SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1

THE NATURE OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

Business English is a form of English especially suited to international trade, commerce and
finance. As such, Business English is the kind of English typically used in, for example: business
meetings, sales presentations, negotiations, business correspondence, business reports and,
executive summaries. Business English is normally seen as a specialism within teaching and
learning English, and forms part of English for Specific Purposes. It is studied by many non-
native English speakers who wish to do business with English-speaking countries—or with non-
English-speaking countries using English as a lingua franca (by some estimates, a lot of all
business communication worldwide is between non-native English speakers). In fact, there is no
globally accepted definition of Business English, but it tends to fall into two main categories:
Vocabulary and Functional Language clearly, many of the English words used in business are
specialized and would not be understood even by many native English speakers. Part of
studying Business English is to study the vocabulary of business, which may itself be further
specialized by activity or industry (banking, investment, import-export, oil, motor industry etc).
Another aspect is the study and practice of the language and language skills needed to conduct
various typically business functions such as running a meeting, negotiating or making a
presentation in English.
 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2

THE 8C’S OF A BUSINESS LETTER

The yard stick you can used in judging the quality of the letter is the 8C’s or 8 characteristics of a
business letter namely clearness, courtesy cheerfulness, consideration, character, conciseness,
correctness, and concreteness. To be effective every letter regardless of its purpose must have all these
qualities.

The first element of all business letter is that they should be clear, clearly state your pointer the
beginning to allow the reader a clear understanding of the letter’s purpose the use of precise, concrete,
familiar words and the construction of effective sentences and paragraphs are the best ways of
achieving clarity the element of add superfluous information or extra words to fill space to achieve
conciseness, you have to eliminate wordy expressions, avoid unnecessary repetition, and include only
relevant matter and business letter. Should also be considerate this element is important because you
must think about the reader and his feelings and point of view. They should show respect to the reader
and the company works for. Concreteness refers to using vivid wording within the letter that appeals to
the readers senses if a business letter is dull, the reader may demonstrate a positive attitude that
expresses joy and cheer. Business letter must always be accurate to produce an alive, active, and real
letter capable of instant decisions from the reader. Every business letter should be show a bit of
uniqueness from the writer. This gives the letter character and may make it more interesting.
 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3

THE PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

Points to remember

A normal business letter has 8 parts in order of their appearances from top to the bottom are:

- Letterhead
- Date
- Line
- Inside address
- Salutation or greeting
- Body
- Closing or complimentary
- Signature line and complimentary

- Letterhead – is found at the upper most part of the letter

- Date line – (American way) – May 2, 1999
- (British way) – May 2,1996
- Inside address – is written for the 8 spaces below the date line on the left margin, normally
consist of 3-4 lines.
- Salutation or greetings – its purpose is to cheer up or greet the address with use of positive
words.
- Body – the part that there may convey all the messages you want your reader to understand.
- Closing or Complimentary – uses only comma
- If the closing is of several words
- Choose also the degree of formality
- 2-4 spaces below the body.
- Signature line – in the business letter, 2 signatures are needed the period and the penned
signature. The typewriter is typed four spaces below the complimentary close.
- The name of the company may be placed between the complimentary and the penned
signature.
- Notation – is used to immediately draw the reader’s attention to the contents essence, before
the body even bean notation usually take four forms although they typically mean the same
thing.