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Repeat after me!

What´s the perfect language learning tool? Across cultures, the traditional answer to this has always been: Nursery Rhymes. Hoppe hoppe Reiter, Wenn er fällt dann schreit er… or Row row row your boat Gently down the stream Merrily merrily merrily merrily, Life is but a dream… As all carers all over the world will tell …

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Business Team of Mixed Races at Office

Working with American Business Culture

If you have worked with Americans in the past, or if you have even watched American television, you have probably heard the phrase ‘time is money.’  But how important is this phrase in American business culture?  What does it really mean?  Understanding American business culture isn’t as easy as understanding this one phrase, but it’s …

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Give it a shot!

Have you ever wanted to try something new? Trying something new is a great way to develop yourself personally and professionally! In English, we sometimes say “give it a shot!” What does the phrase, to give something a shot, mean? This means you will try to do it. Thankfully this has nothing to do with …

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The Different Uses of „Like“

According to the Oxford English Corpus, a collection of more than two billion English texts, ‘like’ is the 54th most frequently used word in the English language. One reason for this is that ‘like’ has so many different meanings, which can be confusing for a non-native speaker. ‘Like’ can be used as a noun, verb, …

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Businessman executive talking on mobile phone in modern corporate office, holding financial newspaper checking time on wriswatch. Glass reflection of business people meeting in office. Time is money.

Rushing to a Decision

Have you ever been so busy that you've had to rush into a meeting to avoid being late? What about having had to rush into a decision? To rush means to do something quickly or to move with haste. But when you rush into a decision, you make a decision too quickly without thinking about …

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Portraits of people thinking

Personnel and Personal Problems

What is the difference in meaning when you say ‘I am having personnel problems at the moment’ and when you say ‘I am having personal problems at the moment’? The words sound very similar, but these two sentences have very different meanings, and only one of these words is the correct translation for the German …

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The Front Runners – Tip of the Week

In our third “Tip of the Week,” we look at another idiom that can be relevant to the FIFA World Cup: “They’re the front runners.” This phrase refers to someone or a team that is expected to win, but hasn’t yet.  For example, coming into the tournament, Deutschland was the favorite to win the World …

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Summer healthy dessert with raspberries and yogurt on the cutting board. Banner format.

Using Phrasal Verbs in Everyday English

Phrasal verbs are action words that are a combination of an action and a preposition (on, in, off, of, out, or up) and sometimes descriptive words, such as good. These types of verbs can be difficult because they vary so much from the root word’s original meaning. Take for example the word ‚pass‘, which means …

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It’s a Whole New Ballgame

Tip of the Week: Today, we take a look at the start of the FIFA World Cup, but this phrase doesn’t even have to be used in a sports situation. This week’s phrase is: “It’s a whole new ballgame.” This phrase means being in a situation you’re not familiar with. For example, a business person …

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Concept for globalization and global networking with drawn arrows.

Cross-Cultural Competence

In the globalized business world, we talk a lot about cross-cultural competence.  We know it is something that everyone needs if they want to succeed in international business but figuring out exactly what it is and exactly how to get it is easier said than done. If you ask people what cross-cultural competence means to …

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