Coursera
Free Online Course (Audit)
English
Paid Certificate Available
4 weeks long, 17 hours worth of material
selfpaced
Overview
Class Central Tips
In this course, as you read passages and watch videos, you will learn about the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of sales professionals in every company, and how to read numbers and graphs in sales reports. You will also learn how important project management and sustainability are for companies in modern times. Additionally, you will learn the correct usage of modal verbs and phrasal verbs as well as how to clearly ask for clarification. Your professional communication skills will improve as you incorporate these lessons into your English. This will help you to be more successful in using English in your business life.
Syllabus
- Entrepreneurship
- This week, we’ll focus on entrepreneurs—people who start a new business, even though they know it may not succeed. What qualities and skills are needed to become an entrepreneur, and what factors determine why some businesses succeed and others fail? You’ll hear about some steps to follow in starting a business and writing a business plan. You’ll also learn about how to use modal verbs for many purposes—to talk about possibilities, predictions, and requirements, or to give advice.
- Sales
- This week’s topic is about sales in a company. Sales is the driving force and money-making activity in business. You will read about sales team activities and listen to a talk about strategies of sales outlets. You will also see presentations about housing sales reports and how sales numbers are reported in graphs and in English writing.
- Project Management
- In any type of business, there are many projects. This week, you’ll learn about project management—planning, organizing, and keeping track of projects so the work is finished correctly and on time. You’ll learn about some special concepts and terms used in this field and think about the importance of teamwork in getting a project done smoothly. You’ll also learn some useful expressions for asking for clarification or getting more information if you don’t understand something.
- Sustainability
- The topic of sustainability, or being environmentally friendly, has become a key goal many companies plan to incorporate into their businesses.This week, we will read and listen to some passages about sustainability in business. In addition, we will listen to an interview about how one multinational company is incorporating sustainability into many facets of their corporate operations.We will also learn about how to use some phrasal verbs in writing and speaking situations in English.
Taught by
Karen Vallejo and Marla Yoshida
