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Archive for the ‘News’ Category

What’s new on Network Milan?

22 Feb

Welcome

Welcome to NetworkMilan!

Hi! This is Network Milan – the online news magazine published by the Milan Business English Network. We have some great articles on a range of topics for people who are learning, teaching or using English for their work. Here you can read information on how to use your English to find a job in Italy or the UK – and how to improve your CV and covering letter. We ‘ve also got advice on where to find a qualified teacher who can help you with your communication skills – as well as tips on improving your speaking and writing skills. Plus news and links about business and study in the English-speaking world. Get connected today!

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Join the Milan Business English Network

Milan Business English Network

The Milan Business English Network is for people who want to develop their communication skills and meet other professionals who use English on a daily basis.

Want to get in touch with people who recognise the importance of effective communication in our increasingly interconnected world? Then here’s a good place to start. Click here to learn more…

We’re on both LinkedIn and Facebook. Sign up today !

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What are soft skills?

Improving your soft skills

There is a lot of interest currently in soft skills. But what exactly are soft skills and why do you need them? “There’s a saying that hard skills will get you an interview but it’s soft skills that get you a job,” says Debbie Hance of the Association of British Psychologists.
Read more about soft skills and emotional intelligence (EQ) in this article from the British Guardian newspaper…

Click here to read “The secret to understanding soft skills” …

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Robert Dennis of the Milan Business English Network joins John Peter Sloan and friends at Zelig for the launch of Instant English 2

Head to head: Robert Dennis and John Peter Sloan talk business at Zelig

To mark the launch last month of Instant English 2, the enormously successful follow-up to John Peter Sloan’s first bestselling English language book, he invited some old friends to appear on stage with him at Zelig Cabaret. Among them was a “new” face: Robert Dennis, the founder of the Milan Business English Network.

“This is the first time I have done any acting since university,” said Robert, who appeared in a Business English sketch with John.

Click here to find out what happened next…

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Lorna Allen of Live & Learn Homestays reaches finals of national business awards in UK

Lorna Allen, Director of Live and Learn Homestays Ltd, with learner Mauro

MUMPRENEUR 2011 AWARD

BIRMINGHAM BASED “MUMPRENEUR” REACHES FINALS OF NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

Local mum and entrepreneur, Lorna Allen, has earned herself a place in the final lineup of The Mumpreneur Awards, an annual ceremony aimed at celebrating parents throughout the UK who manage the difficult task of juggling business with family life.

Click here to read more about Lorna Allen and The Mumpreneur Awards…
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Get ready to learn… and laugh! Italy’s favourite English teacher, John Peter Sloan, is back with “Instant English 2″

John Peter Sloan's "Instant English 2"

John Peter Sloan, author of the best-selling “Instant English” and “English in Viaggio”, returns this September with his “Instant English 2″ and the unique brand of humour that has turned him into Italy’s favourite English teacher.

Packed with interesting and useful material, “Instant English 2″ can justifiably claim to be the “most revolutionary English course of today” – and now it covers even more areas of the language.

Check out the Instant English website to find out more about “Instant English 2″ and John’s other books, shows – and much more, too!

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Design will be at the centre of the UK government’s economic growth plans

Design for Growth

Today sees a high-level summit meeting of global business leaders, leading designers and Government, to discuss how design can contribute to economic growth in the UK.

The Government is to put design at the heart of its plans for economic growth in the UK. The commitment will be made by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts at Design for Growth, a summit meeting which is being co-hosted today by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Design Council.

Speakers include Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple and the British designer of the iPod.

Click here to get the full story on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) website…

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Lorna Allen, Live and Learn Homestays: Improve your English and feel at home in the “Heart of England”

Lorna Allen, Director of Live & Learn Homestays

Live and Learn Homestays Ltd is a small English language homestay company based in Birmingham, the “Heart of England”, in the UK. Owned and managed by local entrepreneur Lorna Allen, Live and Learn Homestays combine high-quality language courses with friendly, welcoming accommodation in the tutor’s own home: a unique opportunity that allows students to not only learn English intensively, but also to experience family life right in the centre of Britain.

In this interview with NetworkMilan.com, Lorna explains what a homestay is and talks about its unique benefits for people who want to study English and experience the culture in a truly authentic way.
Click here to read our interview with Lorna and discover if a homestay is right for you…

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Should you use formal or informal language in a job interview?

Formal or informal?

Getting the balance right between formality and informality when you have an interview can be quite tricky (difficult). In a recent discussion on the Milan Business English Network an MBEN member asked about this important topic.

Click here to read the question and our reply…

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Use your English to find work in Italy or abroad

When can you start?

Are you considering changing your job? Do you speak English? If you answered “Yes!” twice, you may be interested in the answer to this question, which appeared recently on the Milan Business English Network:

What is the best way to find a job in Italy (or abroad) using my English? Read the reply…

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Make that call! (Part 1)

Learn to make business phone calls with confidence

Effective business telephone calls in English are not as difficult as you think…

Are you afraid of using the phone in English? Do your hands start to shake when you dial a telephone number and know that you will have to not only speak in English – but also understand the other person? Millions of non-native speakers of English face exactly this situation every day – often at work and in high stress environments, where there is no alternative to talking on the phone. Find out how to make the perfect business phone call

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How to get a job in the UK / US if you have an Italian law degree

Find work abroad using your law degree

Question: As a student of law, I would like to know what can I do with my Italian legal degree in the UK or USA. What are the different opportunities?
Answer: Thanks for your question. Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that your law degree will help you find a job in an English-speaking country,
Read the answer here…

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Business English Questions and Answers

I've got a question!

