Useful Business English Exercises to Help You Get Ahead

Whether you're writing a résumé, conducting a phone interview, or presenting a proposal, your success in the business world hinges upon your ability to effectively communicate your ideas.

Since the English language remains difficult even for native speakers to navigate, we've compiled a list of helpful resources and exercises for non-native English speakers to reduce the cultural divide and help you succeed in any form of communication and correspondence that the English speaking business world throws at you.

Top 5 Resources for Getting Ahead

1. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab provides a how-to guide on the essential elements of a business letter, including how to format the date, address, body, and conclusion.
2. University of Iowa's guide to business writing shows how to successfully create business memos, emails, and letters, including both strategies and examples for composing flawless correspondence.
3. UniSA shows you how to use good transitions to make good papers with tips on how to link your words and thoughts together with coherence and clarity—an essential for any business paper in English.
4. UsingEnglish helps you get the hang of slang, and offers tools to understand and integrate everyday English language idioms and phrases into your speech and writing.
5. BBC Learning English offers a series on how to negotiate all aspects of business, from leaving phone messages to closing a business deal. In each section they provide a “language expert” and a challenge to check your understanding.

First Impressions: Résumés, Cover Letters, & Correspondence

6. Dartmouth Writing Program offers real life examples of job candidates and employment positions. The site also includes examples of how to craft your specific experiences to create the most persuasive résumé for the job.
7. Emile's EnglishWeb offers tips on how to conduct a successful meeting and leave your business associates with a good impression of yourself and your work. Tips include how to set an agenda, encourage participation, set objectives, and avoid hidden agendas.
8. English Club provides a simple template for writing a successful cover letter, the key document to show businesses and potential employers what sets you apart from the rest of the competition.
9. Hanyang University isolates each component of email correspondence so that non-native English speakers can better understand why English language emails are composed a certain way.
10. Purdue University's overview on résumé writing makes you reconsider what's in your résumé, and provides a guide on what to include (and what not to include) in this crucial piece of paper.
11. Saint Michael's College provides an easy-to-follow template of what exactly a business memo should include, from how to create one in a word processor to the style and tone in which it should be written.

Business Letter Basics

12. Lynn Gaertner-Johnston's business writing blog provides frequently updated articles on how to write business letters, what employers expect from you, what they are looking for, and all of the insider tips they never teach you in school.
13. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab breaks down the specific components of a successful business letter. They demonstrate what to focus on, how to accentuate your assets, how to write with style and grace, the proper tone, tips on design and formatting, and of course, how to revise your business letter to perfection.

Business School 101: Grammar and Composition

14. Capital Community College provides a helpful list of commonly confused words and when it's the right time to use one versus the other. They also explain when to capitalize a job title, how to write the plural form of family names, and the difference between “like” and “as.”
15. Dartmouth defines the elements of American paper writing by breaking down the different parts of a paper and explaining step by step what should be included and why. They artfully tease out how different cultures vary in their conceptions of what makes a good paper, and how you can translate your preconceptions into writing a successful English language paper.
16. The English Club provides visual vocabulary definitions of the most commonly used English words and phrases in several areas of business. They quiz your comprehension on things around the office, everyday phrases used to describe job titles and employee relations, as well as common English phrases that may come up in the course of your day.
17. Learn-English-Today provides a list of useful vocabulary in an array of business subjects, including sales, marketing, and finance. They also include vocabulary related to these subjects, such as terms used to discuss business graphs, how to discuss the stock market, and useful phrases for business presentations.
18. MoneyInstructor helps you find out exactly where to put those pesky commas in any form of business correspondence. They advise that fewer commas are preferred to too many, explain how to use a comma to join ideas, and how to use commas in a list.
19. Saint Michael's teaches you how to write a good paragraph with a step by step diagram that explains the essential elements of this crucial building block in any business letter.
20. University of Iowa's College of Business offers a handout on how to cite your sources in business papers. They explain when you need a bibliography, where in your sources the bibliographic information is contained, how to cite sources within your paper, and how to use footnotes.
21. Yale University offers tips for non-native English speakers on how to get started on improving their writing. Tips include how to start papers sooner, how to utilize tutors, how to talk with others about your papers, and how to begin a “language notebook.”

