Spotlight - 14.2019

ENGLISH AT WORK 57

Foto: Gert Krautbauer

abbreviation

[E)bri:vi(eIS&n]

, Abkürzung

act: put on an ~ [Äkt]

, eine Schau abziehen

approach [E(prEUtS]

, Vorgehensweise

briefly [(bri:fli]

, kurz

currency [(kVrEnsi]

, Währung

dry up [draI (Vp] ifml.

, hier: steckenbleiben

edit sth. out [)edIt (aUt]

, etw. ausblenden

get across [get E(krQs]

, vermitteln, verständ-

lich machen

rephrase [)ri:(freIz]

, umformulieren

space [speIs]

, hier: Leerzeichen

wind up [waInd (Vp]

, zum Ende kommen

ENGLISH AT WORK

Dear Ken

Communication expert KEN TAYLOR answers your

questions about business English. Here, he looks at

how to write figures and currencies in English, and

has some advice on giving interviews.

MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS

14/2019 Spotlight

Dear Ken

In my new job, I might have to represent my organization

in radio and TV interviews, as well as at press conferences.

These may well be held in English. Do you have some tips

on what I need to think about when being interviewed?

Best wishes

Wolfgang K.

Dear Wolfgang

First of all, congratulations on your new job!

Being interviewed can indeed be quite stressful —

especially if the interview is held in a second language.

Here are some simple tips:

⋅ When you prepare for the interview, think of three or

four key points that you want to get across.

⋅ Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes and try to work

out what questions he or she might ask.

⋅ During the interview, listen to the questions carefully

and answer them simply and directly. Keep your

answers short and to the point.

⋅ Use clear, concrete examples and analogies with

obvious relevance to the questions.

⋅ Be positive and be yourself — don’t put on an act.

⋅ If you are promoting a campaign or an idea — be

enthusiastic about it.

⋅ If you do not understand the question, say so and ask

the interviewer to rephrase it.

⋅ If the interviewer gets the facts wrong, correct them

immediately, but be polite about it.

⋅ If you dry up — stop and think. Pauses are usually

edited out of the interview.

⋅ Watch and listen for “winding up” signals from the

interviewer.

⋅ For the final question, be ready to answer briefly. Tr y

to remind the audience of your key points and end on

a “high”.

Good luck with your next interview!

Regards

Ken

Dear Ken

I hope you have time for a question

from me. I often use the abbrevi-

ations “K” or “M” to represent the

words “thousand” and “million”.

However, I’m never quite sure how

to use them together with a curren-

cy. What is the correct sequence?

Should I write: “I am happy to in-

form you that you will receive a

123 KEUR bonus” or: “... you will

receive a KEUR 123 bonus”?

Are both versions correct? Or do

you recommend another approach

altogether? I’m looking forward to

your reply.

Kind regards

Margareta M.

Dear Margareta

The simple answer to your question

is that you write the figures like this:

EUR 123K, euro 123K or € 123K.

When we are talking about curren-

cy, we put the name followed by the

number, with no space before “K”

or “M”. We wouldn’t actually write

it the way you suggest in your

examples.

In ordinary text, for example when

writing about prices, you might also

see “123K euros”.

And remember that, in English, the

names of currencies do not begin

with a capital letter: “The pound

moves more closely with the dollar

than with the euro.”

All the best

Ken

Send your questions

about business English

by e-mail with “Dear

Ken” in the subject line

to: language@

spotlight-verlag.de

Each month, I answer

two questions Spotlight

readers have sent in.

If one of them is your

question, you’ll receive

a copy of my book: Dear

Ken... 101 answers to

your questions about

business English. So

don’t forget to add your

postal address.

KEN TAYLOR

is a communication

consultant and

author of 50 Ways

to Improve Your

Business English

(Lulu Publishing).

Contact:

[email protected]