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Would you like to improve your English pronunciation? We have an important tip for you: Pay attention to how you say consonants at the end of English words.

Standard German has something called final devoicing (Auslautverhärtung) which means that voiced (stimmhaft…Lesen Sie hier weiter

Ending an English email to a business partner might feel a bit difficult. First there’s a short sentence to thank the person for their help or attention, or to remind them of what you need from them and when.

And now what about that little word or phrase that goes above your name? What would you write in German? “Mit freundlichen Grüßen” or maybe “Viele Grüße” or something else?

Reading the news is a great way to learn English. But sometimes the news isn’t very happy and reading about what is going wrong in the world causes a lot of stress.

“Nice News” offers a solution – you can read some English and get a good feeling about what is going on in the world – learn English with nice news!

Sound good? Go to https://nicenews.com/ and enter your email to subscribe to the newsletter. Each day you’ll receive a message with about 10 links to stories from around the world. All stories are in English. Topics include business, science, technology, the arts, etc. – any topic where something good has happened.

Before you prepare your English presentation, it’s important to think about who will be sitting in the audience. Not their names, but what they know about your topic and their reason for attending your presentation. Here are some general questions to ask yourself:

A. Who is in the audience?

Five idioms that show why you shouldn’t try to translate German idioms into English.

Native speakers of all languages use idioms to express their ideas. But usually an idiom that is common in one language doesn’t have an exact translation in another language.

Here are five common German idioms with no direct translations in English, followed by their English equivalents.

English small talk is a part of business life. But the news isn’t always very good. How do you talk about social and political issues you’ve heard or read about?

In general, it’s best to make a short, neutral comment.

For example, over the past few weeks there has been a lot of news about mass shootings in the US. If you have a business partner in the US, you could say something such as:

Should you use the word BY or the word UNTIL in English to talk about deadlines? This week our English grammar tip has the answer.

In German, you use the word “bis”. But in English, “bis” has two translations: BY and UNTIL.

When do you use each word?

If you use social media for networking, you might have noticed English pronouns on LinkedIn in brackets behind people’s names, for example (She/Her) on my profile (log in, then click on “view profile”). The platform has introduced a field to help business partners use the correct pronouns and courtesy titles.

The pronouns on LinkedIn is an especially useful tool for international networking. Nobody wants to use the wrong pronoun! Even if your gender seems clear to you, it might not be clear to someone from a different country.

4 Easy Tips for Your Interview in English

Do you have a job interview in English? It can be difficult to prepare for a job interview in another language, but here are 4 easy tips:

1. Read the company’s website and look up words that are important at the company. You might know some of these words from writing your CV or resumé. Practice saying them out loud! Think of phrases you can say about your experience that use these words and practice them, too.

Are your international clients or customers wondering why they couldn’t reach anyone in your Dresden office yesterday? What do you tell them? Do you know the name of the public holiday in English? (Keep reading to find out.) Use public holidays as a chance to build a stronger relationship with your client — English small talk about holidays is usually a safe small talk topic.

Before you call an international client or start your online meeting, check this website or this website to find out which holidays will soon be celebrated in their country or region. Then do a quick Google search to find out a few key facts. Make English small talk with clients by asking “How to you celebrate (holiday name)?” “Is there a special food you eat, special clothes you wear, or a special place you go?”