Barron's ESL Guide to American Business English [Paperback]

Andrea B. Geffner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Focused especially to fit the needs of ESL students, this handbook for communicating in business situations describes a wide variety of business writings, and recommends appropriate styles and formats for each. Samples and instruction cover sales and public relations letters, reports and proposals, resumes, job applications, and much more. A section on usage reviews basics of English grammar, emphasizing sentence construction and verb forms. Students of English as a second language who plan to do business in North America can become confused by jargon and formalisms that sometimes invade business correspondence. Author Andrea Geffner's advice to them is to relax and stop worrying about sounding "business-like" or "official." Correct but relaxed English is always preferable. This book will meet the needs of all ESL students--especially those in business schools--but can also serve as a general quick reference guide in any business office.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764105949
• ISBN-13: 978-0764105944
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent ESL Source But..., May 5, 2000

By 

l fields (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barron's ESL Guide to American Business English (Paperback)

As a teacher of ESL at the private college, I found Barron's ESL Guide to American Business English an excellent source for newcomers to American business practices. Unfortunately while the book targets the ESL population, it still requires significant English literacy skills to read and understand. Given the complexity of the subject matter, it's probably as simplified as possible. Includes eighty different documents covering a wide range of correspondence with concise instructions; "Words to Watch For", a vocabulary word listing provides definitions for key words at the beginning of many chapters; extensive table of contents and index, makes it relatively easy to locate particular areas of interest.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of paper, May 22, 2008

By 

M. Bell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barron's ESL Guide to American Business English (Paperback)

The ESL Guide to American Business English is filled with errors and is not geared to the sophisticated second language learners who are the expected consumers for a book of this nature. For example, the explanation of when an -s is needed as an ending for present tense verbs states that the -s should be added when the subject of the sentence is a noun. Yesterday I read this explanation to one of my ESL students, whose response was, "What about 'everyone' or 'no one'?" Exactly. There is no mention of pronouns. Students using this book to study on their own might find it confusing -- at best.

The examples provided to illustrate this poorly explained "rule" have the words "secretary" and "stenographer" as subjects -- hardly current. I could go on and provide a long list of what's wrong with this book, but I've given it enough time.

I regret having ordered this book and would not recommend it to anyone. It's worse than useless.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Literacy for the Workplace, November 16, 2003

By 

Genet Jeanjean (Cambridge, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barron's ESL Guide to American Business English (Paperback)

Great book to use for English language learners that have been in the country for many years but lack the literacy skills needed for a business environment. The letter samples give great ideas for phrases and tone. The section on usage is an excellent overview to clear up any questions on grammar. I have recommended this book for my students at BusinesSpeak to keep on their desks as a reference guide.