Pronunciation and Spelling in English

     Peace, Peace, she cannot hear

     Lyre or sonnet,

     All my life's buried here,

     Heap earth upon it.

( , track 18)

 

(MR= Marta Rodriguez)

MR   Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming to my presentation. My name’s Marta Rodriguez. I’m Personnel Director of Tara Fashions. I’m going to talk to you today about our company. First, I’ll give you some basic information about Tara Fashions. Then I’ll talk about our overseas stores. After that I’ll outline the strengths of the company. Next I’ll talk about career opportunities with Tara. And finally I’ll mention our future plans. I’ll be pleased to answer any questions at the end of my talk.

Let me start with some basic facts about Tara. The company started in 1978. We are a family-owned business and our head office is in Cordoba, Spain. We sell clothes for men and women, and our customers are mainly fashion-conscious people aged 20 to 35. We have 15 stores in Spain. All the stores are very profitable.

Right, those are the basic facts.

Let me add a few figures. We have an annual turnover of about 260 million euro. Our net profits last year were approximately 16 million euro. We have a workforce of just over 2,000 employees. So those are the numbers. Now about our overseas stores. We have four large stores in France and another ten in other European countries. We are planning to open five new stores next year. What are our strengths? We keep up with fashion trends. If we spot a trend, we can bring out a new design in 15 days. And we get it to the stores very quickly. We deliver to stores twice a week. And we sell our designs at the right price.

OK, now what about career opportunities? It’s quite simple. If you are ambitious and fashion-conscious, we have opportunities in all areas of our business. We will welcome you with open arms.

Finally, a few words about our new projects. We are planning to open a new store in New York next year – on Fifth Avenue. This will give us a foothold in the US market. We’re very excited about this new development.

Well, thanks very much for listening to my talk. Are there any questions?  

 

( , track 19)

 

(I=Inge, Ka=Katharina, Ke=Kenneth, N=Nada, J=Julia)

I Right, can we start, please? The main aim of the meeting is to decide the date of the    launch. After that, we’ll talk about our marketing strategy and decide which sales outlets we should target. OK, when are we going to launch the goggles? Katharina, what do you think? Should it be early next year or should we wait until the summer?

Ka I’m in favour of February or March. There’s a gap in the market for our products.  Why wait any longer? The goggles are technically advanced – let’s just cash in on  that.

I Thanks, Katharina. OK, let’s hear a few more views. Kenneth, what’s your opinion?

Ke Mmm, I don’t know about February. It’s a bit early in the year. I suggest we launch    in May or June. People go on holiday then. It’s a peak period for buying goggles.

I Thanks, Kenneth. Nadia, what’s your view? You’re a keen swimmer, I know.

N In my opinion, February’s best time. We could promote them in swimming pools and opticians. The price should be high. I’d say, at least 50 pounds.

Ka Hold on a minute. I thought we were talking about the launch date, not about promotion or price.

I You’re right, Katharina. Let’s get back to the point. OK everyone, I think on balance we agree – we prefer the earlier date. Let’s move on now to marketing. Julia, which outlets do you think we should target?

J I think we should start with the specialist stores. That’s were most swimmers buy their goggles.

I What do you mean by specialist stores, Julia? Are you thinking of sports goods outlets, you know, stores which only sell sports equipment?

J Exactly. They should be our main target.

 

( , track 20)

 

    Now, I’d like to move on to our most successful products, Protean. As I’m sure you know, our new fabric was named after Proteus, the Greek sea god who was able to take on different roles and shapes. Indeed, Protean can be used for a wide variety of products because it is extremely flexible. Let me give you some basic information about Protean’s three main features.

    Firstly, it is made from fibres that are similar to nylon and polyester. These fibres are coated with a metallic substance, so that the fabric can conduct electricity. In addition, the fabric can be made very thick or very thin – so thin in fact as to become translucent, - to let some light pass through.

    Secondly, as you can experience for yourselves from the samples that are going round, not only is it very soft to the touch, but it’s also strong and long-lasting.

    Finally, it can be made in absolutely any colour.

    To conclude my presentation, I’d like to tell you about our future plans.

    We at Fabtek believe that Protean has enormous sales potential. We are currently trying to increase sales by licensing other manufacturers to produce interesting new products with Protean. We already have a licensing agreement with Azra, a Swiss firm, which has created some award-winning products using Protean. You can find the details of some of those products in the leaflet in your folder.

 

( , track 21)

 

(V=Vincent, M=Monica, T=Tanya)

V I think we should do a lot more to improve our staff’s health and fitness. What do you think, Monica?

M I agree. There are all sorts of things we could do to help staff to become more healthy and stay healthy. For one thing, we could offer them a free medical checkup every year.

V Right. That’s a good idea. A lot of firms do that. And how about having a no-smoking policy in the staff restaurant? What do you think about that, Tanya?

T Mm, I don’t think I like the idea very much. It wouldn’t be good for morale. A lot of our staff smoke – they’d be against it, I’m sure of that. I think we should improve the food. A lot of the dishes aren’t healthy – there’s far too much fatty food, not enough fish, fruit and vegetables.

V True. We could change the menus and offer healthier meals. I like that idea.

M what about setting up a counseling service, Vincent? Some staff are under a lot of stress. It affects their work and they need professional help.

V I don’t know, Monica. It’d be very expensive to set up a service like that. Anyway, we have a company doctor. That’s her job, isn’t it?

 

( , track 22)

 

(V=Vincent, T=Tanya, M=Monica)

V I’ve got another suggestion. We could talk to the manager of our local sports centre and arrange a company membership. What do you think, Tanya?

T Mm, I don’t know. It sounds interesting, but it could be very expensive. A group fee for all our staff would probably cost a fortune.

V What’s your opinion, Monica?

M I think you’re right, Tanya. It’s cost a lot and I’m not sure how many staff would actually use the centre. Some people say it hasn’t got many facilities.

V I can’t agree with you there. It’s got a very good pool and sauna. If we could negotiate a low membership fee, it might be worth considering, surely.

T Yes, it’s worth checking out, I suppose. A lot of staff might enjoy having a swim at lunchtime or after work. And a sauna is very relaxing, I must admit.

M Maybe, but there are so many other things we could do. Things which are less expensive, but they’d improve people’s health just as much. Let me tell you about a few ideas I have…

 

12. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Cotton D. Market Leader. Pre-Intermediate Business English. Longman, 2007.

Hancock M. English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Hornby A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Compass. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Kelly J. How to Teach Pronunciation. Longman, 2003.

Vaughan-Rees M. Test Your Pronunciation, Penguin English, 2006.

 

CONTENTS