A commercial course 1. [antikvár]

Preface There have been many books aiming at teaching commercial practice, and still more striving to teach English to foreign students, but the present volume is, perhaps, unique in attempting to combine these aims, in trying, while giving an outline of English business k^-fiAr*^ organisation, to enlarge the student's general vocabulary, to exercise him in grammatical constructions and to increase his power of expressing himself in English with ease and clearness. This book, the first of two volumes, covers the essential features /L of modern English business. It glances briefly at England's position in the world of trade, at her industries and powers of production. Then, in more detail, it surveys the various functions of commerce, the work of the wholesaler and the retailer, the forms and the control of business organisation from the sole trader to the limited liability company. It discusses the work of the various departments of a business concern, examines methods of payment, traces the course and gives the documents of a home and of an export transaction. Particular emphasis has been given to commercial correspondence, which is of such overriding importance to the foreign student. In one of the longest chapters the general rules for writing a good business letter are explained and the main parts which it should contain are analysed. A special section contains numerous examples of the various categories of business letters, e.g. offers and orders, complaints and apologies etc. To make these letters more real and interesting they are so arranged as to form in themselves complete transactions from the initial enquiry to the final payment. Throughout, an attempt has been made to smooth away the particular difficulties of the foreign student and to enlighten him on those matters where the commercial procedure of his country differs from that in England. Each section of the book is followed by copious exercises based on the subject matter of that section. Of these exercises the ones marked A are designed to increase the student's knowledge of English; those marked B to consolidate the work that he has done, by causing him to review what he has just read, to think about the issues involved and to arrange and express his thoughts in good, plain English. The vocabulary of this book has been very carefully controlled but not stringently limited. Its basis is the vocabulary of the four iii