I wrote my final exams two weeks ago and I'm attending to study business economics in germany. 50% of the course will be in english, therefore i'm currently studying business english vocabularies to improve my english.
What tips and tricks do you have for me what I could do now in order to be prepared for studying business administration?
Hi there,
Sounds exciting!
Well, ultimately, you're there to learn, so they will teach you.
Sounds like you're thinking about thing right. Some options for you:
Hi there,
Q: What tips and tricks do you have for me what I could do now in order to be prepared for studying business administration?
Great to hear you are so proactive.
Besides improving your English I cannot see major areas to focus on for the university course itself.
Instead, you might want to clear as much as possible of the admin stuff in advance (eg accommodation) so that you can have full focus on learning and relationships when the semester starts. Additionally, if you are moving to a different city you might want to look for communities there related to your interests so that you can join right away.
Best,
Francesco
Hi there,
Congrats on the new learning journey!
Basically, I'd do two things:
1. Read a magazine like The Economist that will help you get familiarised with business-related language but also some of the most relevant issues now in the world.
2. Watch TV news from BBC or CNN.
And take your time. Learn a bit every day and with time it will add up.
Sharing with you here also an article about what consultants do, just so you get an understanding of the sort of skills you might want to develop mid- to long-term:
Best,
Cristian
Dear,
great question and I love the energy and the commitment to prepare well in advance for this new milestone in your career. Congratulations!
In the meantime, I think the best way to get accustomed to the English business jargon is through reading. As simple as that.
You will find out how much you can learn by simply going through recent articles or business-related books.
Have a look at recent news from Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal. There are plenty of other sources to delve into the business world which I'd be more than happy to share.
You will see that it will become a good habit to devote some time each day to staying up-to-date on what is happening around you!
Do not hesitate to reach out for further insights!
A few things you can do:
There are some good general management books out there that can work as a very good overview / introduction to business. I've heard good things about “The personal MBA”, for example, but haven't read it. Do your own search.
When learning a language a lot of people will resort to reading. While some daily reading definitely helps (and you'll have to do a fair ammount of reading for your classes), don't ignore the relevance of speaking and writing. Writing is relevant for some of your business comunication, for presentations/group work, and definitely for exams you may have. Being slow puts you at a disadvantage. Same can be said about speaking.
Writing can be done in social media (reddit, linkedin), forums (preplounge, …). Focus on business related issues. Or you can even take a business communications course (it will pay off when you need to write networking emails, cover letters, etc.).
Regarding speaking, doing “case interviews” is actually great way to improve your English fluency. The issue with speaking is that generally you don't have a lot of opportunities to speak in a foreign language, and even less to discuss business topics. Even if you pay for a class, unless it is a 1 to 1 (or 1 to 2), you won't have much time to talk. But by doing cases with peers you get to spend 30-60 minutes talking intensively. In my own experience my fluency in English improved dramatically after I started practicing cases.
Dear candidate,
A) You can get such a wide range of views on the field and opportunities thereafter from talking to peers here or networking more generally with associations and groups, for example, go to MBA fairs and learn.
B) business administration usually covers a) great general foundation, b), specific areas of interst c) practical elements like consulting projects, research theses, surveys, organisational events, industry contact.
C) top-down approaches are great for this so study overall concepts first, then deeper where intersted, secondly also consider unique new research for example from top journals and university website publications. This really improves your understanding and helps excel in it
