Pete Sharma Associates

Macmillan In Company

2012 Resources

In 2012 Macmillan’s monthly e-lessons will be based on an article by myself, Pete Sharma, for you to use in class. Each article will investigate something topical to the business world and provide links for further research, information and discussion.

These articles will offer you flexibility in how you use them. Whether they form the basis of a reading lesson, a discussion activity, vocabulary presentation or extra homework you’ll find them an invaluable, relevant and practical tool for your business English teaching.

The first article is called ‘Blue Monday’.

The third Monday of the year is supposed to be the most miserable day of the year, partly due to the weather (in the UK, anyway!) and the fact that our personal debt is usually high just after Christmas.

For the rest of this lesson idea and a pdf of the article  available for you to download and share with your students, see:

http://www.businessenglishonline.net/resources/in-company-second-edition-resources/elessons

I’m just about to review Sounds – the Pronunciation app from Macmillan for the ELTJ.

It is for iPhone and iPad, and adds a new dimension to Adrian Underhill’s well-known Sound Foundations chart. It is easy to use: simply tap a symbol to hear a sound, tap and hold to hear a word with that sound. It is best to rotate the screen to see the chart in a whole page view.

Students can gain practise in four skills. The app contains 340 useful words they can listen to, practise copying / repeating (i.e. speaking) and compare their effort with an original. They can read a word and then type it in phonemic script (writing); listen to a word and type it; or read a phonemic transcript and type the word itself. A nice feature allows you to import writing in phonemic script into programmes like Notes.

Looks like great value for students and teachers alike! I’m enjoying putting it through the paces for the full review. So far, ‘app-iness

Once again, the Macmillan business English website invites teachers to revisit an e-lesson from the past. This time, the lesson is: Salaries

Salaries Revisited

FTSE directors’ earnings rise by nearly 50%

Once again, directors’ pay is back in the news. A new report from a research company, the IDS (Incomes Data Services), has revealed that last year the earnings of UK directors of the top 100 FTSE companies rose by nearly 50%. The average increase in CEO salaries was 43%. What’s more, directors’ bonuses have reportedly risen by 23%, making the average bonus a staggering £900,000!

To read the rest of this blog post,  as well as to download the orginal e-lesson and Teachers’ notes, please visit:

http://www.businessenglishonline.net/resources/in-company-second-edition-resources/elessons

I have just discovered that the archive of Business English e-lessons is now searchable by date, level and by topic.

Topic categories include: current affairs / global economy/ technology / environment / office & management…….

As a good Brit, I cannot blow my own trumpet, but this resource is seriously worth checking out!

http://www.businessenglishonline.net/resources/in-company-second-edition-resources/elessons

It was a great experience going over to Malta again – I hadn’t been since Jade was four & got stung by a bee.

Thanks to David for introducing me to the delights of a Hitachi board – I feel like punching it (in a positive way! robust…)

Lovely to meet so many great people…… but so quick!!

Here are ‘lite  versions of the PowerPoints on:

Blended-learning

critical-analysis

Practical-ideas

Next Sunday I will write up a one-page Handout with the useful leads / sites which came up and post it in a new blog entry. If anyone wants to add any links to that, please just mail them over!

Thanks to Macmillan, Nadia  Isabel & everyone for making this happen!

What is ‘augmented reality’? Click on the link below to listen to our latest podcast and find out!

The podcast (created by Pete and Barney as an example of a teacher-produced podcast) is a three-minute clip from a business programme and is based on a forthcoming e-lesson, to be published by Macmillan next month.

This podcast is not meant to be used with students but was just the result of us trialling microphone and editing with Audacity – and to provide a taster of future ELT lesson material! Enjoy listening!

Augmented Reality – podcast

Our latest book will soon be in a shop near you.

For more information, please visit the Macmillan website.

If you can’t wait until your local book seller can provide you with a copy, you can also pre-order from Amazon.

Enjoy it!!

Hovering around the Macmillan stand at BESIG last weekend, I was asked: “What’s your favourite thing about your new book?”

Without thinking, I said: “the unique ‘Social planner’ at the back.” This is where students can combine the power of print with the fixed sentence head (“I was born in…”), and the power of the pen, writing in their unique personalised ending (“… Pune / Rio / Vladivostock”). The students finish the book with a checklist of key utterances to review before being thrust into their next social encounter.

I also like the subtle message of the needs analysis circle, suggesting that when all pieces of the jig-saw puzzle are in place, you are a good socialiser.

Barney saw the book for the first time last night, and no doubt has his own favourite bits! Don’t worry, it won’t be long before it hits the bookshelves……