En Activo: Practical Business Spanish

En Activo is a contemporary course which provides students with a structured development of written and spoken business language skills, focusing on real business people and situations from all over the Spanish-speaking world.

The book consists of twenty chapters that incorporate contextual information on the business environment of Spain and Latin America, role-plays, illustrative dialogues, dedicated written exercises, relevant grammar instruction, practical communicative exercises, up-to-date practical advice, model items of written and spoken business protocol, and links to numerous carefully-selected and integrated websites. Each chapter is structured as follows:

-Le Presento a... introduction of the central individual and their working life

-Escuche, por favor: extensive listening exercises and accompanying activities

-Recuerde que...: grammar revision and communicative exercises

-Para saber más: deepens knowledge about Spanish and Latin-American business culture and etiquette

-Así se hace: hands-on section practising business situations and day-to-day tasks

- Sabe navegar?: practices web research and web etiquette.

Each fifth chapter is a revision chapter, which puts the acquired knowledge in practice via discussion groups, presentations and debates.

An audio CD containing all interviews and listening comprehension exercises is available separately.

At the end of this course the student will have a sound knowledge of the Spanish speaking business world and the language skills required to put this knowledge in practice.

Esther Santamaria Iglesias is Tutor in Hispanic Studies at University of Wales, Swansea where she lectures at all levels; she currently coordinates 3 modules in the use of Spanish for business and current affairs. Helen Jones is based in Madrid and works for a communications agency; her background is in Spanish and International Politics; she has developed an expertise in the economy and politics of Spain and Latin America.