How To Learn English With Bridging the Culture Gap, Penny Carté, Chris Fox

About the Book

Title: Bridging the Culture Gap
Author: Penny Carté and Chris Fox
Genre: Penny Carté and Chris Fox
Year of Publication: Business, Communication, Education
Pages: About 180–190 pages, depending on the edition

The book is a practical guide to international business communication. It explains how culture influences meetings, emails, negotiations, leadership, feedback and teamwork in global companies. The tone is professional but readable, which makes it suitable for motivated learners who already have a solid base in English.

Summary: What the Book Is About

This book shows how people from different cultures can misunderstand each other even when they speak good English. It gives many examples from real companies and shows simple tools to prepare for meetings, avoid cultural mistakes and build trust. For learners, it is a window into authentic business English with clear explanations and practical stories.

A short line that reflects the spirit of the book could be: “Effective international communication starts when you see the world through another culture’s eyes.”

If you already enjoy listening to BBC Learning English, this book is a natural next step: it takes you from short audio lessons to full real-world case studies and longer texts.

English Level

CEFR level: B2–C1
Recommended for learners preparing for IELTS 6.5+.

At B2 you can understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics. At C1 you can understand longer, demanding texts and see implicit meaning. This book sits between these two levels:

• For strong B2 learners it is a challenge that pushes you to more advanced vocabulary and structures.

• For C1 learners it is comfortable but still rich: you will meet many idioms, phrasal verbs and culture-specific terms from global business.

From Intermediate To Advanced: How To Learn English Fast With This Book

To use this book as part of a real progress plan, it helps to understand how vocabulary size and study time are usually connected to CEFR levels. Different researchers give different numbers, but many agree on a similar range.

Below is a simple table that shows why this book is especially useful for intermediate and advanced learners, and how many new words you might target when you move up a level.

Vocabulary Growth And Study Time

This table is helpful because it gives you realistic, concrete goals: how many new word families to learn and how much time you might need with focused daily study.

*Based on 1–2 hours of focused study per day, including reading, listening, speaking and review. These are averages, not strict rules, but they give you a clear direction.

How this relates to the book

Using this book together with resources like BBC Learning English can help you:

• Move from B2 towards C1 by meeting several thousand high-frequency business and culture-related words in context.

• Strengthen your “productive” vocabulary (words you can actively use) by recycling terms through speaking and writing tasks based on each chapter.

• Develop the skills that examiners expect at IELTS 6.5+ and in advanced business English courses.

How Bridging the Culture Gap, Penny Carté, Chris Fox Develops Your Skills

This section explains how the book helps you grow as an English learner, especially if you are already an intermediate or advanced learner who wants more than basic textbook dialogues.

Language Skills You Will Practice

You can treat each chapter as a small, intensive course. Here is what the book trains:

• Reading:
  Long but clearly structured chapters help you get used to dense professional texts. You practice reading for gist, scanning for details and understanding argument structure.

• Vocabulary:
  You meet key words and phrases connected to business culture: hierarchy, consensus, formality, indirect feedback, time orientation and many more. This is ideal for advanced learners who need precise language at work.

• Idioms and expressions:
  Many examples include idiomatic language from real companies. You learn how native speakers talk about meetings, deadlines and cultural problems in natural English.

• Grammar in context:
  Instead of dry exercises, you see grammar used in real reports, emails and dialogues. This helps you notice patterns such as modal verbs for polite requests, conditionals for negotiations and passive forms in reports.

Realistically, a motivated learner can meet several thousand unique words across the whole book, with strong repetition of core business and culture terms. This rich but controlled vocabulary makes it a useful “bridge” between coursebooks and authentic reports, articles and case studies.

Strategy: How To Learn English At Intermediate And Advanced Level

Now let’s turn the book into a step-by-step plan for your level. This is especially helpful if you often ask yourself how to learn English fast without losing quality.

For Upper-Intermediate Learners (B2)

At B2 you probably understand most of the book, but you may still feel tired when you read long texts. Your goals:

• Add 1,500–2,000 new word families.

• Become comfortable with formal and semi-formal business style.

• Improve your ability to explain cultural problems in your own words.

A useful routine, three to four times per week:

1. Read one section (2–4 pages) and underline unknown words.

2. Check meaning and write 8–10 key new words in a notebook or app like Anki, Quizlet or a similar tool.

3. Summarise the section in 5–7 sentences, out loud or in writing.

4. Compare your summary with the original structure and adjust.

If you already use BBC Learning English for listening, you can choose audio stories about work and international communication and then connect them with ideas from this book.

For Advanced Learners (C1 And Above)

At C1 your main question is not how hard is English to learn, but how to make your English more precise, natural and culturally intelligent. You can:

• Focus on nuance, tone and register in the book’s examples.

• Collect useful phrases for giving feedback, presenting bad news and managing conflict.

• Practice rewriting case studies as emails, meeting minutes or short reports.

A weekly plan for advanced learners:

• One chapter = one week.

• Day 1–2: intensive reading and vocabulary work.

• Day 3–4: speaking practice — retell case studies, give advice, role-play meetings.

• Day 5: writing — short email or memo based on the situation in the chapter.

This approach is one of the most sustainable answers to how long does it take to learn English at a higher level: progress is slower, but deep.

Using BBC Learning English And The Book Together

You can combine short digital lessons with longer book chapters to keep your motivation high and to answer the question how to learn English fast in a realistic way.

A simple combined routine:

• Use BBC Learning English for 10–15 minutes a day for fresh audio, pronunciation and news vocabulary.

• Use one chapter of the book each week for deeper reading and writing practice.

• Repeat key words from both sources in a personal vocabulary system.

This mixture gives you variety (audio + text), repetition (similar topics and words) and real context (stories and case studies instead of only exercises).

User Reviews

Here are some example reactions from learners and professionals who used the book to improve both their English and their intercultural skills.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This book helped me see why meetings with my international team sometimes felt tense. The language is clear and I learned many useful phrases.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This book helped me see why meetings with my international team sometimes felt tense. The language is clear and I learned many useful phrases.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐ “As an upper-intermediate learner, I needed time to read each chapter, but the real business stories made it easier to stay motivated.”

Average Rating: 4.5 / 5

Did You Know?

1. Written by trainers, not only theorists
   Both authors have long experience training professionals in international companies, so the examples are based on real seminars and workshops, not only on theory.




2. Written by trainers, not only theorists
   Both authors have long experience training professionals in international companies, so the examples are based on real seminars and workshops, not only on theory.




3. Built around practical tools
   The book includes clear frameworks for analysing culture (such as how people see time, hierarchy or directness). These tools can also be used as speaking prompts in your English practice.

Similar Books To Explore

If you liked the ideas in this book and want to continue your journey, here are three other titles that are often recommended for similar goals:

• “When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures” by Richard D. Lewis
  Focuses on different national communication styles and how to manage multicultural teams.

• “The Culture Map” by Erin Meyer
  Explores eight key dimensions of culture (such as direct vs indirect communication) and offers many global business examples.

• “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands” by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway
  A practical reference guide for etiquette, negotiation style and business behaviour in many countries.

All three can be used in a similar way: read a short section, extract vocabulary and phrases, then connect them with audio or video resources like BBC Learning English.