It’s almost opening day! Vanessa and Angela make plans for the grand opening party. Angela and Vanessa are organizing the grand opening party. But they’re having a hard time remembering words they want to use and keep getting interrupted and distracted during their meeting. Luckily Conor, your host and English language mentor, shows up with some handy expressions they, and you, can use to buy some time.

Mira and Angela are planning Café Damascus’s grand opening. Will they be prepared? A lot could go wrong on the day of the grand opening of Mira’s new café. So she’s on the phone with Angela, the event planner, discussing how to plan ahead for terrible weather or unexpected guests.

Mira and Vanessa face some challenges understanding the instructions for a new piece of equipment. Vanessa’s first task at the café is to set up the new espresso machine. But the manual is in Italian, which she doesn’t speak! Martin, the technician, sent an email with instructions, but his English is full of idioms and colloquial expressions. They’ll have to work together to figure it out, and get the new machine up and running.

The time has come for Mira to hire a new employee for her café. She’s found someone with the right skills and experience, but she encounters an unexpected obstacle. So she’ll have to find out whether or not this potential candidate is suitable for the job.

Mira heads to the café to make sure the construction is on track. After meeting with her accountant, Mira has to convince Giovanni, the contractor, to speed up construction, and finish on time for opening in June. She’ll have to use her argument skills to make her point.

Mira and her accountant discuss the pros and cons of their plan for opening the café. There’s been a construction delay, so Mira meets with Muza, the accountant, to weigh her options for adjusting the timeline and the budget. They’ll use many different ways to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of different options and ideas.

Mira and the contractor have to work out a problem using negotiation skills! There are some problems with the wiring at the café building site and the contractor wants to delay construction. On top of that, the mosaics will have to be reinstalled! Mira and Giovanni must work together to find a solution that takes the construction timeline, the budget, and everyone’s safety into consideration.

Mira has a meeting at the café building site. How will she deal with all the noise? It’s a cold, wet day and Mira is meeting with Leanna, her coffee supplier, at the café. But with so much construction noise going on, they are having a tough time understanding each other. Conor, our English language mentor, is back to point out some of the techniques they use to communicate in a noisy environment and avoid misunderstandings. Listen and find out what they are!

Find out how Mira starts building her business by giving clear instructions! Mira is meeting with a contractor to let him know how she wants her new café to look, and what she needs him to do. But they are encountering some communication problems. Luckily Conor, our English language mentor, shows up just in time with some tips for giving instructions! Discover what they are, and how Mira uses them to make herself heard.

It’s the grand opening of Mira’s café! Find out why she decided to start her own business, and how she made it all happen. Mira has the opportunity to get some publicity for her new business by speaking to a journalist, who is eager to hear all about it. But will the journalist really understand everything Mira has to say well enough to write a great article? Luckily Conor is here to help Mira tell her story; and to point out some of the strategies the journalist uses to listen and ask effective questions.

Rahim has trouble understanding an excited Mason at the company BBQ. Mason is using lots of idiomatic and colloquial language. Let’s see if they can find a way to understand each other before their big karaoke performance!

Rahim wants to help Mason with his task, but he has some conditions. Let’s see what advice Conor has for working out a fair deal with a colleague.

Rahim feels his company can do more to protect the environment. During a coffee break he meets senior manager, Julie. This is his chance to talk about making some changes. Will Julie agree with Rahim?

Mason emailed some confidential information to the wrong people. He didn’t read the instructions carefully and now Sabine needs to show him how to do better next time.

It’s Mason’s first day and Rahim is responsible for his onboarding. But, Mason seems to know a lot already. Can Rahim teach him something new without it being too boring for Mason?

Mason realises that he is interviewing for a completely different job! Can Sabine think on her feet and lead a successful interview? Key vocabulary: To be good with numbers - skilled in mathematics R&D department - research and development department Mix-up - a misunderstanding to think on your feet - react spontaneously Situational questions - questions about hypothetical situations Behavioural questions - questions about past behaviour

Sabine leads her first online job interview but it doesn’t start off well! The trainee candidate, Mason, is really nervous. Can Sabine put him at ease and lead a successful interview?

Rahim needs to complain about a poor hotel conference experience. The finger food was stale and the equipment was faulty. Can Rahim negotiate some compensation for his company? Learn more in the Babbel lesson - “Business English: Competencies - Course 8: Negotiation”: https://bit.ly/business-english-negotiation You can follow this link to the book mentioned in the podcast - “Getting to Yes!” by Roger Fisher and William Ury: https://bit.ly/book-getting-to-yes Key vocabulary: dongle - a portable internet modem canapés - bite-sized snacks discount - a deduction from the usual cost faulty - having faults or defects

Rahim is challenged with international colleagues not showing up for meetings. Rahim needs Conor’s help to present some suggestions on how to work asynchronously in a glocal company without sacrificing cross-team collaboration.. And don’t just listen, read along!

Rahim is giving a presentation on 3D printing, when suddenly his mind goes blank. Can Rahim make use of Conor’s advice to get unstuck? Let’s find out!

Follow and learn from Rahim and Sabine's challenges using business English at work. Our business English mentor, Conor, is ready to provide tips and tricks on how to overcome some tricky workplace challenges!