japan’s
ever, 1989 had extra resonance. In January of that workers gained a reputation for being extremely loyal to their
year, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito died. Around companies, and lifetime employment in a single firm was usual.
200,000 people lined Tokyo’s streets in February This, however, was only one side of Japan’s post-war economic
for his funeral. A controversial figure, Hirohito miracle. Disputes about the “Americanization” of Japan started
had reigned from 1926 until his death at the age in the immediate post-war years, linked to debates about how
of 87. He lived through periods in Japan’s history “Western” or “modern” Japan should become and the extent to
that included incipient democracy, authoritari- which Japan’s traditions should be preserved. Such discussions
anism and militarism, a murderous war and catastrophic defeat, continue to the present day.
before Japan’s transformation into a fully functioning democra- The nature of work also started to be questioned during the
cy and leading economic power. boom years. Japanese workers, writes historian Christopher
While Hirohito’s death was hugely symbolic, 1989 also Goto-Jones, worked on average “a full 12 weeks more a year”
marked something that would have a much longer-term effect than their European counterparts. Half a century later, working
on Japan. It was the year that problems in the Japanese economy hours in Japan, though decreasing, are still very high. Japanese
started to show, ending a period of remarkable economic growth. children often lead the world in literacy and numeracy, but
By 1991, the country’s economy had hit the buffers and the fol- they, too, work long hours, attending cramming schools. And
lowing ten years has become known as the “Lost Decade”. The they have a depressingly high suicide rate. In 2016–17, child
country is still struggling today with the consequences of this suicide hit a 30-year high, totalling 250 deaths. And while the
difficult period. total suicide rate in Japan is falling, it is still higher than in most
other countries.
Transformation
Although the comparison shouldn’t be exaggerated, Japan’s bullet train embrace preserve sth.
post-war experience mirrored that of Germany in some ways. [(bUlIt treIn] [Im(breIs] [pri(z§:v]
, Hochgeschwindigkeits- , Akzeptanz , etw. bewahren
Devastating defeat in 1945, destroyed cities, a hungry popula- zug
hit the buffers regime [reI(Zi:m]
tion and then the gradual embrace of democracy under Amer-
cramming school [)hIt DE (bVfEz] UK , [wg. Aussprache]
ican tutelage. Not unlike Germany, Japan had its own 1950s [(krÄmIN sku:l] , am Ende sein; hier: in
reign [reIn]
Wirtschaftswunder, partly as a result of the Korean War. , Paukstudio Schwierigkeiten sein
, herrschen, regieren
Japan’s economic transformation was reflected in growth devastating incipient
resonance: have ~
rates of around 10 per cent between 1955 and 1960, later reach- [(devEsteItIN] [In(sIpiEnt]
[(rez&nEns]
, verheerend , beginnend,
ing more than 13 per cent. A consumer society was created. And sich anbahnend
, hier: Bedeutung haben
economic miracle
along with a population boom came better educational oppor- rural [(rUErEl]
[i:kE)nQmIk (mIrEk&l] literacy [(lIt&rEsi]
tunities and an improved system of social welfare. Just as sig- , ländlich
, Wirtschaftswunder , Lese- und Schreib-
nificant, however, was major investment from 1959 onwards in economic powerhouse
fähigkeit showcase sth.
Foto: ikunI/iStock.com
high-quality, high-technology products and equipment, which [(SEUkeIs]

[i:kE)nQmIk (paUEhaUs] numeracy
, etw. präsentieren
gradually earned Japan the reputation of being a manufactur- , führende Wirtschafts- [(nju:mErEsi]
macht , rechnerische Fähigkeiten tutelage [(tju:tElIdZ]
ing leader. By 1960, Japan was the world’s leading shipbuilder , Vormundschaft
and companies such as Nissan, Toyota, Hitachi and Matsushita/
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 5/2020 Business Spotlight 21

Covid precautions in
Tokyo; a Shinkansen
“bullet train” (below)
JAPAN BECAME
A HIGH-TECH
POWERHOUSE Foto:
22 Business Spotlight 5/2020 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The Lost Decade economic powerhouse in the
After a slowdown following the 1973 oil crisis, Japan made a 2000s, Japan’s self-confidence
strong recovery and, from 1986 and 1989, underwent another fell further. After decades of
period of extraordinary growth.It cemented its place as a world high growth, China overtook
leader in new technologies, with cutting-edge televisions, cars, Japan in 2010 as the world’s
high-quality optical equipment and many electronic products. second-largest economy.
Japan became the world’s largest lender nation. Exports were Since 2012, when Shinzo
booming and the nation’s confidence appeared sky high. Abe won a second term as
Was this all too good to be true? Some economists have called Japan’s prime minister, the
it “the age of the bubble”, which consisted of easy credit, runa- country has implemented
way speculation and overblown markets. The bubble burst, the economic reforms known as
economy stagnated and recession followed. In 2002, unemploy- Prime minister: Shinzo Abe “Abenomics”, with its “three
ment went above five per cent for the first time since the Second arrows”: “aggressive mone-
World War. A succession of governments largely failed to turn tary policy”, “flexible fiscal policy” and “growth strategy”. The
the economy around, while an ageing population and rising in hope of creating a stronger economy is accompanied by the
equalities signalled even greater challenges ahead. Little wonder Continued on p. 26
the 1990s became known as the Lost Decade.
arrow [(ÄrEU] , Pfeil flourishing [(flVrISIN] slowdown [(slEUdaUn]
, florierend , (Konjunktur-)
Abenomics bubble [(bVb&l] , Blase
Abschwächung
This experience led to deep soul-searching in Japan. Firmly in overblown [)EUvE(blEUn]
cutting-edge [)kVtIN (edZ]
, überzogen sphere [sfIE]
the US sphere of influence during the Cold War period, it was , (technisch) topaktuell
, [wg. Aussprache]
overtake sb./sth.
easy for a flourishing Japan to largely ignore a divided Kore- easy credit [)i:zi (kredIt]
[)EUvE(teIk] UK succession [sEk(seS&n]
an Peninsula and an economically weak China. By the 1990s, , Krediterleichterung(en)
, jmdn./etw. überholen , Aufeinanderfolge
however, South Korea had emerged as a high-tech, innovation- emerge [i(m§:dZ]
runaway [(rVnE)weI] term [t§:m]
, in Erscheinung treten
focused competitor. And once China began to loom large as an , unkontrollierbar , Amtszeit
TIMELINE
Scene of devastation: 1937 Japan starts war with China, resulting 2010 China overtakes Japan to become the
Hiroshima in 1945 in mass murder and other atrocities world’s second-largest economy.
by the Japanese military. 2011 An earthquake causes a tsunami and
1941 Japan attacks the US base at Pearl a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear
Harbor, Hawaii, and the US joins the power plant. Some 18,000 people die.
Second World War. 2016 Earthquakes on the island of Kyushu
1945 The US drops atomic bombs on kill 44, injure more than 1,000 and
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing make more than 100,000 homeless.
hundreds of thousands of people. 2019 Emperor Akihito abdicates. His son,
Japan surrenders and is occupied by Prince Naruhito, takes the throne.
the US. 2020 The coronavirus pandemic leads
1947 Japan’s new constitution comes into to the postponement of the Tokyo
force. Olympic Games for a year.
1633– Japan’s policy of sakoku isolates it 1951 Japan signs peace treaties with the
US, the UK and other countries.
Fotos: iStockphoto/iStock.com; Everett Historical, Sergey 73, Drop of Light/Shutterstock.com
1853 from much of the rest of the world.

Internal and external pressure (also 1952 Japan becomes independent but the
abdicate nuclear power plant
from the US) forces Japan to open. US still has a huge influence.
[(ÄbdIkeIt] [)nju:kliE (paUE plA:nt]
1868 The constitution gives the emperor 1956 Japan joins the United Nations.
, abdanken , Atomkraftwerk
greater powers, and Japan rapidly 1964 The Olympic Games are held in
starts to industrialize and modernize. Tokyo. annex sth. [E(neks] overtake sb./sth.
Edo replaces Kyoto as Japan’s capital. 1972 The Winter Olympic Games are held , etw. annektieren [)EUvE(teIk] UK
1894–95 Japan wins a war with China, which in Sapporo. , jmdn./etw. überholen
1989 Wartime Emperor Hirohito dies and is atrocity [E(trQsEti]
loses Taiwan as a result. , Gräueltat postponement
1904 Japan wins a war against Russia, succeeded by Akihito.
[pEUst(pEUnmEnt]
the first modern victory of an Asian 1990s Japan’s economic downturn turns constitution
, Verschiebung
power against a European one. into the “Lost Decade”. [)kQnstI(tju:S&n]
1910 Japan wins a war against Korea and 1993 The Liberal Democratic Party loses , Verfassung release sth. [ri(li:s]
colonizes it. power for the first time since 1955. , etw. freisetzen
In the Kono Statement, Japan economic downturn
1914 Japan fights on the same side as [i:kE)nQmIk succeed sb.
Britain, France and allies in the First apologizes for using sex slaves
during the Second World War in (daUnt§:n] [sEk(si:d]
World War. , Konjunkturab- , jmds. Nachfolge
1923 An earthquake at Kantō kills around China and Korea.
1995 An earthquake in Kobe kills more schwung, Rezession antreten
150,000 people.
1931 In the so-called Manchuria Incident, than 6,000 people. Manchuria Incident surrender [sE(rendE]
Japan attacks and annexes China’s 1995 A religious sect releases sarin gas [mÄn(tSUEriE , kapitulieren
Manchuria. on the Tokyo underground, killing 12 )InsIdEnt]
people and injuring more than 5,000. treaty [(tri:ti]
1936 Nazi Germany and Japan form an , Mandschurei-Krise
, Vertrag
alliance.

INTERVIEW
“Japan was never forced to cooperate

so early with its neighbours in the same way
that Germany was”
Born in Germany in 1975, have never really seen eye to eye. This is where the conflict comes
Dr GRISELDIS KIRSCH is a from: which country sees itself as superior? Currently, each country
senior lecturer in contem- considers itself to be superior to its neighbour.
porary Japanese culture at
SOAS University of London. How has this been reflected in Japanese popular culture?
With absolute silence. It was almost as if China and the rest of East Asia
Do you see parallels be- didn’t exist. Rarely did any kind of television drama or even manga or
tween post-war Germany anime include characters from East Asian countries. This changed to-
and post-war Japan? wards the end of the Cold War. In my research, I call it the “Asia boom”.
I try to discourage my stu- Suddenly, you get Asian characters in lots of films, and in television
dents from comparing Ger- dramas a bit later. But then it stops almost as suddenly as it started.
many and Japan because At one time, you had the idea that Chinese people needed to come to
today’s Germany wasn’t Japan to learn, because Japan was the advanced country. They would
Expert on Japan: Griseldis Kirsch
created until 1990. Until study there and take knowledge back home. But then it progressed
1990, you had East Germa- to: “Oh, all of these Chinese are here!” Then in films, you saw lots of
ny and West Germany, each the Chinese mafia in Tokyo. And Chinese people seemed so incredibly
with its own narrative. Each looked at who was responsible for the energetic, building their economy and doing well, while Japan seemed
Second World War and who was the perpetrator in very different ways. to be stagnating. This was around the time of the “Lost Decade” for the
Initially, West Germany tried to say ordinary German citizens were not Japanese economy in the 1990s. At this point, China and Japan started
at fault. They were made to do horrible things and were victimized to fall out with one another. There were increasing Chinese protests
[by the Nazis]. Which is very close to the Japanese narrative — that after Japanese politicians visited the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo and
is, Japanese citizens had nothing to do with the war and they were about how Japan dealt with memories of the war.
victimized by the military and victimized by the Americans. But the
West German narrative changed at some point in the 1960s, when the What about the Japanese relationship with South Korea?
idea of collective responsibility became much more prevalent. Japan It’s very similar and very different at the same time. China was never
never had this 1968-style reckoning. There was a little bit of trying fully formally colonized by Japan, unlike Korea. China’s Manchuria was
to question what had happened, but it was never as widespread as a puppet state from 1931 onwards, but the whole of the Korean Pen-
in Germany. insula was a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945. The relationship be-
tween Japan and South Korea is fraught because of this. Koreans were
Why do you think Japan has never really faced up to its past in the
way that Germany has? anime [(ÄnImeI] fall out with sb. puppet state
I think we have to talk about the elephant in the room. The reason for , Anime, japanische [)fO:l (aUt wID] [(pVpIt steIt]
the foundation of the EU was to keep Germany at bay. To establish Zeichentrickfilmfigur , sich mit jmdm. , Marionettenstaat
checks and balances to not let Germany be in a position to start a zerstreiten
at bay: keep sb./sth. ~ reckoning [(rekEnIN]
war with its neighbours ever again. So, in that respect, the EU has [)Ät (beI] , etw./jmdn. foundation , Berechnung; hier:
been a hugely successful project. There is no EU in East Asia. Japan in Schach halten [faUn(deIS&n] Ansicht, Beurteilung
was never forced to cooperate so early with its neighbours in the , Gründung
checks and balances see eye to eye
same way that Germany was. The EU was founded in the 1950s. My [)tSeks En (bÄlEnsIz] fraught [frO:t] [si: )aI tE (aI]
father was born in 1936, and in 1950, five years after the end of the , System der gegen- , belastet , einer Meinung sein;
war, he was already at a German–French youth camp. The aim was seitigen Kontrolle hier auch: harmonieren
incredibly [In(kredEbli]
to get the generation that hadn’t fought talking to one another. That elephant in the room: , unglaublich senior lecturer
XX privat; TCD/Prod BD/Alamy Stock Photo
didn’t happen in Japan. There was never a multilateral organization the ~ [(elIfEnt In DE [)si:niE (lektSErE] UK
Manchuria
that covered much of the Asian continent. Former enemies were nev- )ru:m] , das Offen- , außerordentliche(r)
[mÄn(tSUEriE]
sichtliche Professor(in)
er forced to sit down and work together. , Mandschurei
engage with sb. shrine [SraIn]
perpetrator
How would you describe the current relationship between Japan [In(geIDZ wID] , Schrein
[(p§:pEtreItE]
, hier: mit jmdm. in
and China? , (Übel-)Täter(in), victimize sb.
einen Dialog treten
When I started studying this in the 1990s, it wasn’t such a bad rela- Verursacher(in) [(vIktImaIz]
tionship. I did a research project about how Japan was really engag- face up to sth. , jmdn. schikanieren;
prevalent [(prevElEnt]
ing with its Asian neighbours during the Cold War. But as the project [)feIs (Vp tu] hier auch: in die Opfer-
, vorherrschend,
Fotos:Fotos:
, sich etw. stellen rolle drängen

progressed, the relationship got progressively worse. Japan and China verbreitet

The Man in the High Castle:
Joel de la Fuente (left) as
Chief Inspector Kido of the
Japanese secret police
very much dragged into the Second Sino–Japanese War [against China idea for a series about Germany and Japan winning the war is com-
from 1937 to 1945] and they fought as Japanese citizens, although they pelling. It’s the “What if…?” alternative history. During the 2010 World
were second-class citizens. We need to keep in mind that the whole of Cup, I was already in the UK and we were a bit worried about things
the Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony. China “only” fought a war when England played Germany. For the most part, it was absolutely
against Japan from 1937 onwards and it was very brutal for the Chi- OK. But there was one incident. I was walking along a street with
nese. They want recognition of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, which the my family and we were speaking German to one another. Somebody
Japanese are still not willing to give, particularly not the current gov- walked up to us and said, “I just don’t get it — how you guys lost the
ernment. They’ve really got rather revisionist tendencies with regard war.” We were completely shocked, and I just said, “I’m actually glad
to history. For South Korea, it’s all about how Japan apologizes and that we lost it.” This completely threw him, because it’s not a patriotic
atones for its actions during the Second World War. But very prominent thing to say. He asked why, and I said, “Picture Europe if Germany had
Japanese politicians feel Japan has nothing to apologize for. won the war. What would it be like?” He looked at me and you could
almost see his brain working. And he said: “Yes, I think I know why
How do you see Japan’s relationship with the US? you said it.” I thought of this guy when The Man in the High Castle
I think the US is partly to blame for where Japan is today. Because of ended up on my desk.
the Cold War and because the US wanted to keep Japan securely in
the capitalist camp, the US didn’t force Japan to face up to what they
atone for sth. get sth. [get] ifml. revisionist
had done in the rest of East Asia. Most people know that Japan had [E(tEUn fO:] , hier: etw. kapieren [ri(vIZ&nIst]
fought the US and lost. But what they actually did in China is not widely , etw. wiedergut- , revisionistisch
give sb. input
known in Japan. If you watch films in Japan that deal with war memory, machen; hier auch:
[)gIv (InpUt] season [(si:z&n]
the vast majority of them have the US as the enemy. There are very sich zu etw. bekennen
, jmdm. Anregungen , Staffel
few examples that mention what happened on the Asian continent. It’s camp [kÄmp] , Lager geben
almost as if this war is out of the public memory — it just doesn’t exist throw sb. [TrEU]
compelling incident [(InsIdEnt] , jmdn. aus der Fassung
in the same way. [kEm(pelIN] , Zwischenfall bringen
, zwingend;
You were an adviser to the Amazon series The Man in the High massacre [(mÄsEkE] vast [vA:st]
hier: fesselnd
, Massaker , groß, überwältigend
Castle. What exactly was your role?
drag sb. into sth.
I was involved in the first one and a half seasons. I didn’t advise them prominent you guys
[)drÄg (Intu]
on the final season. I read the scripts, then gave them input, and an- [(prQmInEnt] [(ju: )gaIz] US ifml.
, jmdn. in etw.
, führend , ihr
Fotos: XX
swered questions on Japanese culture and war memory. I think the hineinziehen

Kathleen Drew-Baker:
Mother of the Sea
A s a walk down through any
European city will tell you,
sushi is big business. And a fun-
aim to increase Japan’s national security. In recent years,
Japan has become less close to the US and more robust
in its relationship with China.
damental ingredient in Japan’s Abe won support for his policies with a fourth elec-
most famous dish is nori, the
seaweed wrap that keeps the in- tion victory, in 2017, and by 2019, could point to 73
gredients together. But without months of growth and unemployment had fallen below
the research of a British scientist, 2.5 per cent. Economic challenges have remained, how-
the sushi industry might not be ever, including deflation and an astronomically high
the worldwide phenomenon it is
national debt. Also, rising income inequality, over-
today. And such is her renown in
Japan that, on 14 April each year, worked employees, a falling birth rate and an ageing
Japanese nori farmers celebrate population seem to be intractable societal problems.
the “Mother of the Sea”, the name
given to Kathleen Drew-Baker. A summer postponed
In 1948, with Japan still recov-
The prime minister could also do nothing to prevent the
ering from the Second World War,
a series of typhoons destroyed coronavirus pandemic hitting the country. In response,
the country’s seaweed beds. As a Kathleeen Drew-Baker: British a state of emergency was called in April and billions
result, Japan’s nori industry, which scientist who gave sushi a boost were pumped into the economy. Summer 2020 was
dates back to the 17th century, supposed to be very different. Japan was to be the centre
collapsed. With little scientific Drew-Baker’s research and the
knowledge of how the plant grew, Japanese nori crisis crossed paths of the world’s attention, with Tokyo hosting the Olym-
the harvest was always unpredict- in 1951. The British scientist had pic Games from 23 July to 8 August. Japanese cuisine,
able, earning it the nickname of been studying red seaweed along anime, manga, video games and traditional culture were
“gamblers’ grass”. Japanese biol- the west coast of Britain and east all to be showcased. Superb stadiums, high-tech know-
ogists, however, were about to get coast of Ireland. She discovered
how and excellent public transport systems were to pro-
a well-timed boost when, in 1949, that scientific knowledge about
Drew-Baker published a ground- a specific alga was incorrect, and vide the infrastructural underpinning of this sporting
breaking academic paper. she learned how it developed in celebration. At the end of March, however, the Games
Born in 1901, Drew-Baker had seashells, eventually growing into were postponed for a year.
got a teaching position at the Uni- seaweed. Doubts about the long-term efficacy of Abenomics,
versity of Manchester after excel- A Japanese botanist read
the impact of the coronavirus and the postponed Olym-
ling at university in botany. She Drew-Baker’s 1949 article on the
spent two years teaching at the subject in the scientific journal pics make the country’s immediate future unclear. One
University of California, Berkeley. Nature and tried to reproduce thing is certain, however: Japan, still one of the most af-
In 1928, however, she married something similar with local fluent and technologically advanced nations on earth,
Fotos: privat; akg/Sience Source; iStockphoto, Frank Ramspott/iStock.com; World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo
academic Henry Wright-Baker, oyster shells. He succeeded and has overcome bigger problems since 1945.
and convention dictated that she saved the nori industry. At the
would no longer be paid for work- same time, he provided the scien-
ing. But such was her dedication tific basis for its worldwide popu- affluent host sth. [hEUst] robust
to her subject, phycology, that she larity as a key sushi ingredient in [(ÄfluEnt] , etw. ausrichten [rEU(bVst]
continued to work without pay. later decades. , wohlhabend , stark, stabil
intractable
anime [In(trÄktEb&l] state of emergency:
[(ÄnImeI] , hartnäckig, call a ~ [)steIt Ev
academic paper excel in sth. [Ik(sel In] red seaweed
, Anime, japanische schwer lösbar i(m§:dZEnsi]
[ÄkE)demIk (peIpE] , sich in etw. hervortun [)red (si:wi:d]
Zeichentrickfilmfigur , den Notstand
, wissenschaftliche , Rotalge national debt
gambler [(gÄmblE] ausrufen
Arbeit cuisine [kwI(zi:n] [)nÄS&nEl (det]
, Glücksspieler(in) renown [ri(naUn]
, Küche, Kochkunst , Staatsverschuldung underpinning
alga [(ÄlgE] , Ansehen
groundbreaking [)VndE(pInIN]
(pl. algae [(ÄldZi:]) efficacy [(efIkEsi] postpone sth.
[(graUnd)breIkIN] seashell [(si:Sel] , Untermauerung;
, Alge , Wirksamkeit [pEUst(pEUn]
, bahnbrechend , Muschelschale hier: Flankierung
, etw. verschieben
bed [bed]
harvest [(hA:vIst] seaweed wrap
, Beet
, Ernte [(si:wi:d rÄp]
boost [bu:st] , Umhüllung aus
ingredient [In(gri:diEnt]
, Ankurbelung, Impuls Algenblättern + PLUS
, Bestandteil, Zutat
botanist [(bQtEnIst] typhoon
nickname [(nIkneIm] Test your
, Botaniker(in) [taI(fu:n]
, Spitzname knowledge of
, Taifun
botany [(bQtEni] Japan in our
oyster [(OIstE] , Auster
, Botanik unpredictable PAUL WHEATLEY
exercise booklet
phycology [faI(kQlEdZi] [)Vnpri(dIktEb&l] Business Spotlight
dedication is a British-born writer spe-
Plus. To order, go
, Phykologie, , unvorhersagbar,
[)dedI(keIS&n] cializing in culture, travel,
Algenkunde unberechenbar to www.aboshop.
, Einsatz, Engagement business and history. Contact:
spotlight-verlag.de
pwspotlight@runbox.com

City life: dining
out in Tokyo
FAST FACTS:
JAPAN
Capital: Tokyo
Other main cities: Yokohama,

Osaka, Nagoya
Head of state: Emperor Naruhito
Head of government: Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe, since 2012
Population: 125.5 million Head of state: Emperor Naruhito

(2020 est.)
annual [(ÄnjuEl] , jährlich
Official language: none, but in
practice, it is Japanese est. (estimate) [(estImEt] , Schätzung
GDP (gross domestic product)
Currency: Japanese yen [)dZi: di: (pi:] , BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt)
($1 = JPY 108)
SUMMER 2020 WAS

trillion [(trIljEn] , Billion(en)
GDP: US $5.71 trillion, making it
the world’s third largest economy Sources:
l https://www.statista.com/statistics/263578/
(2019)

SUPPOSED TO BE VERY
gross-domestic-product-gdp-of-japan/
l https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/
GDP annual growth: 0.7% (2019) JPN/japan/unemployment-rate
l https://data.worldbank.org/country/japan
Unemployment: 2.41% (2019)

l https://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/
DIFFERENT IN JAPAN

japan/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-
Inflation: 0.48% (2019)
japan-2019.aspx
Japan: a land of
many islands
GOOD TO KNOW Taiwan, just 111 kilometres away time Japan has faced Olympic
⋅⋅
from Yonaguni-jima, can be seen on disappointment. Tokyo was due
⋅⋅
“Nippon”, or “Nihon”, is “Japan” in a good day. to hold the 1940 Olympics, but
Japanese, meaning “the origin of Almost four-fifths of Japan is war with China meant they were
⋅⋅
the sun”. mountainous. At 3,776 metres, rescheduled for Helsinki; the
⋅⋅
Japan uses a mixture of three Mount Fuji is its highest point. games were then cancelled due
⋅⋅
scripts in writing, one of which Japan is the tenth-most populous to the Second World War.
is Chinese kanji. The other two country in the world, but its Shinzo Abe is Japan’s
are hiragana (for native Japanese population is declining. It dropped 98th prime minister
words) and katakana (for foreign from 128 million in 2010 to 125.5 since 1885, when
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
words). million in 2020. Itō Hirobumi
Japan has around 4,000 islands. Japan’s Osaka and Tokyo came became its first.
The official northernmost point of fourth and seventh, respectively, in
Japan is on Etorofu Island, which is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s
controlled by Russia, and claimed 2019 Global Liveability Index of decline [di(klaIn] liveability
, zurückgehen [)lIvE(bIlEti]
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
by Japan. cities. , Bewohnbarkeit;
due: be ~ to do sth.
The country’s westernmost point The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are hier: Lebensqualität
[dju:] , etw. (lt. Kalen-
is Yonaguni-jima, an island 509 the first Summer Games to be der) tun sollen script [skrIpt]
kilometres from Okinawa and cancelled since the London face sth. [feIs]
, hier: Schrift
1,900 kilometres from Tokyo. Games in 1944. This is the second , etw. gegenüberstehen

LANGUAGE TEST
YOUR CAREER
Time to take control!

Die Zeit läuft Ihnen davon. Es fehlt an Ausrüstung und Material. Ständige E-Mails und
Telefonate erschweren die Konzentration. Hinzu kommen kurzfristig übertragene Aufgaben.
Zeit zu handeln! Testen Sie in den Übungen von DEBORAH CAPRAS Ihre sprachlichen
Kenntnisse, wenn es darum geht, die Dinge wieder unter Kontrolle zu bekommen.

