The Adventures of LOLA BADIOLA

Lola goes for a coffee with Cayetano Tolosa, her colleague in the sales department, and is not sure if she can trust him. There are three useful expressions in this chapter. Can you tell if someone has a HIDDEN AGENDA when they ask you to do something? Have you ever felt like a FISH OUT OF WATER? Do you know anybody who is currently LIVING BEYOND THEIR MEANS? We spend some time discussing mental h...

Meet Park Jae-bong, one of the world’s most feared and admired cybercriminals, the man behind the recent attack on the Swiss life insurance company. Let’s focus on the pronunciation of the past simple regular tense and make sure you recognize the difference in pronunciation of the following three words OBSERVED, CRASHED and CONCLUDED. We also test you on some challenging interrogative structures....

One of Techspania’s most valuable clients, a Swiss life insurance company, is hit by a cyberattack.  Let’s discuss some every day English expressions. How do you handle your boss when he or she is in a BAD MOOD? How much would you be willing to put ON THE LINE to get a promotion? Do you know your clients INSIDE OUT? We also cover the most common phrasal verb in business English – TO DEAL WITH - a...

Lola starts her first day at JBlock and is asked to make a speech that she’s not prepared for. In this chapter we talk about public speaking and how intimidating it can be for many people. We discuss what happens when your MIND GOES BLANK. The chapter is full of useful phrasal verbs such as TO END UP, TO THROW UP and TO DAWN ON.  And finally, we introduce the concept of INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION...

Meet the team of international coders behind JBlock’s technology. And find out why they think salespeople, like Lola and Cayetano, are a waste of space.  We focus on the pronunciation of words within the pharmaceutical sector such as BIOTECHNOLOGY, ANTIBIOTICS, PARACETAMOL and VIRUS. In the vocabulary section we make a clear distinction between a DEGREE and a CAREER and between FREAKS and GEEKS. W...

JJ Thomson and his associates at JBlock await the arrival of Lola Badiola, their new Commercial Director. But somebody in the company is already spreading rumours about her. Let’s discuss the term OFFICE POLITICS. Is it something that you have experienced in your workplace? Did it impact you in any way?  Let’s also discuss the purpose of a company’s MISSION STATEMENT. And let’s look at some exampl...

Meet JJ Thomson, the American founder of JBlock, the tech start-up that Lola is going to join as the new Commercial Director.  Let’s make sure you are familiar with these three common phrasal verbs. Do you always react immediately when your alarm clock GOES OFF? Do you have a Monday morning meeting where you RUN THROUGH the objectives of the week? How many difficult people do you have to DEAL WITH...

Lola now faces a dilemma. The CEO of her company doesn’t want her to resign. And he is not the kind of man you disagree with. In this chapter we discuss the sensitive process of RESIGNING from a company, how do you leave on good terms if your colleagues don’t want you to go? We also explain the concept of MONOPOLY POWER, what it means and how companies can abuse their position in the market. We do...

Lola’s direct boss is shocked by the news of her resignation, so he takes her to the 51st floor to meet with the CEO. Will they be able to persuade her to stay? There are a couple of interesting business expressions in this chapter. We explain what a RAINMAKER is and the impact this person can have on a company’s revenues. We also discuss the idiom to BURN YOUR BOATS, its origin and how it can be...

Meet Lola Badiola! A talented commercial director working in the technology sector who has decided to quit her safe corporate job to join a technology start-up. Has she made the right decision?  This chapter is full of cool common expressions. We discuss the meaning of A DOG-EAT-DOG WORLD and consider to which industries this description applies. We explain what happens when you BITE THE HAND THAT...