Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

It’s the end of the year and for many companies that means performance reviews (also known as performance appraisals or performance evaluations) are around the corner. You might be nervous because it’s your first time receiving a performance review in English, but don’t worry. Performance reviews are not as scary as they sound. They’re meant to help you and your management figure out what went well, what can be improved on and how to do so in the future. Having important meetings in your second language is not always a disadvantage, as Pierre-William Plante explains in the ACA podcast Les Bons Mots S3 E3: The Icing on the Cake. He says that people might let their guard down more easily in conversations with you, and you will most likely be better prepared than you would have been in your native language. To help you prepare, we’re going to discuss action words and adjectives in the context of performance evaluations today.

Action words are verbs that you use to describe actions. If you use action words in your performance review, it makes it easier for you to describe your tasks and objectives. The information about what exactly you have been doing in the last year will be clearer and more concise. Here are five examples of what the use of action words could look like in your performance appraisal.

• to assist = to help or support

e.g. I’ve been assisting my supervisor with the organisation of team meetings.

• to coordinate = to organize things/people for a common goal

e.g. I’ve been coordinating the latest marketing project since March.

• to exceed = to surpass

e.g. I have exceeded my targets consistently throughout the year.

• to propose = to suggest

e.g.I’m proposing the implementation of a recycling program as a future goal for our department.

• to supervise = to oversee

e.g I’ve been supervising the interns.

Participial adjectives and compound adjectives especially are often used in performance reviews. Participial adjectives are participles that are used as adjectives, e.g. amazed (past participle) vs. amazing (present participle). Compound adjectives are adjectives that consist of two hyphenated words, e.g. part-time. If you want to have a closer look at these adjectives and what else we need to pay attention to when using adjectives, you can watch Lauren’s videos on Adjectives in English – Part I and Part II. Let’s have a look at examples for participial and compound adjectives (+ a noun) that might be handy for your performance evaluation.

Participial Adjectives

• concerned vs. concerning

e.g. We are concerned about your behaviour.

e.g. The drop in sales is concerning.

• encouraged vs. encouraging

e.g. I have encouraged my team to develop their skills.

e.g. He is off to an encouraging start.

•  excited vs. exciting

e.g. We are excited to have you on board this year.

e.g. We have exciting news for you.

• fulfilled vs. fulfilling

e.g. Did you feel fulfilled with the new position?

e.g. The tasks were more than fulfilling.

• pleased vs. pleasing

e.g. We are very pleased with your progress.

e.g. Those results are pleasing.

Compound Adjectives

• client-confidentiality rules = rules about the confidentiality between a client and a business
• skill-building session = a session were you learn new skills
• first-quarter results = the results of the first 3 months of the year
• quality-enhancing advantages = advantages that improve quality
• weaker-than-usual results = results that are not as good as usual

Jenni and Britta also discuss action verbs and adjectives in Les Bons Mots S3 E2 Work It! Job Interviews in English if you would like to learn more vocabulary for describing your abilities at work. 

We hope this helps you with your preparation for your next performance review. Good luck! And as always, please let us know on social media or email us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca, if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.

A lot of expressions that we use in and around the office are related to sports. It might seem a bit weird at first, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Both business and sports are competitive, use strategies and take planning. We almost always work in teams, and we need to focus and listen to our manager’s (or coach’s) advice. Today, we want to introduce you to 15 sports expressions that are commonly used in business. And because it helps to put things into certain categories when we’re learning a language, we have organized the expressions according to the sport they originate from. 

What are your favourite expressions around the workplace? Do you think sports-related expressions are easy to remember? Why is that? Share your thoughts with us on social media or write to us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca.

True friends or cognates sound and look similar in two different languages and have the same meaning, while false friends or false cognates are words that often sound and look alike but have different meanings. To make things a little bit easier for you, we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of the most common false friends in a business context between the English and the French language. *Please note – some of the words on this list have one definition which is a true friend and a definition which is a false friend. In these cases we are only focusing on the translation for the false friend.

If you would like to dig a little bit deeperto dig deeper: to look more closely at a topic into this topic, why don’t you listen to the Les Bons Mots podcast, season 2, episode 2: True Friends, False Friends? Britta and Kimberly explain why there are so many true and false friends between French and English. They look at how not only vocabulary but also prepositions and tenses can be false friends. You can find the episode on YouTube or on your podcatcher of choice. 

The list

To minimize confusion, the English words are written in bold, while the French words are italicized.

• actually (adverb) is translated as en fait while actuellement is translated as currently.

e.g. This is actually the same printer I have at home.

e.g. I’m currently working on the website project.

• to assist (verb) is translated as aider while assister is translated as to attend.

e.g. Let me assist you with the surgery.

e.g. Has he attended any  meetings?

• to attend (verb) is translated as assister while attendre is translated as to wait.

e.g. I’m attending the conference.

e.g. I’m waiting for my client.

• advertisement (noun) is translated as publicité while avertissement is translated as warning.

e.g. Did you see the advertisement for the new BMW on TV yesterday?

e.g. There’s a warning sign on that door. We shouldn’t open it.

• to command (verb) is translated as ordonner/exiger while commander is translated as to order.

e.g. Military leaders commanded the soldiers to leave Afghanistan.

e.g. I’d like to order a chicken burger, please.

• delay (noun) is translated as retard while délai is translated as turnaround time (or processing time).

e.g. There’s a delay on our flight.

e.g. The turnaround time is longer than usual because the supplies are 

backordered.

•  envy (noun) is translated as jalousie while envie is translated as desire or wish.

e.g. I watched him with envy as he gave his presentation so effortlessly.

e.g. I have a desire to travel the world.

•  eventually (adverb) is translated as finalement while éventuellement is translated as possibly.

e.g. He will eventually leave the office and go home.

e.g. He will possibly stay for another two hours.

•  finally (adverb) is translated as enfin while finalement is translated as eventually.

e.g. After a long drive, they finally arrived at the conference.

e.g. After a long discussion, he eventually agreed to the new conditions.

• formation (noun) is translated as création while formation is translated as training.

e.g. The formation of the new government took weeks.

e.g. The training for the new program went really well.

•  gratuity (noun) is translated as pourboire while gratuité is translated as being free of charge.

e.g. Is gratuity included or do we have to leave a tip?

e.g. The rollercoaster is free of charge.

•  library (noun) is translated as bibliothèque while librairie is translated as bookstore.

e.g. They are studying in the library.

e.g. I have to order new dictionaries from the bookstore.

•  money (noun) is translated as argent while monnaie is translated as currency or change.

e.g. That computer costs a lot of money.

e.g. Our currency is Canadian Dollars.

e.g. Do you have change for the parking meter?

•  to realise (verb) is translated as comprendre while realiser is translated as to achieve.

e.g. I realised that I made a mistake.

e.g. He achieved his sales objective.

•  rent(-ability) (noun) is translated as loyer while rentabilité is translated as profitability.

e.g. The rent for our commercial properties went up.

e.g. The profitability of this endeavour is doubtful.

•  to report (verb) is translated as faire un rapport while rapporter is translated as to postpone.

e.g. We have to report back to our supervisor.

e.g. The meeting has to be postponed until next week.

•  to rest (verb) is translated as se reposer while rester is translated as to stay.

e.g. I need to rest after a long day in the office.

e.g. Feel free to stay in my office while I get us a coffee.

Do you know any other false friends? Or do you have a funny story about a mix up because of a false friend? Please let us know on social media or write to us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca .

In this post we are adding 15 more phrasal verbs that you can use for work. We have grouped them together according to the situation they will most likely be used in, e.g. in the office in general, in a team meeting or when you’re solving a problem with a client. Of course they can be used in other contexts as well.

In the Office

In a team meeting

Solving a problem

What are your favourite phrasal verbs to use at work? Is there a phrasal verb you would like to use more often but you keep forgetting? Let us know on social media, or email us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca.

Unless you’re an experienced salesperson, making cold calls can be one of the most nerve-wrackingnerve-racking: something that feels very scary tasks on your to-do-list, especially if you have to use your second language. Cold emails, on the other hand, feel a lot easier because you can take your time to decide on how to phrase something, proofread (or even have someone else proofread for you) and add visual content to get your point across. Click here to find out more about how to write a professional email in English. Unfortunately, cold emails have a considerably lower conversion rateconversion rate: number of sales in relation to number of people approached than cold calls. So what can you do? In this article we suggest 5 steps on how to make cold calling in your second language feel less intimidating.

1.      Make sure your English is sufficient. You don’t have to be completely fluent, but you want to make sure that you can schedule appointments and understand most of what your prospect says.