EASY MEDIUM ADVANCED AUDIO
Don’t lose control:

manage your time
THE SITUATION
Sam Swift recently hired a coach to help her learn
how to deal more effectively with stressful situ-
ations in the workplace. Her coach, Julia Walter,
DEBORAH CAPRAS has noticed that Sam often talks about having
is a freelance author, trainer very little control over what happens at work. We
and corporate communications look at the tools and techniques Julia uses to help
specialist. She’s the author of
Sam take back control and, ultimately, reduce her
Small Talk, published by Col-
lins. Contact: deborahcapras@ feelings of stress.
wise-words.com
28 Business Spotlight 5/2020 LANGUAGE TEST

Stay focused:
work smarter 2. The work environment (7 points)
Julia suggests that Sam should take control

of where and when she works. Sam discusses
some ideas with her manager, Tom Waits. The
words in bold are n ot where they should be.
Put them where they belong.
Tom: How do you feel about the new offices,

Sam?
Sam: They’re very modern. I like the bright
colours — and the kitchens.
Tom: Me, too. I’m glad to hear that.
Sam: But I’m not so happy that I don’t have
my own (A) trial any
more.
Tom: Really? It made financial sense to ask
the (B) access to share
desks. We decided to introduce
1. Your time (8 points) (C) working because
many people need to be in the office
Here are some of Sam’s notes on the topic of only two or three days a week.
time management from her coaching sessions Sam: And that’s why I’d like to ask you
with Julia. Rearrange the letters to create the something.
missing words. The first letter is in the correct Tom: OK.
place. Sam: Would remote (D)
workspace be possible for me on the
A. Divide your time for focused work into days when I don’t have any team or
(ckuhsn) of no client meetings? Sometimes, I need to
more than 90 minutes. focus on my writing. I know I will be
able to do this better from home.
B. Take a longer Tom: It’s an interesting idea, but we’ll have
(berka) when you feel you cannot focus any to think about it.
more. Sam: I have an excellent internet
C. Identify and manage potential (E) workforce at
(diacnsrtstio) better. home. And I already have a company
laptop that gives me direct
D. Give up your bad
(F) connection to the
(hitsba), such as checking your phone every
company server.
few minutes!
Tom: Maybe we could start a(n)
E. Turn off the (snodu) (G) hot-desking
notifications on your phone during focused next month. I’ll talk to HR.
work.
Illustrationen: Vectorios2016/iStock.com; Foto: privat
F. Create realistic
(tinelisme) for your projects. ➻
G. Set (deealidsn) for DEEP WORK
the most important tasks and activities. Constant emails, messages and tweets stop us from producing
“deep work”, which is the best kind of intellectual work, argues
H. Incorporate a Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in
(bffrue) for key tasks, so you have extra time a Distracted World. Multitasking is not the best way to do this,
he says. Instead, we should do one thing at a time. Switching,
if things don’t go as planned.
even very briefly, to something else, such as checking emails, in
the middle of writing something can break our concentration and
harm the quality of our work.
LANGUAGE TEST 5/2020 Business Spotlight 29

➻
SAYING NO TO A MANAGER
4. Your work (7 points)
If your boss is giving you too much work, try to find out which
task is more important (“Does this have priority over my other
projects?”). If you have to say no to something, explain that this Whenever possible, Julia advises Sam to say
is because you are busy, not because you are being difficult no to requests for things that she really can’t
(“I’m working on the budget now, but I could do it next Monday. manage — and yes to things that she enjoys
Would that work?”). It’s important to show that you are good
doing or that might help further her career. De-
at planning your work in a way that helps your boss and your
team, but also yourself. cide whether the following expressions can be
used to say you are too busy or not too busy.
Too Not
busy too busy
3. Talkative people (8 points)
A. I’m afraid I can’t right now.
Sam learns phrases to control conversations — B. I’m available this afternoon.
and to end them politely. Rearrange the words C. I’m completely slammed.
to create phrases she could use in meetings or D. I’m drowning in work.
on the phone. The first and last words are in E. I’m free at the moment.
the correct place. F. I’m snowed under.
G. I’m tied up with another
A. Explaining your schedule: project.
I / boss / meeting / five / be / in / to / a / my /
in / have / with / minutes.

.
B. Interrupting politely:
Sorry, / I / in / could / come / just / there? 5. Your career (8 points)
.
C. Summarizing: Julia suggests that Sam could do even more
Let / what / been / sum / talking / up / me / to control the direction of her career. Choose
we’ve / about. the correct option to complete each statement
from her action plan.
.
D. Signalling the end of a conversation: A. Take responsibility / responsible for your
So, / is / we / else / that / right / to / discuss / own career.
anything / need / there / now? B. Increase your visibility / vision with manage-
ment.
. C. Look at one or more possible career passages /
Controlling talkative people:
E. pathways.
I’m / off / I’ll / you / to / cut / afraid / have / there. D. Understand which skill kits / sets are neces-
. sary for your goals.
F. Giving other people a chance to speak: E. Identify any skills cracks / gaps that may pre-
Did / anything / to / you / this / add / on / vent you from getting where you want to be.
want / topic? F. Ask for regular appraisals / performance
from managers and colleagues.
. G. Check with your manager regularly whether
G. Controlling the conversation: you are on the right track / trail.
Can / back / that / you / to / I / on / come / H. If you feel that you are not a good fit / fixture
another / time? for your current company, look outside the
. organization.
H. Ending positively:
It’s / talking / great / been / to / you.
.

6. Negative thoughts (6 points)
Controlling our emotions is a big part of get-

ting our work done well and creating good
working relationships. Julia looks at ways to
help Sam discover the reasons for her negative
emotions about work and colleagues. Choose
the correct verb from the box to complete each
extract from their discussions.
bully | clarify | clear | escalate | handle | jump
A.
Sam: What worries me is that, in a recent
email, my boss was very negative about
my work. I don’t really understand why.
Julia: You could ask him to
his position.
B.
Sam: We’re getting a new colleague next
week. She’ll probably get the interest-
ing work.
Julia: I don’t think you should
to conclusions. Why do you think that?
C.
Sam: I’m concerned about the level of con-
flict between my colleagues. To tell you
the truth, it annoys me how they don’t
do their work on time.
Julia: Is there a way that you can
things up with them?
D.
Sam: One colleague often criticizes me in
front of the team. To be honest, it makes
me feel anxious.
Julia: Is it possible that they are trying to
you? This is serious if
you do feel that.
Feeling down? E.
Be honest Sam: I’m probably just feeling frustrated.
Can I ask how you would
this situation?
➻ Julia: Let’s see if we can find a solution
DON’T FAKE IT! together.
Illustration: Vectorios2016/iStock.com
At work, both positive and negative emotions are triggered all

the time. Studies suggest that it’s generally not a good idea to F.
fake positive feelings. Instead, you should actively try to find Sam: I’m not sure what the best action would
reasons to feel positive. According to a survey in the Journal be. This worries me.
of Applied Psychology (“Are Co-workers Getting into the
Act?”), this approach could help you to feel genuinely better. Julia: Would it help to the
People who look for positives often feel they are more able to issue to someone in HR?
reach their goals, the researchers say.
LANGUAGE TEST 5/2020 Business Spotlight 31

7. Work-life balance (6 points)
Julia explains why it is important for Sam to

take time off from work. Match the terms to
ANSWERS
the topics. Time to take control! (Zeit, das Heft mehr wissen, wo einem der Kopf
in die Hand zu nehmen!) steht)
D. too busy (be drowning in work
1. Your time
A. annual leave A. chunks = Blöcke
ifml. = an Arbeit ersticken)
E. not too busy
B. downtime B. break = Pause F. too busy (be snowed under
C. flexitime C. distractions = Ablenkungen = mit reichlich Arbeit einge-
D. habits = Gewohnheiten deckt sein)
D. overtime E. sound (sound notification G. too busy (be tied up with sth.
E. sabbatical = Audiobenachrichtigung) = durch etw. verhindert sein)
F. timelines = Zeitrahmen
F. workload G. deadlines = Fristen 5. Your career
H. buffer = Puffer A. responsibility (take responsibility
for sth. = für etw. die
1. This system allows you to organize your work- 2. The work environment Verantwortung übernehmen)
ing hours to suit you. You can work at the time A. workspace = Arbeitsplatz B. visibility = Sichtbarkeit;
B. workforce = Belegschaft hier: Präsenz
of day when you feel you are at your best. C. hot-desking = Hotdesking C. pathways (career pathway
2. Some companies allow their employees to (Arbeitsmodell, bei dem = Karrierepfad, Berufsweg)
take longer periods of time off work to broad- Mitarbeiter an einem gerade D. sets (skill set = (Art von)
freien Schreibtisch arbeiten) Kompetenzen)
en their horizons. People often use this time to D. working (remote working E. gaps = Lücken, Defizite
travel, study or volunteer. = Telearbeit, Homeoffice) F. appraisals
E. connection = Leistungsbeurteilungen
3. Every year, you should make sure that you F. access = Zugang G. track (be on the right track
take time off. In the EU and the UK, many peo- G. trial = Versuch, Testlauf = auf der richtigen Spur /
ple are allowed to take more than 30 days off dem richtigen Weg sein)
3. Talkative people H. fit (be a good fit for sth.
each year. In the US, it’s generally much less. A. I have to be in a meeting with my = für etw. gut geeignet sein,
boss in five minutes. gut zu etw. passen)
4. Every day, you should plan regular breaks at B. Sorry, could I just come in there?
work. Use the time to do something complete- C. Let me sum up what we’ve been 6. Negative thoughts
talking about. A. clarify = erläutern, klarstellen
ly different, such as going for a walk. Don’t D. So, is there anything else that we B. jump (jump to a conclusion =
work all day without a break. need to discuss right now? vorschnell einen Schluss ziehen)
5. Try to keep to your normal working hours. E. I’m afraid I’ll have to cut you off C. clear (clear sth. up with sb.
there. = etw. mit jmdm. klären)
Starting very early in the morning and work- F. Did you want to add anything on D. bully = mobben, schikanieren
ing late at night is not healthy. It’s not possible this topic? E. handle = handhaben
G. Can I come back to you on that F. escalate (escalate sth. to sb.
to do this for long periods of time. another time? = etw. an jmdn. (in einer höheren
6. You need to take control of this if you want to H. It’s been great talking to you. Position) weiterleiten)
have a less stressful job. Learn to say no if it 4. Your work 7. Work-life balance
gets too heavy. A. too busy A–3 (Jahresurlaub); B–4 (Pause);
B. not too busy C–1 (flexible Arbeitszeit, Gleitzeit);
A– ; B– ; C– ; D– ; E– ; F– C. too busy (be slammed (with D–5 (Überstunden); E–2 (Sabbatical,
work) ifml. = (vor Arbeit) nicht Sabbatjahr); F–6 (Arbeitspensum)
➻ ➻
TOP TIP FOR MORE INFORMATION
Consult an HR professional in your company if your need to be •O
ur Skill Up! booklets offer vocabulary from key areas of everyday business life.
in control of events or situations is causing you too much stress. The second bundle is now available (see page 53).
If you start suffering from ill health, including such symptoms as
sleeplessness or constant fatigue, you should consider seeing a
doctor.
HOW DID
YOU DO?
40–50 30–39 18–29 Up to 17
Illustration; Vectorios2016/iStock.com
Note: In order to be able Excellent! Well done! Good Could do better

to compare your language Great job! You have an You did very well. Go back Not bad. To improve your Which of the areas presented
knowledge across different excellent grasp of the and look at the exercises chances of learning the new here are most relevant for
areas of business English, language for this topic. Are where you didn’t get 100 per vocabulary, try the test again you and your work? Focus
all Business Spotlight tests you in control of your work, cent and make a note of the tomorrow — and the day on one or two exercises
have a maximum possible too? new vocabulary. after. first. Learn the vocabulary
score of 50 points. well before you move on to
another topic.

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BUSINESS SKILLS
CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS
Challenge your customers!

Eine gute Beziehung zu Kunden aufrechtzuerhalten und neu aufzubauen, stellt für Unternehmen in der
augenblicklichen Lage eine besonders große Herausforderung dar. BOB DIGNEN befasst sich mit alternativen
Formen der Kommunikation, um mit Kunden Kontakt aufzunehmen und im Gespräch zu bleiben.
ADVANCED AUDIO PLUS
I
f you ask people what their role is in with the triumphant revealing of one’s alienate sb. [(eIliEneIt]
their organization, they will usually own solutions. Then comes agreement on , hier: jmdn. verstimmen
tell you their job title and give a short the deal — often reached with the help of array [E(reI] , Spektrum
description of their main responsibil- hectic last-minute concessions. bewildering [bi(wIldErIN]
ities. You will seldom hear them say: Increasingly, however, such an ap- , verwirrend
“My fundamental responsibility is to proach is problematic. Too often, the concession [kEn(seS&n]
delight my customers.” relationship phase focuses more on pro- , Entgegenkommen
The business of selling has tradi- jecting and defending the expertise of the core competence
[)kO: (kQmpEtEns]
tionally been seen as the responsibility seller than expressing any real interest in
, Kernkompetenz
of those who work in the sales depart- the customer. Also, the extended nature of
cross-functional
ment. Increasingly, however, discussions the diagnostic process, with lots of open [)krQs (fVNkS&nEl]
with customers require the expertise of questions, is likely to be a frustrating and , funktions-, abteilungs-
many people across an organization, of- time-consuming experience for the cus- übergreifend
ten in cross-functional customer teams. tomer, particularly if other potential sup- expertise [)eksp§:(ti:z]
, Sachkompetenz
The ability to handle sales-driven con- pliers have spent hours asking the same
versations with customers is now a core questions. feature [(fi:tSE]
, Merkmal, Funktion
competence for far more people than was Then there is the presentation of a
traditionally the case. bewildering array of features and benefits overwhelm sb.
[)EUvE(welm]
In this article, we look at modern sales — and this can overwhelm and alienate , jmdn. überfordern
conversations that will help with both ex- many customers. And those last-minute
reveal sth. [ri(vi:&l]
isting and potential new customers. They concessions on price? All too often, they , etw. enthüllen, aufzeigen
demand a bold and more challenging can leave a bad taste in one’s mouth. After settle on sth. [(set&l Qn]
approach to customers than the needs- all, if this was the price you were prepared , sich auf etw. einigen
based, question-based approaches of the to settle on, why did you just spend the stakeholder
past. last three hours claiming that something [(steIk)hEUldE]
, Interessengruppe
The principles behind these conversa- else was your best offer?
tions will also be highly relevant to your
daily interactions with team colleagues
and organizational stakeholders, who
are other kinds of customers. Indeed, the Outdated method? A traditional sales conversation
principles will be useful in your interac-
tions with anybody you care about, pro- Phase Tactic
fessionally or personally. Build relationship Develop confidence and trust in the seller’s expertise
Diagnose needs Ask questions to understand the customer’s needs and pain
1. Traditional sales conversations points
Traditional customer sales training often
Illustration: axllll/iStock.com
uses a four-step approach to structuring

Provide solutions Offer one’s own products/services, with a focus on key features
conversations with potential new cus- Sign deal Use last-minute price concessions to reach a deal
tomers (see table). It begins with a focus
expertise [)eksp§:(ti:z] feature [(fi:tSE] concession [kEn(seS&n]
on the seller’s expertise, moves on to a di- , Sachkompetenz , Merkmal, Funktion , Entgegenkommen
agnostic questioning process and finishes
34 Business Spotlight 5/2020 BUSINESS SKILLS

The ability to
handle sales-driven
conversations is now
a core competence
Fotos: XX
BUSINESS SKILLS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 35

2. A modern sales approach Don’t be
As a result of the weaknesses of traditional
➻ Exploring underlying motivations.
The role that we have only partly ex- afraid to open
sales conversations, a new set of principles
is developing that is far more dynamic and
presses the person we want to be.
Open up about your underlying mo-
up and reveal
much more assertive — and that aims to
deliver far greater value to the customer.
tivations and sense of where you want
to go in life. Engage partners in discus-
emotions
sions about your ambitions and your
a) Moving from credibility to intimacy deeper vision of personal success.
Most people would agree that building ➻ Talking about your life out-
trust is a key component of sales conver- side work. What matters most
sations. What this means for many sales to people is seldom their pro-
professionals is that they promote their fessional identity. People’s hob-
competence and track record, aiming to bies, interests, travel experiences and
build “credibility-based” trust with cus- favourite films often speak volumes
tomers. Yet, this approach is a limited one: about the passions that drive their
if you are honest, you know that many of thinking and behaviour.
your competitors will have similar lev- ➻ Enquiring to learn. You have three
els of technical mastery. And focusing options in life: to talk at people, to sit
on your credibility can easily be seen as in silence or to ask questions. Asking
self-marketing or even arrogance. In con- genuine questions (as opposed to
trast, developing intimacy and a more standard ones) demonstrates true
emotionally driven connection can create curiosity and interest, and it encour-
a deeper bond with your customers. This ages others to reveal information that
can mark you out as an individual with can help to increase intimacy.
whom people genuinely wish to spend ➻ Enriching others’ experience. A
time and do business. Creating a deeper course participant recently told me anxiety [ÄN(zaIEti] mark sb. out as sb./sth.
connection involves the revelation and that his goal in life was to walk away , Besorgnis [)mA:k (aUt Äz]
discussion of feelings and values, some- from every conversation leaving the , jmdn. als jmdn./etw.
assertive
hervorstechen lassen
thing that can be particularly challenging other person happier than they were [E(s§:tIv]
for those who are normally data-driven. at the start of the exchange. It’s a great , durchsetzungsstark; pay off [)peI (Qf]
hier: affirmativ, dem , sich bezahlt machen
You can develop professional intimacy ambition. You may not get there anderen zugewandt
puncture sth.
with customers by integrating the follow- every time, but the effort will be felt, bond [bQnd] [(pVNktSE]
ing “I-dimensions” into your conversa- and will pay off in the long term. , Bindung, Beziehung , etw. durchstechen;
tions. (For examples of the language you hier: etw. entzaubern
credibility
could use, see page 41.) b) Becoming a challenger [)kredE(bIlEti] revelation
, Glaubwürdigkeit
➻ Explaining challenges openly. You The traditional approach to new custom- [)revE(leIS&n]
, Enthüllung, Offenlegung
should puncture your superhumanly ers is to spend time discovering their drive sth. [draIv]
, hier: etw. bestimmen speak volumes
competent image and talk openly and underlying needs by asking smart ques- [)spi:k (vQlju:mz]
honestly about the challenges that tions. The aim is to get to the point that engage sb.
, Bände sprechen
[In(geIdZ]
make it difficult for you to sleep at you could say, “So, for you, it’s important , jmdn. einbinden talk at sb. [(tO:k Ät]
night: lack of resources, a heavy work- that…”, and the customer would reply, , auf jmdn. einreden
enrich sth. [In(rItS]
load, a demanding leader, etc. “Yes, that’s exactly right”. technical mastery
Illustrationen: axllll, bgblue/iStock.com
, etw. bereichern
➻ Exposing fears and weaknesses. You The fundamental flaw with this ap- expose sth. [Ik(spEUz]
[)teknIk&l (mA:stEri]
, fachliche Kompetenz
can remain confident of success at the proach is that you’re asking the potential , etw. offenlegen
same time as revealing authentic hu- customer the exact same questions that track record
flaw [flO:]
[(trÄk )rekO:d]
man emotions of concern, anxiety and every other supplier is asking. And you , Fehler, Schwachstelle
, Erfolgsbilanz
worry about your ability to deliver. end up replaying to them what they al- genuinely
workload [(w§:klEUd]
Hiding these fears may even reduce ready know. Where’s the intelligence and [(dZenjuInli]
, Arbeitspensum,
, wirklich
your credibility. added value in that? -belastung

Challenge
Conversations with a new customer
should not be about the status quo and
clinging to their old ways to new in-
sights and alternative options based traditional
confirming the way that the customer
already sees their world. Instead, they
on our broader knowledge of their
sector and business. As a challenger thinki ng
should be about “migrating” the customer
towards your enriched view of the world,
which, once shared, will help to trigger
consultant, we need to discuss with
customers three key issues that in-
volve both opportunities and costs:
patterns!
new opportunities to collaborate. This ● Emerging change. We can advise
means that we need to do two things in customers on developing trends
our conversations with customers. First, that they have not considered: new
we need to challenge traditional thinking technologies, regulatory changes,
patterns and bring new, and unconsid- likely mergers, etc.
ered, needs to the customer’s attention. ● Avoided problems. We can expose
Here, we are offering a form of commer- weaknesses in a customer’s current
cial consultancy. Second, we need to ex- operations and reveal the problems adopt sth. [E(dQpt] migrate sb. towards sth.
plore with customers solutions that could and costs that have been caused by , etw. annehmen [maI(greIt tE)wO:dz]
align to your own organization’s capabili- workaround solutions. ifml. , hier: jmdn. zu
align to sb./sth. [E(laIn tu]
etw. hin navigieren
ty to deliver. This means adopting a form ● Unseen needs. We can explore un- , auf jmdn./etw. ausge-
richtet sein, auf einer Linie outcome [(aUtkVm]
of challenger role and having a new type derlying needs that a customer has
mit jmdm./etw. sein , Ergebnis
of assertive conversation, during which simply never seen. One excellent
assumption [E(sVmpS&n] perceived [pE(si:vd]
you tell people what they don’t already example, from history, was demon- , Annahme , wahrgenommen
know, explore what they didn’t know that strating to buyers the waste of mon-
bias [(baIEs] predictable
they needed and help them to buy into a ey when purchasing CDs. You buy , Voreingenommenheit; [pri(dIktEb&l]
new vision. 12 tracks and may like only three hier auch: Vorliebe , vorhersagbar
To act as an effective “challenger con- of the songs. So why not download buy into sth. prospective
sultant”, you need to engage a little with only the three you like at a fraction [)baI (Intu] ifml. [prE(spektIv]
, etw. akzeptieren , künftig, potenziell
behavioural psychology. You need to un- of the cost and have the ability to
cling to sth. [(klIN tu] purchase sth.
derstand how customers think, and what listen to these songs anywhere and
, an etw. festhalten [(p§:tSEs]
binds them to their status quo and makes anytime? That was the message of , etw. kaufen
confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m]
them reluctant to engage with things that iTunes. , etw. bestätigen reluctant [ri(lVktEnt]
are new and unfamiliar — namely, you as a , zögerlich
embrace sth. [Im(breIs]
person, your insights and your solutions. ➻ Bias 2: Avoidance of effort. Even if , etw. annehmen tangible [(tÄndZEb&l]
Successful challengers also engage customers understand the oppor- emerging [i(m§:dZIN]
, greifbar
with a number of specific and predicta- tunities that your ideas, services or , entstehend, sich thinking pattern
ble psychological biases that customers products represent, they may be slow abzeichnend [(TINkIN )pÄt&n]
, Denkmuster
tend to have. to embrace them because of the effort engage with sth.
involved in engaging with new solu- [In(geIdZ wID] track [trÄk]
, sich mit etw. befassen; , (Musik-)Stück, Titel
➻ Bias 1: A preference for stability. tions: upfront investment, modifica- auch: sich auf etw.
trigger sth. [(trIgE]
Humans seem to have an inbuilt pref- tion of processes, conversations with einlassen
, etw. auslösen
erence for stability and structure and a sceptical internal stakeholders, etc. At fraction [(frÄkS&n]
upfront
natural antipathy to forms of change this point, you probably need to “get , Bruchteil
[)Vp(frVnt] ifml.
with uncertain outcomes. To move financial” and confirm the cost of not highlight sth. , direkt, im Vorfeld
customers into a position where changing alongside the tangible ben- [(haIlaIt]
vital [(vaIt&l]
, etw. hervorheben
they are really ready to consider new efits of changing. Remember that the , unerlässlich
inbuilt [(InbIlt]
solutions, it is vital to challenge and psychology of perceived loss is actual- , hier: naturgegeben
ways [weIz]
destabilize their current assump- ly stronger than that of perceived gain. , hier: Gewohnheiten
insight [(InsaIt]
tions and to replace old beliefs with As a result, highlighting the cost of not , Einblick, Erkenntnis
workaround solution
[(w§:kE)raUnd
new possibilities. We need to intro- changing can be more effective than
merger [(m§:dZE] sE)lu:S&n]
duce prospective clients who are highlighting the gains of change. , Fusion , Not-, Zwischenlösung

➻ Bias 3: Feature overload. One of the customer’s need to have their own anticipation
most common reasons that custom- sales conversations. To do this, you [Än)tIsI(peIS&n]
ers give for not buying a product or must clarify the profile of the relevant , Erwartung, Vorgefühl
service is the confusion caused by the stakeholders (their roles and decision assured: be ~ [E(SO:d]
, sichergestellt sein
presentation of too many functionali- drivers), the relationship of your cus-
ties or features. If your solution is too tomer to these stakeholders (their business acumen
[(bIznEs )ÄkjUmEn]
detailed or too complex, you risk your level of credibility and access), avail- , unternehmerische
customer experiencing “listening able budgets, the degree of urgency Fähigkeit(en)
fatigue” and may end up positioning and likely timing of a decision. catalyse sth. [(kÄtElaIz]
yourself out of the deal: “Why should ➻ Tailor your messages, but not too , etw. katalysieren;
hier: beschleunigen
I pay for all these features when I need much. When looking to gain the ap-
only three of them and I can buy these proval of a group of decision makers, clarify sth. [(klÄrEfaI]
, etw. klarstellen
at 75 per cent of the price from some- a careful balance has to be struck. On
C-suite [(si: swi:t]
one else?” The solution is to focus on the one hand, it can be important
, Vorstandsebene
the key differentiators: what is par- to customize messages to different
customize sth. to sb.
ticularly valuable to your clients and stakeholders. For example, some will [(kVstEmaIz tu]
is different from that which is offered think more about quality, some about , etw. auf jmdn. zuschneiden
by the competition? price, others about advanced func- differentiator
tionality. But it is also important not [)dIfE(renSieItE] , Unter-
scheidungsmerkmal
➻ ias 4: Fear of failure. As sports pro-
B to fragment your message too much,
fessionals know, fear of failure is one as this may reinforce already high driver [(draIvE]
, Antriebsfaktor
of the greatest barriers to high perfor- levels of fragmentation between in-
mance. This is also so when choosing ternal stakeholders, which may make evidence [(evIdEns]
, Beleg(e)
to buy or engage with a new service it impossible to achieve a consensus
fast-track sth.
or product. The fear of something not to buy. You need to create a consistent [)fA:st (trÄk]
succeeding, and the anticipation of message around core strategic busi- , etw. beschleunigen
regret or blame, can result in a nega- ness objectives. fatigue [fE(ti:g]
tive decision. And this fear of failure ➻ Speak the language of senior exec- , Ermüdung, Verdruss
can outweigh the understanding of utives. When speaking to senior ex- objective [Eb(dZektIv]
the advantages that the new solu- ecutives, many people struggle to sell , Ziel(setzung)
tion might bring. Providing evidence because they use the wrong language. outweigh sth. [)aUt(weI]
of success with data — for example, They speak their own language — of , gegenüber etw. über-
wiegen
cases of other customers who did the product and service, of finance or IT
overload [(EUvElEUd]
same thing or testimonials — can be — when they should be using the lan-
, Überlastung,
vital in persuading your client. guage and priorities of senior manage- Überfrachtung
ment. This means talking about share- reinforce sth. [)ri:In(fO:s]
c) Catalysing a decision holder value, market share, cash flow, , etw. verstärken
It is frustrating for those negotiating with etc. For challenger consultants to be senior executive
new customers to be told at the end of truly credible with senior executives, [)si:niE Ig(zekjUtIv]
, obere Führungskraft
the meeting: “I need to take this decision they need to develop the necessary
back to my boss for approval.” Decision- business acumen to discuss macro- sign-off [(saIn Qf]
, hier: Absegnung
making processes in modern organiza- economics, the impact of digitaliza-
tions are often complex and unclear. To tion, supply-chain complexities, fi- supply chain
[sE(plaI tSeIn]
fast-track decisions and get your sale nancial modelling or operations, etc. , Lieferkette
done, it’s important to pay attention to And they need to bring insights and tailor sth. [(teIlE]
three requirements: added value to these conversations , etw. individuell anpassen
➻ Support your customer. If your di- beyond what is already known by the testimonial
rect customer has to get an internal C-suite. If you do this, your position at [)testI(mEUniEl]
, Referenz
sign-off, it is vital to support your the customer table is assured.

