The optional course Basics of Business English introduces students to the language of business and economics, as well as to the corresponding economic concepts. It outlines the contents of widely used Business English coursebooks, the skills practiced and the topics covered there. The theoretical focus is on the characteristic linguistic properties of the language of business and economics; the practical focus is on enhancing the ability of students to understand authentic business texts, as well as to use the correct lexical and grammatical structures of this occupational variety of English. Differences between English and Czech terminologies will be discussed to eliminate mistakes stemming from different composition or motivation of naming units in the respective terminologies, differing degrees of polysemy, synonymy, condensation, etc.