2.      Research, research, research. Who is the person you’re trying to reach? What’s their name and position? What exactly does the company do? In most cases, you can find the right information on the company’s website.

3.    Write a script! Even if a script won’t help you with exactly what the other person is going to say, you will have a general idea of possible answers. More importantly, you will have your sales pitchsales pitch: a short speech about the product someone sells fine-tuned so you sound like the expert that you are.

4.    Rehearse that script. Ask a coworker, a friend or even your teenager to do a mock call with you. Once you say the words out loud, you’ll notice where you struggle and you’ll be able to work out the kinks(to) work out the kinks: (to) fix any flaws or mistakes.

5.    Speak slowly and listen. If you speak slowly and clearly, your conversation partner will most likely speak the same way which will help you understand them better. Listening is sales 101. You want to be able to identify your prospects’ needs and problems so you can offer solutions. Also – the more they speak, the less you will have to!

To make things really easy for you, we attached a script template further below. Feel free to download it and adapt it to suit your needs.

To get more inspiration, hop on over to our podcast episode “The Icing on the Cake: The Unexpected Advantages of Being a Language Learner” where Pierre-William Plante talks about his experience as a Solutions Specialist at Coveo. Still not sure if you can do it? Why don’t you sign up for one of ACA’s language courses? Our teachers are happy to customize the class to your needs and practise cold calls with you!

Cold Call Script Template

A marble wholesaler calls a stone retailer to see if he is interested in buying marble from him to make countertops.

Objective:                   Establish rapport and convince the prospect to agree to a meet-up

Mr. Grey,

the Prospect:              Hello?

Guy Tremblay:           Good afternoon Mr. Grey, my name is Guy Tremblay from Marbre-Quebec.

*Pause*

                                 How are you doing today? 

Prospect:                   I’m well, thanks. How can I help you?

Guy:                          I’m calling to talk to you about Italian marble. I can see from your website that you carry different kinds of marble, is that right?

Prospect:                   Yes, we do.

Guy:                          Great! So, I usually work with retailers that specialize in marble countertops. My customers are looking to get high quality Carrera marble from a reliable source, especially considering the current supply shortages. Does that sound like something that would interest your company?

Prospect:                   Oh yes, we’re constantly looking for reliable suppliers.

Guy:                          Would you mind elaborating on that?

Prospect:                   Because of the pandemic, the supply chains are disrupted everywhere. Especially those shipping from overseas. It can be a bit frustrating when certain marble colours are back-ordered.

Guy:                          Oh yes, I hear you – and I’m certain we have the right solution for you. I’ll be in your area next week Wednesday and Thursday. Would you be available one of those days to discuss our product in more detail?

Prospect:                   That sounds great. How about Thursday at 3pm in our showroom?

Guy:                          Wonderful, I’ll be there. Thank you and have a nice day.

Prospect:                   You too.

1.       Just following up…/Just checking in…/Not sure if you received my last email…

The writer has been waiting for your reply for a long time and is getting impatient, so they are sending you a reminder.

2.       This is just a friendly reminder…

The reminder is not as friendly as it sounds. You were supposed to do something in a given time frame and it still hasn’t been done.

3.       Thanks in advance!

You haven’t agreed to anything yet but your conversation partner is already thanking you, thus implying you don’t have a choice in the matter. It can also be used if you want to thank someone because what you’re asking is a lot of effort, even if it’s their job to do what you’re asking for.

4.       Could you do me a quick favour(to) someone a favour: (to) do something for somebody else that you don’t have to do?

Again, you don’t really have a choice and the favour might not be as quick as the writer makes it sound.

5.       As per our earlier conversation…/As per my last email…/As stated below…

This is something often written after a verbal conversation with someone and we want to put it in writing or add information to the conversation. It can also be said if the sender has to repeat themselves, which they consider a waste of their time as the information was in their previous message. 

6.       Let me clarify. / Sorry for being unclear.

You must have misunderstood or misinterpreted (maybe on purpose?) the original message and the sender either genuinely wants to clear up the misunderstanding or is not impressed.

7.       Hope this helps! / Let me know if there is anything I can do. / If you have any questions and concerns, please let me know.

The correspondent thinks they explained everything in detail and is bringing the conversation to a close.

8.       As per our policy…

If a company policy is mentioned, the person you’re talking to can’t do anything to help you out. Their hands are tiedMy hands are tied: I can’t do anything about the situation..

