BEC Wizard

BEC Vantage speaking test Part 1 questions and sample answers (about 3 minutes) The examiner will take turns to ask you and your speaking partner questions. You will be expected to give information about yourself and also express your personal opinions on certain topics. Examples of BEC Vantage speaking test questions and sample answers What are you studying at the moment? I’m studying a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. It’s a two year course and I’m in the second year at the moment. What made you decide to study (name of subject)? Well, it’s directly related to my career and I thought it would be good to have an MBA for the future, especially if I want to pursue a career in top management. I also thoroughly enjoyed the first business degree I did which had an emphasis on international business and finance. Can you tell us something about your studies? Yes, of course, when I first went to university I did an international business degree with a specializatio

BEC Preliminary Business English Certificate Wordlist If you are preparing for the Cambridge Business English Certificate Preliminary test it is a good idea to have a copy of the BEC Preliminary wordlist to help you study and learn some of the necessary business English vocabulary expected at this level. The BEC Preliminary wordlist is a guide which can help you when preparing and ensure your business English vocabulary contains all the words you are expected to be familiar with at BEC Preliminary level. The wordlist, developed by Cambridge ESOL, is used by the people who write or create the exam questions and material. It also contains what has been identified as high-frequency business related vocabulary. The BEC Preliminary Business English Certificate wordlist also includes: Receptive vocabulary - words you should understand even though a questions is not focused on them Productive vocabulary – words you need to know in order to be able to answer a question The list

BEC speaking practice You can do this BEC practice speaking exercise with a speaking partner or in a group. One of you thinks of a large well-known company and the other person has to ask yes/no questions to work out/guess the name of the company. Here is an example : Johnson & Johnson Example questions : Is the company a multinational? Is the company part of the oil and gas industry? Does the company produce consumer products? Does the company work in the pharmaceutical industry? Does the company produce a very wide range of products? And so on, until the other person (or the group) guesses the name of the company correctly. If someone asks a question and you don’t know the answer, then you could allow them one open question as a bonus, for example: what kind of products do they produce? You can take it in turns to think of a company and ask questions. This will help you recall and use business English vocabulary and help you to think faster in response to the

BEC preliminary Speaking Test Task Sheet for Candidate A A: What is important when ...? Taking an overseas vsisitor for lunch or dinner - Getting to know the person - Talking about work matters - Cultural eating habits B: What is important when ...? Commenting on a colleague’s work - Being diplomatic - Strengths - Weaknesses Exam Tip In Part 3 you have to talk together with your partner and with the examiner at the end. Make sure that you both take turns speaking. Remember: - Ask your partner for his/her opinion on what you say. - Take part in the discussion – don’t sit in silence. - Alow your partner to finish saying something before you give your opinion. Scenario You have been asked to organise the annual Sales Conference for your company. Talk together about the meetings and social functions which should be included in the conference programme. Decide what you will do on the first day of the conference. Candidate’s Prompt Sheet: Annual s

Why Learning English is Important for Your International Business Career According to Bloomberg News , Honda Motor Co. has made English the official language of its global meetings. The decision is part of a policy move to give regional offices more decision-making power. Takanobu Ito, Honda’s CEO, announced the change to global employees back in April. The move copies similar policy decisions by other Japanese companies fast Retailing Co., Asia’s largest seller of apparel, and also Rakuten Inc., Japan’s biggest Internet shopping mall. The ‘English only’ rule adopted by Honda refers to meetings in-person and also video conferences. For some of the company’s staff it means using interpreters as Ito has done in previous media interviews. Honda is not alone; various other companies have adopted a similar English only policy for global operations, Rakuten back in 2010 phased the language change in over a two year period, fast Retailing adopted English as their official language last

Do you want to: - learn new words easily? - always know the right word to use? - have a plan to improve your vocabulary? - impress work colleagues and your boss? Express yourself better and experience greater success in your professional career, earn more and have better opportunites. Become an excellent communicator with a powerful vocabulary ! A powerful vocabulary and success go hand in hand It may not seem fair, but many people judge you on your appearance and the words you use when you speak. Many studies have shown that people who use and can understand a wide vocabulary are more successful, enjoy more status, earn higher incomes and generally do better in their professional careers. Imagine for a moment you are in a job interview and the interviewer uses a word such as ‘salient’ or ‘semantic.’ Unless you fully understand the meaning of the word in the context it is used, you won’t be able to respond effectively or impress the interviewer. Do you want to make people li

BEC Vantage Speaking Test Part 2 In this section of the Cambridge BEC Vantage speaking test the candidates need to choose from three possible topics offered, and then prepare and give a short talk ( 1 minute) on the topic. The other candidate is also required to listen to their partner's talk and respond with a question about it. Video transcript Now in this part of the test I'm going to give each of you the choice of three different topics ... I'd like you to select one of the topics and give a short presentation on it for about a minute ... you will have a minute to prepare this and you can make notes if you want. After you have finished your talk your partner will ask you a question. Alright? Okay Here are your topics ... please don't write anything in the booklets Now, Chris, which topic have you chose, A, B or C? I've chosen B ... Would you like to talk abut what you think is important when delegating work to others. Kirsten ... please