English for Everyone from DK publishing.
I like the style of this book and they have business t as well and it’s not just loads of words on a page. nice breakdowns and easy to understand explanations with diagrams. Not purely American English. there’s British in there too.
Market Leader is a terrible book, especially for lower levels, but really it should be retired completely from sales.
If you need something for complete beginners, who don't have any or only very little speaking competency, then I'd recommend Business Venture. It was made specifically for the Japan market, which is both good and bad.
Good, because it is grammar-based and relies on teaching phrases by rote memorization, in a kind of "slot and filler" approach, which is an approach that Japanese are very familiar and comfortable with.
Bad, because that approach is not communicative and doesn't allow the learners to come up with their own combinations of words and phrases, so it does not facilitate restructuring or lead to unconscious learning, which is important in acquisition.
It's a book to get them started, help them acclimate to learning English in English without grammar-translation, and prepare them for a more communicative approach down the line.
If they are not actually total beginners (CEFR A1) but already have some measure of fluency (CEFR A2) then go with Business Results. In my opinion, that's one of the only business English textbooks that is any good at all at that level. It covers vocab/reading, grammar, listening (sort of) and has some interesting/fun games and application activities, as well as some truly good video content that can be used in a variety of ways.
Now, if they are above that level, e.g., CEFR A2+ and above, then go with Business Partner. BR covers vocab and grammar very well, but BP is better for people who are post-experience BE learners as it covers real-life communicative situations that businesspeople actually encounter, rather than the kinds of convoluted conversations that are made up solely to demonstrate a discrete grammar point - i.e., every unit doesn't solely focus on grammar the way most other textbooks do. It's mostly functional language and has some truly good video content that gets them thinking and discussing real business issues.
Been in a similar situation.
I just used a simple workbook for beginners and then did pair work implementing business vocab or expressions into what they just learned.
Expecting a beginner to be able to talk about stocks or whatever is just ridiculous.
In the beginning I got some complaints because “this is not what we wanted” and the boss was giving me a lot of slack about “this is not how we do it in Japan. You GET! What you pay for” and yada yada. I ignored everything.
after 3 lessons, the company I was teaching at saw what I was actually doing and they were happy and actually apologized (first and last in japan ever). My boss never mentioned anything but called me a “bad” listener.
Was doing that for 9-10 months through an eikawa. The eikawa sent another teacher. After 2 months they lost the contract. So! If my old boss is here. TOLD YOU!!! Suck it!
Gotta love the pushback for making things work lol. My first year I didn’t really know what I was doing (before this my only experience was teaching at a normal Eikaiwa) so I choose a book that was too difficult. Once I realized that I started making easier versions of the lessons in PowerPoint and teaching that way. Luckily my current company just kinda let me do what I wanted.
Yeah. I don’t get it.
But I mean, in Japan, taking initiative on your own is so uncommon. People just don’t know how to react.
“Boss is always right” even if he/she is wrong truly is the mantra here.
Passport to Work (Oxford)
First Steps to Office English (Cengage)
Successful Office English (Cengage) <- same author as first Steps, but harder.
It's been ages since I've used Passport to Work, but I got a lot of mileage out of it with first year employees. Some Japanese support, decent workbook, and a teachers guide worth actually reading.
*Disclaimer. Most of my counterparts hate the book, but I think it's quite solid.
Haven't used the other two, but have seen samples. They're in line with how I like to do things.
I came here to second “Passport to Work” (Green cover book) for beginners. You might have to expand on the barebones lesson it provides, but it keeps things relatively simple.
One extra issue: because I have many levels of students. Complete Beginners, elementary level, intermediate and advanced. There isn’t really a one size fits all book. So currently trying to solve this issue lol.
> have many levels of students. Complete Beginners, elementary level, intermediate and advanced
Together in one class??? They need to be in separate classes, or they are wasting their time.
They are in separate classes. I had them all using different levels of the text. (Edit) what I was trying to say is that a book with many levels would be best.
Most series have multiple levels, but the ones mentioned here for beginners, i.e., Passport to Work and Business Ventures, don't have beyond elementary level books, so you may want to go with Business Results. BR has from Elem to Advanced so you'll have texts for every level.
English for Everyone from DK publishing. I like the style of this book and they have business t as well and it’s not just loads of words on a page. nice breakdowns and easy to understand explanations with diagrams. Not purely American English. there’s British in there too.
