Learn what to say when you go out to meet a client
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Business Italian for Beginners Season, 1 Lesson 6 - Going Out to Meet With a Client in Italy. I’m Eric. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you leave the office for a meeting with a client. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Ofelia: It's between Linda and Carlo. |
| Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Carlo, io esco. |
| Carlo: Hai un appuntamento? |
| Linda: Accompagno Torri ad un meeting con la ditta Delta. |
| Carlo: Va bene! In bocca al lupo! |
| Linda: Crepi! A dopo! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Carlo, io esco. |
| Carlo: Hai un appuntamento? |
| Linda: Accompagno Torri ad un meeting con la ditta Delta. |
| Carlo: Va bene! In bocca al lupo! |
| Linda: Crepi! A dopo! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Carlo, I'm leaving. |
| Carlo: Do you have an appointment? |
| Linda: I'm going with Torri to a meeting with the firm Delta. |
| Carlo: OK! Good luck! |
| Linda: Thank you! See you later! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, could you tell us something about business meetings in Italy? |
| Ofelia: Business meetings are, in general, very important. For example, when doing business with Italians, you'll probably notice that many people, especially those who aren’t so young, just don't like communicating by e-mail. |
| Eric: So sometimes you’ll have no choice but to meet them directly, to set up important decisions or deadlines. |
| Ofelia: Right. |
| Eric: What about having a written confirmation? |
| Ofelia: Be sure to send a mail or to request a mail with all the details after the meeting. A useful sentence could be Mi può mandare una mail con tutti i dettagli? |
| Eric: Which means "Can you send me an e-mail with all the details?” Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Ofelia: uscire [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go out |
| Ofelia: uscire[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: uscire [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: appuntamento [natural native speed] |
| Eric: appointment, date |
| Ofelia: appuntamento[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: appuntamento [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: accompagnare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go/come with, to take, to bring, to accompany |
| Ofelia: accompagnare[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: accompagnare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: meeting [natural native speed] |
| Eric: meeting |
| Ofelia: meeting[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: meeting [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: ditta [natural native speed] |
| Eric: company |
| Ofelia: ditta[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: ditta [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: In bocca al lupo! [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Good luck! |
| Ofelia: In bocca al lupo![slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: In bocca al lupo! [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Ofelia: A dopo! [natural native speed] |
| Eric: See you later! |
| Ofelia: A dopo![slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: A dopo! [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Ofelia: In bocca al lupo! |
| Eric: Meaning "Good luck! Literally, it means "In the mouth of the wolf!" |
| Ofelia: This expression comes from the hunting world. In the old days, meeting a wolf was a real danger for hunters, as it would be a delicate situation. So, for us Italians today, it’s used in situations like business presentations or, more often, an exam. |
| Eric: That’s an effective metaphor and very similar to the English expression "break a leg!" |
| Ofelia: Definitely! Remember that the answer to this expression should absolutely be crepi! |
| Eric: Which stands for "die," referring to the wolf. Nowadays it's just a way to express your hope that everything goes well and that the dangerous elements disappear. Can you give us an example using this expression? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. In bocca al lupo per l'esame! |
| Eric: ..which means "Good luck for the examination!" |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: Meeting |
| Eric: Meaning "meeting" just like in English. |
| Ofelia: This English word is also frequently used in Italian, especially in a business setting. You can say avere un meeting or fare un meeting |
| Eric: Both meaning "to have a meeting." |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Facciamo un meeting una volta al mese. |
| Eric: .. which means "We have a meeting once a month." |
| Ofelia: The Italian counterparts are riunione or incontro, and they are also quite common. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn what to say when you leave the office for a meeting with a client. When you leave the office for a meeting, telling your co-workers where you are going is a good way to create a friendly working atmosphere. |
| Ofelia: Your co-workers will probably ask you questions to get more information about where you’re going. |
| Eric: Let’s start with the sentences in the dialogue. |
| Ofelia: Linda tells her co-worker that she is going out by saying Carlo, io esco. |
| Eric: Which means “Carlo, I’m leaving.” She needs to get his attention, since he’s probably doing his work, so she calls his name and then states clearly “I’m leaving.” |
| Ofelia: Usually in Italian, you can avoid the subject pronouns, such as io meaning “I,” but since Linda needs to emphasize that she is leaving while other people stay, she uses it. |
| Eric: Please keep in mind that when you need to highlight that you or someone else is doing something in a different way than others, stating the subject pronoun will make the difference clearer. For example, imagine that you are in a meeting, but need to leave before the other people to take an important phone call. You could say... |
| Ofelia: Scusate, io vado via prima perché aspetto una telefonata importante. |
| Eric: Which means “Excuse me. I’ll leave before you, because I’m waiting for an important phone call.” It’s a subtle nuance, which doesn’t come across well in the English translation, but knowing it may make your Italian sound more fluent. |
| Ofelia: After you have stated that you are leaving, your co-worker may ask you about where you’re going or your reason for going out, especially if he or she supervises you. In the dialogue, Carlo asks Hai un appuntamento? |
| Eric: Which means “Do you have an appointment?” |
| Ofelia: He may have also asked Dove vai? |
| Eric: Meaning “Where will you go?” Now let’s hear the answer to this. |
| Ofelia: In the dialogue, we have Accompagno Torri ad un meeting con la ditta Delta. |
| Eric: Meaning “I'm going with Torri to a meeting with the firm Delta.” |
| Ofelia: Notice that accompagnare, “to go with,” in Italian is transitive and doesn’t require any preposition. |
| Eric: Following is the destination, |
| Ofelia: ad un meeting |
| Eric: Meaning “to a meeting.” |
| Ofelia: Notice that the preposition a here has gained a d because it’s easier to pronounce it before the article un, which starts with a vowel. |
| Eric: At the end of the answer we find more details, |
| Ofelia: con la ditta Delta |
| Eric: Meaning “with the firm Delta.” You can use similar sentences for different situations. For example, imagine you are leaving on your own to meet Mr. Rossi... |
| Ofelia: In that case, you can say Vado ad un meeting con il Sig. Rossi. |
| Eric: “I’m going to a meeting with Mr. Rossi.” |
| Ofelia: or if you have an appointment with a lawyer, you can say Vado ad un appuntamento con l’avvocato. |
| Eric: “I’m going to an appointment with the lawyer.” So the structure is the same – a verb indicating movement is followed by the destination and some more details. |
| Ofelia: Right. In the end, if you are going back to the office, be sure to say A dopo! |
| Eric: which means “See you later!” OK, let’s wrap up with a couple of sample sentences. |
| Ofelia: Carlo accompagna il capo ad un appuntamento. |
| Eric: "Carlo is going with the boss to an appointment." |
| Ofelia: Corro ad una riunione con il capo. |
| Eric: "I'm running to a meeting with the boss" |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto! |
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