9.       Let’s circle back on this.

You must have mentioned this topic a couple of times, your conversation partner doesn’t know the answer or doesn’t want to discuss this any further right now (or ever).

10.   According to my records…

Maybe you didn’t double-check your facts? The sender of this email may think that you’re off base(to) be off base: (to) be wrong and wants you to know that they know what they’re talking about.

Have you ever received a professional email that seemed nice but wasn’t? Let us know on social media, or email us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca.

Chances areChances are: Most likely you are reading this post on your phone. Well done – this is a great step in the right direction to improve your English with the help of a smartphone. There are a couple of different things you can do with your phone to become more fluent, depending on your level of English and the areas you want to improve. Let’s have a look:

1.      Do you use an app or the note function for your grocery list? This is something that works even for people who have just started learning English. Try writing down your groceries in English: An apple, a cucumber, two packets of pasta, a buncha bunch: a few of bananas etc. This way you practise your vocabulary every time you go to the store!

2.      If you’re looking for a little more of a challenge, keep track of your appointments in your calendar app in English. It is a little bit more advanced because you might have to write short sentences and not just individual words, e.g. Thursday, 7 pm: Yoga – don’t forget to bring the new mat!

3.      If you want to work on your listening-comprehension skills, you may want to change the language of your maps/GPS to English. On some apps, there are even different English accents available. If you feel comfortable listening to North American English but struggle to understand people from the UK – just use the British English speaker on your GPS and soon you’ll be on your way to watching British movies without subtitles!

4.      Be honest – how much time do you spend scrolling and reading posts on social media? Why not do it in English? For example, if you’re interested in cooking, you could follow famous chefs on Instagram, watch cooking videos on Tiktok or join a Facebook group to exchange your favourite recipes. Do you follow any English-speaking professionals in your field on LinkedIn? This can be a great way to find articles and other information that’s relevant to your field in the language you’re learning.  And if you feel really brave, you could write a comment here and therehere and there: every once in a while. Who knows – maybe you’ll have an English-speaking friend with whom to exchange private messages soon.

5.      Of course, there are also language learning apps like Duolingo (free or US$6.99/month for an ad-free experience) or Babbel (starting at CAD$ 9.99/month with a twelve-month subscription) that you can access with your phone. It’s easy to spend just a few minutes every day and brush up on your grammar, especially since the app reminds you to practise by sending you push notifications. 

6.      And if you want to go all in(to) go all in: (to) commit and put in your best effort, change the language settings of the entire phone to English. Obviously, you’ll be working on your reading and writing skills when you do this but the added advantage is that you can also boost your speaking skills if you use a phone assistant like Siri. But, be sure that you either know the iconslittle symbols on your phone on your phone really well or are an advanced learner because otherwise it could get really difficult to change it back. Just sayingJust saying! : Something you say when you don’t want to take responsibility for what you said. !

If you would like to hear more about Technology and Language Learning, Episode 3 of Season 1 of our Les Bons Mots podcast was about this topic! You can find it on Youtube or any other podcatcher. Do you have any other tips and tricks on how to improve your English using a smartphone? Let us know on social media, or email us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca.

When you don’t know the recipient well, start with a formal greeting such as, “Dear/Good morning/Good afternoon Mr./Mrs./Ms.Ms. is used for women regardless of their marital status. It is more neutral and progressive than Mrs. or Miss (which is rarely used). ” and their last name. A less formal greeting would be, “Hello,” and a very informal one would be, “Hi!” Once you know a person a bit better, it is very common to use first names, especially in North America.

In the main body of the text, you can start with, “I hope you’re well,” or, “It was very nice to meet you last week,” to sound friendly or even, “Sorry for my late reply,” if it took you a bit longer than you planned to get back to that person. Then, start to explain why you are writing, for example: “I am writing to you to follow up on our phone conversation yesterday,” or, “I am not sure I fully understand your point about our online sales. Could you please elaborate?” Another helpful phrase is, “Please find our brochure attached to this email,” to make sure the recipient notices the attachment. If you want to thank someone for information that you received, just write: “Thank you for letting me know,” and should you not be sure if your plan is a good idea and you’re looking for confirmation: “Please let me know if this is OK.”

