Part 4. International business.

Keywords. do business, tip, nationality.

Vocabulary. punctual, contact, designer clothes, casual, title, business card, deal, chaos, career.

A. Listen to the following passage on international business.

After the passage, you will hear 5 statements, decide whether they are true or false.

Write T or F in the brackets.

China is the biggest market in the world, and many countries such as Germany, the U.S, the UK and Russia do a lot of business there.

Let's have a look at some important tips to help you be successful with these nationalities.

Firstly, you must be punctual with Germans, even five minutes late makes a bad impression.

Being punctual is also very important in the USA.

In the UK, it's important to be punctual for business meetings, but nobody expects you to be on time for a social event.

Half past seven really means quarter to eight or even eight clock.

With Russians, always be on time.

But don't be surprised if your Russian contact is very late.

It's not unusual for them to be one or even two hours late.

In all four countries, it's best dressed formally and use dark collars.

In Russia, designer clothes are very common.

Don't be surprised if you go to an office in the UK on a Friday and find everyone wearing jeans.

Many companies have "dress down Friday" when people wear casual clothes.

In Germany, first name is only used with family members in close friends.

So be prepared to use titles and last names.

In the USA, you will usually invited to use first name almost immediately.

The British are quite formal and using first name in business is more and more common, especially among younger people.

In Russia, however, nobody uses first names.

So use titles and last names.

In conversation, the British and the Americans value humor are both like to talk about sport.

The weather is also a good topic of conversation with British.

But avoid talking about politics.

In Russia, avoid making complaints.

The Germans, however, prefer to get straight down to business.

Finally, when doing business in all countries, make sure you have a lot of business cards.

Remember that in Germany, once a deal have been agreed, you can't change it.

In the USA, money is more important than relationships.

Whereas in Russia, it's important to get to know your contact well.

Finally, don't be surprised if a British meeting seem like chaos, with everybody participating and giving opinions.

So use these tips, and you will be on your way to a successful international business career.

Statements.

1. It's OK to be late in the USA, but not in Germany.

2. Dress Down Friday is common in all four countries.

3. In the USA, it's common to use first names.

4. The Germans don't like you to change your mind.

5. British meetings seem to be well-organized.

B. Listen again, match the verbs in column A, with the words in column B, to make expressions that appeared in the text.