Wise Words: speed
In the UK, there’s a speed limit on the roads. There doesn’t seem to be
one anywhere else.
Everything has to happen fast — ideally at top
speed. If it doesn't, we automatically feel we're wasting our time — or missing out on something more important.
It’s one of the reasons why speed dating has become so popular. This is an event where singles have
the chance to meet potential partners. The participants only have a
couple of minutes to talk to each other before they decide if they click or not. It’s exciting and nerve-racking (so I’m told). Instead of
wasting a whole night with one blind date, you get to evaluate several. At top speed.
The concept of speed dating has been copied and has
moved out of romance and into the business world. There’s speed interviewing, speed networking and there’s even speed flatmating. Watch
the video to see why this has become so popular in London recently.
I’ll be doing some professional speed networking of my own this
weekend. I’m going to the Business English Special Interest Group’s annual conference in Poznan, Poland. The coffee breaks are usually too
short for more than a couple of five-minute conversations. It’s still a great
opportunity to meet new people with similar teaching backgrounds and maybe
even mutual business interests. It’s also a chance to get up to speed with any developments in the teaching community — and for me to bring teachers up to speed on developments at Business
Spotlight.
Maybe I’ll see you there! In the meantime, learn some more
expressions with speed in the exercise on the next page.
Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung
verpassen
Verabredung, bei der man in kurzer Zeit verschiedene Singles kennenlernen kann
Teilnehmer(innen)
zwischen ihnen funkt es
nervenaufreibend
beurteilen
Führen von Vorstellungsgesprächen
Kontaktaufbau und -pflege
Finden von Mitbewohner(innen)
Jahres-
Pausen
gegenseitig, gemeinsam
sich informieren über
auf den neuesten Stand bringen
