Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 18 - Apologies in a Business Setting. John Here.
Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize to a client. The conversation takes place on the phone.
Jennifer: It's between Paul Schmitt and Linda Müller.
John: The speakers are colleagues, therefore, they will speak informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Paul Schmitt: Hallo?
Linda Müller: Herr Schmitt, hier ist Linda Müller von der Firma ABC. Ich bedauere, dass ich mich etwas verspäten werde, da ich im Stau stehe.
Linda Müller: Es tut mir leid. Ich hoffe, dies bereitet Ihnen keine Umstände.
Paul Schmitt: Bitte machen Sie sich keine Gedanken. Ich habe keine weiteren Termine, daher warte ich gerne auf Sie.
Linda Müller: Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis, ich werde versuchen so schnell wie möglich da zu sein.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Paul Schmitt: Hallo?
Linda Müller: Herr Schmitt, hier ist Linda Müller von der Firma ABC. Ich bedauere, dass ich mich etwas verspäten werde, da ich im Stau stehe.
Linda Müller: Es tut mir leid. Ich hoffe, dies bereitet Ihnen keine Umstände.
Paul Schmitt: Bitte machen Sie sich keine Gedanken. Ich habe keine weiteren Termine, daher warte ich gerne auf Sie.
Linda Müller: Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis, ich werde versuchen so schnell wie möglich da zu sein.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Paul Schmitt: Hello?
Linda Müller: Mr. Smith, this is Linda Müller from ABC. Unfortunately I will arrive late, because I'm stuck in traffic.
Linda Müller: I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't cause problems.
Paul Schmitt: Please don't worry. Today I don't have other appointments, I'll wait for you.
Linda Müller: Thank you very much for your understanding, I'll try to get there as soon as possible.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Poor Linda, stuck in traffic when she has a business meeting to attend.
Jennifer: Paul was very understanding though, wasn’t he?
John: He was! How are delays treated in the German business world?
Jennifer: Usually they aren’t tolerated at all. It can turn a business relationship sour, or if you’re late for a job interview it could result in you not getting the job.
John: I think that people have this image of Germans being punctual and well organized.
Jennifer: I think that’s true, in general we take die Pünktlichkeit, “the punctuality,” very seriously. You should always be five to ten minutes early for any appointment.
John: What if it’s an emergency though? Surely that would be okay?
Jennifer: If it’s a real emergency and unavoidable, then people will cut you some slack. But not for anything else.
John: If we’re late, how can we apologize for it?
Jennifer: You can say Entschuldigen Sie für die Verspätung.
John: This means “sorry for the delay.”
Jennifer: It’s the most common way to apologize for lateness.
John: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Jennifer: Hallo [natural native speed]
John: hello
Jennifer: Hallo[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Hallo [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: verspäten [natural native speed]
John: to delay
Jennifer: verspäten[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: verspäten [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: hoffen [natural native speed]
John: to hope
Jennifer: hoffen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: hoffen [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: Umstände [natural native speed]
John: circumstances
Jennifer: Umstände[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Umstände [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: Termine [natural native speed]
John: appointments
Jennifer: Termine[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Termine [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: herkommen [natural native speed]
John: to come from, to come here
Jennifer: herkommen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: herkommen [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: Verständnis [natural native speed]
John: understanding
Jennifer: Verständnis[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Verständnis [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Jennifer: so schnell wie möglich [natural native speed]
John: as soon as possible
Jennifer: so schnell wie möglich[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: so schnell wie möglich [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the phrases from this lesson. The phrase is...
Jennifer: sich Gedanken machen
John: meaning "to be concerned about." What can you tell us about this expression?
Jennifer: You can use this when you are concerned about an issue.
John: Concerned in a negative way?
Jennifer: Not just that. It can be used when you’re considering a solution, positive or negative.
John: Are there any related phrases?
Jennifer: There is the colloquial expression in Gedanken versunken sein
John: which means “to be in deep thought.” Can you give us another example using “to be concerned about?”
Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say, Ich mache mir Gedanken über das Projekt.
John: ...which means "I am concerned about the project."
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to apologize to a client. Eventually, no matter how hard you try, something will happen that you’ll need to apologize for.
Jennifer: Right. We can’t control traffic and accidents, after all.
John: What did Linda say in the conversation to apologize?
Jennifer: Ich bedauere, dass ich mich etwas verspäten werde, da ich im Stau stehe. Es tut mir leid. Ich hoffe, dies bereitet Ihnen keine Umstände.
John: “Unfortunately I will arrive late, because I'm stuck in traffic. I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't cause problems.” This apology uses two tenses.
Jennifer: First, Linda apologized using Ich bedauere in the present tense.
John: Then, she changed to the future tense to say that she’ll be late. How do we make the future tense in German?
Jennifer: The future tense is formed using a conjugated form of the auxiliary werden and the infinitive of the verb that you meant to use.
John: How is that auxiliary verb conjugated?
Jennifer: It’s conjugated in the same way as a vowel-changing verb.
John: How do we say “I will?”
Jennifer: Ich werde
John: How about “you will?”
Jennifer: For singular, du wirst. For plural ihr werdet.
John: There are more examples for other pronouns in the lesson notes. Remember, after the auxiliary verb, we need to use a verb in infinitive form. Let’s hear an example sentence.
Jennifer: Ich werde heute pünktlich zur Arbeit kommen.
John: “I will come to work on time today.”
Jennifer: Er wird später nach Hause fahren.
John: “He will drive home later.” Let’s consider again the situation in which you’re late to an appointment. Is there a useful sentence you can say in case your client doesn’t have time to wait for you?
Jennifer: In such a case, you could say Ich werde mich an Ihre Assistentin wenden, um einen erneuten Termin zu finden.
John: Which means “I’ll contact your assistant to reschedule.”
Jennifer: Or you can say Ich werde Ihnen eine Email mit meiner Verfügbarkeit senden.
John: “I’ll send you an email with my availability.”

Outro

John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen!

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