ENGLISH FOR FINANCE MARCH NEWSLETTER

Contents:

1) Introduction
2) Exam News
3) Finding a Financial English Teacher
4) Translating Financial English
5) Exercise
6) Conclusion
7) Exercise Answers


1) INTRODUCTION

Hello again! Welcome to this month's English For Finance Newsletter.

Before we start, I've updated the website, to what I hope is a
more modern and appealing presentation.
Check it out on www.englishforfinance.com

I've written a varied newsletter this month- hopefully with
something for everyone.So if you want classes, or do exams, or are
a translator, then this newsletter has information for you!

Let's get on with the newsletter!


Eoin Baxter


2) EXAM NEWS

Ok, you speak English pretty well, you have no real problems
working in English, but how does a potential employer know that?
It's one thing to say at an interview that you understand
financial English,but how do you prove it?

Up to recently, there was no internationally recognised exam
that a student could do to show their skill in financial English.
Now, however, Cambridge have launched a new exam
called (surprise surprise!)
"International Certificate in Financial English".

The first exam will be in May 2007. Have a look at their website
to see if there is an examination centre in your country.
There is no news on how much the exams cost yet, but
according to the website, the information should have been
available at the end of 2006!

The exam consists of 4 parts- reading, writing, listening and speaking
and takes about 3.5 hours to do. The exam will not be suitable for
everyone, however. It is geared towards level B2 C1 of the Common
European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages (CEF).This
is the equivalent of upper-intermediate or lower advanced level of
English.

One problem with the course is that there are not yet any course books
available specifically written for this exam. But, the website does
have some downlloadable exams to practise with.

More information can be found at www.financialenglish.org


3) FINDING A FINANCIAL ENGLISH TEACHER

If you decide to take classes of Financial English,
the most important factor is getting a good teacher.
Is it easy to find a good financial English teacher?
In a word, no.

This is why I decided to take my business online. Giving
classes offline is limited because there are not many teachers
who can teach English for Finance.If I want to grow my business,
I can't do it offline, it's as simple as that!

But,I said difficult, not impossible to find a suitable teacher.
What should you look for in a financial English teacher?
Well, first and foremost, he or she must be a qualified,
experienced language teacher. An accountant who speaks English
will probably not be a good language teacher. A language teacher,
who is also an accountant will probably be an excellent
financial English teacher.

I have two requirements for financial English teachers that I hire.
1) He or she is a qualified (TEFL/CELTA) experienced language teacher
2) He or she has a financial academic qualification
(diploma/degree in finance etc) and/or has experience working
in business in accounting or finance.

Sometimes, a teacher has experience in teaching English for Finance
without having any academic qualifications or relevant work experience.
This is fine also, but test his or her knowledge a bit before hiring them.

Be careful with getting a translator as your teacher. I have some
excellent teachers who are translators, but many translators know the words
without really understanding their meaning.

And of course, the all important question...
How much should you pay a teacher of English for finance? The answer:
more than you'd pay for a teacher of general business English.
How much more? In my experience, anything between 20 and 60% more.
(But of course each country is a different market, so it's difficult to say).

4) TRANSLATING FINANCIAL ENGLISH

Continuing on our theme of translators, are their any difficulties
in translating financial documents to and from English? One difficulty
I have met is with the International Accounting Standards (IAS).
These have recently become a legal obligation for public groups
in the European Union.

Translators who have spent years translating financial reports according to
the national "Accounting plan", suddenly have been faced with new accounting
and financial terms to translate.

An "accounting plan" (for example, the "plan contable" in Spain) defines
the names and account numbers of every single possible item in financial reports.
And it is fixed! There is no room for changing any of the words or terms.
So tranlating financial reports from English doesn't present a problem
- it never changes.

Now, IAS are much looser and freer in this sense. There is no strict
accounting plan, and often, instead of one possible word , there are now
a variety of possibilities!


What seems to be happening in practice, is that companies are developing
their own glossaries of vocabulary for financial reports and give this
glossary to the translator to use.

I'd welcome any comments translators have on this.
newsletter@englishforfinance.com


5)EXERCISE

Test your knowledge of financial reports by filling in the gaps
in this paragraph using the words given. Use each word once only.

liabilities assets expenses financing cashflow
balance equity statement investors profit


One of the most important financial reports is an income
1)___________ (in Britain it is called a 2)________ and loss account).
This report shows the economic performance of a business,
whether it has made a profit or loss.

It's basic format is sales less 3)________ equals income
(in Britain income is called profit).If expenses are greater than sales,
then there is a loss.

Another very important report is the 4)_________ sheet. This shows assets
and 5)___________of the business on a specific day
(usually but not always December 31st).

Assets are normally divided into current and non-current 6)_________.
Current assets are assets which will not exist in one year.
Non-current assets will still be with the company in one year.

Liabilities are divided into current, non-current and
stockholders' 7)_________. Current liabilities will not exist in one year.
Non-current liabilities will still be with the company in one year.
Stockholders equity is the liability of a company to it's 8)__________

A 9)______________ statement shows movements in cash for a period of time.
It is divided into 3 sections: cash from operating activities,
cash from investing activities and cash from 10)_____________ activities.


The answers are in section 7 below.



6) CONCLUSION

That's all for this month. Hope you enjoyed it. I would love to hear any
comments and suggestions you might have about the newsletter.

Email me at newsletter@englishforfinance.com.

The next issue will be sent to your inbox in early April.

In about 2 weeks, I'll be publishing a free report on some aspects of
English for Finance, so watch your inbox!

If you enjoyed doing the exercise, then go to the website
www.englishforfinance.com, choose the course that you need, buy it
and learn lots by doing lots of exercises.
Remember, education is an investment in your future.

See you next month!

This newsletter is written by Eoin Baxter. Eoin is Irish and
runs a language training company in Madrid, Spain specialising in
English for Finance. The company is called Baxter Business Services.

Eoin is a qualified accountant
(ACCA- Chartered Association Certified Accountants)
and also has a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) diploma.
Eoin has been teaching English as a second language since 1998.



7) EXERCISE ANSWERS

1) statement
2) profit
3) expenses
4) balance
5) liabilities
6) assets
7) equity
8) investors
9) cashflow
10) financing


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