What’s the difference between a CV and a resume (or resumé)? When do you start a letter “To whom it may concern”? What is “Dragon’s Den” and why is it so popular in the the UK? What do the acronyms CEO, CSR and CRM mean? Why are fat cats always in the British business news? What is a poisoned pill, a white knight and a golden parachute?
Get all the answers…

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What are the main differences between an Italian CV and a British / American one?

Writing your CV in English

There are lots of small differences – and one or two very big ones – between a Curriculum Vitae / CV (in British English) or a resumé (US English) and an Italian one. In this article we look at how you can make your CV more attractive to Anglo-Saxon employers.

Click here to find out how to adapt your CV for the international jobs market.

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Lorna Allen of Live & Learn Homestays reaches finals of national business awards in UK

22 Oct

Lorna Allen, Director of Live and Learn Homestays Ltd

MUMPRENEUR 2011 AWARD

BIRMINGHAM BASED “MUMPRENEUR” REACHES FINALS OF NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS
Local mum and entrepreneur, Lorna Allen, has earned herself a place in the final lineup of The Mumpreneur Awards, an annual ceremony aimed at celebrating parents throughout the UK who manage the difficult task of juggling business with family life.
The mother of 2 runs Live and Learn Homestays Ltd., an organisation offering personalised English courses and leisure activities to people visiting the Midlands region from abroad. Lorna’s customers (homestay guests) benefit from a full immersion experience where they are placed with host families and have the unique opportunity to improve their English skills and learn about British culture through sharing their host families’ lives.

Read the full story on the Live and Learn Homestays website. Click here.

Find out more about Lorna and Live & Learn Homestays. Read our interview here on Network Milan.

 

Business English Questions and Answers

19 Apr

I've got a question!

What’s the difference between a CV and a resume (or resumé)? When do you start a letter “To whom it may concern”? What is “Dragon’s Den” and why is it so popular in the the UK? What do the acronyms CEO, CSR and CRM mean? Why are fat cats always in the British business news? What is a poisoned pill, a white knight and a golden parachute?

Here are the answers:
In British English you write a Curriculum Vitae (CV for short) when you apply for a job (not just a “curriculum”); in the United States you write a resumé (often just resume without the accent nowadays).
If you have to write a letter for an employee or student that they will show to someone else, such as a potential employer or university, you head the letter “To whom it may concern”. This is typically used on job references or official statements (e.g. someone’s financial status), but not addressed to a particular individual.
Dragon’s Den” is a hugely popular BBC TV show where inventors and entrepreneurs pitch (present) their idea or business to a panel of “dragons” – four ferocious (and very rich) private investors. The dragons ask searching questions and then – if the entrepreneurs are lucky – they make an offer of a investment in return for equity (shares) in the company. It’s a bit like X-Factor for business.
Acronyms: CEO = Chief Executive Officer – the operational head of a company; CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility – developing policies and programmes that help build a company’s reputation for being caring and considerate; CRM = Customer Relationship Management – the art / science of developing a company’s most important assets (after its employees), it’s customer base.
Fat cats are senior executives (often in nationalized companies, such as utilities) who earn highly-inflated salaries, bonuses and are awarded (over-) generous pensions. A poisoned pill is a strategy for fighting off a hostile takeover bid. And a white knight is an investor who comes to the rescue of a company facing a similarly aggressive attempt at taking over another organization. A golden parachute is an agreement to pay a senior executive a substantial amount of money in the event that he or she loses their job as a result of a takeover.
If you’ve been puzzled by something you’ve heard or read in the English-language media – or that an English-speaking colleague has said – why not post a question in this section. I will be happy to give you an answer – and if anyone else has a better reply or comment, leave it here for members of the network to see.
Have you got a question about Business English? We’ll be glad to answer it! Leave a comment below – or join the Milan Business English Network on LinkedIn or Facebook where you can take part in lots of useful Business English-related discussions.
 

Join the Milan Business English Network

18 Apr

Milan Business English Network

The Milan Business English Network is for people who want to develop their communication skills and meet other professionals who use English on a daily basis.

Want to get in touch with people who recognise the importance of effective communication in our increasingly interconnected world? Then here’s a good place to start.

We’re on both LinkedIn and Facebook. Sign up today !

We look forward to receiving your suggestions, comments, questions and ideas about Business English.

 
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Welcome to Network Milan!

16 Apr

Social networking for business

Hi! Welcome to Network Milan – the online news magazine published by the Milan Business English Network. We publish great articles on a range of topics for people who are learning, teaching or using English for their work. Here you can read information on how to write a great CV and covering letter, where to find a qualified teacher who can help you with your communication skills – as well as tips on improving your English to increase your effectiveness in your job.

To get the most out of Network Milan we suggest you join the Milan Business English Network. Please visit our Group page on either LinkedIn or Facebook to sign up.

We are also planning a number of live events. Please visit Network Milan.com or the Milan Business English Network on LinkedIn or Facebook for more details.

We would love to get your feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to add them using the Comments box on this site. Alternatively, you can contact us by sending an email to english4milan@gmail.com. Or you can join the Milan Business English Network and take part in our lively online discussions.

Thanks for your interest. We hope you enjoy Network Milan.com and look forward to meeting you on the Milan Business English Network soon!

Robert Dennis
Freelance Business English Teacher and Social Media Consultant
Milan Business English Network (Founder)

 
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Posted in News