Be decisive
when pricing
comes under
pressure
d) Being decisive on pricing requires more conversations, during which you anchoring
In addition to being challenging and powerful with develop increased understanding of your client [(ÄNkErIN]
, Verankerung;
customers during the early and mid-phases of the and establish opportunities for “cross-selling”. As hier: Festlegung eines
sales cycle, it is essential to be decisive at the close, cross-selling is now integral to most customer con- Ausgangspreises
when pricing comes under pressure and concessions versations, you should look out for opportunities for cross-selling
become a focus. (On page 41, you can find useful additional revenue from the outset. There are three [)krQs (selIN]
, Querverkauf, Verkauf
phrases to use when price pressure is applied by the main types of cross-selling techniques and conver- über bereits bestehende
customer.) sations to consider. Kundenkontakte
An important aspect of price negotiations is that decisive
of “anchoring”. This describes the practice of stating a a) Connecting an existing customer to one of your [di(saIsIv]
, entschieden, bestimmt
figure early in a negotiation in order to set a reference internal colleagues
point that is generally accepted and is also influential Challenges: There are many challenges in setting up from the outset
[)frQm Di (aUtset]
in determining the number that is finally agreed on. such conversations. Your internal colleagues may not , von Anfang an
For example, if you wish to sell for a price of 12 and view your customer as a priority or may not treat
give sth. away
propose 15 to your client, you are more likely to agree them with the care you expect. Also, your customer [)gIv E(weI]
Illustration: HBHR/Shutterstock.com
on 12 than if you start at 13. Remember: If you give may not see why they should agree to have lunch , etw. preisgeben
away your margins at the beginning of the deal, they with your colleague when they are already busy. margin [(mA:dZIn]
may be impossible to recover. Tips to make it happen: Make clear the costs of , Gewinnspanne
not seeing your colleague, together with the poten- technique [tek(ni:k]
3. Developing customer relationships tial benefits. Integrate the meeting into an already , [wg. Aussprache]
Acquiring a new customer is, of course, only the start. planned customer visit to avoid setting up a new
Maintaining and developing customer relationships appointment.

b) Connecting yourself to a new cus- 1. offer to compensate
tomer in the customer’s organiza- 2. accept responsibility
tion via your existing customer 3. say sorry
Challenges: The challenges here are for 4. explain why the problem occurred
your current customer. You may fail when 5. express regret
introduced to their colleague, which
Have honest
might damage your customer’s reputa- In the end, mature customers worry less
tion. Also, it looks very much like you try- about problems happening. They know as
conversations
ing to achieve more sales on the basis of well as anyone that, in a complex world,
others’ priorities. things can go wrong. What is important
about what
Tips to make it happen: Emphasize the is to have open and honest conversations
opportunity for your existing customer about what went wrong, demonstrate
went wrong
to look good as the relationship broker. an attitude of accountability and put in
Make clear the costs of not meeting the place a reasonable solution which is pro-
new customer alongside clear potential portionate to the problem and can give
benefits. your customer confidence that it won’t
happen again.
c) Connecting an internal colleague to And remember: Problems also provide
a new customer in the customer’s or- opportunities. They give you the chance
ganization via your existing customer to demonstrate in your customer con-
Challenges: Putting two strangers to- versations your value proposition more
gether brings the greatest potential risks. strongly than anywhere else. This is not to
The chemistry between them may not say that we should wish for problems. But
work. Goals may not match. Expertise problems are not necessarily as problem-
levels may differ. In the end, it may re- atic as we often believe.
flect badly both on you and your existing
customer.
Tips to make it happen: Test the chemis- accountability choreography
[E)kaUntE(bIlEti] [)kQri(QgrEfi]
try and interest with a casual and informal
, Verantwortung , [wg. Aussprache]
encounter over lunch, at which you and
broker (sth.) emphasize sth.
your customer can broker the opportu- [(brEUkE] [(emfEsaIz]
nity. Emphasize the importance of open , Makler(in), Vermitt- , etw. betonen
approaches to networking with some sto- ler(in); etw. vermitteln;
encounter [In(kaUntE]
hier: ausloten
rytelling of your own about how great op- , Begegnung,
casual Zusammenkunft
portunities arise from chance encounters.
[(kÄZuEl]
indicate sth. [(IndIkeIt]
, zwanglos, informell
, auf etw. schließen lassen
4. “Sorry” shouldn’t be the chance [tSA:ns]
hardest word , zufällig
mature [mE(tSUE]
, reif; hier: erfahren
Working successfully with customers
also means having conversations to dis-
cuss the occasions when you didn’t de-
Illustration: axllll/iStock.com; Foto: privat
liver the promised level of service. Some

research indicates that apologies that fol-
low a specific “story choreography” have
a better impact than those that don’t. This
choreography has five steps that should BOB DIGNEN
is a director of York Associates
be used in the following sequence to have (www.york-associates.co.uk) and author
maximum impact. (For examples of the of many business English books. Con-
language you can use, see page 41.) tact: bob.dignen@york-associates.co.uk

Language reference
Here are some examples of the language you can use during your customer conversations.
Moving from credibility Speaking the language of senior

⋅⋅I’m having lunch with Mike appreciate sth.
⋅⋅
to intimacy executives next Monday. Would you like [E(pri:SieIt]
, etw. schätzen
⋅⋅
Explaining challenges openly In strategic terms, this can help to join us?
⋅⋅
One of my biggest challenges at you to… Connecting yourself to a new CFO (chief financial
officer) [)si: ef (EU]
the moment is to… If we speak about the financial customer in the customer’s , Finanzchef(in)
⋅⋅
Exposing fears and weaknesses metrics, this is a great way to… organization via your existing
face sth. [feIs]
⋅⋅
I’m very worried that… customer , etw. gegenüberstehen
Exploring underlying motiva- Being decisive on pricing Could you set up a meeting for inconvenience
⋅⋅
tions 1. When a lower price is me with your colleague in sales? [)InkEn(vi:niEns]
What really motivates me is… requested I think they could also benefit , Unannehmlichkeit(en)
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
Talking about your life outside Acknowledging from our solutions. item [(aItEm]
, Artikel
⋅⋅
work I understand that pricing is very I think sales would really appre-
One of my passions in life is… important to you. ciate some of the benefits we metric [(metrIk]
, Kennzahl
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
Enquiring to learn Postponing can offer.
So what is your experience of… ? I’d like to deal with that in a mo- Connecting an internal postpone sth.
[pEUst(pEUn]
⋅⋅
Enriching others’ experience ment, after discussing… colleague to a new customer in , etw. verschieben
⋅⋅
It was a real pleasure talking to Confirming the customer’s organization via refund sth. [ri(fVnd]
⋅⋅
you. Let’s talk again soon. Would that be OK with you? your existing customer , etw. rückerstatten
Could we organize a meeting unreservedly
Becoming a challenger 2. After postponement is agreed between your salespeople and [)Vnri(z§:vIdli]
, vorbehaltlos,
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
Highlighting unconsidered Deepening and broadening my colleague Mike?
uneingeschränkt
⋅⋅
trends So, can we take a look at … for a How could we get these two to-
One important development in moment? gether? I think they have a lot to
⋅⋅
your area is… Contrasting and comparing talk about.
Identifying weaknesses in How important is this feature in
⋅⋅
current operations relation to the price topic? Apologizing effectively
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅⋅
One challenge you are facing is… Clarifying Offering to compensate
⋅⋅
Exploring underlying needs What makes price so important I would be happy to propose…
⋅⋅
Actually, your main issue seems to you? We would like to refund…
⋅⋅⋅⋅
to be… and not… Is that right? Can you explain a little more Accepting responsibility
⋅⋅
Highlighting the cost of inaction why… ? We are fully at fault with…
If you don’t take action now, We accept full responsibility
this could be more costly later. 3. Finalize with concessions for…
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅⋅
Focussing on key differentiators Giving away lower value item Saying sorry
What really makes our offer dif- Rather than looking at price, I Please accept my apologies for…
ferent is... would be happy to offer… We apologize unreservedly
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
Providing evidence of success Rejecting for…
We have lots of experience of I’m sorry, but that’s not possible Explaining why the problem
⋅⋅⋅⋅
this working with other clients because... has occurred
⋅⋅
and can provide testimonials. Giving and getting The issue arose because…
If we agree to…, could you… ? The problem was caused by…
⋅⋅⋅⋅
Catalysing a decision [link to something valuable for Expressing regret
⋅⋅
Supporting your customer you] I’m very sorry that…
So, who is actually involved in We very much regret any incon-
⋅⋅
the buying decision? Developing customer venience that you have experi- AUDIO + PLUS
What do you feel their main in- relationships enced. You can try our
terests and priorities are? Connecting an existing exercises on this
topic on Business
⋅⋅
Tailoring your messages customer to one of your internal Spotlight Audio
⋅⋅
So, when we speak to the CFO, colleagues as well as in our
exercise booklet,
⋅⋅
we should focus on… Could I introduce you to my Business Spotlight
There is a lot of common inter- colleague Mike over lunch next Plus. To order, go
to www.aboshop.
est around… week? He has a few ideas for spotlight-verlag.de
you.

BUSINESS SKILLS
PERSONAL TRAINER
Sign language and

the teaching of English
Eine Sprache nicht verbal, sondern mit Zeichen erlernen – kann das funktionieren? KEN TAYLOR
sprach mit einem inzwischen pensionierten Englischlehrer darüber, wie sich seine einschlägigen
Erfahrungen mit tauben Menschen auf den Fremdsprachenunterricht generell übertragen lassen.
MEDIUM AUDIO
Ken Taylor: You changed from being a Taylor: But neither is the case now.
HOWARD JONES KEN TAYLOR teacher of English to studying audiology Jones: No. Welsh is taught in schools
has taught is a communica- and becoming a teacher of the deaf. What these days, and deaf students are taught
English in tion consultant,
motivated you to do that? British Sign Language (BSL) as their
Egypt, Sweden personal coach
and Vietnam. He and author of Howard Jones: I was teaching English in mother tongue. It’s officially recognized
has worked for 50 Ways to Egypt on a VSO contract. My landlord’s as a minority language.
VSO (Volun- Improve Your son was deaf. My Arabic was limited, but
tary Service Business English
we built a friendly relationship using Taylor: That means that most deaf stu-
Overseas) and (Lulu Publish-
SIDA (Swedish ing). Contact: signs and body language. I realized that dents learn English later, as a second lan-
International KTaylor868@aol. there were a lot of able people out there guage.
Development com
who needed help communicating. This Jones: That’s right. They learn English
Authority).
In sensory realization led me to study audiology through sign language.
Egypt [(i:dZIpt] in Manchester, after which I went on to
education,
, Ägypten
Howard worked teach at a school for the deaf. Taylor: Children who are not deaf typical-
in standard and residential deputy
head teacher
ly learn by first listening, then speaking
special schools
as an advi- [rezI)denS&l )depjUti Taylor: Can teachers of English as a sec- and, finally, by reading and writing. That
sory teacher (hed ti:tSE] ond language learn anything from the can’t be the case for deaf children.
and residen- , stellvertretende(r)
Internatsleiter(in) methods used to teach the deaf? Are any
tial deputy
head teacher.
of the techniques transferrable? audiology [)O:di(QlEdZi] sign [saIn]
sensory education
Jones: Yes, I think so. When I started , Audiologie, Hörakustik , hier: Gebärdensprache
Now retired, [)sensEri
benutzen
he is head of )edju(keIS&n] teaching deaf students, the aim was to deaf: the ~ [def]
sensory service , Sinnesschulung , Gehörlose, Taube technique [tek(ni:k]
teach them how to speak. But outside the
in Ceredigion, , [wg. Aussprache]
VSO (Voluntary classroom, sign language was the natural Egypt [(i:dZIpt]
Wales. Howard
Service Overseas) , Ägypten VSO (Voluntary Service
lives in the
[)vi: es (EU]
way the students communicated with Overseas) [)vi: es (EU]
inhibit sth. [In(hIbIt]
Fotos: privat; Gert Krautbauer
university town , unabhängiger each other. Not allowing them to sign in , unabhängiger interna-
of Aberystwyth , etw. hemmen
internationaler the classroom was inhibiting their learn- tionaler Entwicklungsdienst
on the coast of Entwicklungsdienst landlord [(lÄndlO:d] mit Sitz in London
Wales. mit Sitz in ing experience. My grandmother was , Vermieter (voluntary [(vQlEntEri]
London forbidden to speak her mother tongue, , freiwillig, ehrenamtlich)
mother tongue
Welsh, at school. The two situations are [)mVDE (tVN] Welsh [welS]
similar. , Muttersprache , Walisisch

Jones: That’s right. The signs, and the know what they want to say but are not Jones: It would be interesting to teach
body language connected to them, are able to express it. Using signing can help two groups of second-language learners.
combined with written text and writing them to express what they want to say With one group, you use signs to rein-
for a total learning experience. and prevent frustration. force the learning. With the other group,
you do not. Maybe I’ll have the chance to
Taylor: Presumably, your body language Taylor: You not only hear the words but do that on my next trip to Vietnam.
supports the message of the signs. receive visual clues to help your under-
Jones: If you sign the concept “sad” but standing. Taylor: I’d love to know the result. Keep
look radiantly happy, it Jones: I’m sure this could me posted.
just doesn’t work. also be applied to second-
Taylor: As language teach-

“I’m language acquisition. ➻
ers, we sometimes forget
the power of non-verbal
convinced Taylor: We use gener-
ally recognized signals
What’s your challenge?
that we
Would you like to have
a conversation with Ken
communication. I remem- anyway in our commu- Taylor about your current
ber a study published by
Professor Mehrabian on
could better nication with each other.
A system like Makaton
work challenges? If so,
send an email with your
the total impact of a face- harness standardizes the non-

name, company and
the subject you would like
to discuss to
to-face message. Accord-
ing to the study, 93 per the power verbal side of communi-
cation.
business.trainer@
spotlight-verlag.de AUDIO
cent of the impact of the
message depends on body
of the non- Jones: That’s one of the
problems with BSL. There
In each issue, we will Listen to more tips
from Ken Taylor on
verbal”
choose one reader who Business Spotlight
language and paralan- is no standardized inter- will talk to Ken, and the Audio. To order, go
dialogue will be published
guage. national sign language. in Business Spotlight.
to www.aboshop.
spotlight-verlag.de
Jones: In language acqui-
sition, I’m convinced that Taylor: A lot of non-verbal
we could better harness the power of the signals are universal. Isn’t that the case applicable [E(plIkEb&l] look radiantly happy
non-verbal. By using gestures and signs, with sign language, too? , anwendbar; [)lUk )reIdiEntli (hÄpi]
we could support vocabulary retention. Jones: To a certain degree, it is. Many hier: geeignet , sehr glücklich aussehen
(radiantly , strahlend)
signs are based on natural hand gestures. apply sth. to sth.
[E(plaI tu] paralanguage
Taylor: I agree. I’ve tried this out when So, if I use BSL in the United States, for
, etw. auf etw. anwenden [(pÄrElÄNgwIdZ]
teaching business vocabulary. I’ve taught example, it would be fairly easy to work , Parasprache (nicht
clue [klu:]
a hand gesture together with the target out the differences between the two sign , Hinweis, Signal
lexikalische/grammatische
Aspekte sprachlicher
word — and added an object where appli- languages.
designed: be ~ [di(zaInd] Mitteilungen)
cable, too. , hier: konzipiert sein
presumably
Jones: Did it work? Taylor: In the States, you’d have a second face-to-face [pri(zju:mEbli]
language, English, in common. What [)feIs tE (feIs] , vermutlich
Taylor: It certainly did. But it doesn’t about signing with someone from a dif- , von Angesicht zu
reinforce sth.
Angesicht
work for all vocabulary or all learners. ferent language background? [)ri:In(fO:s]
gesture [(dZestSE] , etw. verstärken
And it can take a long time to prepare the Jones: I still do some voluntary training
, Geste
lesson! in Vietnam. On my last trip there, I was retention
harness sth. [(hA:nIs] [ri(tenS&n]
Jones: There is a language programme taking a break in Ha Long Bay when I saw , sich etw. zunutze , Verankerung im
called Makaton. It’s designed to support a group of Chinese ladies signing to each machen Gedächtnis
children and adults who have difficulty other. I sat down with them and started to impact [(ImpÄkt] take a break
communicating using speech. Signs are sign. Although Chinese Sign Language is , Wirkung [)teIk E (breIk]
, eine Pause einlegen
used alongside speech, in the word order different from BSL, we were able to com- keep sb. posted
of spoken language, to help them to communicate reasonably well. [)ki:p (pEUstId] target word
, jmdn. auf dem [(tA:gIt w§:d]
municate. The programme was developed Laufenden halten , Zielwort
this way because many children’s under- Taylor: I’m sure that using a sign lan-
language acquisition work sth. out
standing develops before their speech. guage and body language signals to sup- [(lÄNgwIdZ ÄkwI)zIS&n] [)w§:k (aUt]
They may feel frustrated, as they might port language acquisition would work. , Spracherwerb , etw. herausarbeiten

ak
u
al
U
at
y
V
W
v w
X
x
am
as
ap an
bt ar
aq
ao
LANGUAGE
VOCABULARY
5.lab(oratory) technician 10. sit-over area 16. Erlenmeyer/conical flask
[(lÄb (lE(bQrEtEri) [(sIt EUvEr )eEriE] [)§:lEnmaIE/)kQnIk&l
A chemical lab technician

tek)nIS&n] , Sitoverbereich (flA:sk]
, Labortechniker(in) , Erlenmeyerkolben
11. headgear [(hedgIE]
6. p rotection shield , Kopfhaube 17. analytical balance/scales
Auf diesen Seiten präsentieren wir [prE(tekS&n )Si:&ld]
12.protective overall/suit
[ÄnE)lItIk&l (bÄlEns/
, Schutzschild (skeI&lz]
nützliche Begriffe aus der Arbeitswelt. [prE)tektIv (EUvErO:l/
, Analysenwaage
7. d isposable gloves (su:t]
Von HILDEGARD RUDOLPH EASY [dI)spEUzEb&l (glVvz] , Schutzoverall, -anzug 18. agent
, Einweghandschuhe [(eIdZEnt]
13. overshoes [(EUvESu:z]
, Wirkstoff
1. clean room [(kli:n ru:m] 3. solution 8. g raduated pipette , Überschuhe
, Reinraum [sE(lu:S&n] [)grÄdZueItId pI(pet] 19. beaker [(bi:kE]
14. gas chromatograph
, Lösung , Messpipette , Messbecher
2.chemical-technical assistent [(gÄs krEU)mÄtEgrA:f]
(CTA) [)kemIk&l )teknIk&l 4.test tube 9. sample , Gaschromatograph 20. test tube rack
Illustration: Mike Ellis
E(sIstEnt] [(test tju:b] [(sA:mp&l] [(test tju:b )rÄk]

15. magnetic stirrer
, chemisch-technische(r) , Reagenzglas , Probe , Reagenzglasgestell
[mÄg)netIk (st§:rE]
Assistent(in) (CTA)
, Magnetrührer
44 Business Spotlight 5/2020 LANGUAGE

Exercise 2: Developing a new vaccine
Other useful vocabulary
Nouns and noun Complete the text with the missing words,
mortar [(mO:tE] carry out a test
phrases , Mörser [)kÄri )aUt E (test]
all of which are listed on pages 44-45. The
batch [bÄtS] , einen Versuch/Test first two letters are given.
pestle [(pest&l]
, Charge durchführen
, Stößel
clinical study/trial
Petri dish [(pi:tri dIS]
do research on/into sth. Melanie, a (A) la te ,
[)du: ri(s§:tS )Qn/)Intu]
[)klInIk&l (stVdi/(traIEl]
, Petrischale and her colleague David, a (B) ch -
, klinische Studie , etw. erforschen, näher
real value untersuchen te as , work at a
concentration
[(rIEl )vÄlju:]
evaluate sth. [i(vÄljueIt] biotechnical institute, where scientists are
[)kQnsEn(treIS&n]
, Ist-Wert
, Konzentration , etw. auswerten developing a (C) va against a
set value [(set )vÄlju:] new virus that is transmitted by a tropical
content [(kQntent] experiment on animals
, Soll-Wert
, Gehalt [Ik)sperIment Qn fly. The lab where the tests are carried out is
shaker [(SeIkE] (ÄnIm&lz]
equipped with all the necessary devices, such
dose [dEUs], , Tierversuche durchführen
, Schüttler
dosage [(dEUsIdZ] as an (D) an ba
, Dosis, Dosierung slide [slaId] observe sth. [Eb(z§:v]
, etw. beobachten
to weigh the (E) ag ,a
, Objektträger
funnel [(fVn&l] (F) ma st ,
, Trichter prepare a sample
Erlenmeyer (G) fl and
glass rod [)glA:s (rQd] Verbs and verb [pri)peEr E (sA:mp&l]
, eine Probe zubereiten (H) be of unbreakable glass.
, Glasstäbchen phrases
record test results With a (I) gr pi ,
intermediate product add sth. [Äd]
[IntE)mi:diEt (prQdVkt] , etw. hinzufügen
[ri)kO:d (test ri)zVlts] Melanie adds a test (J) so to the
, Testergebnisse
, Zwischenprodukt aufschreiben liquid in the (K) te tu
analyse sth. [(ÄnElaIz]
laboratory failure/error , etw. analysieren to prepare the (L) sa .
release sth. [ri(li:s]
[lE(bQrEtEri )feIljE/)erE]
approve sth. , etw. (ein Medikament) And David uses a (M) ga
, Laborfehler
[E(pru:v] freigeben; (einen Stoff) ch for the analysis.
litmus paper , etw. genehmigen, zulassen freisetzen
[(lItmEs )peIpE] test sth. [test]
, Lackmuspapier
assess sth. [E(ses] The (N) cl tr will
, etw. bewerten, beurteilen , etw. prüfen, testen
start soon. Once the substance for the
microscope validate sth. [(vÄlIdeIt]
authorize sth. (O) in is released, it will be
[(maIkrEskEUp] , etw. validieren, bestätigen
[(O:TEraIz]
, Mikroskop
, etw. (ein Medikament)
produced in the company’s (P) cl
verify sth. [(verIfaI]
mixture [(mIkstSE] zulassen
, etw. verifizieren
ro . In the (Q) si -
, Gemisch, Mischung ov area, everyone has to put on
a (R) pr ov ,
(S) ov and (T) he
before entering the room.
Exercise 1: What is it?
Answers
Choose the correct options without looking H. beakers
at the vocabulary lists on these two pages. T. headgear G. flasks
S. overshoes F. magnetic stirrer
R. protection overall E. agent
A. In the , lab staff change their clothes. Q. sit-over D. analytical balance
1. clean room 2. sit-over area
P. clean room C. vaccine
O. injection assistant
B. The Erlenmeyer is named after the
N. clinical trial(s) B. chemical-technical
M. gas chromatograph A. lab(oratory) technician
German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer, who developed it. L. sample(s) Exercise 2
1. flask 2. test tube
K. test tubes
J. solution A–2; B–1
I. graduated pipette Exercise 1
What’s the difference? ⋅⋅ An injection [In(dZekS&n] (Spritze) is the act of
⋅⋅
injecting a substance into a patient’s body with
A vaccine [(vÄksi:n] (Impfstoff) is a substance a needle.
⋅⋅
that provides immunity against a disease.
A vaccination [)vÄksI(neIS&n], or jab [dZÄb] UK Be careful of this false friend!
ifml. (Impfung), is the administration of a vaccine The German word Labor is laboratory
⋅⋅
to provide immunity against a disease. [lE(bQrEtEri], or lab, in English. Alle Übungen
Whereas the English term labour (US labor) is aus dem Sprachteil
A syringe [sI(rIndZ] (Spritze) is used to können Sie hier
administer the vaccine. translated as Arbeit. auch online und
interaktiv machen.
LANGUAGE 5/2020 Business Spotlight 45

LANGUAGE
EASY ENGLISH
Correcting Anita: George, when you sent that client data to

the team on Wednesday, there were mis-
achieve sth.
[E(tSi:v]
a mistake
, etw. erreichen
takes in the calculations. This put some of
the team under pressure. appointment
[E(pOIntmEnt]
George: It wasn’t my fault. The data was really com- , Termin
Auch über Fehler muss man mit Kollegen plicated.
buddy system
sprechen können. Denn das kann für diese Anita: Well, next time, you need to ask for support [(bVdi )sIstEm]
sooner. Martin and Helga had to work late , hier: System der
und für einen selbst nützlich sein. Lesen Sie Unterstützung durch einen
on Wednesday evening to correct the data Kollegen/eine Kollegin
hier, wie Sie das auf Englisch wirksam tun. so that it would be ready to send to the cli-
CEO (chief executive
EASY AUDIO PLUS ent on Thursday, as agreed. officer) [)si: i: (EU]
Martin: I didn’t mind at all. , Geschäftsführer(in)
Helga: Neither did I. We can all support each other. embarrassed
George: Thanks, both of you. I’m sorry about that, [Im(bÄrEst]
, verlegen, bloßgestellt
Anita — and for any additional work or
stress it caused. I’ll try to manage things goal [gEUl]
, Ziel
better in future.
happy: be ~ to do sth.
Anita: Thanks, George. This process would be
[(hÄpi]
even better if we created a buddy system, , gerne etw. tun
so that a more experienced team member hold sth. up
MIKE HOGAN is always working with a less experienced [)hEUld (Vp]
is a co-author of Business English , etw. verzögern
for Beginners A1 + A2 and Basis for
colleague. So, let’s do that.
Business B1 + B2 (Cornelsen). mind [maInd]
Contact: hoganmike@gmail.com , hier: etw. stört einen
Dialogue 2 point sth. out
P
[)pOInt (aUt]
Anita: Hi, Maria, can we have a chat? , auf etw. hinweisen
sychological safety is a key aspect of many Maria: Sure. What’s up?
review sth.
successful and innovative teams. This means Anita: I’d like to talk to you about your work on [ri(vju:]
that it’s OK for people to take risks and be vul- the ABM project and how we can make the , etw. überprüfen; hier:
durchgehen, besprechen
nerable — without fear of being made to feel process even better.
embarrassed or insecure. When taking risks, Maria: I know last week wasn’t great. I struggled section [(sekS&n]
, Abschnitt
mistakes can happen. It’s important to learn with section 2 of the report, and that led to
from them and move on. When you’re pointing out delays. stage [steIdZ]
, Phase
a mistake to a colleague, it is therefore important that Anita: Yes, it did. We needed it on Thursday and
vulnerable
you do it in a constructive and productive way. you didn’t send it until Friday morning. [(vVlnErEb&l]
That didn’t leave the leadership team , verwundbar, angreifbar
enough time to review it before their meet-
ing later that morning. It was also incom-
Question plete and was missing key information.
As you read the dialogues, can you find two things Maria: I’m very sorry. It was really difficult to get
that Anita should have avoided when pointing out an appointment to interview the CEO for
George’s mistake in the first dialogue, and four things section 2 of the report.
that she does well in the second dialogue? Anita: What could you do differently next time?
Maria: Well, I could start working on section 3 be-
fore I’ve finished section 2.
Dialogue 1 Anita: Yes, that’s a good idea. You’re doing well in AUDIO + PLUS
Anita: Hi, everyone! As always, I’d like to begin by your job, though you could be even better if
You can try our
reviewing last week, our successes and the you started thinking ahead like this. Don’t exercises on this
things that we could have done better. let delays at one stage hold up the prepara- topic on Business
Spotlight Audio
Martin: I thought we had a great week… tion for the next stage. as well as in our
Helga: …and achieved all our goals. Maria: Thanks, Anita. That’s a good idea. exercise booklet,
Business Spotlight
Anita: We did, but there were some mistakes that Anita: No problem. I’ll be happy to talk you Plus. To order, go
led to delays and more work. through it next time you have difficulties to www.aboshop.
spotlight-verlag.de
Mary: Really? or delays.