Generally, it is a good idea to use the modals could/would/should to sound more polite, e.g. “Would you mind giving me a call in the next few days?” or “I would appreciate it if you could send me a copy of the report.”  The polite way to decline an offer or give bad news would be to start with “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend your relaunch party.” You might already have heard the acronym “ASAPASAP: as soon as possible ” which is very direct; in order to sound more polite, you could use “at your earliest convenience.” 

A couple of good ways to finish your email could be, “I look forward to hearing from you soon,” or, “If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me,” followed by “Thank you/Best regards/Sincerely,” or a less formal, “Have a great day,” and your name.

Of course these are just a few ideas and not an exhaustive list. It is always a good idea to pay close attention to the emails you receive in English, so you can use them as a model for your own communication. Another idea to help you compose emails more easily would be to save your own templates and adjust them to whatever situation you need them for. To get you started, we have written a few example emails for some common situations. You can find them below this article. 

Email example “I’m late.”

Good afternoon Mr. Smith,

I am very sorry to inform you that I will be late for our meeting at 3 pm. Unfortunately, my flight has been delayed and I won’t be able to arrive at your offices before 3:30 pm.

Please let me know if this time works for our meeting or if we need to reschedule.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

…

Email example “Accept invitation”

Hello Jillian,

Thank you very much for your invitation to Bob’s retirement party. I’ll be happy to attend!

Have a wonderful day,

…

Email example “Asking for more information”

Dear Mrs. Jones,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I don’t fully understand your point about the wholesale discount. Could you please be more specific about the minimums required?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

…

Email example “Follow-up”

Hi Steve,

I hope you had a good weekend. I’m writing to follow up on our last meeting. You mentioned that you would like to order 20 packets of green pens. Are you still interested? Please let me know at your earliest convenience.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

…

Email example “Getting approval”

Good morning Emma,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I’ve updated the pdf with the information about safety procedures that you asked for; please find it attached. Let me know if this is OK with you.

All the best,

…

Need inspiration? Here’s a list with the 8 common topics for small talk with suggestions for potential questions:

1.      Weather – the go-to small talk topic. Everybody loves to talk (or rather complain) about the weather.

·   Oh, the heat waves this summer! We’re considering installing a pool. Do you have a pool? Do you think it’s worth it?

·    It feels like we’re getting one snowstorm after the next at the moment. Can you recommend a good snow removal service? Have you been skiing? 

2.      Traffic – no matter where you live, there will always be traffic.

·        Apparently, they’re closing the Pierre-Laporte Bridge again. Last time some people took helicopters across the river to avoid the traffic. Did you hear anything about that?

·        Where do you usually park around here? I had the hardest time finding a spot.

3.      Hobbies – with a bit of good luck, you might not only make a business connection but find somebody to practise your hobby with.

·        Do you also play golf? I really like the Stoneham Golf Club right next to the craft brewery.

·        What do you do in your spare time? We always go for walks with our dog along the river.

4.      Entertainment – Netflix shows, movies, books or comedy shows, the possibilities are endless.

·        Do you have Netflix? I’ve been binge-watching(to) binge-watch: (to) watch one episode of a TV show after the next Schitt’s Creek recently.

·        Have you read the latest Louise Penny novel? I couldn’t put it down. It was a real page-turner!

5.      Work – who doesn’t like talking about their profession?

·        What do you do for a livingfor a living: for work ? Do you also work in second language education?

·        How long have you been working in this field?

6.      Travel – listening to people talk about their travel experiences is always inspiring.

·        Did you go anywhere this summer? I heard it’s supposed to be beautiful in Greece.

·        Oh, you’re from New Orleans? I’ve always wanted to go there. What’s the best time to go?

7.      Food, Restaurants – this is how you learn about the best hidden gemsa hidden gem: something great that not a lot of people know about .

·        I just love Japanese ramen noodles. By any chance, do you know of a good spot?

·        What’s your favourite restaurant in Montreal?

8.      The event you are attending – so easy to talk about what you see.

·        Have you ever been to this conference before? How do you like it?

·        What a beautiful venue! Do you think this is a historic building?   

Whether you’re meeting by video conference or in real life, these topics are a good starting point for conversations with people you haven’t met before. Remember to ask follow-up questions and don’t forget to exchange business cards or contacts at the end of the event so you can stay in touch. And if you are struggling to end the conversation, how about you say the following?

·        Thanks for the chat! I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference.

·        Nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you at the keynote speech.