Introduction:
I. International Trade Flow Chart
II. The Differencesbetween GE and ESP
Biz English belongs to ESP (English for Special Purpose) which is related to finance, trade, products, public relation,management, marketing, etc.
Compared with the general English(hereinafter called GE), the basic vocabulary, sentence pattern, grammar are similar, but the specialtyvocabulary, article statement, way of speech are totally different from the GE.
I. The Differencesbetween GE and ESP(Business English)
For the commom English words, their meanings and usages differ greatly in genereal and business contexts .
1. Vocabulary
E.g.
(1) credit: a man of highest credit
Letter of Credit
(2) confirm: He looked around to confirmthat he was alone.
a confirmed Letter of Credit
(3) junk : junk mail/food, His writing isall junk
On the advice of a broker ,the divorced mother of two invested some of the money in high - interest junk bonds.
junk bond : a (speculative)bond with a credit rating of BB or lower; issued for leveraged buyouts and other takeovers bycompanies with questionable credit (from Oxford BusinessEnglish Dictionary for learners of English)
(4) advice: suggestion,suggest (GE)
inform (BE)
Translate the following sentence:
Unless otherwise stated insuch preliminary advice by the Issuing Bank, an Issuing Bank having given such pre-advice shall beirrevocably committed to issue or amend theCredit, in terms not inconsistent with the pre-advice, without delay
(5) policy:
rules,regulations (GE)
insurance sheet (BE)
(6) shipping advice & shipping instructions
2. sentence pattern
In GE, the sentence pattern can be classifiedas: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences, or long andshort sentence, phrases, subordinateclause; or declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative;
In BE, we seldom use long or compound-complexsentence, we try to use the short, clear, time-saving, formatted sentences.
when we have to express one complex thingclearly, the sentence could be long with precise structures and otheradditional component such as subordinate clause; (but the sentence structure isvery simple.) sometimes one sentence isone paragraph.
3. Grammar
In BE, we use few grammar, only sometime weuse subjunctive mood, inversion, etc.
In GE, we can use the grammar as much as wecan to make the sentence more smooth, complex.
II. Additional Rules
1. Try notto create new glossaries, items, terms, phrases.
2. Don’tmake clear promise, but give definite number
3. DO usethe official, formal and simple words
4. Don’t beafraid of using the same word over and over again
Practices:
translate the following sentences into English suitable for the Business Enviornment
(1) 我方保证绝不重犯这种错误。
(2) 我方确定所交货物质量与样品一样
Task: Compare the different translation texts, find out the differences among them.
Translate the following phrases, and try to figure out the diffent vesions in GE and BE.
一周以内：
7月10前：
6月上旬：
5月中旬:
8月下旬：
III.
5C’s Principles
1.Correctness: In biz letter incorrect grammar, improper punctuation, wrongspelling are not allowed and the letter should be written in right style andformat.
2.Conciseness: In biz letters, every word, sentence and paragraph counts. Weshould be conciseness, excluding unnecessary words and complicated biz jargons.
3. Clarity: Clear, easily understood, logic. Weshould use simple and accurate words and simple sentence where appropriate.
4.Completeness: provide all theinformation and data necessary for a specific issue.
5.Courtesy: be thoughtful and polite in writing bizletter.
Question:by email/ writing, how do you sense the other party's politeness?
Someother books tell that there are 7c's principles for us to follow in bizwriting: consideration(全面） and concreteness（具体）.
In thesetwo we have another rule: you-attitude(虑他原则）