Useful phrases for
correcting mistakes
⋅⋅
A. Identifying the mistake
There were some mistakes made
⋅⋅⋅⋅
with the data.
You were late with your report.
⋅⋅
The information was incomplete.
There was some key information
missing.
⋅⋅⋅⋅
B. Talking about the effect
This caused delays.
As a result of this, some people
⋅⋅⋅⋅
had to do extra work.
This put the team under pressure.
This didn’t leave enough time to
review the report.
Mistakes: how
should they be
⋅⋅⋅⋅
discussed? C. Encouraging reflection
How do you feel about this?
What could you do differently
⋅⋅⋅⋅
next time?
Answers Grammar How can you learn from this?
Here are two things that Anita should “Would/could be even better/ In which way(s) could you adapt
have avoided when pointing out George’s easier/quicker if…” your working methods?
mistake in the first dialogue:
⋅⋅
1.
She should have avoided being too When motivating people to perform bet- D. Discussing best practice
negative in the group meeting. It ter in the future, it can be helpful to think Plan for delays so that, if they
might be useful for other team mem- about what they (or you) need to do in happen, you won’t miss your
⋅⋅
bers to learn from the mistakes of one order for them to do their jobs better. To deadlines.
person, but the risk of that person los- do this, you can use this construction: Communicate early with your
ing face could outweigh the team ben- “would”/“could” + “be” + (“even”) + team in case of delays or difficul-
⋅⋅
efits. adjective + “if” + subject + past tense ties.
2.
She shouldn’t have focused so much (as conditional) Ask for support sooner rather
on the past, as it can’t be changed. than later.
Look at these examples from the dia-
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
And here are four things that Anita does logues: E. Offering support
⋅⋅⋅⋅
well in the second dialogue: This process would be even better if If you have any questions, just let
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
She talks to Maria individually. we created a buddy system. me know.
She signals what’s coming and gets You could be even better if you I’d be happy to talk you through it
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
straight to the point. started thinking ahead like this. further / next time.
She focuses on the future and how Let’s set up a buddy (support)
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅⋅
Maria can develop and improve. Other adjectives can also be used: system.
She encourages reflection, asking This process would be even quicker We’re all here to help.
⋅⋅
Maria for her ideas of what she could if we… Just ask a more experienced
do better. This would be easier if you… colleague, and they’ll be able to
help you.
Foto: monkeybusinessimages/iStock.com
KEY TIPS!
Don’t waste time getting to the negative points. Always using the
“sandwich” technique (good news–bad news–good news) may seem devalue sth. outweigh sth.
false and devalue the positive things you say anyway. [)di:(vÄlju:] [)aUt(weI]
• , etw. abwerten, , gegenüber etw.
Encourage reflection and make the conversation future-oriented. herabsetzen überwiegen
Don’t spend too long talking about the past.
• get straight to the point technique
If possible, talk to people individually. Avoid other people losing face [get )streIt tE DE (pOInt] [tek(ni:k]
in front of colleagues. , sofort zur Sache , [wg. Aussprache]
kommen

LANGUAGE
GRAMMAR
Negation (2) EXPLANATIONS TENLEY VAN DEN BERG

is an editor at
In issue 4/2020, we discussed the basics of how to Business Spotlight.
construct negated statements and questions. Here, Contact:
Doppelt hält besser! Aber trifft das auch fürs we explore double negation, or what are often called t.vandenberg@
spotlight-verlag.de
Verneinen zu? TENLEY VAN DEN BERG “double negatives”.
zeigt, was es damit im Englischen auf sich hat.
To say that something is incorrect or untrue, English ain’t [eInt] ifml.
MEDIUM PLUS
speakers use words like “no”, “not” and “nothing”, , haven’t
prefixes such as “un-”, “in-” and “im-” and the suffix convey sth. [kEn(veI]
“-less”. In standard English, only one of these is nor- , etw. über-, vermitteln
⋅⋅⋅⋅
At the weekend, Yana and Rob went to a pre mally used to communicate a negative meaning: design thinking
[di(zaIn )TINkIN]
sentation hosted by their company. They discuss He clearly had no idea what he was talking about.
, etwa: nutzerorientierte,
it during their Monday morning videoconference. The presentation itself was impossible to follow. kreative Problemlösung und
Ideenfindung
Yana: Did you go to the design-thinking pre Double or multiple negation involves using two or holy moly
sentation? more instances of negation. In standard English, a [)hEUli (mEUli] US
, heiliger Strohsack
Rob: Yes, I did. And I had that Pink Floyd song double negative can be used as an indirect — and,
going through my head the whole time. sometimes, stronger — way of conveying a positive host sth. [hEUst]
, etw. veranstalten
⋅⋅
[starts to sing] “We don’t need no educa- meaning:
implication
tion. We don’t need no thought control.” It’s not as if I don’t have better things to do on a [)ImplI(keIS&n]
Yana: I can see why. I don’t like being expect- Saturday morning. (= I have better things to do.) , Auswirkung, Folge
ed to attend work-related events at the issue [(ISu:] , Ausgabe
weekend. It’s not as if I don’t have better Negative words such as “no” or “not” can also be
negated [nI(geItId]
things to do on a Saturday morning. placed before an adjective or adverb that has a nega- , verneint
Rob: What did you think of the presenter? tive sense (or before a negative prefix) to communi- prefix [(pri:fIks]
⋅⋅
Yana: Holy moly, was he awful or what? Listen- cate a weak positive meaning: , Vorsilbe, Präfix
ing to him was painful! These kinds of events aren’t a bad idea. reinforce sth. [)ri:In(fO:s]
⋅⋅
Rob: I’m not an unkind person, but he clearly (= They’re fairly good.) , etw. verstärken
had no idea what he was talking about. I’m not an unkind person… (= I’m pretty kind.) shade [SeId]
And the presentation itself was impos- , hier: Halb-, Zwischenton
sible to follow. I almost felt sorry for him. A double negative that is used to reinforce a negative song lyrics [(sQN )lIrIks]
, Song-, Liedtext(e)
Yana: Well, I have to admit that these kinds of meaning is usually considered to be non-standard
events aren’t a bad idea, but next time, English, although this is standard in certain dialects suffix [(sVfIks]
, Nachsilbe, Suffix
⋅⋅
they should get a good presenter and and varieties of English:
hold it during the week. He never paid me no money.
Rob: I couldn’t agree more. + PLUS
Double negatives are also common in song lyrics
to convey a negative meaning. Here, two negatives Try our exercises
on this topic in our
⋅⋅⋅⋅
Exercise: Double trouble M clearly do not make a positive: exercise booklet,
Business Spotlight
We don’t need no education. Plus. To order, go
⋅⋅
The following statements use double or multiple I can’t get no satisfaction. to www.aboshop.
spotlight-verlag.de
negative constructions. Rewrite them without You ain't seen nothing yet.
negation to make them easier to understand.
Non-native speakers should generally avoid Answers
A. Don’t not attend the event just because last non-standard double negations and use standard possible.)
year’s was bad. double negatives with care. It is easier for the human
(Other answers are
D. He prepared well.
brain to understand positive constructions, and dou- boring.
B. It is not unlikely that the same man will give ble negatives can carry shades of meaning that can
presenter, just a little
C. He is an acceptable
the presentation. be misunderstood. the presentation.
In order to avoid unintentional implications same man will give
when communicating internationally, it is often
B. It is likely that the
C. He is not a bad presenter, just a little boring. was bad.
safer to use positive constructions: though last year’s
Less clear: They should not get a bad presenter.
the event even
D. It is not as if he didn’t prepare well.
Foto: privat
A. You should attend

Better: They should get a good presenter.

trouble
Exercise: Double

LANGUAGE
TALKING FINANCE
My name is bond, ...

In einer prekären Finanzsituation taucht ein Begriff immer wieder
auf: die Anleihe — „bond“ auf Englisch. IAN MCMASTER erklärt,
was es mit diesem Finanzierungsinstrument auf sich hat.
ADVANCED AUDIO
I
f you look at the financial section IAN MCMASTER
This yield spread is the impetus behind “eurobonds” — also
of any publication, one word will is editor-in-chief called “stability bonds” or, now, “coronabonds”. The idea is that
quickly jump off the page or screen: of Business the eurozone governments should pool their liability so that
Spotlight.
“bonds”. Bonds seem to be every- countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain could borrow at lower
where and come in various guises, in- cost. Such pooling has been fiercely opposed by Austria, Den-
cluding corporate bonds, eurobonds, Contact: mark and the Netherlands, but the debate continues.
coronabonds, cat bonds and, last but i.mcmaster@ And what about cat bonds — or “catastrophe bonds”, to give
spotlight-verlag.de
not least, James Bonds. them their full name? These are a form of reinsurance issued
OK, I made that last category up, al- by insurance companies to share risk. They are high-risk and
though there has been much speculation high-interest bonds that pay out to the investor in full only if an
about who will replace Daniel Craig as insured natural disaster — such as a hurricane — does not occur.
007 after his final appearance, in No Time “Pandemic bonds” are a particular type of cat bond. They pay
to Die, delayed until later this year. out to the investor in full only if a specified pandemic does not
But what exactly is a bond? It is a finan- take place during a particular period. If it does, investors lose part
cial instrument issued by an organization, or all of their money, which is used instead to mitigate the pan-
such as a government or company, that demic. For example, the World Bank raised $320 million (€294
wants to borrow money for a particular million) with a pandemic bond in 2017. But earlier this year, in-
time period (or, in the case of “perpetual vestors lost $133 million (€122 million) of their principal, which
bonds”, indefinitely). will be used to finance Covid-19 healthcare in poor countries.
In return, the organization normally
promises to pay interest. Typically, the
longer the money is borrowed for, and
bond [bQnd] junk bond principal
the higher the risk that part or all of the , Anleihe [(dZVNk bQnd] [(prInsEp&l]
principal will not be paid back, the higher , Schrott-, Ramschanleihe , Kapital
corporate bond
the interest rate is that has to be offered [)kO:pErEt (bQnd] mitigate sth. raise (money) [reIz]
Fotos: Alter_photo, koya79/iStock.com; Gert Krautbauer
to investors. “Junk bonds” — also called , Unternehmensanleihe [(mItIgeIt] , (Geld) aufbringen,

, etw. mildern, beschaffen
“non-investment-grade” bonds or “spec- default [di(fO:lt]
entschärfen
ulative-grade bonds”— offer high yields , Nichtzahlung, Ausfall reinsurance
AUDIO occur [E(k§:] [)ri:In(SUErEns]
because they have a high risk of default. fiercely [(fIEsli]
, sich ereignen , Rückversicherung
You can hear Ian , vehement
Government (or “sovereign”) bonds,
McMaster talking perpetual bond yield [ji:&ld]
in contrast, normally pay lower interest guise [gaIz]
about bonds [pE)petjuEl (bQnd] , Rendite
, Verkleidung; hier: Form
rates because the risk of default is lower. and other news , ewige Anleihe, Anleihe
yield spread
topics on Business impetus [(ImpItEs] ohne Laufzeitbegrenzung
But there is a yield spread among coun- Spotlight Audio. To [(ji:&ld spred]
, Dynamik, Triebkraft
tries: the Greek, Italian and Spanish gov- order, go to www. pool their liability , Renditedifferenz;
aboshop.spotlight- issue sth. [(ISu:] [)pu:l DeE )laIE(bIlEti] hier: Zinsaufschlag
ernments currently have to pay more verlag.de , etw. ausgeben , hier: gesamtschuld-
than the German government does. nerisch haften

LANGUAGE
TRANSLATION Tricky translations
Hier finden Sie englische Wörter, How do you say How do you say
die man leicht verwechselt, und “competition” in German? selbstständig in English?
englische und deutsche Wörter, A “competition” is an event in If you are selbstständig, you
which people or teams com- work for yourself or have your
deren Übersetzung schwierig ist.
pete against each other to own company. Depending on
MEDIUM win a prize for being the best, your job, it is translated as
⋅⋅
fastest, most creative, etc. It is self-employed or freelance:
translated as Wettkampf, (Leis- Ich bin jetzt selbstständig. —
Don’t confuse...
MIKE SEYMOUR tungs-)Wettbewerb, Gewinnspiel “I’m self-employed now.”
⋅⋅
is an author,
or Preisausschreiben: Sich selbstständig machen is
trainer and
translator based “They won first prize in the translated as start your own
Pay, pay for in Leeds, competition for the most business, go into business for
If you pay a person or an organization, England. Contact: innovative new product.” yourself or go freelance.
www.mikeseymour.
you give them money in return for re- com
— Sie haben beim Wettbewerb
⋅⋅
ceiving goods or a service (jmdn. bezahlen): für das innovativste neue Pro- When selbstständig means
“Have you paid the caterer?” — Hast du dukt den ersten Preis gewonnen. “someone who doesn’t need
den Caterer bezahlt? guidance”, we say indepen
⋅⋅
In the business world, “compe- dent or autonomous:
If you pay a bill, you hand over or transfer tition” refers to people or com- Unser Wunschkandidat ist
the money that you owe ((eine Rechnung) panies that are fighting for the kreativ und selbstständig. —
⋅⋅
begleichen, bezahlen): same customers (Wettbewerb, “Our ideal candidate will be
“I paid this invoice weeks ago.” — Ich Konkurrenz). “Competition” creative and independent.”
habe diese Rechnung schon vor Wochen can also be used to mean “the
beglichen. act of fighting for customers” If someone does something
⋅⋅
(Konkurrenzkampf): without help, selbstständig is
You also use pay to refer to the form of “We have to be better than translated as by oneself, alone
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅
payment: the competition.” — Wir or single-handed(ly):
“Can I pay in cash?” — Kann ich bar müssen besser als die Konkur- Wir haben die Regale selbst-
bezahlen? renz sein. ständig zusammengebaut. —
“We assembled the shelves
You cannot use pay followed only by the Someone who takes part in a single-handedly.”
item that you bought. In this case, we use Answers competition is a ”competitor”
⋅⋅
pay for (etw. bezahlen): (Wettkämpfer(in); Wettbewer- If someone does something
freelance.
for myself / go
“I paid for the tickets and now she / go into business ber(in), Konkurrent(in)). And if without being asked (selbst-
doesn’t want to come with me.” — Ich a company’s prices or condi- ständig tun), we use of one’s
my own business
⋅⋅
own accord:
my goal to start
habe die Karten bezahlt und jetzt will sie B. It has always been tions are as good as, or better
nicht mit mir kommen. Konkurrenz. than, those offered by others, Das hat er selbstständig
It is incorrect to say, “I paid the tickets…” they are “competitive” (wett- beschlossen. — “He decided
Stellen und viel
wenige offene
2. A. Es gab nur bewerbsfähig, konkurrenzfähig). that of his own accord.”
In the area of finance, borrowers pay in- C. pay, pay
terest (Zinsen zahlen) and corporations pay B. pay for
a dividend (eine Dividende zahlen).
1. A. pay 2. How would you say that?
Translate the following sentences.

1. Make your choice
A. There were only a few job openings and a lot of
Complete these sentences with “pay” or “pay for”.
competition.
A. I am short of cash. Could you the

cleaner this month?
B. We have bought all this new office furniture and I don’t
B. Es war immer mein Ziel, mich selbstständig zu machen.
know how we are going to it.
C. I always my credit card bill on time so
that I don’t have to interest.

LANGUAGE by Hildegard Rudolph
CARDS
Phrasal verb Business Spotlight 5/20 Phrasal verb Business Spotlight 5/20
What does the speaker mean? What does the speaker mean?
“To speed up the procedure, “The police asked us for a

we should do away with some list of things that the thieves
of the paperwork.” made away with.”
False friends Business Spotlight 5/20 False friends Business Spotlight 5/20
What’s bald in English? What’s “caution” in German?
Translate this sentence into English. Translate this sentence into German.
J eder hofft, dass die Beschränkungen “A lot of caution is needed for
bald aufgehoben werden. this task.”
Abbreviation Business Spotlight 5/20 Abbreviation Business Spotlight 5/20
What does “BBL” stand for? What does “BAK” stand for?
“Well, I’m off to the meeting of “Do you know where John is?
heads of department now. BBL.” It says BAK, but he hasn’t
answered my question yet.”
Pronunciation Business Spotlight 5/20 Pronunciation Business Spotlight 5/20
How do you pronounce these words? How do you pronounce these words?
“Their lives could not be more “Due to a serious injury, she

different: he lives in a small village, won’t be able to join the jury for
and she in New York, where they ‘Great Place to Work’ this year.”
met at a live concert last month.”
LANGUAGE
CARDS
Phrasal verb Business Spotlight 5/20 Phrasal verb Business Spotlight 5/20
If someone makes away with sth., they steal it and take If you do away with sth., you get rid of it.
it away with them.
do away with sth. ifml. = etw. abschaffen
make away with sth. ifml. = sich mit etw. davonmachen,
aus dem Staub machen
False friends Business Spotlight 5/20 False friends Business Spotlight 5/20
Viel Vorsicht wird für diese Aufgabe benötigt. “Everyone hopes that the restrictions will soon be
lifted.”
Kaution is wrong here, as this refers to money paid to
a landlord as security for the physical state of a flat You can’t say “bald” here, as this refers to having little
(“deposit” in English) or to the judicial authorities for or no hair on one’s head (kahl-, glatzköpfig). The German
the release of an arrested person until their trial (“bail” word bald means “in a short time from now”.
in English). “Caution”, on the other hand, is the care
that is given to avoid problems or dangers.
Abbreviation Business Spotlight 5/20 Abbreviation Business Spotlight 5/20
BAK is short for “back at keyboard” (zurück an The abbreviation BBL means “be back later” (komme
der Tastatur). This phrase is used in online text bald wieder, bin bald zurück). It is typically used in chats on
communications to tell others that someone has instant-messaging platforms to announce that someone
returned to their computer after having been absent. is leaving the chat for a while. If you leave only for a few
minutes, you can use BRB (be right back = bin gleich
wieder da).
Pronunciation Business Spotlight 5/20 Pronunciation Business Spotlight 5/20
The pronunciation of injury, meaning “harm done The first lives is the plural of “life” [laIf] and is
to a person”, is [(IndZEri]. A jury is a group of people pronounced [laIvz]. The next lives is the third person
who decide something, in this context, the winner of a present simple of the verb “live”, pronounced [lIvz]. And
competition. It is pronounced [(dZUEri]. the adjective live in “live concert” is pronounced [laIv].
injury = Verletzung life (pl. lives) = Leben

jury = Jury live = leben; wohnen
live adj.= lebendig, aktiv; live
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Oder telefonisch unter +49 (0) 89/95 46 99 55
LANGUAGE
SHORT STORY
Romcom JAMES SCHOFIELD

is a writer,
Geplagt von der Angst, der Film könne ein Flopp sein, business coach
and podcaster.
warten die beiden Drehbuchautoren nach der Premiere auf
You can listen to
die Reaktionen von Publikum und Kritikern. Haben sie his podcast Behind
die Feuerprobe bestanden? Von JAMES SCHOFIELD the Bottom Line at
https://anchor.fm/
ADVANCED AUDIO james-schofield8
annoy sb. [E(nOI]

, jmdn. ( ver)ärgern
awful [(O:f&l]
, schauderhaft
banter [(bÄntE]
, Geplänkel
break into sth.

[)breIk (Intu] , endlich
mit etw. anfangen können
bucket [(bVkIt] , Eimer
bumpy [(bVmpi]
, holprig; hier: unruhig
drop offski [)drQp (Qfski:]
T
, Wortschöpfung in
Anspielung auf „Dropski“
he lights dim and the audience goes quiet. As Ed nods. “I agree. All that gender-war, jokey dialogue (drop off , einnicken)
the curtains open and the music starts for the between the romantic characters is awful.” fake snore [)feIk (snO:]
premiere, I look at Ed from the corner of my So, the studio rents us a house near the beach for , so tun, als ob man
schnarcht
eye to see how he’s doing. Not well. Popcorn is two weeks, fills it with food and drink, and we set up
film noir [)fIlm (nwA:]
going from bucket to mouth on autopilot. our laptops opposite each other.
, wörtl.: schwarzer Film
“Jane,” he whispers, “this film could destroy We sit there on the first morning, waiting. (Genre zynischer Kriminal-
our careers as writers in Hollywood!” “I have an idea for…,” we say at the same time, then filme, das in den 1940er und
1950er Jahren in den USA
“So what,” I answer. “I’m only writing scripts until both stop.
entstand)
I can break into waitressing.” “You first,” I say.
go quiet [)gEU (kwaIEt]
He laughs a little at my joke, and then his eyes “Okay,” he agrees, which annoys me. , still werden
go back to the screen and his hand to the popcorn. “I have this idea for a sci-fi detective story. Very
knight [naIt] , Ritter
Maybe he’s right, I think. Maybe this will be the last Bogart, very film noir, but set in another galaxy:
on autopilot
screenplay either of us ever writes. I mentally fasten ‘A murder in a high-security prison colony brings [Qn (O:tEU)paIlEt]
my seat belt. This could be a bumpy night. Special Agent Logan Fist to the planet Krickin…’” , automatisch
*** I interrupt. “It sounds like a fast-food chicken premiere [(premiE]

Ed and I have known of each other for a while. He restaurant run by Jedi knights.” , [wg. Aussprache]
does mostly spy thrillers with plots so complicated He looks hurt. “I thought it would be fun to try romcom [(rQmkQm] ifml.
you have to see the film twice to understand it. I something new. What’s your idea then?” , romantische Komödie
Fotos: Oktay Ortakcioglu, tiler84/iStock.com, privat
write family sagas, with people losing the love of “Okay: famous classical pianist Anton Dropski screenplay [(skri:npleI]
, Drehbuch
their lives only to find them hears a beautiful young woman playing a piano at a
I MENTALLY again in the last ten minutes
of the film — just before one of
train station and falls in love with…”
I stop. Ed’s head is on his keyboard, and he’s fake
script [skrIpt]
, Filmmanuskript,
FASTEN MY them dies. When a studio sug- snoring.

Drehbuch
set: be ~ (in a place) [set]
SEAT BELT. THIS gested we try writing together,
it sounded interesting.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says. “I must have dropped off-
ski. Let me guess: they lose each other, but he finds
, (an einem Ort) spielen
COULD BE A “But not a romcom,” I tell

him. “I don’t do banter. It must
her again in the last ten minutes of the film while
taking part in an international piano competition
spy [spaI] , Spion(in);
hier: Spionage-
BUMPY NIGHT be something serious.” where he’s one of the judges. Am I right?”
waitressing [(weItrEsIN]
, als Kellnerin arbeiten

I feel hurt. “Well, yes. But he’s also got a brain tu-
mour and is dying. You didn’t get that, genius!” “IT SOUNDS the review by Harrison Whittle,
film critic for The Washington
block [blQk]
, Blockade
We glare at each other over our screens.

“I’ll work on the veranda,” I say. “Have fun with
LIKE A FAST- Times, when it rings.
“Read the reviews for me,” Ed
blow one’s nose
[)blEU wVnz (nEUz]
Special Agent Fist.” FOOD CHICKEN begs. “I can’t do it myself.”

, sich schnäuzen
cheesy [(tSi:zi] ifml.

