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 6 - Going Out to Meet With a Client in Germany. John Here.
Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you leave the office for a meeting with a client. The conversation takes place in the office.
Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Stella Schulze.
John: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Linda Müller: Ich gehe jetzt.
Stefan Herzog: Hast du einen Termin?
Linda Müller: Ja, ich habe ein Meeting mit der Firma Mayer.
Stefan Herzog: In Ordnung. Viel Erfolg.
Linda Müller: Vielen Dank. Bis später!
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda Müller: Ich gehe jetzt.
Stefan Herzog: Hast du einen Termin?
Linda Müller: Ja, ich habe ein Meeting mit der Firma Mayer.
Stefan Herzog: In Ordnung. Viel Erfolg.
Linda Müller: Vielen Dank. Bis später!
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Linda Müller: I'm leaving.
Stefan Herzog: Do you have an appointment?
Linda Müller: Yes, I'm going to a meeting with the firm Mayer.
Stefan Herzog: All right. I wish you success.
Linda Müller: Thank you! See you later!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Yeah, let’s hope that Linda does well at her business meeting!
Jennifer: They can be pretty stressful.
John: What kind of meeting would this be? Would it be a meeting over drinks, for example?
Jennifer: Probably not. Germans like to keep a distinct gap between their business and personal lives.
John: Do colleagues socialize together after work?
Jennifer: It’s very rare. Business meetings are pretty formal because Germans like security and structure in their lives.
John: How do they manage that?
Jennifer: Things are usually planned very carefully. There are rules and regulations that help keep that structure.
John: A lot of countries like to blur the lines between work and their social lives, and socializing with colleagues is expected.
Jennifer: That isn’t the case in Germany.
John: Good to know! So Jennifer, what is your number one tip for a successful business meeting in Germany?
Jennifer: Never be late!
John: That’s a good rule to live by! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Jennifer: Termin [natural native speed]
John: appointment
Jennifer: Termin[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Termin [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Jennifer: Meeting [natural native speed]
John: meeting
Jennifer: Meeting[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Meeting [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Jennifer: Firma [natural native speed]
John: company
Jennifer: Firma[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Firma [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Jennifer: teilnehmen [natural native speed]
John: to participate
Jennifer: teilnehmen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: teilnehmen [natural native speed]
John: And last..
Jennifer: Erfolg [natural native speed]
John: success
Jennifer: Erfolg[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Erfolg [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is..
Jennifer: In Ordnung
John: meaning "Alright"
John: What can you tell us about this?
Jennifer: You can use this to say that something is acceptable.
John: “Acceptable”? That sounds a bit formal!
Jennifer: It is. It has a stiff nuance, so with friends you should say Alles klar.
John: That means “alright”.
Jennifer: In Ordnung is useful in many phrases, and some of them are listed in the lesson notes, so be sure to check those out.
John: Can you give us an example using this word?
Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Der Vertrag ist in Ordnung which means "The agreement is ok."
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Jennifer: der Erfolg
John: meaning "the success". What can you tell us about this?
Jennifer: If you use der Erfolg with Viel, you can wish someone lots of success.
John: Can you turn the phrase into a verb?
Jennifer: Sure! You can say erfolgreich sein
John: Meaning “To be successful” Can you give us an example using this word?
Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Das ist ein großer Erfolg.
John: .. which means "That is a great success."
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn what to say when you leave the office for a meeting with a client. If you leave the office, your co-workers might ask where you’re going.
Jennifer: And even if they don’t, telling them is polite and a way to start a conversation.
John: Especially if you're leaving for a business meeting. So, how do we do this in German?
Jennifer: In the conversation, Linda said Ich gehe jetzt.
John: Meaning “I’m leaving.”
Jennifer: This uses a present tense verb. In German, we can use the present tense for both a simple action and a continuous action.
John: How is the present tense formed?
Jennifer: In German, the verbs are divided into regelmäßige and unregelmäßige Verben
John: “Regular” and “irregular” verbs respectively.
Jennifer: Regelmäßige Verben are schwach or “weak.” An ending is added on a verb stem and the suffix indicates the person
John: How about irregular verbs?
Jennifer: Unregelmäßige Verben are stark or “strong,” as the strong verbs are distinguished by the fact that the conjugation vowels are replaced by the verb stem.
John: Let’s look in a little more detail at how a specific verb is conjugated. Let’s take the regular verb “to go”, as our example.
Jennifer: Okay. We can say Ich gehe
John: “I go” or “I’m going”. Remember, the present tense can be either in German.
Jennifer: Du gehst
John: “You go”.
Jennifer: Wir gehen.
John: “We go”. There are more examples in the lesson notes. Finally, can you give us some stock phrases to use for leaving the office?
Jennifer: Sure! Ich habe ein Meeting der Firma XYZ.
John: “I'm going to a meeting with the firm XYZ.”
Jennifer: Ich muss mich nun verabschieden, da ich noch Besorgungen zu erledigen habe.
John: “I need to say goodbye, it’s time for errands.”
Jennifer: Ich nehme an einem Business-Treffen teil.
John: "I participate in a business meeting."

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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