Effective Business English for Logistics

Your A-Z go-to guide for logistics professionals, whether in administration, management or warehousing!

Created byJacqueline Seidel

Last updated 11/2015

English

What you'll learn

communicate effectively in a variety of situations, including with freight forwarders, shipping agents, customs brokers and more
manage logistics staff using appropriate terminology
administer logistics processes using appropriate terminology, and work within appropriate customs guidelines
communicate warehousing problems - and propose appropriate solutions - in effective English

Course content

7 sections • 25 lectures • 1h 31m total length

Introduction3:31
An introduction to the course, to your teacher, and to our goals (and how we're going to achieve them).
About the CEF Levels and Where This Course Lies2:00
Every ESL course needs to fit into a recognised framework, and my courses are aligned with the CEFR, or Common European Framework of Languages. These of course run parallel to other recognised frameworks, and so I have included some information on this course and the CEFR so you can be certain this course is the right level for you.

Warm-Up1:00
Let's warm up to the topic of logistics with this quick Q&A sheet, which you can print up and fill in, or work from the screen.

Key Skills: Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
Who is who and what is what? Let's set the scene for our logistics activities.3:40
Let's warm up to the topic of logistics with a vocabulary recharge! Please use this video lecture in conjunction with the downloadable worksheet.

Key Skills: Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
Jobs, Roles and Responsibilities6:22
Let's focus on jobs, roles and responsibilities in the logistics industry. Please use this video lecture in conjunction with the downloadable worksheet.

Key Skills: Listening, Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
Who does what? Regular activities we undertake every day.6:00
We throw a little grammar into the mix in this lecture... first we focus on FedEx through a language building exercise, and then we return to our core work: describing jobs and talking about what we do.

The main grammar point here? The Present Simple.

Key Skills: Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
A Common Language of Logistics5:19
Why is it important that we have a common language for the logistics industry? What are the benefits and are there disadvantages? We explore that in this lecture. Please watch the video and use the worksheet as you watch.

Key Skills: Listening, Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1

Acronyms - What do you already know?
Focus on Acronyms6:10
We meet acronyms and abbreviations for the first time in this video lecture, which should be watched while using the associated worksheet.

Key Skills: Listening, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
What do you do? What services do you offer?10:05
What is 3PL?1:00
Let's focus now on 3PL companies, and read this definition. The purpose of this exercise? To build our vocabulary and our knowledge, and to prepare us for the next lecture which also covers 3PLs and key English expressions to use when describing services.

Key Skill: reading

Knowledge Level: CEF B1-B2
Service Providers - 3PL5:00
This lecture continues from the previous, where we focus on 3PL companies.

Key Skills: Reading, Listening, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1-B2

Comprehension Quiz - Deliveries and Suppliers
What is Inventory Management?13:29
What's what, where's where and when's when? Let's focus now on the language required to discuss inventory management... and let's also get stuck into the best grammar for describing inventory management: the passive.

Key Skills: Reading, Listening, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1 / B2
Grammar Quiz - Active or Passive?
Advertising positions and Relationship Management - what and who do we need?7:00
We focus now on two types of relationships - that we have with employers and employees, and that we have with customers or suppliers. So we're learning language here for expressing opinions and agreeing.

In this lecture there are reading activities to complete, as well as writing and listening. You will need the audio track which is available as a separate, downloadable resource with this lecture.

Key Skills: Reading, Writing, Listening

Knowledge Level: CEF B1 / B2

The Best Option? How Do We Transport And Handle Equipment?9:04
We're looking now at different modes of transport for different goods, and an extension of this is making comparisons. So that means - grammar! Yes, in this lecture we apply comparative and superlative forms to logistics, specifically comparing varying modes of transport to find the best and most appropriate one for the job.

Key Skills: Listening, Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B2
What Goods Are We Handling Today?10:42
Continuing with our theme of the best tool (or mode of transport) for the job, this lecture moves on to describing the features of various transport modes in detail. We then move on to our language section - phrases used to make suggestions or recommendations. This is supported by the video lecture, integrated listening activities and the downloadable resource sheet.

Key Skills: Listening, Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B2
Checking In With You0:29
What Are Our Transport Options?7:21
Let's focus now on transport options (so, the key vocabulary we need for this), and then let's look at the phrases and grammar we use to make enquiries, advise customers or discuss alternatives.

Key Skills: Listening, Reading

Knowledge Level: CEF B2
Tonnes or m3? Focus on Measurements and Transport Alternatives.3:26

We Must, We Have To, We Should - How To Handle Equipment2:00
This is our first look inside the warehouse, and we start by looking at some vocabulary for warehouse equipment before moving on to the areas within a warehouse. And, as always, there is a grammar point: active & passive tenses.

Key Skills: Reading, Writing

Knowledge Level: CEF B1
Continuous Improvement And Warehouse Areas9:06
Keeping On Top Of The Paperwork - Documentation and Foreign Trade4:00

Requirements

Students will need to either work directly within the logistics industry, or have regular contact with those who do (e.g. administrators who communicate with logistics teams).

Description

This English for Logistics course is for people working in the logistics industry - whether in administration, management, warehousing or human resources. It's your go-to guide on effective communication with colleagues, clients, partners, shipping agents, customs brokers of freight forwarders.

It's your independent guide to learn wherever you are, whenever you have time.

And it's for non-native speakers of English with CEF B1 proficiency.

You'll get warm-up exercises, practical exercises, listening exercises, industry-specific texts, newspaper articles, case-studies, photos, illustrations, film clips and more. Every activity is designed to activate your learning and language development across all senses, and increase your skills in effective English communication.

You can communicate with other learners via the Discussion Board, contact me directly for specific questions or concerns, and be part of an interactive, global community of logistics professionals.

Let's get cracking.

Who this course is for:

This course is for logistics professionals with a CEF B1 level of English proficiency.
This course is NOT primarily for native speakers of English, though it may be interesting for those wishing to learn about the logistics industry.

Effective Business English for Logistics

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction to the course2 lectures • 6min

Introduction to Logistics5 lectures • 22min

Services in Logistics4 lectures • 22min

Keeping on Top of Things - Inventory Management2 lectures • 20min

Transport Options: What is Best For The Job?5 lectures • 31min

The Warehouse And Paperwork3 lectures • 15min

Conclusion and Useful Resources4 lectures • 7min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: