CEFR B1 to B2 · Free course

Business English course

English for the situations you meet at work: running a meeting, writing a clear email, handling a bad video call, presenting numbers, negotiating a deal and answering interview questions. Short lessons, real workplace dialogues and Turkish explanations.

5 units · 20 lessons · 113 words

Start Business English Test your level

Who it is for

You already have a B1 level and use English at work, or want to.
You freeze in meetings or calls and need ready phrases.
You write work emails and want them to sound polite, not rude or stiff.
You have a job interview in English coming up.

How it works

Each unit has four lessons: key vocabulary, a grammar point that matters at work, a workplace dialogue and a review. You build sentences, listen, match and fill gaps, exactly like the main course. Sage the Turtle explains the tricky parts.

Sample dialogue: Meetings

Ms Carter: Good morning, everyone. Let's get started. The first item on the agenda is the new website.

Herkese günaydın. Başlayalım. Gündemdeki ilk madde yeni web sitesi.

Mark: I think we should launch it in May, before the summer campaign.

Bence yaz kampanyasından önce, mayısta yayına almalıyız.

Elif: I see your point, but I'm afraid the design isn't ready yet.

Ne demek istediğini anlıyorum ama korkarım tasarım henüz hazır değil.

Mark: Could we hire a freelance designer to help?

Yardım için serbest çalışan bir tasarımcı tutabilir miyiz?

Ms Carter: That's a good idea, but we need to check the budget first.

Bu iyi bir fikir ama önce bütçeyi kontrol etmemiz gerekiyor.

Elif: I agree. I can talk to finance and follow up by Thursday.

Katılıyorum. Finansla konuşup perşembeye kadar dönüş yapabilirim.

Ms Carter: Great. So, to sum up: Elif checks the budget, and Mark looks for designers. Let's move on.

Harika. Özetlemek gerekirse: Elif bütçeyi kontrol ediyor, Mark tasarımcı arıyor. Devam edelim.

Key phrases you will learn

action item
yapılacak iş, görev
Each action item has an owner.
Meetings
follow up
takip etmek
I will follow up with the client.
Meetings
speaking
benim, (telefonda) konuşan
Good morning, Elif speaking.
Phone and Video Calls
take a message
not almak, mesaj almak
She's in a meeting. Can I take a message?
Phone and Video Calls
That sounds great
Harika görünüyor, kulağa harika geliyor
A trip to Bodrum? That sounds great!
Small Talk with Colleagues
What about you?
Peki ya sen?
I stayed at home. What about you?
Small Talk with Colleagues
let's move on to
... konusuna geçelim
Let's move on to the budget.
Presentations
to sum up
özetlemek gerekirse
To sum up, it was a good year.
Presentations
responsible for
sorumlu
I was responsible for a budget of two million lira.
Job Interviews
under pressure
baskı altında
I work well under pressure.
Job Interviews

Syllabus

Meetings

Run and join meetings in English: follow an agenda, give your opinion, agree and disagree politely, and agree on action items.

Lessons

Meeting words
Opinions and polite disagreement
The Monday team meeting
Review: meetings

Key words

meeting, agenda, item, chair, attend, minutes, opinion, suggest, proposal, agree, disagree, point, deadline, budget

Giving your opinion

Soften your opinion so it sounds professional.

I think we should delay the launch. (Bence lansmanı ertelemeliyiz.)
In my opinion, the price is too high. (Bence fiyat çok yüksek.)
Could we look at the numbers again? (Rakamlara tekrar bakabilir miyiz?)

Disagreeing politely

A direct No, you are wrong sounds rude in English meetings.

I'm afraid I don't agree. (Korkarım katılmıyorum.)
I see your point, but the deadline is tight. (Ne demek istediğini anlıyorum ama süre dar.)
I'm not sure about that. (Bundan emin değilim.)

Chairing a meeting

The chair (toplantı başkanı) uses fixed phrases.

Let's get started. (Başlayalım.)
Let's move on to the next item. (Bir sonraki maddeye geçelim.)
To sum up, ... (Özetlemek gerekirse, ...)

Phone and Video Calls

Answer the phone, take messages, deal with bad connections and end a call politely, on the phone or in a video meeting.

Lessons

On the line
Call back, hold on, put through
Ms Carter is in a meeting
Review: calls and meetings online

Key words

call, video call, speaking, message, take a message, leave a message, call back, hold on, put through, cut off, speak up, repeat, on mute, unmute

Answering at work

Say your name and company, then offer help.

Good morning, Atlas Logistics, Elif speaking. (Günaydın, Atlas Lojistik, ben Elif.)
How can I help you? (Size nasıl yardımcı olabilirim?)
Who's calling, please? (Kim arıyor acaba?)

On the phone say This is Mark, not I am Mark.