***
Over the next ten days, we make no progress on a RESTAURANT I skim the article, and I can’t
resist teasing Ed.
, schlecht (gemacht),
kitschig
joint script. One morning, we try mixing our stories,
but this is all I manage to write: “Keys to the Heart: Spe-
RUN BY JEDI “Hmm,” I say, slowly. “On the
positive side, he loves the actors.”
commander [kE(mA:ndE]
KNIGHTS”
, Kommandant(in)
cial Agent Fist travels to the planet Krickin, only to “Well, that’s good. What’s on formula [(fO:mjUlE]
find that his long-lost love, Vera Steptanz, has been the negative side?” , Formel; hier: Strick-
muster
imprisoned by Commander Dropski. Only by win- “Let’s see: ‘However, the performance of Boris
ning a pan-galactic piano competition can he hope Tupov as Anton Dropski is…,’” I sneeze. “Hold on a glare at sb. [(gleEr Ät]
, jmdn. zornig anstarren
to save her.” second; I have to get a tissue.”
Jaws [dZO:z]
While Ed produces: “The Lockdown: Anton Drop- I get one and blow my nose loudly for about two
, Der weiße Hai
ski, evil spy-master for the Krickin Empire, forces minutes. “Where was I? … ‘The performance of Boris (jaw , Kiefer)
the beautiful pianist Vera Steptanz to steal the plans Tupov is…’” “IS WHAT?” screams Ed. lockdown [(lQkdaUn]
for a time machine from Special Agent Fist. Can “‘…is extraordinary.’” , Abriegelung, (Sicher-
Fist rescue the plans and Vera before the universe is “How does he mean that?” asks Ed in a voice so heits-)Sperre; auch:
Ausgangssperre
destroyed?” pathetic I take pity and read him the whole article.
pathetic [pE(TetIk]
That evening, we drink too much and start writing Whittle loves the film, loves the stars and, most of
, bedauernswert,
imaginary film reviews: “However many films you all, loves the writing. It’s brought the classic romcom Mitleid erregend
see in 2021, make sure NONE of them is Keys to the formula into the 21st century, he says. How could review [ri(vju:]
Heart,” suggests Ed. two writers best known for cheesy thrillers and mel- , Rezension, Kritik
“The Lockdown does for love stories what Jaws did odramas write something so sophisticated and witty, skim sth. [skIm]
for swimming in the ocean,” I propose. he wonders? , etw. überfliegen
But then, probably thanks to the alcohol, some- You just need enough wine and some of your own tease sb. [ti:z]
thing happens that night. The block is gone, and in romcom, I think to myself. Ed is now dancing around , jmdn. aufziehen, hänseln
only two days, we manage to produce a script to send the kitchen and singing. tissue [(tISu:]
, (Papier-)Taschentuch
to the studio. “That’s enough,” I shout through the house. I hang
We’re surprised when the bosses love it and pro- up the phone. “And bring me some tea — we can look
duction starts. But the real test of a film is always the at the rest together in bed.”
first-night reviews. And so, completely terrified, we Oh, yes, you read that right. Ed was dancing AUDIO
sit through the film premiere of Lock Down Your Heart. around my kitchen. As always, he had been too lazy You can listen to
*** to come speak to me. this short story on
Business Spotlight
The next morning, I wake up early. The audience en- “And then … maybe a little bit of romcom?” he asks Audio. To order,
joyed themselves last night, but what do the reviews as he sets the breakfast tray on the bed. go to www.aboshop.
spotlight-verlag.de
say? I pull out my mobile phone and am about to read “I suppose so,” I answer. “But no banter, all right?”
Exercise: Reading comprehension A

Answers
How well did you understand our short story? Here are some questions you might want to answer. C. Free answer
the ocean.
put off swimming in
A. What does Ed mean by “gender-war, jokey dialogue”? many people to be
1970s that caused
a thriller from the
B. Jane says in her joke review of The Lockdown that it “does for love stories what Jaws did for swim-
B. Negative. Jaws is
disagreements.
ming in the ocean”. Is her statement positive or negative? having humorous
first part of the film
often spend the
C. What do you think about traditional romcoms such as When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill and
central characters
The Proposal?
com films, the two
A. In traditional rom-
comprehension
Exercise: Reading

LANGUAGE
ENGLISH FOR…
Product design
Bei der Konzeption eines Produkts sind neben Aussehen
und Funktionalität auch andere Faktoren entscheidend.
Wichtige englische Begriffe dazu finden Sie hier.
MEDIUM
affect sth. [E(fekt]

, etw. beeinflussen
annoyingly [E(nOIINli]
, ärgerlich
N
brand [brÄnd]
, Marke
“
ever judge a book by its cover,” the saying goes. A product redesign that eliminates unnecessary customer retention
But we do, don’t we? The market is flooded packaging and replaces plastic with more easily re- [(kVstEmE ri)tenS&n]
, Kundenbindung
with consumer goods. An innovative and cyclable materials is just as likely to increase a com-
eye-catching design is likely to influence your pany’s sales as the introduction of a new product to eye-catching
[(aI )kÄtSIN]
decision about what to buy when you have an the endless range of soaps and shower gels already , auffallend
overwhelming choice of similar items. on the market.
failing [(feI&lIN]
When you are considering which coffee machine Good product design considers consumers’ needs , hier: nachlassend
to buy, for example, the way it will look in your kitch- and desires. It leads to brand recognition and custom- figure sth. out
en is probably going to be high on the list of reasons er retention — and, ultimately, to the success of the [)fIgEr (aUt] ifml.
for your decision. manufacturer. , etw. herausfinden
But product design isn’t only about aesthetics hip [hIp] ifml.
, angesagt, cool
— colour, shape and size. No matter how stylish,
retro or hip the machine looks, if it is too loud, has an item [(aItEm]
Exercise: Complete the quotes M , Artikel
annoyingly small water tank or is difficult to clean,
it’s unlikely to get many positive online reviews. make or break sth.
[)meIk O: (breIk]
Good write-ups and recommendations on social Complete each of these quotes with the most , für den Erfolg oder
media can make or break a product, and most of the suitable word from the list below. Misserfolg von etw.
influential comments mention both functionality entscheidend sein
and product design. exist | invisible | goals | purpose | works manufacturer

[)mÄnju(fÄktSErE]
And what about ergonomics? Are people of all , Hersteller(in)
ages and abilities able to figure out how to use the A. “It’s not just what it looks like and feels like.
Never judge a book by its
coffee machine? Can the phone be used by people Design is how it .” (Apple cover. [dZVdZ]
with poor eyesight or failing hearing? Well-thought- founder Steve Jobs, 1955–2011) , Beurteile ein Buch nie
through product design includes talking to custom- B. “Good design must be defined by appropri- nach seinem Einband.
ers, defining any difficulties they have with similar ateness to audience and , and overwhelming
[)EUvE(welmIN]
products, and developing a solution that addresses by its effectiveness.” (Drew Davies, owner , erdrückend
and integrates their requirements. of Oxide Design)
review [ri(vju:]
In response to increasing pressure from con C. “Our role is to imagine products that don’t , Bewertung
sumers, many manufacturers are now paying more and guide them to life.” (For-
sustainability
attention to sustainability and trying to minimize mer Apple designer Christopher Stringer) [sE)steInE(bIlEti]
any negative effects their products might have on D. “Only when the design fails does it draw , Nachhaltigkeit
the environment and ecosystem. This change in attention to itself; when it succeeds, write-up [(raIt Vp]
customer attitudes affects not only the design of it’s .” (Typographer and book , Rezension, Kritik
new products — it also means that companies are designer John D. Berry)
having to rethink the design and packaging of well- E. “[Design is] a plan for arranging elements Answers
established products. in such a way as to best accomplish a par- E. purpose
When you stand in front of a long shelf of sham- ticular .” (Industrial designer
C. exist; D. invisible;
A. works; B. goals;
poo bottles, package design is often as important as Charles Eames, 1907–1978) Complete the quotes
the brand. And these days, less really can be more.
Exercise:

Better by design:
functional and
beautiful
KAREN RICHARDSON
is an ELT materi-
als author
and business
English trainer.
She writes
lesson plans for
Macmillan’s www.
onestopenglish.com
and for Business
Spotlight.
Useful vocabulary refine sth. [ri(faIn]

, etw. verfeinern,
flow [flEU]
, Ablauf, Verlauf
user journey
[(ju:zE )dZ§:ni]
weiterentwickeln , Zyklen, die ein(e)
Expand your vocabulary with these iteration [)ItE(reIS&n]
Nutzer(in) bis zum Kauf
repeat sth. [ri(pi:t] , Wiederholung
terms relating to product design. , etw. wiederholen
eines Produkts durchläuft
mock-up [(mQk Vp]
validation
review sth. [ri(vju:] , (Anschauungs-)
[)vÄlI(deIS&n]
, etw. überprüfen; Modell, Attrappe
, Überprüfung,
VERBS develop sth. [di(velEp] rezensieren, bewerten
model [(mQd&l] Validierung
, etw. entwickeln
achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
dominate (sth.)
solve sth. [sQlv]
, etw. lösen
, Modell, Muster,
Vorlage
vision [(vIZ&n] ➻
, etw. erreichen, erzielen , Vision, Vorstellung
[(dQmIneIt] FOR MORE
address sb./sth. [E(dres] spark sth. [spA:k] needs [ni:dz] INFORMATION
, etw. bestimmen, be- wants [wQnts]
, etw. entfachen, , Bedürfnisse
, jmdn./etw. anspre- herrschen; vorherrschen , Bedürfnisse, Bedarf
chen; sich mit etw. auslösen
objective WEBSITES
befassen empathize with sb./sth. validate sth. [Eb(dZektIv] Product design terms:
[(empETaIz wID] [(vÄlIdeIt] , Ziel(setzung) PEOPLE ● https://100days.
analyse sth. [(ÄnElaIz] , sich in jmdn./etw.

, etw. bestätigen, competitor design/index.php/

, etw. analysieren einfühlen outcome [(aUtkVm]
validieren [kEm(petItE] glossary-of-terms
, Ergebnis
apply sth. to sth. envision sth. [In(vIZ&n] , Mitbewerber(in),
visualize sth. ● www.design1st.com/
[E(plaI tu] , sich etw. (bildhaft) packaging
[(vIZuElaIz] Konkurrent(in) glossary-product-
, etw. auf etw. vorstellen [(pÄkIdZIN]
, etw. veranschaulichen, data analyst design-terms
anwenden , Verpackung
generate sth. visualisieren [(deItE )ÄnElIst]
approach sth. [E(prEUtS] [(dZenEreIt] principle [(prInsEp&l] , Datenanalyst(in)
, etw. angehen Internationally
, etw. erzeugen , Prinzip
NOUNS product designer recognized design
benefit sb./sth. identify sth. process [(prEUses] [(prQdVkt di)zaInE] awards:
[(benIfIt] [aI(dentIfaI] , etw. advantage , Prozess, Verfahren ● www.red-dot.org/en
, Produktdesigner(in)
, jmdm./etw. nützen, erkennen, bestimmen [Ed(vA:ntIdZ]
prototype
● www.gp-award.com/
Nutzen bringen , Vorteil prototyper
imagine sth. [I(mÄdZIn] [(prEUtEUtaIp] en/gpaward
[(prEUtEU)taIpE]
conduct sth. , sich etw. vorstellen, aesthetic [i:s(TetIk] , Prototyp, Muster www.productdesign
, Person, die Modelle ●
[kEn(dVkt] ausmalen , Ästhetik award.eu

purpose [(p§:pEs] erstellt
, etw. durchführen
implement sth. analysis [E(nÄlEsIs] , (Verwendungs-) researcher [ri(s§:tSE]
craft sth. [krA:ft] [(ImplIment] , Analyse Zweck , Forscher(in)
, etw. anfertigen, , etw. umsetzen approach [E(prEUtS] satisfaction
(kunsthandwerklich) stakeholder
iterate sth. [(ItEreIt] , Vorgehensweise, [)sÄtIs(fÄkS&n]
gestalten [(steIk)hEUldE]
, etw. wiederholen Methode , Zufriedenheit , Projektbeteiligte(r)
Fotos: Chaosamran_Studio/Shutterstock.com; privat
create sth. [kri(eIt]

observe sth. [Eb(z§:v] development scenario [sE(nA:riEU]
, etw. schaffen, target user
, etw. beobachten; [di(velEpmEnt] , Szenario
entwerfen, kreieren [(tA:gIt )ju:zE]
beachten , Entwicklung
sketch [sketS] , Mitglied einer
define sth. [di(faIn] Zielgruppe
optimize sth. empathy [(empETi] , Entwurf, Skizze
, etw. definieren,
, Einfühlungsvermögen
festlegen [(QptImaIz]
step [step] user-experience (UX)
deliver sth. [di(lIvE]
, etw. optimieren ergonomics , Schritt designer [(ju:zEr ➻
[)§:gE(nQmIks] Ik)spIEriEns di)zaInE]
, etw. liefern prototype sth. You can practise your
, Ergonomie storyboard , Experte/Expertin für
[(prEUtEUtaIp] vocabulary at
design sth. [di(zaIn] , einen Prototypen /
[(stO:ribO:d] Produktgestaltung im
feature set [(fi:tSE set] , Visualisierung Hinblick auf das Nutzer-
www.business-spotlight.
, etw. entwerfen, ein Muster von etw. de/vocabulary
, Funktionen (einer Idee) erlebnis
konzipieren herstellen

LANGUAGE
ENGLISH ON THE MOVE
Working from home KEN TAYLOR

is a communication
consultant and
Auch im Homeoffice braucht man seinen Arbeitsplatz, seine author of 50 Ways
Pausen und seinen – virtuellen – Kontakt zu Kollegen und to Improve Your
Business English
Vorgesetzten. Um all das geht es in diesen Dialogen. (Lulu Publishing).
Contact:
MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS KTaylor868@aol.com
Home office: Mina: It must be hard to balance family and work achieve sth. [E(tSi:v]
say hello to a priorities. , etw. erreichen
new routine John: It’s not easy, but we’re doing all right. commute [kE(mju:t]
, Arbeitsweg
Talking to the boss dedicated [(dedIkeItId]

, hier: speziell
Yash: Hi, John. I thought I’d touch base and see eingerichtet
how things are going.
distracted [dI(strÄktId]
John: It’s all working out surprisingly well. , abgelenkt
Yash: That’s great. Do you think the Monday distraction
morning virtual stand-up meetings are [dI(strÄkS&n]
valuable? Is there anything you’d like to , Ablenkung
change? downtime
[(daUntaIm] US
John: I think they work well. We just need to
, Stillstand; hier: Zeit,
Talking to a friend make sure they don’t go on too long. in der jmd. gerade nicht
Mina: Hi, John. I just thought I’d give you a call Yash: I agree. I’ll keep an eye on that. arbeitet
to see how you’re doing. Are you working John: My problem is that I overcommit to things hit a wall [)hIt E (wO:l]
from home now? in the meetings. I find later that I was too , an seine Grenzen
stoßen; hier: (bei einem
John: Yes, since the end of last month. I’m still get- ambitious! Problem) nicht mehr weiter
ting used to it. Yash: We have to be realistic about what we can kommen
Mina: Do you miss going into the office? achieve. Are you able to keep in contact keep an eye on sth.
John: I miss the social side, such as seeing and with the team? [)ki:p En (aI Qn]
, etw. im Auge behalten,
chatting to colleagues. But I don’t miss the John: I find I’m using the phone to call colleagues
auf etw. achten
morning commute. Now, I don’t need to go more often than sending messages. The
overcommit to sth.
any farther than the dedicated workspace human contact is missing when you work [)EUvEkE(mIt tu]
I’ve set up in the spare room. from home. , hier: zu viel (zu viele
Mina: Do you have some sort of daily routine? Yash: I suppose that’s why I’m calling you now. Dinge) übernehmen
John: I do. I prepare the day as if I were going to It’s more personal. routine [)ru:(ti:n]
, [wg. Aussprache]
the office. I set the alarm. I dress properly.
I have breakfast and take my coffee to my Talking to a colleague set the alarm
[)set Di E(lA:m]
workspace at the time I’d normally be tak- Greta: I’m ringing about an idea I have that could , den Wecker stellen
ing the bus to work. help keep the team together now that we’re
Shoot! [Su:t] ifml.
Mina: So, you start earlier than you did before? all working remotely. , Leg los! / Legen Sie los!
John: Yes. I find I do my best work at the start John: Shoot! spare room [)speE (ru:m]
of the day. When I hit a wall, I take a break Greta: You know we all used to meet on a Friday , Gästezimmer
and go for a short walk. Also, I check my after work for a beer. stand-up meeting
social-media accounts only in the evening John: Or two! I miss that. [(stÄnd Vp )mi:tIN]
, (kurzes) Meeting im
so that I’m not always looking at them Greta: Well, I was thinking. Couldn’t we do it vir-
Stehen
when I have a few moments of downtime. tually? We use videoconferences for our
Foto:s filadendron/iStock; Gert Krautbauer
take a break
Mina: That sounds a bit drastic. But it is easy to get Monday morning meetings. So, on Fridays, [)teIk E (breIk]
distracted from what you should be doing. instead of discussing business, we could all , eine Pause einlegen
John: My main distraction is Lily! drink a beer or something and have a chat. touch base
Mina: How old is she now? What do you think? [)tVtS (beIs] ifml.
, sich melden
John: Her fifth birthday is coming up. Luckily, John: I think that’s a great idea.
Michelle is working from home, too — part- Greta: Excellent. I’ll talk to the others and set it up work remotely
[)w§:k ri(mEUtli]
time. She looks after Lily in the mornings. I for this coming Friday afternoon. , nicht vom Büro aus
take over around three in the afternoon. John: Thanks! I’m sure it’ll be fun! arbeiten

LANGUAGE
KEY WORDS Listen and learn!
You can download an MP3 file of this
Key Words list from our website:
Vocabulary trainer www.business-spotlight.de/downloads
➳
A PDF of these key words as well as a
Use our Key Words list to learn vocabulary from the complete vocabulary list (English–
current Business Spotlight. The definitions will help you German) for each magazine is availa-
ble at www.business-spotlight.de/words
understand the words — and build your vocabulary.
NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES

contagion the spread of an illness among people Ansteckung
food pairing recommending a dish that goes well with a specific wine Empfehlung einer passenden Speise
fraction a (small) part of something Bruchteil
hopeful a person likely or hoping to succeed in something, such as a job or a sport Anwärter(in), Kandidat(in)
respiratory disease a medical condition affecting someone‘s ability to breathe Atemwegserkrankung
sewage system a network of pipes and pumps for the collection and disposal of wastewater Abwassersystem
structural fatigue the weakening of a material over time Materialermüdung
workaround solution an emergency or temporary solution to a problem Not-, Zwischenlösung
VERBS
cling to sth. to hang on to something an etw. festhalten
fast-track sth. to make something happen faster than usual etw. beschleunigen
glare at sb. to look at someone in an angry way jmdn. zornig anstarren
homeschool a child to teach a child at home instead of them being taught at school ein Kind zu Hause unterrichten
inhibit sth. to prevent something from happening or make it happen more slowly etw. hemmen
outweigh sth. to be more important than something gegenüber etw. überwiegen
settle on sth. to agree on something sich auf etw. einigen
talk at sb. to speak to someone incessantly and insistently auf jmdn. einreden
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

affectionate showing fond feelings or love for someone liebevoll
bewildering confusing, puzzling verwirrend
cross-functional relating to a system whereby people from different departments collaborate funktions-, abteilungsübergreifend
intrusive very direct and pushy aufdringlich
personable pleasant and likeable sympathisch
ready-made prepared in such a way that it can be used immediately gebrauchsfertig
reluctant unwilling and hesitant zögerlich
unreservedly without reservations or restrictions vorbehaltlos, uneingeschränkt
IDIOMS AND EXPRESSIONS

for weeks at a time going on over several weeks without interruption wochenlang
go public to issue shares in a company on the stock market for the first time an die Börse gehen
hit a wall to reach a point where you cannot go further an seine Grenzen stoßen
keep one’s finger on the pulse to maintain an awareness of current trends am Puls der Zeit bleiben
make or break sth. to be decisive for the success or failure of something für den Erfolg oder Misserfolg von etw.
entscheidend sein
take one’s eye off the ball to lose sight of what is fundamental den Blick auf das Wesentliche verlieren

TECHNOLOGY
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Minding your
language
Brain to text:
a complicated route
Wissenschaftler arbeiten an The string of numbers was then fed He noted, however, that the system
der Entwicklung einer künstlichen into a second part of the system that is not yet usable in severely disabled
Intelligenz, die Hirnaktivität converted it into a sequence of words. At patients, as it relies on the brain activity
first, the system spat out nonsensical sen recorded from people speaking a sen-
in Text umwandeln kann. Das
tences. But as the system compared each tence out loud. “Of course, this is fantas-
soll Menschen, die nicht sprechen sequence of words with the sentences tic research … but this is not translation
oder Texte eintippen können, that were actually read aloud, it improved. of thought [but of brain activity involved
Kommunikation ermöglichen. It learned how the string of numbers rein speech].”
NICOLA DAVIS berichtet. lated to words, and which words tend to Herff added that people should
ADVANCED follow each other. not worry about others reading their
R
The team then tested the system, thoughts just yet — the brain electrodes
generating written text only from brain must be implanted, and imagined speech
activity during speech. The system was is very different from inner voice. But
eading someone’s mind has not perfect. Among its mistakes, “Those Dr Mahnaz Arvaneh, an expert in brain–
just come a step closer to real- musicians harmonize marvellously” was machine interfaces at Sheffield Universi-
ity. Scientists have developed decoded as “The spinach was a famous ty, UK, said it was important to consider
artificial intelligence that can singer”, and “A roll of wire lay near the ethical issues now. “We [are still] very,
turn brain activity into text. wall” became “Will robin wear a yellow very far away from the point that ma-
The system currently lily”. However, the team found the accu- chines can read our minds,” she said. “But
works on neural patterns racy of the new system was far higher it doesn’t mean that we should not think
detected while someone is than in previous approaches. While the about it and we should not plan about it.”
speaking aloud, but experts accuracy varied from person to person —
say the system for one participant, just three
could eventually “Those per cent of each sentence on Minding your language previous [(pri:viEs]
, frühere(r,s)
aid communication for pa- average needed correcting — [)maIndIN jO: (lÄNwIdZ]
tients who are unable to speak

musicians it was better than the average
, etwa: Passen Sie auf,
prosthesis
or type, such as those with harmonize word error rate of five per cent
was Sie sagen
(mind one's language
[prQs(Ti:sIs]
, Prothese
locked-in syndrome. “We are marvellously” for professional human tran- , auf seine Sprache
achten) recruit sb. [ri(kru:t]
not there yet, but we think this
could be the basis of a speech
was decoded scribers.
But, the team stress that,
chunk [tSVNk]
, jmdn. anwerben;
hier: sich jmdn. suchen
prosthesis,” said Dr Joseph as “The unlike human transcribers,
, Block, Segment
reveal sth. [ri(vi:&l]
detect sth. [di(tekt]
Makin, co-author of the re- spinach was the algorithm handles only a , etw. erkennen
, etw. aufzeigen
search from the University of

California, San Francisco.
a famous small number of sentences.
“If you try to go outside the
electrode array
robin [(rQbIn]
, Rotkehlchen
Writing in the journal Na- singer” [50 sentences used] the de-
[i(lektrEUd E)reI]
, Elektrodenbündel roll of wire
[)rEUl Ev (waIE]
ture Neuroscience, Makin and coding gets much worse,” said feed sth. into sth.
, Drahtrolle
his colleagues reveal how they developed Makin, adding that the system is likely [)fi:d (Intu]
, etw. in etw. einspeisen seizure [(si:ZE]
their system. The researchers recruited relying on a combination of learning , (Krampf-)Anfall
interface [(IntEfeIs]
four participants who had electrode ar- particular sentences, identifying words
, Schnittstelle severely disabled
rays implanted in their brain to monitor from brain activity and recognizing gen- [sI)vIEli dIs(eIb&ld]
lily [(lIli] , Lilie
epileptic seizures. These participants eral patterns in English. , schwer behindert
locked-in syndrome
were asked to read aloud a set of 50 sen- spinach [(spInIdZ]
[)lQkt (In )sIndrEUm]
tences multiple times, including “Tina Not translation of thought , Locked-in-Syndrom,
, Spinat
Turner is a pop singer” and “Those thieves The team also found that training the al- Eingeschlossensein- spit sth. out [)spIt (aUt]
Syndrom , etw. ausspucken;
stole 30 jewels”. The team tracked their gorithm on one participant’s data meant
hier: ausgeben
neural activity while they were speaking. less training data was needed from marvellously
[(mA:vlEsli] , wunderbar stress sth. [stres]
the final user — something that could , etw. betonen
mind [maInd]
An imperfect system make training less difficult for patients.
, hier: Gedanken string of numbers
This data was then fed into a machine- Dr Christian Herff, an expert in the field [)strIN Ev (nVmbEz]
pattern [(pÄt&n]
learning algorithm — a type of artificial from Maastricht University who was not , Muster
, Zahlenreihe; hier auch:
intelligence system. The algorithm con- involved in the study, said the research Zahlencode
predict sth. [pri(dIkt]
verted the brain activity data for each is exciting because the system used less transcriber
, etw. vorhersagen;
[trÄn(skraIbE]
spoken sentence into an abstract string of than 40 minutes of training data for each hier: berechnen
Foto: GarryKillian/iStock.com
, Transkriptor(in)
numbers. To make sure the string of num- participant, and a limited collection of
bers related only to aspects of speech, the sentences, rather than the millions of
NICOLA DAVIS
system compared sounds that were pre- hours typically needed. “By doing so, they
writes about science, health and the
dicted from small chunks of the brain achieve levels of accuracy that haven’t environment for The Guardian and The
activity data with actual recorded audio. been achieved so far,” he said. Observer. © Guardian News & Media 2020
TECHNOLOGY 5/2020 Business Spotlight 61

CAREERS & MANAGEMENT
FASHION
Elizabeth von der Goltz:

cool and stylish at
London Fashion Week
Nicht jeder, der einer Modemarke zum Erfolg verhilft, muss
ein Promi sein. Das gilt besonders für das Online-Versandhaus
Net-a-Porter und deren Einkaufschefin Elizabeth von der
Goltz, die SCARLETT CONLON hier vorstellt.
IN VOGUE
ADVANCED
I
f the familiar list of the most influential fash- Elizabeth von
ion figures is beginning to sound predictable
— sorry Anna Wintour, sorry Beyoncé — meet
der Goltz is to
someone who has no less influence but is not fashion what
(yet) a household name: Elizabeth von der a conductor
Goltz. As the global buying director for Net-a- is to an
Porter, the world’s largest multibrand luxury
orchestra
retailer, von der Goltz is to fashion what a con-
ductor is to an orchestra: everyone looks to her
to see what’s coming next.
Her role is to find and nurture brands and In vogue [)In (vEUg]
designers (from established to developing, in , en vogue, in Mode
everything from lingerie to sportswear), cut deals in approachable

[E(prEUtSEb&l]
order to sell their designs, and do everything she can
, ansprechbar
to support the brand and its sales.
conductor [kEn(dVktE]
, Dirigent(in)
Fashion’s formidable force
cut a deal
That’s the basic description. In reality, her job is [)kVt E (di:&l] US ifml.
enormous. Von der Goltz’s position demands the , einen Vertrag
ability to recognize new talent and an instinct for abschließen
trends — clothes as well as concepts — years before formidable

[(fO:mIdEb&l]
they appear. And she must do that with the convic- , beeindruckend
tion of someone who is not bothered by the multi-
household name: be a ~
million-pound budgets she is responsible for, and [)haUshEUld (neIm]
the confidence of someone who understands the , allgemein bekannt sein
cultural differences between the 170 countries that lingerie [(lÄndZEri]
Net-a-Porter serves. , Damenunterwäsche,
Dessous
She is fashion’s formidable silent force, yet on
Foto: imago/Runway Manhattan
every occasion I’ve seen her — whether navigating nurture sth. [(n§:tSE]
, etw. pflegen
an army of photographers fighting to get her picture
predictable
in the rain, or being delayed for two hours on board a
[pri(dIktEb&l]
London–Milan flight and missing countless appoint- , vorhersagbar
ments — she is always calm, cool and approachable, retailer [(ri:teI&lE]
with an enormous smile. Little wonder she is a part , Einzelhändler(in)
5/2020 Business Spotlight 63

