What is rule number one?  It’s quite simple: Learn phrases not just individual words!IMG_1394
This is very important for your general English learning and for your mastery of Business English.
But what’s the normal way of learning Business English, or even just general English vocabulary? What do most students using textbooks in schools do?
What they normally do is, memorize words from a vocabulary list: In a text book, at the end of every chapter, there’s usually a list of new vocabulary.
They have words in English,  followed with the definition in their own language, or mother tongue. Most students study that list and try to memorize it.
In a school, we usually go through the same process to get ready for a test or a quiz .We take the test, and we get a good grade (or not!).
And then what happens a few weeks later ? Well, we forget most of those words, right ?
That is the natural process !
This is the problem with trying to focus on individual vocabulary words. You’ll also notice that there are a lot of English lessons or podcasts out there, especially for Business English that teach you individual words and/or the word of the day to be learned daily.
I am not saying it is a bad idea. However, it’s really not the best way to learn Business English.
You see, when children learn their own language, they naturally learn phrases. A phrase is a group of words that naturally goes or are used together.
But if you study only individual vocabulary,  you will not exactly know how to use those words. You don’t know which words or situations to use with them.
Grossomodo, you’re missing a lot by just studying individual vocabulary because when you learn a phrase, you automatically learn words that go with that new word you have just learned.
Remember that phrases are crucial to sound natural in Business English. In a business English conversation, you need to use words correctly. You need to use the right words together with other words that connect to it. You shouldn’t just throw out individual words and use them in the wrong situations or in the wrong kinds of phrases. That’s not seen as professional, and it doesn’t make you sound like a confident strong intelligent business person.
So instead, what I would like you to do is to focus on phrases, so anytime you learn a new business word, don’t just write it down by itself, always write down the phrase where that word is in.
Let us take for example the word “meeting” (a fairly easy word I will assume we all know its definition). Let us imagine that it is a new word for you. If it were a new word, what you would normally do is, write down the word “meeting” and then write its meaning or translation. But I don’t want you to just write the single word. I’d like you to write the whole phrase. For instance: “We are having a meeting today.” , write down the full phrase : “having a meeting“. It’s very important, because we use the verb “have” with the word “meeting“. Those two words go naturally together: 
We don’t say “do“. We don’t say :”Today we’re doing a meeting“. Unfortunately, that’s a common mistake I actually hear Business English students say : “Let’s do a meeting!“
It’s not wrong grammatically, but it sounds strange to a native English speaker.It’s not a natural phrase that a north American business person would use.
You should sound correct, strong and intelligent when you’re using Business English. It’s very important, especially when you’re doing business. It’s serious because it involves talking to a customer, another company, representatives or you’re trying to get a job through an interview. 
Therefore, it’s very important that your phrases are correct, and the best way to do this is to follow rule number one.
Always learn phrases. Never study just individual words. That is rule number one for excellent Business English conversations.