Phrasal verbs for calls

call back = geri aramak: Can I call you back in ten minutes?
hold on = hatta beklemek: Hold on, please.
put through = bağlamak: I'll put you through to sales.
cut off = hat kesilmek: Sorry, we got cut off.
speak up = daha yüksek sesle konuşmak: Could you speak up a little?

With a pronoun, it goes in the middle: call you* back, put her through*.

Polite requests

Could you...? is softer than Can you...? and much softer than a command.

Could you repeat that, please? (Tekrar eder misiniz lütfen?)
Sorry, I didn't catch that. (Pardon, anlayamadım.)
Could you spell your surname? (Soyadınızı kodlar mısınız?)

Avoid just What?: it sounds rude in a business call.

Small Talk with Colleagues

Chat about the weekend, the weather and the commute, choose safe topics and keep a conversation going with question tags and follow-up questions.

Lessons

Weekend, weather, commute
It's busy today, isn't it?
At the coffee machine
Review: keep the chat going

Key words

small talk, colleague, weekend, plans, weather, lovely, freezing, commute, traffic, terrible, coffee break, busy, holiday, relaxing

Safe topics

Good small talk topics at work: the weekend, the weather, the commute, holidays, food, sport.

Avoid: salary (maaş), politics (siyaset), religion (din) and age (yaş).

How was your weekend? (Hafta sonun nasıldı?)
Any plans for the weekend? (Hafta sonu için planın var mı?)

Show interest

Short replies keep the talk alive:

Really? (Gerçekten mi?)
Did you? / Are you? (Öyle mi?)
That sounds great! (Harika görünüyor!)
How was it? (Nasıldı?)

Answer with more than yes or no, then ask a question back: It was nice, thanks. What about you?**

Presentations

Open a presentation with confidence, guide your audience with signposting, describe charts and trends, and handle questions from the room.

Lessons

Charts and trends
A sharp rise, rose sharply
The quarterly results
Ready to present

Key words

presentation, slide, audience, chart, graph, trend, rise, fall, increase, decrease, peak, steadily, sharply, slightly

Signposting your talk

Signposts tell the audience where you are in the talk (sunumun neresinde olduğunuzu gösterir).

Today I'd like to talk about our sales. (Bugün satışlarımızdan bahsetmek istiyorum.)
Let's move on to the next slide. (Bir sonraki slayta geçelim.)
To sum up, it was a strong year. (Özetlemek gerekirse, güçlü bir yıldı.)

a sharp rise / rose sharply

Trends can be nouns or verbs.

Noun + adjective: There was a sharp rise in sales. (Satışlarda keskin bir artış oldu.)
Verb + adverb: Sales rose sharply. (Satışlar keskin bir şekilde arttı.)

Common pairs: steady / steadily, slight / slightly, dramatic / dramatically, gradual / gradually.

Handling questions

Stay polite and in control.

That's a good question. (Bu iyi bir soru.)
I'll come back to that later. (Buna daha sonra döneceğim.)
Does that answer your question? (Sorunuzu yanıtladı mı?)

Job Interviews

Talk about your strengths, weaknesses, experience and achievements, discuss salary and ask the interviewer good questions.

Lessons

Selling yourself
Your career story
The interview
Interview review

Key words

interview, candidate, position, strength, weakness, experience, achievement, skill, salary, expectations, benefits, responsible for, lead, manage

Your career: present perfect or past simple?

Use have/has + past participle for experience that continues until now.

I've worked in sales for five years. (Beş yıldır satışta çalışıyorum.)

Use the past simple for finished jobs and dates.

In 2022 I led a team of six. (2022'de altı kişilik bir ekibe liderlik ettim.)

Turkish speakers often say I am working here since 2020. Say I have worked here since 2020.

Talking about weaknesses

Name a real weakness, then show what you are doing about it.

I sometimes find it hard to delegate, so I have started using a task board. (Bazen iş devretmekte zorlanıyorum, bu yüzden bir görev panosu kullanmaya başladım.)

Avoid I am a perfectionist alone: it sounds rehearsed (ezberlenmiş).

Polite questions about money

Soften salary talk with would and expect.

What would the salary range be for this role? (Bu pozisyonun maaş aralığı ne olur?)
I would expect something in the region of 60,000. (60.000 civarında bir rakam beklerim.)

in the region of = civarında.

Business English guides

Business English course: FAQ

What level do I need for the Business English course?+

The track is written at B1 to B2. If you can talk about past experiences and future plans in English, you are ready. Not sure? Take the free level test first.

Is the Business English course free?+

Yes. Every unit and lesson in the track is free in your browser. LearnLingo Plus only removes limits such as hearts.

Does it replace the general English path?+

No. Business English is a separate path next to the main A1 to C1 course. You can switch between the two on the Learn page, and your progress in each is saved separately.

What will I practise?+

Meetings, work emails, phone and video calls, small talk, presentations, negotiating, job interviews and written reports, across 5 units and 20 lessons with Turkish explanations.