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Business Spotlight Magazine | |
Publisher: Spotlight Verlag gmbH
€9.50
Intermediate Business English
Something different this month - not a book but a magazine. This magazine is published by a German publisher, and whilst some of the instructions and advertisements are in German, most of the text is English (including the grammar explanations) and all that a non-German speaker will really miss is the vocabulary, as difficult words in the text are underlined and given in phoenetic and German in a box on the side. Nevertheless, whatever your language, if you are looking for an interesting business magazine to build your vocabulary, you should consider this.
This most recent issue of the magazine (May-June) has 104 pages, so even though it costs as much as a small book, it has as much material as well. (There is also a very small booklet on the front telling how to write a perfect job application.) Most of the magazine consists of articles. For example, there is one on Steve Jobs of Apple computers, another on how secretaries have changed to personal assistants, and another article on doing business with Turkey. Most of these articles are two or three pages long, and are written in straightforward English. Look for the little black box at the start of each article which gives the difficulty rating. Most articles are British English, but a box marked 'US' will tell you if American English is being used instead. There is a small section on language usage - amonst other things this issue ofthemagazine deals with writing - 'Better writing style'; functions 'Preparing for a call'; and grammar ''using 'to' or '-ing'". Finally, it seems that there is sometimes a CD with the magazine, which would make it much better value, but our copy came without one.
Who is this magazine for? Ideally you should be a German businessman who does a lot of business with the English-speaking world. Your general English is good, but you need to improve your knowledge of special business vocabulary and the English and US business culture. Alternatively, if you are teaching Business English, you might also find a lot to use here - for instance this issue has a section on 'Which business language qualification is right for you?'
Verdict: Good for vocabulary, less so for grammar
Assessment 7/10