The Vanguard
collection:
Fotos: XX
supporting new
designers
64 Business Spotlight 5/2020 CAREERS & MANAGEMENT

of a wave of retail directors attracting attention. In AI (artificial intelligence) “Even when of the world,” she says. “Now
the past, these roles stayed relatively under the radar [)eI (aI] , KI (künstliche it’s huge business!”
outside the fashion industry; they are now getting
Intelligenz) I’m doing What von der Goltz gives
widespread recognition. anticipate sth. Pilates or out in support, she gets
“It really has changed. I don’t know if any of us
[Än(tIsIpeIt]
, etw. erwarten, I’m in the back tenfold. Vincent Ho,
anticipated it. I didn’t,” laughs von der Goltz, 46, vorhersehen mountains, co-founder of the progressive
who has nearly 25 years’ experience. “I think people New York collective Peter Do,
didn’t understand before. Even when I was in school,
articulate
[A:(tIkjUlEt]
I have an idea which started on Instagram,
I didn’t think about how fashion gets into the store.
, wort-, redegewandt of how I want calls her a fairy godmother.
Now, people are thinking: ‘Who’s behind it? Who are collective [kE(lektIv]
, Produktions-
to look” “She works for Net-a-Porter,
these people?’ And it’s not just fashion. People are so gemeinschaft but she’s really helpful to our
much more interested in what happens behind the brand — telling us what to
craft [krA:ft]
scenes.” , Handwerk look out for,” Ho says. “She’s always accessible —
Von der Goltz recently appeared on the Netflix cruise collection whether it’s through an Instagram direct message,
hit Next in Fashion, which saw ten new designers bat- [(kru:z kE)lekS&n] an email or a text, she’s willing to help us at any giv-
tle to win a $250,000 (€230,000) prize and sell their , kleinere Zwischen- en moment. And she’s so personable,” Ho says. “She
kollektion für Sommer-
collections on Net-a-Porter. As a guest judge, von der mode zu Beginn des responds to stories; she talks about food — she’s one
Goltz was possibly the most important person on the Winters of us.”
panel. The cash prize might sound impressive, but emphasis [(emfEsIs]
becoming a success on her product pages gives a de- , Betonung Style and sustainability
signer the recognition necessary to make them sev- fairy godmother Von der Goltz has had a front row seat not just to
eral times the prize money and validates everything [)feEri (gQd)mVDE] every fashion show but at every major fashion event
, gute Fee
they’ve worked for. for most of the last two decades — and right now is
make or break sth.
On the other hand, if a designer isn’t ready, it no different. She has arrived at Net-a-Porter in one
[)meIk O: (breIk]
could mean catastrophe for them. “It’s a huge con- , etw. zum Erfolg of the most polarizing eras in fashion, with the spot-
sideration,” says von der Goltz, her American accent verhelfen oder scheitern light on sustainability highlighting the unmanage
lassen
placing the emphasis on the word “huge”. “At Net-a- able volume of clothing in the world. Federico Mar-
Porter, we have three warehouses we ship to around on her watch chetti, CEO of Net-a-Porter, told Women’s Wear Daily
[)Qn h§: (wQtS]
the world — London, New York and Hong Kong — , unter ihrer Führung
in December 2019 that its ten distribution centres
so even when we’re buying a small buy, it’s actually worldwide total “almost 100 soccer fields in eight
on site [)Qn (saIt]
huge! We can make or break a brand, and so we have , vor Ort; hier: lokal countries”.
a responsibility to help them develop and evolve, be- panel [(pÄn&l] While a buyer plays a key role in an industry that
cause we almost change the structure of their compa- , Gremium has been heavily criticized for creating and selling
ny just by asking them to complete our order.” She personable too much stuff, von der Goltz is articulate and in-
compares it to a marriage: “You have to believe that [(p§:s&nEb&l] formed. “The customer doesn’t need to choose be-
, sympathisch
they’re ready to build a business, because then we’re tween style or sustainability any longer — they can
in it for a long time.” pre-autumn collection now have both,” she tells me in an email after our
[)pri: (O:tEm kE)lekS&n]
, kleinere Zwischen-
call. “The product we buy — and therefore what our
Fairy godmother kollektion für Herbst-/ customers buy — is particularly important, as the
Von der Goltz knows how to take risks wisely. She Wintermode im Sommer production of fashion and textiles has a significant
admits that she has been “extremely influential” for source sth. [sO:s] impact on the welfare of people and ecosystems.”
, etw. beziehen
years. Before taking the top job at the London-based On her watch, Net-a-Porter has launched two
Net-a-Porter in 2017, von der Goltz was the design- sustainability things she is passionate about. One is the Vanguard
[sE)steInE(bIlEti]
er buyer for 16 years at Bergdorf Goodman, on New , Nachhaltigkeit
programme, which gives new designers access to the
York’s Fifth Avenue. “Brands — even big designers entire company, including legal, marketing and busi-
text [tekst]
— would come to me for advice,” she says. , hier: SMS ness development teams. The other is Net Sustain,
Far from just selling fashion, she is responsible validate sth.
which is a platform for community, craft and locally
for the existence of fashion houses. The founders of [(vÄlIdeIt] sourced products. Putting sustainability at the top of
Monse, who are also creative directors at Oscar de , hier: eine (große) the agenda is essential to any buyer’s reputation right
Anerkennung für etw. sein
la Renta, first came to von der Goltz with sketches now: “Our aim is to give a voice to the brands on site,
— now Monse is one of New York Fashion Week’s VR (virtual reality) big or small, that are truly making positive changes
[)vi: (A:]
highlights. She persuaded Valentino to start pro- , VR (virtuelle Realität) by providing them with a platform to highlight their
Foto: Net-a-Porter
ducing the pre-autumn and cruise collections. warehouse

best practice.” She points to “the advancement of
“I told them, work with me; we need this delivery. If [(weEhaUs] data, AI and VR capabilities” that will increasingly
it works, I’m totally happy for you to sell it to the rest , Lager help buyers in the future.
CAREERS & MANAGEMENT 5/2020 Business Spotlight 65

Inherited talents amazing [E(meIzIN] Behind the
Von der Goltz is good at adapting. Born in New York, , fantastisch latest trends:
von der Goltz
she grew up in a family of globetrotters — her father break [breIk]
, hier: Chance
worked in private equity, her mother as an art gal-
lerist. They lived in Tokyo, London and then Hong cue [kju:] , Signal
Kong, where she grew up with her older brother double digits: grow (by) ~
[)dVb&l (dIdZIts]
and went to a German–Swiss school. An art history
, zweistellige Zuwachs-
degree at Georgetown University in Washington, raten erzielen
DC, followed, including an internship at Christie’s down to the core
in London. [)daUn tE DE (kO:]
, hier: bis zum Äußersten
A career in art was not for her, she discovered, but
her formative years and the talents for business and finger on the pulse:
keep one’s ~
creativity she inherited proved invaluable. “You real [)fINgEr Qn DE (pVls]
ly have to have two sides of the brain to be a buyer, , am Puls der Zeit bleiben
“So much of A finger on the pulse
because so much of the work is financial and ana- When in London, where
lytical. We have to grow our business double digits
formative [(fO:mEtIv]
, Entwicklungs-, prägend
what we’re she is based full-time now
year on year. But the other side takes a lot of instinct, garment [(gA:mEnt] doing is with her husband, Andre-
taste and creativity, because you’re the one setting , Kleidungsstück
influenced by as, she practises what she
the trends of what people are buying.” Note that this high street [(haI stri:t]
UK , hier: von der Stange
the culture preaches. When she’s not
is always at least six months in advance, so there’s no busy managing a team of
way to get information from the style on the street. I’m like [(aIm laIk] ifml. around us” 50, keeping up with her
, ich sage
After Hong Kong, on the advice of a friend who demanding schedule of
inherit sth. [In(herIt]
worked at the legendary fashion retailer Joyce, von meetings and attending the
, etw. (er)erben
der Goltz moved to New York to pursue her love of London, Milan, Paris, Shanghai, Copenhagen, Seoul,
innately [)I(neItli]
fashion. After landing a temping position at Barneys , von Natur aus
Sydney and Tbilisi fashion weeks, she finds ways to
(“It was my Mecca!”), she worked hard and eventu- keep her finger on the pulse.
internship [(Int§:nSIp]
ally became an assistant buyer in the “private label” , Praktikum As for what the woman who presents women with
area of the store, which, at the time, was designed by liberal arts [)lIb&rEl (A:ts]
what to wear wears, von der Goltz looks forward to
Dutch designer Ronald van der Kemp. It was 1997 — , Geisteswissenschaften getting dressed every day and dismisses any sug-
and the break she needed. “In that role, you didn’t just margin [(mA:dZIn] gestion of pressure — even if she is becoming one
buy, you started from complete scratch; everything , Gewinnspanne of fashion’s most photographed people. “I innately
from ordering the sample fabric to the finish of a gar- mill [mIl] love fashion!” she says. “I love clothes — even when
ment. It was a great place to start, because I learned , hier: Textilfabrik I’m doing Pilates or I’m in the mountains, I have an
so much about fabrication, how much fabric it takes mix of high and low idea of how I want to look in my head.” Favourites
to make a jacket, production in Italy, all of that. I feel [)mIks Ev )haI En (lEU] include Gabriela Hearst, Altuzarra, Citizens of Hu-
, Stilmix aus Designer-
fabrics now and designers say, ‘This is expensive be- mode und Kleidung von manity and, of course, Peter Do, which give her what
cause it comes from this mill’, and I’m like: ‘I know der Stange she calls a mix of high and low. She adds: “Comfort
exactly what you’re talking about!’” Pilates [pI(lA:ti:z] and confidence are always most important.”
After working her way up through Barneys, a brief , [wg. Aussprache] Perhaps another reason why von der Goltz has
time at the now closed New York institution Henri private equity enjoyed such a long and successful career is that
Bendel and her nearly two decades at Bergdorf’s, [)praIvEt (ekwEti] she’s not afraid to say the things that, ten years ago,
, außerbörsliche Unter-
von der Goltz was already an industry authority — nehmensbeteiligung(en) would have been considered a crime in the fashion
especially when it came to what makes a good buyer. buyer’s rulebook. First up: money doesn’t necessarily
pursue sth. [pE(sju:]
Being an excellent negotiator is absolutely necessary: , etw. nachgehen; buy you style. “There is not a defined way of saying
“We negotiate down to the core with each of our hier: sich etw. widmen someone has style or not — if you have the money,
brands — it’s all about margin and probability, so you sample fabric [(sA:mp&l you have access, but there are so many people out
have to have that leadership voice in the industry.” )fÄbrIk] , Stoffprobe there with the most amazing style wearing clothes
You also need a range of interests and experi schedule [(Sedju:l] from the high street.” Second, there are no rules. “The
, Terminplan
ences. “I love people with a liberal arts background world has changed so much that it’s not about trends
who read fiction, watch movies, travel, love art and scratch: start from ~ dictating any more, so you can express yourself,” she
[skrÄtS] , von vorn
architecture, because so much of what we’re doing beginnen, neu anfangen says. But maybe look for her cue, too.
Fotos: Net-a-Porter
is influenced by the culture around us. The customer

Tbilisi [tE(bli:si] , Tiflis
is global, so you have to understand who she is, what For more views on
temping position SCARLETT CONLON is a free- this topic, go to
she’s doing every day, when she’s travelling, what [(tempIN pE)zIS&n] ifml. lance fashion journalist. www.business-
she’s seeing, what her hobbies are.” , Zeitarbeitsstelle © Guardian News & Media 2020 spotlight.de/fashion

Net Sustain:
Fotos: XX
fashion with a
conscience

HOW TO...
Get your CV
past the bots
Mit Computerprogrammen treffen
Firmen eine Vorauswahl geeigneter
Bewerber. DEBORAH CAPRAS hat
Tipps für Sie, wie Ihre Bewerbung
diese erste Hürde nimmt.
MEDIUM
Smarter bots?
Make sure they
rank you highly
M
any large companies now use elements might present an unreadable listing your job titles, qualifications or
applicant-tracking systems mess to the ATS.” achievements. If you’re not sure which
(ATSs). As the name suggests, ones to include, use an online tool, for in-
such systems help recruiters Stick to traditions stance Jobscan or SkillSyncer, to help you
track and manage applicants. Use traditional categories, such as find the right key words. Basically, even
They also screen for the best “Achievements”, “Education”, “Profes- if you are highly qualified, unless you in-
candidates — and filter out the sional qualifications”, “Skills” and “Work clude the right search terms in your CV,
rest. How can you make sure your CV experience”. These systems are pro- a human recruiter will never meet you.
gets past the bots and reaches a human grammed to sort the information into
recruiter? Here’s what the experts say. such categories. “There is no standard achievement font [fQnt]
you have to follow,” says Nick Francioso [E(tSi:vmEnt] , Schrift(typ)
, Leistung, Erfolg
Use the right format of SkillSyncer, a CV-optimization tool. get fancy [)get (fÄnsi]
applicant-tracking system , etwa: etwas Aus-
“Most applications are removed from the “But you should stick to the most popular
(ATS) [(ÄplIkEnt )trÄkIN gefallenes versuchen
equation because they are not formatted or most frequently used ones to be safe,” )sIstEm] , System zur
industry term
in a way these systems can read and inter- he tells CNBC Make It. Einschätzung von Bewer-
[)IndEstri (t§:m]
bern/Bewerberinnen
pret,” Amanda Augustine, a career expert , Branchenfachbegriff
at TopResume, explains to CNBC Make Understand the algorithms application [)ÄplI(keIS&n]
mess [mes]
, Bewerbung
It. Check which format is specified in the “ATS algorithms aren’t that different , Chaos, Durcheinander
bot [bQt] , Bot
job ad before you upload your application. from the human algorithms,” Jon Shields, recruiter [ri(kru:tE]
(selbstständig agierendes
It’s usually Microsoft Word format. marketing manager at Jobscan, tells The , Personalreferent(in)
Computerprogramm)
Muse. “We’re all kind of skimming for column [(kQlEm] , Spalte
screen for sb.
[(skri:n fO:] , eine
Keep it simple the same things,” he says. The system
CV (curriculum vitae) Vorprüfung zur Ermittlung
Avoid columns and tables, as many sys- first skims your application for specif- [)si: (vi:] , Lebenslauf von jmdm. durchführen
tems have problems recognizing where ic key words, then it ranks candidates equation: be removed skim (sth.) for sth.
Foto: PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock.com
these start and end. According to Alldus, who match well the job description. This from the ~ [i(kweIZ&n] [(skIm fO:] , etw. auf der
a specialist recruitment company, you doesn’t mean you should copy and paste , nicht berücksichtigt Suche nach etw. überfliegen
werden
should keep the structure and format sim- directly from the job description into (equation , Gleichung)
table [(teIb&l]
, Tabelle
ple. “Don’t get fancy,” advises Alldus on your CV. You should, however, reuse any
its blog. “Use standard fonts (Arial or Ca- expressions that are recognized industry For more career trends, go to
libri), excessive formatting or decorative terms. This is especially important when www.business-spotlight.de/careers

EXECUTIVE EYE
“Should workplace romances

be dealt with in an open,
adult way or made taboo?”
Auch am Arbeitsplatz macht die Liebe nicht halt, sei es in Form
einer Affäre oder als Beginn einer festen Beziehung. Wie aber
sollten die Beteiligten damit umgehen, um ihre Leistungsfähigkeit
und Karriere nicht zu beeinträchtigen?
ADVANCED PLUS
H
ow should corporations cope ADRIAN FURNHAM There is some evidence that job performance goes up among
with corporate cupid? Is sex at is a professor in those in same-level relationships, but goes down in hierarchical
work a matter for HR policy? the Department of relationships. And the theory is that a lot of energy is wasted in
Leadership and
Should, or indeed can, one try to Organisational
trying to keep close relationships secret.
legislate matters of the heart or Psychology at the But there are other factors that impact job performance. The
hormones? Should workplace Norwegian Business first is pretty obvious: how good is the relationship? A healthy
School, and author
romances be dealt with in an relationship boosts morale, energy and enthusiasm. Work mo-
of 92 books.
open, adult way or made taboo? tivation can improve because workplace lovers’ enthusiasm for
Workplace romances are inevitable. being at work increases. So, if you put pressure on a relationship,
People with similar education, interests you will cause stress for individuals and reduce motivation.
and values are recruited to organizations. But workplace relationships can cause resentment among
And if they spend eight or more hours a other employees who feel, rightly or wrongly, that favouritism
day together, it’s no surprise that attrac- occurs. This could decrease the productivity and morale of those
tions develop. So, why shouldn’t the of- not in a workplace relationship. And the more counter-cultural
fice be a good place to find a partner? romantic relationships are to an organization, the greater the
The argument goes that workplace problem. Workplace relationships happen, full stop. Draconian
romances can and do have an impact on rules often lead to secrecy, rumours, gossip and false accusations.
organizational dynamics, which, in turn, Being open, grown-up and sensible is the best strategy.
affect outcomes — productivity, morale,
efficiency. Senior people can lose the plot, affect sth. [E(fekt] favouritism morale [mE(rA:l]
take their eye off the ball, compromise , etw. beeinflussen [(feIvrE)tIzEm] , Arbeitsmoral
, Günstlingswirtschaft
their integrity. New channels of unoffi- ball: take one’s eye off outcome [(aUtkVm]
cial communication can be opened up the ~ [bO:l] full stop , Ergebnis
, den Blick auf das [)fUl (stQp] UK ifml.
and closed down. The appointment of perceive sth.
Wesentliche verlieren , Punkt (auch als
[pE(si:v]
favoured sexual partners can seriously bed sb. [bed] ifml.
Satzzeichen); basta
, etw. wahrnehmen
affect how people perceive the transpar- , mit jmdm. schlafen gossip [(gQsIp]
promotional system
ency and justice of a selection process or , Klatsch, Tratsch
board [bO:d] , Vorstand [prE(mEUS&nEl )sIstEm]
promotional system. hierarchy , Beförderungs-
boost sth. [bu:st]
Two criteria define workplace rela- [(haI&rA:ki] struktur(en)
Fotos: spukkato, Dic Liew/iStock.com; privat
, etw. stärken, fördern

+ PLUS , [wg. Aussprache]
tionships. One is hierarchy and the other recruit sb. [ri(kru:t]
compromise sth.
hush-hush: keep sth. ~ , jmdn. anwerben
is the openness of the relationship. The Try our reading [(kQmprEmaIz]
[)hVS (hVS] ifml.
combination of these factors gives four comprehension , etw. gefährden; hier resentment
, etw. geheim halten
exercises on this auch: einbüßen, verlieren [ri(zentmEnt]
groups. So, you could get two journalists article in our inevitable [In(evItEb&l] , Unmut
exercise booklet, cope with sth.
openly living together, the head of sales , unvermeidlich
Business Spotlight [(kEUp wID] rumour [(ru:mE]
openly dating a team member, two board Plus. To order, go , mit etw. klarkommen lose the plot , Gerücht
to www.aboshop.
members keeping an affair hush-hush spotlight-verlag.de cupid [(kju:pId]
[)lu:z DE (plQt] UK ifml.
senior [(si:niE]
, den Überblick verlieren
and a married CEO bedding his secretary. , Amor; hier: Liebelei , leitend

WORK & RELAX
IN THE ZONE
Health is wealth
Gesundheit ist unser höchstes Gut. Doch immer mehr Arbeitnehmer sind chronisch krank.
In welchem Maße sollten oder müssen sie Kollegen und Vorgesetzte darüber informieren?
Und wie kann der Arbeitsplatz an ihre Leiden angepasst werden? JULIAN EARWAKER berichtet.
ADVANCED AUDIO
“
I
t is health which is real wealth and not
pieces of gold and silver,” Mahatma
HEALTH IN THE UK
Gandhi once said. Good health is in-
deed precious. It is needed to be able
to work productively — and with en-
joyment. So, what happens if you suf-
fer from a serious or long-term illness?
33%
What effect might it have on your work-
ing life, and what should you do about it? of people employed in the
“The first step is to get as informed as UK report having at least one
long-term health condition
possible,” says Laurie Edwards, author
of In the Kingdom of the Sick, a book about
33%
chronic illness in the US. “Try to get a of long-term ill-health
realistic idea of what your limitations work absences are due to
will be … the more information you have, musculoskeletal conditions
the better equipped you are to make the
50%
right choices.” Edwards has suffered from
a chronic respiratory disease since child- of people with a long-term condition
say their health limits the type or
hood and understands well the frustra- amount of work they can do
tions of trying to manage serious illness
52% 33%
alongside career aspirations. In these
uncertain days of Covid-19, many people of employees in unskilled of employees
occupations have long-term in professional
are reflecting on their health and work- conditions, compared to... occupations
life priorities.
In the US, employee claims to health
60%
insurance are at an all-time high. The more people from the poorest
communities suffer from long-term
National Health Council estimates that
health problems than from the richest Source: Public Health England,
half of all American adults have a chronic communities “Health and Work”
condition, and one third have multiple (https://bit.ly/2RSHBXU)
chronic conditions. In the UK, the NHS
reports that while 72 per cent of the gen-
eral population are employed, only 59 per
arthritis council [(kaUns&l] do sth. about sth. NHS (National Health
cent of people with long-term health con- [A:(TraItIs] , Rat [(du: E)baUt] Service)
ditions are working. Absence because of , [wg. Aussprache]
diabetes
, etw. gegen etw. tun [)en eItS (es] UK
, staatlicher britischer
an illness and productivity lost to chron- career aspirations [)daIE(bi:ti:z] equipped
Gesundheitsdienst
ic ill health cost the UK economy €110 [kE(rIEr ÄspE)reIS&nz] , [wg. Aussprache] [I(kwIpt]
, berufliche Ambitionen/ , hier: gerüstet precious [(preSEs]
billion each year. The personal costs of Ziele
due to: be ~ sth.
, kostbar
being diagnosed with a condition such as [(dju: tu] musculoskeletal
condition , auf etw. zurück- [)mVskjUlEU(skelIt&l] respiratory disease
multiple sclerosis, heart disease, diabetes [kEn(dIS&n] zuführen sein , Muskel-Skelett- [ri(spIrEtEri dI)zi:z]
or arthritis are, of course, immeasurable. , Erkrankung, Leiden , Atemwegserkrankung
70 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORK & RELAX

Working with
After receiving a diagnosis, people of- an illness:
ten choose one of two extremes, writes a heavy
burden to
Michele Hoos for TheMuse.com: telling bear
everybody at work, or hiding it com-
pletely. “But there’s another option,” she
suggests. “Clear communication about
your health needs, which does not neces-
sarily mean disclosing your condition.”
You should focus on the impact of your
illness, not the actual condition, and
what you can do at work rather than your
limitations. Sharing information about a
health issue can secure the valuable long-
term support of your co-workers, but can
also be intrusive.
You are not legally required to tell
your employer about a health condition
if it does not change your performance.
However, there is often a moral duty, says
the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah,
writing in The New York Times. Most work-
“The first
places involve managers placing trust step is to get
in their employees, he explains. If your
illness will have consequences for your
as informed
manager and organization, it would be as possible”
respectful to let them know in advance.
“You may feel that you owe it to [them]
to give [them] time to plan for your even-
tual decline and departure,” Appiah says, “reasonable”. Adjustments could in- an employee’s skill and experience, keep-
“more time, perhaps, than you would if clude allowing time off for medical ing their organizational reputation and
you were dealing with a faceless institu- appointments, removing tasks from ensuring legal compliance. Don’t ask for
tion.” a person’s job description that cause too much information about the condi-
When British businesswoman Cath- problems, or allowing more flexible tion or an employee’s medical history,
erine Wines was diagnosed with stage- working hours and breaks during the he advises. Do be kind and supportive.
three pancreatic cancer, she did not wait working day. “Good companies understand that suc-
to tell her colleagues. Businesses “need With so many people now suffering cess includes treating people with respect
to prepare for cancer”, as it is such a com- from chronic conditions, any business and dignity, in sickness and in health,”
mon illness, she told FT.com. Wines con- employing more than a handful of says Mishler.
tinues to work as a speaker and mentor, staff is likely to face a situation involv- Catherine Wines agrees. Regret is
and keeps a non-executive role at World ing an employee’s long-term health. something she has no time for. “If I’m
Remit, a digital international money Keith Mishler, human resource spe- going to have a short life, then [I hope] to
transfer company she co-founded. She cialist at Insperity.com, an HR and ad- enjoy it as much as I can and do as much
Fotos: Ponomariova_Maria, TopVectors, ZIIINVN, Coprid, photoschmidt/iStock.com
advises managers there to listen to their ministrative services company, says as I can with the time I have.” Gandhi, no
employees, and to ask them whether they managers should focus on retaining doubt, would have seen the value in that.
wish to share a diagnosis of serious illness
with others. adjustment departure human resource specialist owe sth. to sb.
According to Macmillan, a UK cancer [E(dZVstmEnt] [di(pA:tSE] [)hju:mEn ri(zO:s [(EU tu]
, Anpassung , hier: Ausscheiden aus )speS&lIst] , Experte/ , jmdm. etw. schuldig sein
support organization, most employees dem Unternehmen Expertin für Personalfragen
with cancer want to work. Like most break [breIk] , Pause pancreatic cancer
dignity [(dIgnEti] in advance [)In Ed(vA:ns] [pÄNkri)ÄtIk (kÄnsE]
people with chronic illness, they wish to charity
, Würde , im Voraus , Bauchspeicheldrüsen-
[(tSÄrEti]
live normal lives as far as possible. Un- , karitative Organisation disclose sth. intrusive [In(tru:sIv]
krebs
fortunately, the charity’s research shows [dIs(klEUz] , aufdringlich retain sth. [ri(teIn]
compliance
that many face discrimination and lack , etw. offenlegen , etw. behalten
[kEm(plaIEns] medical history
of support at work. Although employers , Einhaltung von Regeln eventual [(medIk&l )hIstri] stage [steIdZ]
[I(ventSuEl] , Krankengeschichte , hier: Stadium
are legally required to make reasonable decline [di(klaIn]
, spätere(r,s)
adjustments for chronic illness, this is , Verfall; hier: Verschlech- non-executive: keep a ~ time off [)taIm (Qf]
terung des Gesundheits- face sth. [feIs] role [)nQn Ig(zekjUtIv] , arbeitsfreie Zeit
dependent upon cost and practicality. zustands , etw. gegenüberstehen , eine Nichtführungs-
There is no fixed definition of what is funktion innehaben
WORK & RELAX 5 /2020 Business Spotlight 71

WORK & RELAX
AWAY FROM YOUR DESK
Recommended for you

Verbannen Sie die englische Sprache nicht an den
Arbeitsplatz! Mit Büchern, Musik und anderen
Dingen räumen Sie ihr auch in Ihrer Freizeit einen
Platz ein. Von DEBORAH CAPRAS
MEDIUM
FITNESS APP
With Down Dog, it’s easy to config-
ure a personalized yoga session by
level of difficulty and duration, and
by the type of yoga you wish to prac-
tise. There’s also an option for the
focus of your session, for instance
“core strength” or “flexibility”. As
Try it at home:
there are so many variables, Down get the Down Dog app
Dog seems to create a new sequence
of instructional video clips each
time. As a nice touch, the app shows
tongue-in-cheek yoga mantras,
including “forgiving ex-lovers” and
“brewing Kombucha”, while it gen- Cheers! A good
erates your workout. The app costs way to learn about
wine and language
€8.99 a month, or €56.99 a year, but
there’s also a free version. WINE
www.downdogapp.com We seem to be living in a world of connoisseur
constant reviews and customer [)kQnE(s§:]
, Kenner(in),
brew sth. [bru:] , etw. brauen ratings. This trend is put to good Liebhaber(in),
core strength [(kO: streNT] use in the Vivino app. Wine lovers food pairing
, Core-Stärke, Stärke der Mitte who don’t know much about terroir [(fu:d )peErIN]
(core , Kern) , Empfehlung einer
will find it educational, while wine
down dog [(daUn dQg] passenden Speise
connoisseurs might use it to discover
, herabschauender Hund (Yogapose) review [ri(vju:]
more about their favourite wines,
duration [dju&(reIS&n] , Rezension, Bewertung
vineyards and food pairings. As you
, Dauer terroir [teEr(wA:]
can switch between German and , Terroir (von Französisch
tongue-in-cheek [)tVN In (tSi:k]
, ironisch
English, the app can also help you „Gegend“)
learn the specialized language of vineyard [(vInjEd]
touch [tVtS]
, Geste; hier: Extra wine. www.vivino.com , Weingut
72 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORK & RELAX

