Manual of Business German is the most comprehensive, single-volume reference handbook for students and professionals using foreign languages. Designed for all users, no matter what level of language skill, it comprises five parts: * A 6000-word, two-way Glossary of the most useful business terms * A 100-page Written Communications section giving models of 50 letters, faxes and documents * An 80-page Spoken Situations section covering face-to-face and telephone situations * A short Reference Grammar outlining the major grammar features of German * A short Business Facts section covering essential information of the country or countries where German is used Written by an experienced native and non-native speaker team, this unique volume is an essential, one-stop reference for all students and professionals studying or working in business and management where German is used.

The focus of this volume is on the business letter genre, a seminal and widely used genre in business communication. Since the introduction of the Internet, interest in this genre has increased once again, because of the digital format of the letter. E-mail has partially taken over the multiple functions of the traditional business letter and bypassed, again partially, the fax. However, the letter has also survived in its written form. Since the 1990s, genre theory has been receiving a lot of attention, both in academic and pedagogical circles. Discourse analysts have increasingly discovered the importance of the genre concept for the understanding of discourse. Not only do we get a better understanding of the linguistic characteristics (register, lexico-grammatical features) of texts, but we also become aware of their macrostructures which appear to be organised according to genre expectations and conventions rooted in the socio-cultural context. This evolution is also reflected in the different research approaches to the business letter, as shown by the various chapters of this volume.