9 Excellent E-books That Teach a Variety of Business English Lessons
On a business trip and suddenly have some free time? Bored at home and want to pick up a few phrases?
Download an English e-book and start learning!
Below is a curated list of great business English e-books for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners.
The e-books on our list work for independent study on the go or at home. Our list includes a mix of books for consistent study and easy reference.
Contents
- How to Choose an E-book
- 9 Business English E-books Worth Checking Out
-
- “Business English” by Rosalia Covello
- “How to Be a Business Ace” by Professor H. E. Colby
- “Business English” by E.B. Nikolaenko
- “ESL Business English: The essential guide to Business English Communication” by Lucas Burns
- “People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts” by Robert Bolton
- “400 Ways to Write It in Business English” by Andrew D. Miles
- “101 Ways to Improve Your Business English” by Andrew D. Miles
- “100 Ways to Motivate Others” by Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson
- “Business Glossary”
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How to Choose an E-book
E-books are a lot easier to publish than paper books. This enables individuals and companies to publish large numbers of e-books without a big publisher getting involved. Because the process is more accessible for independent authors and small companies, there are more resources available. However, this also makes it harder to decipher the best books. To help you choose your business English e-book, consider these points:
Recognize your level. If you have just started to learn business English, then pick a book that is suitable for beginners. If you are nearly fluent in English and just need some practice, go for advanced books.
Think about cost. E-books are usually a lot cheaper than printed books. Since there are a lot of cheap and even free e-books available, you might want to avoid the higher priced selection. By doing this, you will spare yourself from feeling bad about the cost if the book does not seem to fit your needs.
Decide on a topic. E-books are often topic-focused. You will find books designed specifically to help you improve your writing, comprehension and even business slang and idioms. Choose a book that offers what you want to learn.
Choose a format. To read your next e-book, you can use an app such as Kindle or use Google Play Books on any device for free. If you do not want to use that much technology, you can find some books in PDF format that you can print and read on paper.
9 Business English E-books Worth Checking Out
This list of affordable business English e-books is a good place for you to start your reading. Most of these e-books cost less than $5. Some of them are even free. Keep in mind that their prices often change, so sometimes they will be cheaper or more expensive than their currently listed prices.
You might get lucky and find some special deals! If you have a subscription to a service like Kindle Unlimited, this might make them cheaper, too.
“Business English” by Rosalia Covello
Price: Free
Pages: 156
Perfect for: Beginners
Rosalia Covello, the author of this e-book, knows that good business English is not just about knowing all the right catch phrases—it is about having good overall English.
That is why this e-book spends ample time covering basic English grammar before moving on to business-specific topics. This may be a review for some students, but it never hurts to brush up. Since the book is free, you really will not lose much by downloading it and taking a look.
“How to Be a Business Ace” by Professor H. E. Colby
Price: $2.99
Pages: 192
Perfect for: Intermediate learners
Written by an experienced English professor, the book covers all the bases. With over ten chapters to read, you will get tips on everything from speaking fluently, writing, increasing your vocabulary and even conducting negotiations.
This book could be useful for someone interested in getting help with pacing their English self-study plan. By focusing on one chapter a week, you will see great improvement in your business English in less than three months! You can find this book on the Google Play store.
“Business English” by E.B. Nikolaenko
Price: Free
Pages: 145
Perfect for: Intermediate learners
If you don’t want to use Google Play or Amazon, then this book is for you! You can download a PDF or simply keep it open in your web browser to start learning. This is an actual textbook designed for the Institute of International Management of Tomsk Polytechnic University and flows in a logical order designed to match the classroom syllabus.
This book is great because it covers some stuff you will not find in other books like handling job interviews and understanding company structure. It is worth checking out.
“ESL Business English: The essential guide to Business English Communication” by Lucas Burns
Price: $2.99
Pages: 89 pages
Perfect for: Intermediate learners
At only 89 pages, “ESL Business English” is a shorter book than others, but it makes for an easy way to keep studying business English in unconventional places like on the subway during your daily commute.
It does a good job of making complex concepts simple to grasp, and the author provides a lot of helpful do’s and don’ts along the way. “ESL Business English” is available on Kindle.
“People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts” by Robert Bolton
Price: $14.00
Pages: 156
Perfect for: Advanced learners
If you are an advanced English speaker, then you may want to move beyond books directed at English-language students and on to something written for an audience fluent in English.
“People Skills” is a book designed to help individuals improve their communication style, and it is particularly useful for a work setting. While reading, you can search for terms and phrases you do not know and write them down in a journal for better retention. There is a Kindle and paperback version.
“400 Ways to Write It in Business English” by Andrew D. Miles
Price: $2.99
Pages: 359
Perfect for: Improving writing skills
This is just one of many books written by author and Director of English for Business Spain, Andrew D. Miles. Just as the name suggests, this is more like a glossary of terms and phrases rather than a study book. It is a good reference book to use whenever drafting an email or report.
The index allows you to quickly find the phrases you need for various situations. For example, refer to the section “Ask for more detailed information” and you will find some suitable ways to do just that. For only a few dollars, this business English e-book is one you will want to keep handy. Find it on Amazon.
“101 Ways to Improve Your Business English” by Andrew D. Miles
Price: $4.28
Pages: 192
Perfect for: Quick tips
Another book by Andrew D. Miles, “101 Ways to Improve Your Business English” presents information in a very accessible way. This easy read offers learning advice, useful tips and phrases that any businessperson will likely use on a daily basis.
This book is cheaper than a fancy cup of coffee in a lot of countries, and you will definitely find it more useful! Available for Kindle.
“100 Ways to Motivate Others” by Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson
Price: $4.20
Pages: 256
Perfect for: Quick tips
Though most suitable for advanced students, this book is worth checking out even if you are an intermediate student. It is not designed to teach business English, but this motivational book can be a great language learning tool.
Filled with interesting stories, analogies and scenarios to help leaders become more motivational, this e-book can be a lot of fun for an English language student. You can buy it on Amazon.
“Business Glossary”
Pages: Varies
Price: $41.35 to buy, $18.50 to rent (varies)
Perfect for: Getting lessons in your native language (Spanish, German or French)
Routledge offers the following language glossaries with more than 500 words. The glossaries are two-way (English and another language), making them useful not only for students studying English, but also English speakers studying Spanish, German or French. In comparison to the other books, they are more expensive, but being that Routledge is a renowned publisher, you can guarantee the quality.
Routledge currently offers three business glossaries, all available on Google Play:
- “French/English Business Glossary” by Nathalie McAndrew Cazorla & Stuart Williams
- “German/English Business Glossary” by Paul Hartley & Gertrud Robins
- “Spanish/English Business Glossary” by Michael Gorman & Maria-Luisa Henson
All of the business English e-books mentioned can help you continue on your path to having fluent professional English. They’re fantastic additions to your language learning and can serve as great supplements to your main English study resource.
Once you find the right e-books for you, combine them with other downloadable programs so that you can reinforce all the business English you learn. Many of these tools can also provide guided lessons on how to properly use English vocabulary and phrases in conversation.
For example, the program FluentU has a library of authentic English videos that covers a range of topics, including business and professional matters. Each clip comes with interactive subtitles, flashcards and quizzes so that you can learn and review English words and expressions in context.
Explore your options so that you can make e-books even more vital and powerful to your English studies. You’ll be steps closer to sounding like a true professional!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