ONLINE TRAVEL SCIENCE
Free climber Alex Honnold is The Rules of Contagion: Why Things
the legendary star of Free Solo, Spread — and Why They Stop is a
the documentary about his timely analysis of how things
freakishly daring ascent of El spread, from fatal diseases and
Capitan in Yosemite National financial panic to fake news on
Park, California. He’s also one social media. More importantly
of the guides up the same perhaps, as the subtitle promises,
900-metre rock face on Google it also looks at why they come
Street View. Not only did he to an end. The author, Adam
climb The Nose of El Capitan to Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at
create this virtual experience, but he the London School of Hygiene &
also carried a lot of the camera equip- Tropical Medicine, and an expert
Action man: ment that was needed to film the journey. For storyteller. He has also experi-
the daring
Alex Honnold most people, these 360-degree panoramic images enced contagion first-hand, as a
will be the closest they’ll get to experiencing the bank intern during the financial
real thing. You know you’re safe, but your heart crisis of 2007–08 and as a scientist
might still skip a beat when you look down — or up. during the Zika virus outbreak in
Start the climb at https://bit.ly/ClimbElCapitan 2015. The science is always inter-
esting and clear, and his anec-
ascent [E(sent] skip a beat dotes are fascinating. Published
, Besteigung [)skIp E (bi:t] by the Wellcome Collection.
, hier: kurz aussetzen
freakishly [(fri:kISli]
, hier: außergewöhnlich Yosemite [jEU(semEti]
contagion [kEn(teIdZEn]
, [wg. Aussprache]
rock face [(rQk feIs] , Ansteckung
, Felswand
epidemiologist
[)epI)di:mi(QlEdZIst]
, [wg. Aussprache]
fatal [(feIt&l]
, tödlich
MUSIC hygiene [(haIdZi:n]
For nearly ten years, Bob Boilen of NPR Music has been host- , [wg. Aussprache]
ing famous and up-and-coming musicians on his show Tiny intern [(Int§:n]
Desk. He has one simple rule: all equipment has to fit behind his , Praktikant(in)
desk. Recently, Boilen also included Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts school [sku:l]
from musicians in quarantine during the Covid-19 crisis. Ben , hier: Hochschule
Gibbard, the frontman of Death Cab for Cutie, was one of the timely analysis
first. The absence of electronic equipment generally makes the [)taImli E(nÄlEsIs]
, Analyse, die zur rechten Zeit kommt
recordings feel intimate and even raw, but Gibbard’s perfor-
mance is particularly moving. Watch Tiny Desk online at
www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts
frontman
[(frVntmEn]
, Leadsänger
host sb. [hEUst]

, Gastgeber(in) für jmdn.
sein, jmdn. zu Gast haben
quarantine
[(kwQrEnti:n]
Fotos: fizkes/iStock.com; courtesy of Ben Gibbard
, Quarantäne
raw [rO:]
, hier: ungeschliffen
up-and-coming
[)Vp En (kVmIN]
, aufstrebend,
Nachwuchs-
Live from home:

Ben Gibbard on
Tiny Desk
WORK & RELAX 5/2020 Business Spotlight 73

FEEDBACK
DIGITAL PRODUCTS
Keeping in touch
Why stop at reading our magazine in print or as an e-paper? You can further improve
your business English — and stay up to date with all the latest developments at
Business Spotlight — with the help of our digital products and our email newsletter.
Please send your
feedback via email to:
You can read, Ian McMaster
hear and practise Editor-in-chief
business English i.mcmaster@
on our website spotlight-verlag.de
We reserve the right to
edit comments for
clarity or length.
Find news items and

language tips on our
Facebook page
Solution: Who am I?
(p. 76)
Jacinda Ardern,
➻ prime minister of
New Zealand
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JARGON BUSTER
Understand the jargon —

be careful how you use it
EASY
put a pin in it
Foto:: photocosmos1/Shutterstock.com
➻ Example ➻ Explanation
“We’re not getting anywhere If you “put a pin in something”, for example a topic of conversation, it means you would
with this topic. Let’s put a pin like to come back to it later. The expression may come from the sewing trade, where a
in it and move on.” pin is put into a piece of fabric to hold it in place temporarily.
74 Business Spotlight 5/2020 FEEDBACK

PREVIEW
ächste
ISSUE 6/2020 Die n n
be vo
Ausga tlight
si n ess Spo
Bu m
eint a
ersch 020. Canada
2. A ugust 2
1 For many Europeans,
Canada is a symbol of hope,
particularly in comparision
with its neighbour to the
south.We report on the
challenges facing the country.
Writing skills
With our special language
test, you can find out how
good your English writing
skills are in a range of typical
work situations.
SKILL UP!
Describing trends
In our next Skill Up! booklet,
we give you the words and
expressions you’ll need for
discussing trends, both in the
economy and the workplace.
Canada’s maple leaf:

a symbol of hope
impressum leserservice
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PREVIEW 5/2020 Business Spotlight 75

AND FINALLY...
ONE QUESTION
? Who am I?
MEDIUM
From a fish-and-chips shop

to the United Nations: who is
our mystery person?
⋅⋅ I grew up on an apple farm and could drive a

tractor before I could drive a car. I had a pet
lamb named “Reggie”.
⋅⋅ As a child, I was a member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
⋅⋅⋅⋅ I now identify as agnostic.

⋅⋅ I went back to work six weeks after
⋅⋅
I have two middle names: Kate and giving birth.
⋅⋅
Laurell. I am the first person to have taken a
My first job was at a fish-and-chips baby to the United Nations General
⋅⋅ ⋅⋅⋅⋅
shop called Golden Kiwi. Assembly.
My first campaign was to allow girls I turn 40 on 26 July.
⋅⋅⋅⋅
to wear trousers at school. My country will hold an election in
I auditioned I have been a guest DJ at a few events. September. Will I win again?
I volunteered at a soup kitchen while
for a part in
⋅⋅
living in New York City.
When asked what kind of whisky I ho am I?
W
The Lord of prefer, I replied: “The terrible answer Turn to page 74 for the answer.
⋅⋅
is: I like all of them.”
the Rings but My partner is a radio and television
agnostic [Äg(nQstIk] General Assembly
was not cast

broadcaster. He appeared as a , Agnostiker(in) [)dZen&rEl E(sembli]
contestant on a reality television approachable
, Generalversammlung
⋅⋅
show called Treasure Island. [E(prEUtSEb&l] host [hEUst]
I auditioned for a part in The Lord of the , zugänglich, ansprechbar , Gastgeber(in);
hier: Moderator(in)
⋅⋅
Rings but was not cast. audition [O:(dIS&n]
I have appeared on The Late Show, , vorspielen maternity bra
[mE(t§:nEti brA:]
a US talk show. The host, Stephen barbeque [(bA:bIkju:]
, Schwangerschafts-BH
, Grillparty
Colbert, even came to my home for a part [pA:t]
⋅⋅
barbeque. broadcaster
, hier: Rolle
[(brO:dkA:stE]
I am a darling of the world’s political , Sprecher(in) (beim pet lamb
⋅⋅
scene, praised for my empathy. Rundfunk/Fernsehen) [)pet (lÄm]
, Lamm als Haustier
In my home country, however, some cast: be ~ [kA:st]
⋅⋅
people say I haven’t done enough. , eine Rolle bekommen The Lord of the Rings
[DE )lO:d Ev DE (rINz]
Always approachable, I once had a contestant [kEn(testEnt]
, Der Herr der Ringe
conversation with a member of the , Teilnehmer(in)
Illustration: Georg Lechner
Treasure Island
⋅⋅
public while buying a maternity bra. empathy [(empETi]
[)treZEr (aIlEnd]
, Einfühlungsvermögen
I am the third female leader of my , Schatzinsel
⋅⋅
country. fish and chips
volunteer
The information about our [)fIS En (tSIps] UK
mystery person was compiled
I am the second world leader to have , Bratfisch mit Pommes
[)vQlEn(tIE]
, ehrenamtlich tätig sein
by TENLEY VAN DEN BERG. given birth while in office. frites
76 Business Spotlight 5/2020 AND FINALLY...

Jetzt ZEIT LEO testen
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SKILL UP!
Ausgabe
➳ 64
Sprachtraining leicht gemacht

EDUCATION
THE LANGUAGE OF
➺
CONTENTS
How qualified
are you?
DEBORAH CAPRAS
Author, editor,
corporate writer
Contact:
deborahcapras@
wise-words.com
There are many situations in the workplace

where you will need to talk about your edu-
cational background and qualifications, from
making small talk with a colleague to trying to
impress someone in a job interview. In this is-
sue of Skill Up!, we provide you with the words The most effec-
and phrases you will need for talking about tive way to learn a
education. language is not by
In Word Bank (pp. 4–5), you can learn gen- learning grammar and
vocabulary separately
eral vocabulary for institutions and qualifica- but to learn in chunks
tions. The dialogues in the In Context section — groups of words
(pp. 6–11) focus on phrases for talking about that form meaning-
schools and universities, qualifications and ful units. When you
can process chunks,
training on the job. Key phrases from the ex-
rather than individual
tracts are listed in Phrase Bank on pages 12–13. words, communica-
In the grammar section (pp. 20–21), we look at tion becomes faster
different ways to express necessity and obli- and more efficient.
gation. Try the Test exercises at the end of the Practise chunks from
the Phrase Bank and
booklet, on pages 22–23, to see how well you
Illustration: Bernhard Förth
Collocations pages
know the language presented in this issue. by making a note of
Don’t forget to read the Skill Up! boxes for those you think will
tips on how to improve your language skills. come in useful when
You’ll find more such boxes in Business Spotlight talking about your
education.
magazine.
2 SKILL UP!
CONTENTS
Contents Knowledge check

What do you know already?
Word Bank A. Can you say that some-

Key vocabulary 4–5 one takes a “hands-on” or
In Context “hands-down” approach?
A solid education 6–7
University life 8–9 B. What is the English
Training on the job 10–11 expression for lauter Einsen
bekommen?
Phrase Bank
How to say it 12–13
C. Is it a good thing or a bad
False Friends thing to “foster” learning?
No academics at the gym 14–15

Collocations D. We talk about a “learning
Learning strategies 16–17 outcome”. Do you know
two more words you can
Essential Idioms
use with “learning” that
What did they say again? 18–19
start with “o”?
Grammar Check
“Have to”, “need” and E.
How would you translate
“must” 20–21 eine Prüfung absolvieren?
Test
Test yourself! 22–23
You’ll find the answers on the
following pages and on page 23.
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SKILL UP! 3
WORD BANK
Key vocabulary
Here, we present the essential
vocabulary for talking about
education.
People Key places Key education terms

apprentice adult education centre apprenticeship , Lehre
, Lehrling, Auszubildende(r) , Zentrum für Erwachsenen- continuing professional
course instructor bildung; Volkshochschule development (CPD)
, Kursleiter(in) business school , kontinuierliche Fort- und
fellow student , betriebswirtschaftliche Weiterbildung
, Kommilitone/Kommilitonin Fakultät, Wirtschaftsakademie course , Kurs, Lehrgang
graduate graduate school US curriculum , Lehrplan
, (Hochschul-)Absolvent(in) , weiterführende Hochschule
(nach dem Bachelor) executive education
high-school graduate US programme , Schulungs-
, etwa: Abiturient(in) higher education institution programm für Führungskräfte
, Hochschule, Hochschul-
intern einrichtung face-to-face session
, Praktikant(in) , Einzelsitzung; Präsenz-
nursery unterricht
lecturer , Dozent(in) , Kinderkrippe; Kindergarten
overseas student internship , Praktikum
primary school
, ausländische(r)
, Grundschule
learning and development
Studierende(r) (L&D) programme , Lern-
public school , Privatschule und Entwicklungsprogramm
participant (US staatliche Schule)
, Teilnehmer(in) postdoctoral research
research institute , postdoktorale Forschung
postgraduate , Forschungsinstitut
, Studierende(r), der/die nach postgraduate course , Post-
dem ersten akademischen secondary school graduierten-, Aufbaustudium
Abschluss weiterstudiert (US high school)
, Schule/Klassen der Sekun- professional development
pupil , Schüler(in) darstufe (etwa Klassen 9–12) course , berufliche(r)
scholarship holder/student Weiterbildung(skurs)
state school
, Stipendiat(in) , staatliche Schule refresher course

seminar leader , Auffrischungskurs
university
, Seminarleiter(in) (US also college) sandwich course UK , etwa:
undergraduate , Universität, Hochschule Ausbildung im dualen System
, Studierende(r) vor dem university of applied sciences self-development
ersten akademischen Abschluss , Fachhochschule , autodidaktisches Lernen
4 SKILL UP!
WORD BANK
staff development Key verbs and Key adjectives

, Personalentwicklung
expressions accredited (institution, etc.)
syllabus , Lehrplan; Lehrstoff , akkreditiert, anerkannt
appraise sb./sth. , jmdn./
timetable , Stundenplan etw. beurteilen, bewerten certified (nurse, etc.)
, staatlich geprüft,
vocational training assess sb./sth. , jmdn./etw.
, Berufsausbildung
amtlich zugelsassen
bewerten, einschätzen
work experience highly skilled
attend sth. , etw. besuchen
, hochqualifiziert
, Berufserfahrung
customize sth. , etw. perso-
work placement licensed (pilot, etc.)
nalisieren, individuell anpassen
, lizensiert
, Berufspraktikum
enrol (on sth./at a school)
work shadowing UK recognized (qualification, etc.)
, sich (für etw./an einer
, anerkannt
, Hospitation Schule) einschreiben
evaluate sth.
, etw. bewerten, beurteilen
Key qualifications
foster sth. , etw. fördern
academic record
, akademische Laufbahn foster learning
, das Lernen fördern
bachelor’s degree
, Bachelor(abschluss) graduate (from university/
college)
corporate certification
, einen (Hochschul-)
programme , Firmen- SPECIALIST
Abschluss machen
zertifizierungsprogramm VOCABULARY
learn a trade
credentials
, einen Handwerksberuf Education systems
, Referenzen; Zeugnisse
erlernen differ greatly from
diploma , Diplom country to country. In
qualify (as sth.) , seine
doctoral thesis Prüfung (zu etw.) machen Germany, you have
, Doktorarbeit das System der dualen
sit an exam
doctorate , Promotion; (US take an exam) Berufsausbildung, which
Doktortitel , eine Prüfung machen is often translated
higher degree spend a semester abroad as “dual vocational
, höherer Abschluss , ein Semester im Ausland training”. Such train-
master’s degree verbringen ing is not common
, Master(abschluss) study abroad in the UK or the US,
postgraduate certificate , im Ausland studieren however, so you will
, Postgraduiertenabschluss study for sth. have to explain how it
school-leaving certificate , für etw. (einen Beruf) works to people who
(US high-school diploma) studieren are unfamiliar with
, Schulabschlusszeugnis take a gap year the German system.
university entrance , zwischen Schule und You can use “sand-
qualification , Hochschul- Universität/Arbeit ein Jahr wich course”, but it is
zulassungsberechtigung frei nehmen not exactly the same.
SKILL UP! 5
IN CONTEXT
A solid education
On the next six pages, we present extracts with key
phrases and expressions you can use to talk about
academic and professional education.
The Situation:
Paul Rich and Julia Smith work at 2Movers,
a management training organization based
in Manchester. They are making small
talk about their own education and their
children’s.
1. Your school 2. Your children’s school

Paul: How come your Spanish is Paul: It’s parents’ evening at my
so good? daughter’s school tonight. I don’t
Julia: I went to an international know why they call it “evening” —
school in Madrid for three years. I have to be there at 4 o’clock!
My dad was on a foreign assign- Julia: What year is she in?
ment there. Paul: Year 11.
Paul: That explains it. Julia: Oh, that must be tough — for
Julia: Spanish was my favour- her and you! What subjects is she
ite class at school, even when we taking?
went back to Ireland. And, I stud- Paul: It feels like she’s studying
ied it at university. Oh, and my all the STEM subjects at once. Her
husband is Spanish! favourite subject is maths.
Julia: My children go to the local
foreign assignment primary school. Next year, we
, Auslandseinsatz, Entsendung ins Ausland
have to choose a secondary school
for my son.
Phrase Bank STEM (science, technology, engineering,

maths) , MINT (Mathematik, Informatik,
For a list of all the key phrases used in
Naturwissenschaft, Technik)
the dialogues, see pages 12–13
subject , (Schul-)Fach
6 SKILL UP!
IN CONTEXT
3. Local schools 5. High costs

Paul: What are his academic Julia: The university tuition fees
strengths? are high in the UK. In most coun-
Julia: He’s very good at languages. tries on the continent, higher edu-
We speak Spanish at home with cation is still free.
the kids. My son also loves art and Paul: I know, but you can get a
music. What’s the local secondary student loan. You can apply for
school like? university grants and bursaries.
Paul: I hear the local school has And then there’s always the bank
a very good reputation for the of mum and dad!
arts and humanities. I don’t know
bursary UK , Stipendium
whether Spanish is even on the
grant , Förderung, Stipendium
curriculum at my son’s school.
loan , Darlehen
good at/with sth.: be ~ , in etw. gut sein tuition fee , Studiengebühr
humanities , Geisteswissenschaften
4. Top universities
Julia: What does she want to US OR UK?
study at university? The word school could
Paul: Engineering. She’s applying cause misunderstandings.
to universities that are ranked In the US, school is often
among the best in the world. used to mean university:
e went to school at
H
Julia: Excellent! Are the admis-
Stanford.
sions criteria tough?
Paul: Very. And competitive. It’s In the UK, school usu-
important to get straight A’s in ally refers to primary or
secondary education. In
every subject.
some cases, however, it
admission criterion (pl. criteria) is used in the name of a
, Zulassungskriterium, -bedingung department in an institute
of higher education, such
competitive , wettbewerbsorientiert;
hier: ehrgeizig, anspruchsvoll as the London School of
Journalism or the London
engineering , Ingenieurwesen
School of Economics.
get straight A’s , lauter Einsen bekommen
SKILL UP! 7
IN CONTEXT
University life
Here, we present some more key phrases and expressions you will
find useful for talking about university education in more detail.
The Situation: 7. The interview

2Movers organize around 30 sem- Paul: Tell me about your academ-
inars a year, many of them online. ic background, Milan.
Paul is interviewing Milan Chew for
Milan: I graduated with a first-
a position as online instructor for a
leadership course.
class degree in applied European
languages and international man-
agement from Cambridge Univer-
6. Before the interview sity. I studied abroad through the
Paul: Brian, you say that Milan Erasmus Programme — for two
Chew is your preferred candidate years in Rome. I got top marks
for the position. Why’s that? What throughout.
do you know about her back- Paul: How has your undergradu-
ground or academic credentials? ate degree prepared you for this
Brian: She’s a perfect fit. She grad- job?
uated from Cambridge University Milan: That’s a good question.
and she also… Paul: I’m mainly interested in
Paul: Sorry to interrupt. Remind your skills. What skills have you
me again, Brian. Where did you learned at university that apply
study? to your career as a coach?
Brian: Cambridge — but that’s Milan: During my year abroad, I
not the reason I’m recommending vastly improved my language skills
her! She has the relevant qualifi- and intercultural understanding.
cations in training and coaching. The modules helped me develop
She did a trial online session with strong communication skills.
some of our students last week. I
was impressed. applied , angewandt
fit: be a perfect ~ apply to sth. , sich bei etw. einsetzen lassen
, perfekt zu jmdm./etw. passen mark UK , (Schul-)Note
trial online session , Online-Probestunde vastly , erheblich
8 SKILL UP!
IN CONTEXT
“FRESHMAN” AND
“FRESHER”
In the US, a freshman is a
first-year undergraduate. In
the UK, we generally use the
term fresher, especially at the
start of the academic year.
The first week of university is
known as freshers’ week in
the UK. This is when univer-
sities organize activities to
8. Important awards welcome new students. It’s
Paul: When did you qualify as a mainly a chance to socialize
coach? and party.
Milan: A year ago. I got seriously
interested in coaching while I was
in Italy. I was teaching English at 9. Self-directed learning
a local school and I conducted Paul: I also took a look at your
in-depth research on remote website. I like the design.
teaching. It was the topic of my Milan: Thank you. It’s all my own
doctoral thesis. work.
Paul: I saw that on your CV. And Paul: You code?
the award. Milan: Yes, I taught myself to pro-
Milan: I received an award for gramme in my spare time. I devel-
my thesis. I’m proud of that. But oped my programming skills by
the best part was the €5,000 that coding my own website and online
came with it! platform.
Paul: That’s impressive.
conduct sth. , etw. leiten
Milan: I enjoy a challenge. I con-
in-depth research , Tiefenforschung
tinue to seek educational oppor-
remote teaching , Fernuntericht
tunities wherever I can.

topic , Thema
Phrase Bank challenge , Herausforderung,

For a list of all the key phrases used in schwierige Aufgabe
the dialogues, see pages 12–13 code , programmieren
SKILL UP! 9
IN CONTEXT
Training 11. Informal opportunities

on the job John: Continuous professional
development is important in our
field.
Here, we provide some key phrases Milan: I agree. How do you keep
and expressions you might need your skills up to date?
when talking about formal and John: I attend conferences,
informal learning opportunities events, webinars and in-house
and professional development. training sessions. I read trade
journals.
Milan: Are there any conferences
The Situation: that you attend regularly?
Milan joins 2Movers and makes use John: Yes, I’ll send you a couple
of some informal learning opportu-
of good ones in an email later. The
nities.
company will pay for at least one
each year.
10. Work shadowing trade journal , Fachzeitschrift

Milan: How exactly does work up to date: keep sth. ~
, etw. auf dem neuesten Stand halten
shadowing work? What does it
entail?
Paul: I want you to work along- 12. One-to-one
side an experienced member of John: How do you like to learn?
staff for the first week. I’ll intro- Milan: I prefer a hands-on ap-
duce you to John later today. It’s proach.
the perfect way to learn what we John: Then you should listen in on
do here before you start coaching. my next conference call with Rob-
I suggest you keep a journal for erto Becks, a potential client and
your reflections and learning out- the head of the L&D programme
comes. at LPD.
entail sth. , etw. beinhalten, bedeuten hands-on approach

work alongside sb. , praxisorientiertes Konzept
, Hand in Hand mit jmdm. arbeiten listen in on sth. , bei etw. mithören
10 SKILL UP!
IN CONTEXT
14. Training opportunities
Subject: Training partner
Dear John
After reviewing a number of training

organizations, we would like to con-
firm our interest in working with you
The Situation:
as our preferred training provider.
John first talks to Roberto, the poten-
tial client. John does a good job and
Roberto writes to confirm his interest This would mean that we would ad-
in working with 2Movers. vise our management to book their
own training and courses for their
staff through 2Movers in future.
13. A new client
John: We offer a unique selec- Before we can commit, however,
tion of executive training pro- we have two more questions: How
grammes. Our course instructors many people would have to enrol
have excellent credentials and can on a course for it to take place?
help you assess and define your ex-
We’re interested in a course on stress
act training needs.
management for 12 participants.
Roberto: How flexible are you?
What would a customized pro-
John: Extremely. With the help
gramme cost?
of our executive coaches, we cus-
tomize individual roadmaps for I’d like to see some concrete options
professional development. Our and numbers by the end of this week.
solutions include face-to-face
and online sessions to suit all All the best
budgets and all levels of the com- Roberto
pany hierarchy.
Phrase Bank
executive
For a list of all the key phrases used in
, Führungskraft; hier: für Führungskräfte
the dialogues, see pages 12–13
unique , einzigartig, einmalig
SKILL UP! 11
PHRASE BANK
How to say it
In this section, you’ll find a
collection of the phrases and
expressions used in the extracts
on the previous pages
(pp. 6–11). The numbers
(1–14) after each of the
phrases refer to the extract it
was taken from.
Asking about skills and abilities Talking about skills and abilities
ow come your Spanish is so good?
H e’s very good at… [3]
H
[1] She has the relevant qualifications
What are his academic strengths? [3] in… [6]
Talking about early education Asking about higher education

I went to… [1] hat does she want to study at uni-
W
Spanish was my favourite class at versity? [4]
school. [1] Are the admissions criteria tough?
Her favourite subject is maths. [2] [4]
My children go to the local primary What do you know about her back-
school. [2] ground or academic credentials? [6]
The local school has a very good Where did you study? [6]
reputation for… [3] Tell me about your academic back-
It’s important to get straight A’s in… ground. [7]
[4] How has your undergraduate degree
prepared you for this job? [7]

Asking about schools What skills have you learned at
hat year is she in? [2]
W university that apply to your career
What subjects is she taking? [2] as…? [7]
What’s the local secondary school When did you qualify as…? [8]
like? [3]
12 SKILL UP!

PHRASE BANK
Talking about university Asking for details

I studied it at university. [1] How exactly does work shadowing
The university tuition fees are high work? [10]
in the UK. [5] What does it entail? [10]
You can get a student loan. [5] How flexible are you? [13]
You can apply for university grants How many people would have to
and bursaries. [5] enrol on a course for it to take place?
She graduated from… [6] [14]
I graduated with… [7] What would a customized pro-
I studied abroad… [7] gramme cost? [14]
Talking about an academic record Giving details

I got top marks. [7] I want you to work alongside… [10]
The modules helped me develop I suggest you keep a journal for... [10]
strong communication skills. [7] Continuous professional develop-
I conducted in-depth research on… ment is important in our field. [11]
[8] We offer a unique selection of ex-
It was the topic of my doctoral the- ecutive training programmes. [13]
sis. [8] We customize individual roadmaps
I received an award for my thesis. [8] for professional development. [13]
Our solutions include face-to-face
Asking about lifelong learning and online sessions. [13]
How do you keep your skills up to
date? [11]
Are there any conferences that you
attend regularly? [11]
How do you like to learn? [12]
Talking about lifelong education MISSING VOCABULARY?

I taught myself to programme in my If you find it difficult to
spare time. [9] describe your academic
I developed my programming skills background or education in
by… [9] English, why don’t you look
I continue to seek educational op- online for a similar course
portunities wherever I can. [9] or qualification to your
own? Read the description
I attend conferences, events,… [11]
of the courses you find and
I read trade journals. [11]
make note of any new and
relevant vocabulary.
SKILL UP! 13

FALSE FRIENDS
No academics at the gym

There are many words in German and English Skill Up! Audio
that sound similar but have very different meanings. You can do an
They are called “false friends”. exercise on
Business Spotlight
Audio.
UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SECONDARY SCHOOL
ACADEMIC GYM
What’s Akademiker(in) in English? What’s Gymnasium in English?

