Learn how to arrange a meeting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 7 - Planning a German Business Meeting. John Here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you need to fix a meeting. The conversation takes place in the office. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Stefan Herzog. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use formal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda Müller: Frau Schmitt würde gerne das PR-Team die laufenden Projekte überprüfen lassen. |
| Linda Müller: Können wir ein Meeting für den Freitag vereinbaren? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja... |
| Linda Müller: Hat das Team Events, die nicht verschoben werden können? |
| Stefan Herzog: Nicht in dieser Woche... |
| Linda Müller: Brauchst du Zeit, um dich für das Meeting vorzubereiten? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, wenigstens einen Tag. |
| Linda Müller: In Ordnung, dann lass uns ein Meeting für übermorgen um 10 Uhr vereinbaren. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda Müller: Frau Schmitt würde gerne das PR-Team die laufenden Projekte überprüfen lassen. |
| Linda Müller: Können wir ein Meeting für den Freitag vereinbaren? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja... |
| Linda Müller: Hat das Team Events, die nicht verschoben werden können? |
| Stefan Herzog: Nicht in dieser Woche... |
| Linda Müller: Brauchst du Zeit, um dich für das Meeting vorzubereiten? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, wenigstens einen Tag. |
| Linda Müller: In Ordnung, dann lass uns ein Meeting für übermorgen um 10 Uhr vereinbaren. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda Müller: Mrs. Schmitt wants the PR team to check the ongoing projects. |
| Linda Müller: Can we set up a meeting for Friday? |
| Stefan Herzog: Yes. |
| Linda Müller: Does the team have any events that cannot be postponed? |
| Stefan Herzog: Not this week. |
| Linda Müller: Do you need time to get ready for the meeting? |
| Stefan Herzog: Yes. At least one day. |
| Linda Müller: Ok, so let's fix the meeting for the day after tomorrow at 10 a.m. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Stefan has a meeting to prepare for. |
| Jennifer: I hope he prepares well for it! |
| John: What are meetings like in German businesses? |
| Jennifer: Meetings are taken very seriously. I think that Germans are well known for being exact, factual, and good at analytical thinking. |
| John: Yes, I think so too. |
| Jennifer: Business meetings have a strict agenda so that everyone can be fully prepared before it starts. |
| John: That’s a good idea. Do people discuss the issues at length in business meetings? |
| Jennifer: No, quick decisions are definitely appreciated! |
| John: So your advice is to be direct and to the point? |
| Jennifer: Definitely. Also, be punctual and allow the highest ranking person to enter the room first. |
| John: How about small talk? Is there any small talk at these meetings? |
| Jennifer: There’s no small talk about families or anything that would be considered private. There might be discussion about things such as the arts or international affairs, but nothing too political. |
| 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: laufend [natural native speed] |
| John: ongoing |
| Jennifer: laufend[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: laufend [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: vereinbaren [natural native speed] |
| John: to set up |
| Jennifer: vereinbaren[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: vereinbaren [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: verschoben [natural native speed] |
| John: to extend |
| Jennifer: verschoben[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: verschoben [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Woche [natural native speed] |
| John: the week |
| Jennifer: Woche[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Woche [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: brauchen [natural native speed] |
| John: to need |
| Jennifer: brauchen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: brauchen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: vorbereiten [natural native speed] |
| John: to prepare |
| Jennifer: vorbereiten[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: vorbereiten [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Jennifer: übermorgen [natural native speed] |
| John: day after tomorrow |
| Jennifer: übermorgen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: übermorgen [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: Nicht diese Woche... |
| John: meaning "Not this week…” What can you tell us about this? |
| Jennifer: This phrase is made up of three words. They are nicht, meaning “not”, diese, meaning “this” and Woche, meaning “week”. |
| John: How do you use this phrase? |
| Jennifer: It’s used when you want to say that something will not happen this week. |
| John: Oh, so you can use it if you have a deadline but won’t be able to make it? |
| Jennifer: Yes. You can swap Woche for other time words such as Monat, meaning “month”. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Wenn nicht diese Woche, dann vielleicht die nächste? |
| John: ..which means "If not this week, then maybe the next one?" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn what to say when you need to fix a meeting. In the conversation, Linda asked Stefan about scheduling a meeting. |
| Jennifer: Say you want to set up a meeting for Friday. You can say Können wir ein Meeting für den Freitag vereinbaren? |
| John: Meaning “Can we set up a meeting for Friday?” This is a long sentence compared to some others we’ve discussed so far, so let’s break it down. |
| Jennifer: First we have Können, which is a modal verb and changes the meaning of the second verb of the main action, which is always placed at the end of the sentence, können...vereinbaren. |
| John: Which basically translates to “can… set up.” |
| Jennifer: We use Können or Könnten to make a request. They are conjugated to the subject, and followed by a verb in the infinitive form. |
| John: In the example, what is the infinitive form verb? |
| Jennifer: ein Meeting vereinbaren |
| John: “To set up a meeting.” This pattern is pretty polite, right? |
| Jennifer: Yes, it is. Können plus an infinitive verb is very useful. |
| John: Can we hear another example, in that case? |
| Jennifer: Können wir über die dringendsten Angelegenheiten sprechen? |
| John: “Can we talk about the most urgent orders?” The conjugations change depending on the subject, and if you check the lesson notes, some examples of the conjugations are there. |
| Jennifer: Another useful sentence might be Hat das Team Events, die nicht verschoben werden können? |
| John: “Does the team have any events that cannot be postponed?” It’s true, if a meeting is being arranged at short notice, there might be other things already scheduled. |
| Jennifer: That sentence has a main and subordinate relative clause. |
| John: Is there a linking word that connects the two? |
| Jennifer: Yes, in this case it is die, which means “which”. I want to highlight this part though - nicht ausgedehnt werden können |
| John: “Cannot be extended.” Why is that part important? |
| Jennifer: It’s a passive clause, which is why it has the auxiliary verb werden, meaning “to become”. |
| John: Is that auxiliary verb often used in passive sentences in German? |
| Jennifer: Yes. We usually use werden and the past participle. |
| John: Can we have another example of a passive clause? |
| Jennifer: Das Haus, das nicht renoviert werden kann. |
| John: “The house which cannot be renovated” |
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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