What makes it harder to sell something to someone?
Last week we brainstormed reasons why we found selling items hard to our fellow students and here are some of the points made:
- not having the right words or the vocabulary to describe the object well
- the product was poor
- the object was second-hand or used
- not having good arguments to sell the item
- having only poor arguments
- customer was not interested in the product
- it was not the right product for the customer
What made selling objects easier?
We then looked at what makes selling things easier:
- liking the customer
- having a well-known product (that has a positive image)
- having a good quality product
- the product being value for money – something which is important as often German goods are more expensive than their rivals’ products but are sold because they are better quality and last longer so represent value for money
- a good presentation of the item
- the customer wants the product
- being able to answer the questions of the customer
Linking words
We looked at page 96 in the book and worked on linking words in English:
- Addition
- also
- and
- besides
- moreover
- furthermore
- in addition
- Examples
- for example
- for instance
- such as
- Contrast
- although
- but (often seen as very negative)
- however
- still
- despite the fact that
- nevertheless
- nonetheless
- on the other hand
- Cause and Effect
- as a result (of)
- because (of)
- so
- thus
- due to (this fact)
- Conclusion
- as a result
- consequently
- in conclusion
- to sum up
- to summarise / summarize
We noted the following:
- The two words nonetheless and nevertheless have the same meaning. The differences are only in usage by speakers of English. Here is an article about the differences in usage. If you have access to a computer this site thesaurus.com is a great source of synonyms(meaning the same thing) and antonyms(meaning the opposite thing)
- That some people say although and also in a very similar fashion and even though they are rarely confused because the meaning is clear – sometimes (like this exercise) it is important to distinguish between the two. Here is a Berlitz advertisement making the point nicely.
The collarbone
We heard that Maria’s daughter had broken her collarbone (or in German Schlüsselbein ) – it was interesting that the common English name collarbone tells you where the bone is – it is near the collar whereas the German name is a translation of the Latin name Clavicula meaning a key-shaped bone. The medical term in English is the clavicle coming from the same origin.
much and many
Much and many often confuse learners of English as in German, for example, they are both translated into viel
The key different in English is because English-speakers are distinguishing between the types of object that are being talked about.
The difference is whether the object under discussion is countable or uncountable
- Countable things can be counted so for example apples, books and animals can be counted and also pluralised.
- Uncountable things are objects that either cannot be counted or it would be difficult to count. For example rice, water and music are uncountable and have a form like “grain of rice”, “drop of water” or “piece of music” to make them countable. Uncountable objects take the singular form only.
Many is the form used with countable nouns and much is used with uncountable nouns.
There is a little more details in this website
and a little quiz for you to try here