Business School 101: In the Classroom

22. BBC's Learning English series offers helpful talking points and language usage guidelines for formal business presentations. They guide you through an imaginative exercise, provide examples of how to begin a presentation, and quiz you to check comprehension.
23. Dartmouth offers a video on how to take effective notes to get the most out of your business classes based on the popular and proven “Cornell Method.”
24. Purdue University offers a guide to understanding cultural norms and interactions in the classroom at business school. They explain how, in general, classrooms are participatory, that students often collaborate rather than work alone, and that diversity is encouraged and valued.
25. Saint Michael's College gives tips on how to make a successful team presentation, from tips on visual projections and handouts to appropriate personal appearance.
26. Teacher Joe delineates the top 10 tips for making a successful business presentation. Tips include remembering key words rather than memorizing your entire presentation, using stories to make your presentation more interesting, and using emotion in your voice as opposed to a monotone speaking style.

27. About breaks down how to get to know the audience to which you are presenting and how to speak with clarity and conviction.
28. Emile's WebEnglish describes the four styles of communication we use each day in business, and also describes real life situations with how you should respond.
29. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab provides a basic overview for business letters and how to analyze your audience by using language that fits, organizing your letter correctly, and revising your letter to be concise and accurate.
30. The Sideroad gives advice from the experts on proper body language, posture, handshakes, and eye contact during business interactions. This advice includes examples of how not to shake hands and stand in addition to advice on how to remember the proper methods.
31. University of Oregon provides prompts for group exercises on building business relationships by instigating and maintaining conversations.

Test Yourself

32. Activities for ESL Students gives an array of grammar, vocabulary, and language-specific quizzes and games to help sharpen your understanding of the English language. They also list the 30 most recent ESL podcasts to aid in your listening comprehension.
33. Business English Site was created by business experts and has a series of listening comprehension tests that will perfect your understanding of spoken business English.
34. Edict offers a series of exercises for you to gauge how well you detect your own errors in writing. Exercises include discerning the proper use of past and present, as well as singular and plural forms of English words.
35. ESL Lab has a listening quiz so you can see how well you understand what other people are saying. They offer easy, medium, and difficult conversations on a range of topics so that you can listen to how native English speakers use language to discuss everyday situations.
36. LanternFish provides a series of role playing activities to practice how you will interact with others in the workplace. Activities include leaving a message, acting as a reporter, acting like you are at the bank, and talking about the newspaper's daily headlines.
37. Linguarma offers a series of exercises to perfect your business communication, from polite language usage to written communication. The skills they target include spelling, reading, prepositions, and letter writing.
38. NCLRC provides a rubric to help you or a friend to asses the clarity and precision of your speaking skills. They break your speaking manner into four categories: pronunciation, fluency, grammar usage and understanding, and diversity of your vocabulary.
39. Okangan College offers video exercises to help you learn how to pronounce difficult English words and sounds. This multimedia presentation will help you perfect the difficult “TH” sound in addition to other hard to pronounce vowels and parts of speech.
40. The University of Tennessee gives you a rubric to determine how well you have composed your business letter. Their grading criteria are overall design, audience and tone, accuracy, and grammar and punctuation.

Additional Resources

41. BBC's Learning English series provides an online forum for you to communicate with others learning business English and learn from their tips and mistakes.
42. Berkley University provides a helpful list of print references to aid non-native English speakers. This source includes helpful dictionaries to reference, books on grammar, and books on editing and writing.
43. The English Web shows you how to avoid the 10 most common English language writing mistakes. These common confusions include: lacking a clear objective in your writing, inappropriate style and tone, incorrect grammar, and poor design.
44. Hanyang University specifically helps native Korean language speakers to successfully write a business email in English. For each part of the email they provide a situation, the correct way to approach and respond, and a follow-up quiz to check understanding.
45. Merriam Webster provides an essential reference where English words are matched with pictures to aid your comprehension. By matching words with pictures, you will be able to identify and remember English language vocabulary more easily.
46. Purdue's Online Writing Lab provides two tutorials on writing in English for both Indian and Chinese business audiences.
47. University of Oregon offers directions on how to survey your local businesses so that you can learn from their style of business conduct.