Fotos: skynesher, Mark Bowden, oversnap, SolStock/iStock.com
Akademiker(in) = (college/univer- Gymnasium = secondary school,

sity) graduate, person with a (col- grammar school UK, high school
lege/university) degree US
● Do you have to be a university ● Do children perform better at
graduate to join the programme? smaller secondary schools?
It’s not academic! It’s not gym!

academic = Hochschullehrer(in); gym = Fitnesscenter; Sporthalle
Wissenschaftler(in) ● By 9 a.m., my gym was usually
● Only one academic criticized the full.

government’s plans.
14 SKILL UP!
FALSE FRIENDS
OTHER FALSE FRIENDS

You mean… You should say… Don’t say… As this
means…
Bildung education, training building Gebäude
, Wir wollen die berufliche , We want to boost
Bildung stärken. vocational training.
Hochschule university, college high school Schule auf

, Die Hochschule hat einen , The university has a US Sekundarebene
sehr guten Ruf. very good reputation. (z.B. Gymna-
sium)
TRICKY TRANSLATIONS
How do you say Absolvent(in) / absolvieren in English?
● hen Absolvent(in) is someone
W Jahren absolviert. , “She com-
who has completed their stud- pleted her studies within three
ies at an institution of higher years.”
education, we use graduate: Im ● In the context of job applica-
internationalen Vergleich verdie- tions, interviews or the proba-

nen Absolventen dieser Uni sehr gut. tionary period (Probezeit), we
, “By international standards, use (successfully) complete: Ich
graduates of this university earn habe die zusätzlichen Trainingsein-
a lot.” heiten absolviert. , “I’ve success-
● Many institutions refer to their fully completed the additional
Absolventen/Absolventinnen as training sessions.”
alumni (singular form: alum- ● In the context of exams, we use
nus): Die Universität organisiert take or, if someone was success-

mehrere Veranstaltungen für ihre ful, pass: Ich muss die Prüfung im
Absolventen. , “The university Juni absolvieren. , “I have to take
organizes a number of events the exam in June.”
for its alumni.” ● More informally, especially
● If absolvieren is used to talk about when a course is short, we use
a course or period of study, we do: Ich habe den Erste-Hilfe-Kurs
use complete or finish: Sie hat absolviert. , “I did the first-aid
ihr Studium innerhalb von drei course.”
SKILL UP! 15
COLLOCATIONS
Learning
strategies
How many word partnerships do
you know that sound natural with
“learning”? Take a closer look at our
overview of common collocations and
learn how to use them.
“Learning” “learning” + noun

with nouns
learning curve
curve objective
, Lernkurve
difficulty opportunity
learning difficulty
, Lernschwierigkeit environment outcome
learning environment experience process
, Lernumgebung; metrics support
-umfeld; -klima
learning experience
, Lernerfahrung
learning metrics
, Lernmesswerte adjective + “learning” + noun
learning objective
, Lernziel
digital + environment
learning opportunity
, Lernmöglichkeit
digital + platform
learning outcome
online + portal
, Lernergebnis online + technology
learning process
, Lernprozess
Adjectives with “learning” and nouns
learning support
, Lernunterstützung, digital learning environment online learning portal
-betreuung , digitale Lernumgebung; , Online-Lernportal
digitales Lernumfeld online learning technology
digital learning platform , Online-Lerntechnologie
, digitale Lernplattform
16 SKILL UP!
COLLOCATIONS
Adjectives Nouns with

adjective + “learning” with “learning” “learning”
adaptive learning adult learning
adaptive
, adaptives Lernen , Erwachsenenbildung
blended blended learning distance learning
deep , gemischtes/integriertes , Fernunterricht
electronic Lernen language learning
experiential deep learning , Sprachenlernen,
, tiefes/mehrschichtiges Fremdsprachenerwerb
Lernen machine learning
lifelong electronic learning , maschinelles Lernen
mobile (e-learning) rote learning
remote , elektronisches Lernen , Auswendiglernen,
self-directed experiential learning Memorieren
, erfahrungsorientiertes workplace learning
virtual Lernen , Lernen am Arbeitsplatz,
lifelong learning arbeitsplatzbezogenes
, lebenslanges Lernen Lernern
noun + “learning” mobile learning
(m-learning)
, mobiles Lernen
adult remote learning
distance , Fernuntericht GRAMMAR POINT
language self-directed learning The word learning
machine , selbstgesteuertes Lernen is an uncountable
virtual learning noun, but you will see
rote
, virtuelles Lernen the plural form (“key
workplace learnings”, “new learn-
ings”). Some native
speakers believe such
A learning experience expressions are gram-
matically incorrect,
Mark: When did you move to distance learning?
but this is not the case.
Sue: Two years ago. The transition to remote The plural form was
learning went relatively smoothly. With our first used in the 15th
new online learning portal, all our content is century. There are
other words you could
now available to anyone who has a smartphone.
use, such as insights
Mark: Do students prefer the new digital learn- and lessons, or, as a
ing environment? modern alternative,
Sue: Yes. And management are happy with the takeaways.
learning outcomes, too.
SKILL UP! 17
ESSENTIAL IDIOMS
What did they say again?

English is rich in idiomatic expressions. It’s important to under-
stand exactly what they mean. Learn some key idioms here.
First, read the two versions of

the short conversations. Then
cover up the simpler version
and read the idiomatic dialogue
Help! They left again. Can you remember the
me in the dark! meanings?
First, the idiomatic way First, the idiomatic way

Liz: I don’t like it when you keep Liz: I feel we’ve covered a lot of
me in the dark. Tell me what the ground today, don’t you?
boss said. Ann: Yes — and no. I’ll be pulling
Mark: Not much. He wants you an all-nighter to remember it all.
to show Ann the ropes. Liz: Don’t worry. We’ll do another
Liz: Me? But I haven’t even got test run together tomorrow.
the hang of it yet!
Now, more simply
Now, more simply Liz: I feel we’ve gone through a
Liz: I don’t like it when you keep lot of information and things to-
secrets from me. Tell me what the day, don’t you?
boss said. Ann: Yes — and no. I’ll be working
Mark: Not much. He wants you all night so I can remember it all.
to show Ann how things work. Liz: Don’t worry. We’ll go through
Liz: Me? But I haven’t even the process and try it again to-
learned how to do it yet! gether tomorrow.
Fotos: fizkes, aldomurillo/iStock.com
in the dark: keep sb. ~ (about sth.) ground: cover ~

, jmdn. (über etw.) im Dunklen/Unklaren lassen , viel an Boden gewinnen; viel schaffen
ropes: show sb. the ~ ifml. all-nighter: pull an ~ ifml. , die Nacht zum
, jmdn. (in etw.) einarbeiten Tag machen; hier: die Nacht durcharbeiten
get the hang of sth. ifml. , den richtigen Dreh test run: do a ~
bei etw. finden, etw. kapieren , einen Probe-/Test(durch)lauf machen
18 SKILL UP!

ESSENTIAL IDIOMS
Skill Up! Audio

You can do an
exercise on
Business Spotlight
Audio.
I’ve been racking
my brain all day!
First, the idiomatic way First, the idiomatic way

Ann: How do you keep abreast of Liz: If there’s one lesson I learned
all the changes? very early on, it’s that it’s so im-
Liz: I’ve been racking my brain portant to ask questions. I learned
for some useful tips. There are a that the hard way!
few tricks of the trade I can show Ann: Anything else?
you. Shall we meet tomorrow? Liz: Learn from your mistakes.
Ann: That would be good, thanks.
Now, more simply
Now, more simply Liz: If there’s something I learned
Ann: How do you make sure you very early on, it’s that it’s so im-
have the most recent information portant to ask questions. I learned
about all the changes? that from my own painful experi-
Liz: I’ve been trying very hard to ence, by trying to do things and
think of some useful tips. There making lots of terrible mistakes
are a few quick and effective along the way!
methods that I’ve learned from Ann: Anything else?
experience that I can show you. Liz: Try to understand what you
Shall we meet tomorrow? did wrong and make sure you
Ann: That would be good, thanks. don’t do it again.
keep abreast of sth. lesson: learn a ~ (from sth.)

, mit etw. Schritt halten , eine Lehre (aus etw.) ziehen
brain: rack one’s ~ hard way: learn sth. the ~
, sich den Kopf zerbrechen, sich das Hirn , etw. auf die harte Tour lernen, Lehrgeld für
zermartern etw. zahlen
tricks of the trade mistakes: learn from one’s ~
, Kunstgriffe , aus Fehlern lernen
SKILL UP! 19

GRAMMAR CHECK
“Have to”, “need” and “must”

Knowledge of the basics of English grammar will help you to
communicate clearly and confidently. Here, we review the use of
“have to”, “need” and “must” in the context of education.
Although all three options — “have You can use “have to” in all the var-
to”, “need” and “must” — are used ious tenses and forms:
to talk about necessity and obli- You would have to do the lead-
gation, there are some important ership module this year.
differences in their usage and I had to take the exams last Sep-
meaning. tember.
1. Obligation with “have to” 2. Obligation with “need”

In spoken English, we general- You can show that something is
ly prefer “have to” when we talk necessary or required with “need”.
about something that is necessary Generally, it is followed by “to”
or obligatory: + infinitive:
You have to enrol by Friday. We need to update the course.
We also use “have to” when we re- If you wish to suggest that some-
fer to obligations imposed by for- thing needs to happen, but you are
mal rules or regulations: not able to say who should do it,
Each student has to complete you can use the structure “need”
three modules. + “-ing” form of the verb:
Our online course really needs
You can negate “have to” in the updating.
same way you would any verb. Use Or the passive infinitive:
this structure to show that some- Our online course really needs
thing is not necessary: to be updated.
You don’t/didn’t have to com-
plete a year in industry to pass We can negate “need” to show
the course. that something is not necessary or
20 SKILL UP!
GRAMMAR CHECK
“must” is a modal auxiliary, it has

only one form. We cannot use it in
other tenses:
All documents must be submit-
ted by 1 July 2020.
To express an obligation in the

past, use “have to” in a past tense:
All documents had to be submit-
obligatory, but that you can do it if ted by 31 January 2019.
you wish. There are two possible
forms. The first option is general- In British English, we often use
ly preferred in the UK and the US. “must” to show that there is a per-
The second option is more com- sonal element to the obligation:
mon in British English: That course sounds interesting.
You don’t need to attend the on- I really must do it this year.
line sessions.
You needn’t attend the online
sessions.
We normally form questions with IT MUST BE CONFUSING

“do” or “did”. In more formal lan- Don’t confuse “mustn’t” with
guage, “need” can also be treated the German nicht müssen! It
as a modal verb: means “it is necessary that
you don’t do it”. The correct
Do/did we need to register in
German translation for
advance? “mustn’t” is nicht dürfen:
Need we register in advance? You mustn’t cheat in the
exam!
3. Obligation with “must” Use “don’t have to” for nicht

We typically use “must” to express müssen:
an obligation in formal written You don’t have to attend
every class as long as you
instructions, especially when we
do the assignments.
refer to legal requirements. As
SKILL UP! 21
TEST
Test yourself!
See how well you know the words
and phrases presented in this
booklet by doing the exercises
below. Cover the answers at the
bottom of page 23.
1. Choose the correct op- 2. Complete the sentences

tions to complete the com- below with the correct
ments you could make to a nouns. We’ve given you
business partner. the first two letters.
A. I like the sandwich / A. I completed a six-week

sausage course as it com- in
bines theory with practice. at the company.
B. Every Monday, we attend a

B. I have a master’s
face-to-face / head-to-head
de
session with all the course
in statistics.
participants.
C. We introduced work C. I think she has the best

shading / shadowing so cr
new employees could learn for the job.
from their more experi-
enced colleagues. D. What was the main focus
of his doctoral
D. In the UK, you have to pay
th ?
school fees if you want your
children to go to public /
E. I joined the firm after com-
state school.
pleting my postdoctoral
E. Tell me more about your ac- re .
ademic reporting / record.
22 SKILL UP!

TEST
3. What would you say in the 4. Replace each German

following situations? word (in italics) in the
sentences below with the
A. To find out about some- correct English word.
one’s education in general.
Use “background”. A. He’s a(n)
(Akademiker) and knows
very little about corporate
B. To find out about some- life.
one’s skills. Use “strengths”. B. What level of
(Bildung) would you expect
for the role?
C. To ask if someone has C. Would you send your chil-
learned something at uni- dren to the local
versity that is useful for a
job. Use “skills”. (Gymnasium)?

D. Which

(Hochschule) offers online
D. To show that you are still classes?
interested in learning new
skills. Use “continue”.
Answers:
1. A. sandwich; B. face-to-face; C. shadowing;
D. public; E. record
2. A. internship; B. degree; C. credentials;
E. To learn the details about D. thesis; E. research
something. Use “entail”. 3. A. Tell me about your academic background.
B. What are your academic strengths?
C. W hat skills have you learned at university
that apply to your career?
D. I continue to seek educational opportunities
wherever I can.
E. W hat does it entail?
Answers from page 3:
(Other options are possible.)
A. hands-on approach
4. A. college/university graduate
B. get straight A’s
B. education/training
C. a good thing (foster sth. = etw. fördern) C. secondary school / grammar school (UK) /
D. objective, opportunity high school (US)
E. take/pass a test D. university/college
SKILL UP! 23
Über
17 Jahre
Erfahrung
mit
virtuellen
Trainings
Online_
lernen
Weiterbildung bequem von zuhause aus!

Mit unserem Live-Online-Kursangebot verbessern Sie gezielt Ihre
Sprachkenntnisse oder trainieren wichtige Skills für die Arbeit in
virtuellen Teams, die Sie beruflich wie privat voranbringen.
Entdecken Sie jetzt unser Live-Online-Angebot und melden Sie sich
zum kostenlosen Sprach-Check an.
Auch für Kinder und Jugendliche bieten wir viele Möglichkeiten

eine Sprache aktiv und mit Spaß zu lernen: ganz einfach per
Online-Sprachtraining einzeln oder in der Gruppe sowie in
unseren Online-Sprachcamps.
www.berlitz.de
Teil 7 PRESENTATIONS
VOKABEL TRAINER
Teil 1 YOU AND YOUR JOB (7/19)
Teil 2 TELEPHONING (8/19)
Teil 5 NEGOTIATING (3/20)
Teil 6 EMAILS AND TEXTS (4/20)
ÜBE
TESTEN
NUTZ N
Teil 3 SMALL TALK (1/20) Teil 7 PRESENTATIONS (5/20) EN
Teil 4 MEETINGS (2/20) Teil 8 GETTING A NEW JOB (6/20)
das muss ich super, das kann ich

wiederholen schon
THE BASICS YOUR NAME

agenda , Tagesordnung; Programm If you want people to
audience , Publikum, Zuhörer(innen) call you by your first
blind , Rollo name, repeat it in your
charger , Ladegerät introduction:
cue card , Cue Card, Stichwortkarte
(data) projector , Beamer

● name is Sabina,
My
Sabina Martin. I’m the
dimmer , Dimmer, Helligkeitsregler
office manager here.
equipment , Ausrüstung, Geräte
I’d like to welcome you
extension lead UK / cable , Verlängerungsschnur, -kabel
to our offices.
flip chart , Flipchart
goal , Ziel
handout , Handout, Handreichung;

Informationsunterlagen
EYE CONTACT!
interactive whiteboard , interaktives Whiteboard
During the presentation, look at
laser pointer , Laserpointer
the audience and not at the screen.
objective , Ziel(setzung)
If you use cue cards, don’t look at
opening , Anfang(sbemerkung(en)) them all the time, either. By making
overview , Übersicht, -blick eye contact, you appear more con-
plug , Stecker fident and professional.
plugged into sth. : be ~ , in etw. eingesteckt sein
port , Anschluss
provide an update on sth. , einen aktualisierten Überblick

über etw. geben
(pull-down) screen , (ausziehbare) Leinwand CHOOSE YOUR OPENING
purpose , Ziel, Zweck ● The purpose of this presentation is to

remote control , Fernbedienung update you.
screen , Bildschirm; Leinwand ● My objective is simple.
slide , Folie (Beamer); Dia
● I want to give you an overview of our

socket , Steckdose
processes.
● I’ve written today’s agenda on the flip

speaker , Lautsprecher(box)
chart .
storyline , Handlung(sstrang)
● I’m here to provide you with an update

switch , Schalter
on the new regulations.
talk , Vortrag
topic , Thema
YOUR VISUALS
INTRODUCING VISUALS
arrow , Pfeil
Here, you can see a graph of our latest
●
axis , Achse
sales figures.
bar chart/graph , Balkendiagramm This
● pie chart shows our market
broken line , durchbrochene Linie share. It’s improved since 2018.
bullet point , Aufzählungs-; Gliederungspunkt Now, I’d like to talk you through this
●
cross-hatched area , kreuzschraffierte Fläche flow chart . It shows just how

curve , Kurve complicated our processes have
dashed line , gestrichelte Linie
become.
dotted line , gepunktete Linie
figure , Zahl
flow chart , Flussdiagramm

BODY LANGUAGE
Remember that the most
Gantt chart , Gantt-Diagramm
important visual aid is you!
graph/chart , Grafik, Diagramm
Your body language should help
hatched bar graph , schraffiertes Balkendiagramm
illustrate your messages. If you
histogram , Histogramm, Balkendiagramm think a point is important, your
line graph , Liniendiagramm voice and hand movements
mind map , Mindmap should support this.
onion diagram , Zwiebeldiagramm
pictogram , Piktogramm
pie chart , Torten-, Kuchendiagramm
pyramid diagram , Pyramidendiagramm
scattergram , Scattergramm
shaded , schattiert
solid line , durchgehende Linie
spider diagram , Spinnendiagramm
storyboard , Szenario, Handlung
table , Tabelle
transition , Überleitung
Venn diagram , Mengendiagramm
visual , Bild(material)
visual aid , Anschauungsmaterial
visuals , Anschauungsmaterial
THE TRENDS
decrease , (sich) verringern, abnehmen
deteriorate
fluctuate
, sich verschlechtern
, schwanken
EXPLAINING VISUALS
gain , gewinnen, zunehmen ● OK, let’s look at this line
improve , sich verbessern graph in more detail now.
increase , (sich) erhöhen
It gives you an excellent
pick up , zunehmen
overview of our main
plummet , absacken, stark fallen
plunge , (ab-)stürzen
markets. As you’ll notice, one
rally , sich (stark) erholen area has picked up
recover , sich erholen considerably. Let’s look at
strengthen , (sich) festigen
the reasons why.
weaken , sich abschwächen
BE CLEAR YOUR STRUCTURE
address sth. , auf etw. eingehen
The audience needs to circulate sth. , etw. verteilen
feel that there is a clear clarify sth. , etw. klären, klarstellen
structure to your talk. collect sth. , etw. sammeln
When you are preparing defer sth. , etw. verschieben, zurückstellen
demonstrate sth.
your presentation, ask , etw. zeigen, vorführen
describe sth. , etw. beschreiben

a friend or colleague to divide sth. into sth. , etw. in etw. untergliedern
give you feedback on draw sb.’s attention to sth. , jmds. Aufmerksamkeit auf
your structure. Do they etw. lenken

emphasize sth. , etw. hervorheben
find it logical? Does it exemplify sth. , etw. (mit einem Beispiel)
grab their attention ? veranschaulichen
flag sth. , etw. kennzeichnen
focus on sth. , sich auf etw. konzentrieren, den
YOUR PLAN get sth. across

Schwerpunkt auf etw. legen
, etw. vermitteln
Tell your audience what will
get back to sb. , sich wieder bei jmdm. melden
happen during your presenta-
get down to business , zur Sache kommen
tion. If you have divided your talk
into different sections, let your go over/through sth. , etw. durchgehen
audience know this at the begin- grab sb.’s attention ifml. , jmds. Aufmerksamkeit gewinnen
ning: hand sth. out , etw. austeilen
● First(ly),… ; second(ly), ... ; (have a) look at sth. , sich etw. ansehen
third(ly), ... highlight sth. , etw. (grafisch) hervorheben
● First, ... ; next, ... ; then, ...
introduce sth. , etw. vorstellen, einleitend
erklären
kick off ifml. , beginnen, loslegen
TRANSITIONING make a start , beginnen
Explain when you are changing move on to sth. , zu etw. übergehen

to another topic or area so that paraphrase sth. , etw. umschreiben, mit anderen
you don’t confuse your audience: Worten wiedergeben
Let’s kick off by looking at the
● point sth. out , auf etw. hinweisen
current situation. postpone sth. , etw. verschieben

OK, now we’ll move on to talk
● project sth. , etw. projizieren
about customer feedback. raise a point , ein Thema ansprechen/aufwerfen
Finally, let’s turn to the subject of
●
refer to sth. , sich auf etw. beziehen,
costs. auf etw. verweisen
Can I draw your attention to the
● rephrase sth. , etw. umformulieren
run through sth. , etw. durchgehen

Illustrationen: pseudodaemon, Robert Wicher/iStock.com
rush through sth. , etw. hastig durchgehen
signpost sth. , etw. beschildern; den Weg

für etw. aufzeigen
skip sth. , etw. auslassen
split sth. into sth. , etw. in etw. aufteilen, gliedern
stress sth. , etw. betonen
talk sb. through sth. , etw. mit jmdm. durchsprechen
turn to sth. , sich etw. zuwenden

QUESTIONS
CHECK UNDERSTANDING
avoid a question , einer Frage ausweichen
During your presentation, check that the
beg a question , eine Frage aufwerfen
audience has understood your messages at key
butt in (on sb.) , (jmdm.) dazwischenreden
moments:
get a question , eine Frage verstehen Is everyone with me so far? In a nutshell , this
●
have a point , nicht ganz unrecht haben means that we’ll have only three weeks to implement
interrupt sb. , jmdn. unterbrechen these changes. Does that make sense?
interruption , Unterbrechung
invite questions from sb. , jmdn. auffordern, Fragen zu stellen
look into sth. , etw. prüfen, sich etw. näher ansehen DEALING WITH QUESTIONS
outline sth. , etw. (kurz) darstellen I’m sorry. I wasn’t avoiding the question, but I’m
●
Q&A session , Frage-und-Antwort-Stunde afraid I didn’t get it. Would you mind repeating your
questionnaire , Fragebogen
question for me?
No, not at all. Let me rephrase it. I wanted to ask you
●
repeat a question , eine Frage wiederholen
about the timeline again...
rephrase a question , eine Frage umformulieren
table a question , eine Frage aufwerfen (UK); eine

Frage zurückstellen (US)
take a question , auf eine Frage eingehen
TRICKY QUESTIONS?
tricky question , knifflige Frage It’s a good idea to think about the
THE END kinds of questions your audience
cut sb. off , jmdn. unterbrechen
might ask you, so that you can
pack up UK ifml. , seinen Geist aufgeben
round sth. off , etw. abschließen

practise some answers. If they do
run late , in Verzug sein ask a question you didn’t expect —
sum sth. up , etw. zusammenfassen; ein Fazit and can’t answer — be honest:
von etw. ziehen
summarize sth. , etw. zusammenfassen
I don’t know the answer to that
●
takeaway , Kernpunkt question, but I can look into it for you.

timeline , Zeitrahmen, -plan
wing it ifml. , improvisieren

wrap sth. up , etw. abschließend zusammenfassen
USEFUL PHRASES IMPRESSUM

Does that make sense? , Macht das (denn) Sinn? HERAUSGEBER Jan Henrik Groß
CHEFREDAKTEUR Dr. Ian McMaster (V.i.S.d.P.)
Do you follow me? , Kannst du / Können Sie mir folgen?
ART DIRECTOR Michael Scheufler
in a nutshell , kurz gesagt GESCHÄFTSFÜHRENDE REDAKTEURIN
Is everyone with me so far? , etwa: Ist so weit alles klar? (Chefin vom Dienst) Maja Sirola
AUTORIN Deborah Capras
It goes without saying that... , Es versteht sich von selbst, dass ... REDAKTION Hildegard Rudolph (frei), Michele Tilgner (frei)
BILDREDAKTION Sarah Gough, Judith Rothenbusch
Let’s call it a day. , (Machen wir) Schluss für heute. GESTALTUNG Georg Lechner
DRUCK Medienschiff Bruno, Hamburg, www.msbruno.de
You can say that again! , Das kannst du / können Sie laut
sagen! © 2020 Spotlight Verlag, auch für alle genannten Autoren, Fotografen und Mitarbeiter.
Der Spotlight Verlag ist ein Tochterunternehmen der Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius
GmbH & Co. KG
Sie haben einen Teil der Serie verpasst? Kein Problem, mit unserem
Abo-Angebot sichern Sie sich die komplette Vokabelserie.
Gleich bestellen unter: business-spotlight.de/vokabelserie
WHAT YOU
SHOULD KNOW
ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB?
If you are talking about trends and mo-
vements in your presentation, you can
emphasize changes by using adjectives
and adverbs.
Adjectives (considerable, dramatic, slight,

etc.) describe nouns or things:
● We saw a considerable increase in profits
last year.
Adverbs (considerably, dramatically,

slightly, etc.) describe verbs:
● Profits increased considerably last year.
CLOSING WELL
The closing part of your presentation
is extremely important, because you
want to make a good last impression.
Thank your audience, deal with any re-
maining questions and then summari-
ze your main ideas:
● Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to talk to you today.
● If you have any questions, now would be
the time to ask them.
● If there is just one thing I’d like you to re-
member from this talk, it’s this…
FALSE FRIENDS
The German word Folie is translated as
slide. When referring to all the slides in
a presentation, you can say (slide) deck:
● This slide shows our national network.
Don’t use foil, as this means (Alu-, Me-

tall-, Plastik-)Folie:
● We’ve stopped using foil in our restau-
rants.
TIPS FOR TEXTS

If you have longer texts on some slides,
let the audience read them silently and
then add your own comments. Don’t
just read out what is on the screen.

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EINFACH BESSER BUSINESS-ENGLISCH

MI T 20% ER SPAR NIS: Zur Wahl: Magazin als P R I N T- ID E ALE ER G ÄN Z UN G :

6 Tage lang in Englisch eintauchen

established thinking patterns and destabilizing their current assump- Programm“

Language section Work & Relax

English on the Move

4 Business Spotlight 5/2020 CONTENTS

Business Spotlight Plus

Business Spotlight Audio

For more articles, audio and exercises:

Language in Business Spotlight

tion of British English unless otherwise marked.

Approximately Approximately Approximately

CONTENTS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 5

No opponent? No problem. Jo Muir is a modern pentathlon

athlete [(ÄTli:t] fence [fens] , fechten in place: be ~ [)In (pleIs]

compete [kEm(pi:t] , hier: eingeengt pentathlon

6 Business Spotlight 5/2020

5/2020 Business Spotlight 7

Way of life: a fishing trawler

Fresh off the boat EASY

8 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORKING WORLD

Sonic vroom ADVANCED US AUDIO PLUS

what the Marie Kondo is famous for showing people

Kondo wrote a bestselling book in 2011: The

has ever been

WORKING WORLD 5/2020 Business Spotlight 9

Full marks to… Full marks to…

10 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORKING WORLD

covidiot doomscrolling nincompoop

Teachers deserve to American television producer

make a billion dollars Shonda Rhimes, 50, after home-

make (money) [meIk] , hier: (Geld) verdienen

WORKING WORLD 5/2020 Business Spotlight 11

spark sth. [spA:k]

MEDIUM billion [(bIljEn] lockdown [(lQkdaUn]

2020 Summer Olympics, which are now planned for 2021.

12 Business Spotlight 5/2020 WORKING WORLD

426 MILLION 182.9 MILLION

THREATS Changing media habits,

OPPORTUNITIES Its role as a trusted

WORKING WORLD 5/2020 Business Spotlight 13

Futuristic: the new

14 Business Spotlight x/2020 GLOBAL BUSINESS

abandoned doorknob [(dO:nQb] mingle with sb. street grid

[)seljUlE (kju:bIk&l] [(su:IdZ )sIstEm] , Bebauungsgesetz,

GLOBAL BUSINESS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 15

Fotos: monkeybusinessimages/iStock.com; Ana Fernandez/ZUMA Press/picture-alliance

16 Business Spotlight 5/2020 GLOBAL BUSINESS

drinking fountain plumbing [(plVmIN] tissue [(tISu:] , Gewebe,

GLOBAL BUSINESS 5/2020 Business Spotlight 17

18 Business Spotlight 5/2020 DEBATE

People are recognizing the It’s a privilege to have fun at

come in many shapes and

DEBATE 5/2020 Business Spotlight 19

Bright outlook ahead?

high-quality, high-technology products and equipment, which [(SEUkeIs]

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 5/2020 Business Spotlight 21

22 Business Spotlight 5/2020 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

1853 from much of the rest of the world.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 5/2020 Business Spotlight 23

“Japan was never forced to cooperate

, sich etw. stellen rolle drängen

1853 from much of the rest of the world.

Julia suggests that Sam should take control

Tom: How do you feel about the new offices,

Controlling our emotions is a big part of get-

Julia explains why it is important for Sam to

A. You should attend

Translate the following sentences.

A. I am short of cash. Could you the

“To speed up the procedure, “The police asked us for a

“Their lives could not be more “Due to a serious injury, she