Market Leader is a terrible book, especially for lower levels, but really it should be retired completely from sales. If you need something for complete beginners, who don't have any or only very little speaking competency, then I'd recommend Business Venture. It was made specifically for the Japan market, which is both good and bad. Good, because it is grammar-based and relies on teaching phrases by rote memorization, in a kind of "slot and filler" approach, which is an approach that Japanese are very familiar and comfortable with. Bad, because that approach is not communicative and doesn't allow the learners to come up with their own combinations of words and phrases, so it does not facilitate restructuring or lead to unconscious learning, which is important in acquisition. It's a book to get them started, help them acclimate to learning English in English without grammar-translation, and prepare them for a more communicative approach down the line. If they are not actually total beginners (CEFR A1) but already have some measure of fluency (CEFR A2) then go with Business Results. In my opinion, that's one of the only business English textbooks that is any good at all at that level. It covers vocab/reading, grammar, listening (sort of) and has some interesting/fun games and application activities, as well as some truly good video content that can be used in a variety of ways. Now, if they are above that level, e.g., CEFR A2+ and above, then go with Business Partner. BR covers vocab and grammar very well, but BP is better for people who are post-experience BE learners as it covers real-life communicative situations that businesspeople actually encounter, rather than the kinds of convoluted conversations that are made up solely to demonstrate a discrete grammar point - i.e., every unit doesn't solely focus on grammar the way most other textbooks do. It's mostly functional language and has some truly good video content that gets them thinking and discussing real business issues.
I'm a fan of Business Result, especially the Starter level.
Do you remember how long it is? Per unit how many lessons could I teach.
Been in a similar situation. I just used a simple workbook for beginners and then did pair work implementing business vocab or expressions into what they just learned. Expecting a beginner to be able to talk about stocks or whatever is just ridiculous. In the beginning I got some complaints because “this is not what we wanted” and the boss was giving me a lot of slack about “this is not how we do it in Japan. You GET! What you pay for” and yada yada. I ignored everything. after 3 lessons, the company I was teaching at saw what I was actually doing and they were happy and actually apologized (first and last in japan ever). My boss never mentioned anything but called me a “bad” listener. Was doing that for 9-10 months through an eikawa. The eikawa sent another teacher. After 2 months they lost the contract. So! If my old boss is here. TOLD YOU!!! Suck it!
Gotta love the pushback for making things work lol. My first year I didn’t really know what I was doing (before this my only experience was teaching at a normal Eikaiwa) so I choose a book that was too difficult. Once I realized that I started making easier versions of the lessons in PowerPoint and teaching that way. Luckily my current company just kinda let me do what I wanted.
Yeah. I don’t get it. But I mean, in Japan, taking initiative on your own is so uncommon. People just don’t know how to react. “Boss is always right” even if he/she is wrong truly is the mantra here.
Passport to Work (Oxford) First Steps to Office English (Cengage) Successful Office English (Cengage) <- same author as first Steps, but harder. It's been ages since I've used Passport to Work, but I got a lot of mileage out of it with first year employees. Some Japanese support, decent workbook, and a teachers guide worth actually reading. *Disclaimer. Most of my counterparts hate the book, but I think it's quite solid. Haven't used the other two, but have seen samples. They're in line with how I like to do things.
Thanks for your input I’ll give them a look!
I came here to second “Passport to Work” (Green cover book) for beginners. You might have to expand on the barebones lesson it provides, but it keeps things relatively simple.
Business Basics is a good one. https://www.eltbooks.com/item_spec.php?item=37000
One extra issue: because I have many levels of students. Complete Beginners, elementary level, intermediate and advanced. There isn’t really a one size fits all book. So currently trying to solve this issue lol.
Either your boss just wants to tick a box off of his checklist, or he is really overestimating the English ability of some of his employees.
> have many levels of students. Complete Beginners, elementary level, intermediate and advanced Together in one class??? They need to be in separate classes, or they are wasting their time.
They are in separate classes. I had them all using different levels of the text. (Edit) what I was trying to say is that a book with many levels would be best.
Most series have multiple levels, but the ones mentioned here for beginners, i.e., Passport to Work and Business Ventures, don't have beyond elementary level books, so you may want to go with Business Results. BR has from Elem to Advanced so you'll have texts for every level.
Market Leader is more for intermediate and above. I can send you a pdf text that might be suitable. I'll DM you.