CORPORATE BILINGUAL

CONSULTANCY
CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

CBC S de R L
SUZANNE RAJKUMAR

CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

Contents
Foreword..................................................................................................................... 2
CBCS 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BILINGUAL SPEAKERS....................................3
BUILDING VOCABULARY DAY BY DAY..........................................................................4
UNDERSTANDING - TO BE-.......................................................................................... 7

Foreword
As adults coping in todays high-tech and industrialized society we are accustomed
to rapid results. Therefore, when we are faced with the challenge of speaking a new
language we literally Freak out because it is frustrating trying to communicate a
sophisticated concept when you do not have the appropriate words to describe your
idea.
Additionally our ego suffers tremendously in our struggle to express ourselves as
we stutter and stumble to spew out a few awkward sentences.
Acquiring a new language skill is simply learning to describe your life and
experiences with new words and expressions!
This book is designed to help you take that first BIG step into language
acquisition!
For many adult students the task of gradually increasing their word power is usually
very tedious, in this booklet CBC offers you two methods to rapidly and structurally
build this very important skill.
Unlike the readily open and accepting mind of a child, adult students tend to be
more defensive; having grown up and survived various life experiences, they have
built up barriers to protect themselves from failure.
We are not reinventing the wheel as one of my students would say, we are simply
offering organizational tips which appeal more to the controlling, organizational
nature of the adult.
This booklet is a tool which will allow you to TAKE CONTROL of your language
development. It will focus your learning in a structured fashion that directs the
course of your language acquisition through: Basic Structural Tips and
Vocabulary Word Lists.
This methodology is founded on the concepts of repetition and reinforcement, while
students are practicing the formulas outlined in the booklet they are continuously

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

reviewing the same vocabulary; thereby creating a new mental discipline which
evolves into the habit of speaking a new language.
Another critical element in this style of language acquisition is that STUDENTS build
their vocabulary according to their specific needs. There is a general basic section;
the list widens to encompass the students life.
As each student develops their own NOTEBOOKS they may share some similarities
in content but in essence no two will ever be identical. Once this book is developed
this characteristic alone makes MY LITTLE ENGLISH NOTEBOOK a unique tool to
treasure for life.
SUZANNE RAJKUMAR

CBCS 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BILINGUAL

SPEAKERS
1. BE DISCIPLINED & CREATE A LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT STUDY AGENDA:
You plan and organize everything else so why not apply the same techniques to
your New Language Acquisition goals! Set specific activities at specific hours on
specific days in your daily planner- seeing your plan on paper will make it easier
for you to keep your commitment to yourself to become a better bilingual
professional.
2. BECOME A READER: Start the reading habit today! Start small- products in the
supermarket, newspapers, magazines, web pages, manuals, catalogs then move
up to short stories, comic books, short novels, self-help books, classics, fairytales
etc
3. GET THE TOOLS YOU NEED: Arm yourself with a dictionary, a thesaurus, a
dictionary of idioms, a word builder, a How-to- write letters book, a How-to-say-it
books etc.
4. BECOME AN INVESTIGATOR: Investigators are curious by nature they note
down everything they observe! You need to do the same in order to create a new
lexical database in your memory! Start making wordlists of around 10-15 word
groups to help you reclassify your new word acquisition.
5. BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF: Give yourself a break! Change your attitude to
yourself and your learning ability. You are accustomed to being successful and
controlling your projects, your tasks etc. but you will have to allow yourself the
time necessary to acquire the skills you need to speak a foreign language. If you
create a deadline be sure that your Study Agenda is realistic and not set up to
make you feel frustrated.

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

6. BECOME AN AVID LISTENER: Start listening to everything: music, movies,
conversations on the bus (without intruding of course), video conferences,
podcasts, audio-books, CDs, DVDs, the radioyou name it you listen to it!!!
7. OBSERVE, ASSOCIATE & REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! : Start paying more
attention to the people around you, identify the ones you admire for their
speech, accent, lexicon etc and start imitating them! Then repeat, repeat, repeat
and repeat until you get the skills you want!
SUZANNE RAJKUMAR
FOREVER BILINGUAL
Corporate Bilingual Consultancy S de R L

BUILDING VOCABULARY DAY BY DAY

BUILDING THEMATIC WORD LISTS
Creating thematic word lists is an excellent way to establish practical objectives
related to vocabulary acquisition. It allows you to develop systematic sets of words
that are easier for the adult mind to process.

WORD ASSOCIATION
Languages can be very tricky and understanding the different dimensions of
interpreting a word can further frustrate any student. In this booklet CBC gives you
an instrument to shape your understanding of the connotative and denotative
characteristics of a singular word, phrase or expression.

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

PAY DAY
BEER

FRIENDS

FAMILY

FRID
AY

RESTAUR
ANT
EATING
OUT

DISCO
DANCING

SEX

MOVIES
THEATRE

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PARTYING

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

LABELLING DIAGRAMS
Using labels is a fun way to learn and practice new vocabulary acquisition. It is easy
because you get to use visual aids to help reinforce literal concepts! Go crazy use
brilliant colors, create posters, and fill your living & working environment with visual
posters to help acquire new words.

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

LEARNING WORDS IN PAIRS

This technique involves using lists and identifying or associating a relationship that
makes it easy to retain the new concepts:
E.g 1 ARRANGE ADJECTIVES IN OPPOSITE PAIRS

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

HOT; HAPPY;
BEAUTIFUL;
YOUNG;
OLD; RICH

MAN-BOY-SONLION- BULLBUSINESSMAN

COLD;SAD;U
GLY; OLD;
NEW; POOR

WOMAN-GIRLDAUGHTERLIONESS-COWBUSINESSWOM
AN

Eg. 2 MASCULINE FEMININE

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

E.g. 3 SINGULAR / PLURAL

SINGULAR

PLURAL

CHILD
MAN
WOMAN
BROTHER
BUILDING

CHILDREN
MEN
WOMEN
BROTHERS
BUILDINGS

E.g. 4

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CBC GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH

UNDERSTANDING - TO BEThe verb TO BE is the strongest verb in the English language. It does
not need any help to create understandable concepts. It can act as an
auxiliary or helper verb and it can express many ideas in English. Some of
our most basic needs related to information are expressed with the verb TO
BE.
First lets look at how to conjugate the verb TO BE and then examine
its application in expressing simple ideas:

INFINITIVE OR ROOT

TO BE

GERUND
BEING

PAST PARTICIPLE
BEEN

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