Learn what to say when you leave the office before the Christmas break
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Business Italian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 10 - The Last Day of the Year in an Italian Office. Eric Here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you leave the office before the Christmas break. The conversation takes place in an office. |
| Ofelia: It's between Linda and Torri. |
| Eric: The speakers are boss and employee, so they will use both formal and informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Signor Torri, Le faccio gli auguri di buone feste. |
| Torri: Grazie Linda! Buon Natale anche a te! |
| Linda: Grazie! |
| Torri: Hai ricevuto la cesta di Natale? |
| Linda: Sì, grazie mille. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Signor Torri, Le faccio gli auguri di buone feste. |
| Torri: Grazie Linda! Buon Natale anche a te! |
| Linda: Grazie! |
| Torri: Hai ricevuto la cesta di Natale? |
| Linda: Sì, grazie mille. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Mr. Torri, I wish you happy holidays. |
| Torri: Thanks Linda! Merry Christmas to you too! |
| Linda: Thank you! |
| Torri: Did you get the Christmas basket? |
| Linda: Yes, thank you very much. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, let’s talk about one of the most eagerly awaited holidays in Italy and how it interferes with the business world. |
| Ofelia: That holiday in Italy is perhaps Christmas. Every year in December the Christmas atmosphere changes everything and that includes the business world. |
| Eric: How does that happen? |
| Ofelia: For example, you could say that almost everyone spends the two weeks before December 25th waiting for the holidays. Also it’s commonly accepted that almost nobody works on Christmas and the following day, unless it's a seasonal job or service work. Even newspapers don't get printed. |
| Eric: And what if you have a very urgent business matter to solve on Christmas Day? |
| Ofelia: Trying to get in contact with someone for a business matter on Christmas, no matter what your position is, will be perceived as extremely rude, especially if the other person is Catholic. |
| Eric: So the best thing is to wait until December 27th. |
| Ofelia: Right, but keep in mind that for many medium-small companies, the Christmas break may be from the day of Christmas until January 6th, the day of Epiphany. |
| Eric: That’s a long time! What’s the Italian for “Christmas holidays?” |
| Ofelia: Vacanze di Natale. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Ofelia: le [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to her, to you (polite) |
| Ofelia: le[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: le [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: fare gli auguri [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to give one's best wishes |
| Ofelia: fare gli auguri[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: fare gli auguri [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: buone feste [natural native speed] |
| Eric: happy holidays |
| Ofelia: buone feste[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: buone feste [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: Buon Natale [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Merry Christmas |
| Ofelia: Buon Natale[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: Buon Natale [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: ricevere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to receive, to get |
| Ofelia: ricevere[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: ricevere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Ofelia: cesta [natural native speed] |
| Eric: basket |
| Ofelia: cesta[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: cesta [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: buone feste |
| Eric: meaning "happy holidays" |
| Ofelia: This is a simple phrase made from an adjective and a noun. |
| Eric: Since it's a wish, the adjective precedes the noun, which is different from what usually happens. |
| Ofelia: You can use it any time you are saying goodbye to somebody before a holiday period related to a religious celebration. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say... Buone feste di Pasqua! |
| Eric: ..which means "Happy Easter holidays!" Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Ofelia: cesta di Natale |
| Eric: meaning "Christmas basket" |
| Ofelia: This phrase is made up of the noun cesta, |
| Eric: meaning "basket," |
| Ofelia: and the phrase di Natale, |
| Eric: which means "Christmas," or "Christmassy." |
| Ofelia: The phrase di Natale can also be replaced by the adjective natalizio, which has the same meaning. |
| Eric: What is this “Christmas basket”? |
| Ofelia: Cesta di Natale refers to a basket full of traditional delicacies. Many companies deliver this kind of present to their employees or to their best customers before the Christmas holiday. Its value can vary, but in a business setting it shouldn't be less than a hundred euros. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Quest'anno ho ricevuto cinque ceste di Natale! |
| Eric: .. which means "This year I received five Christmas baskets!" Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn what to say when you leave the office before the Christmas break. When you leave the office on the last business day before a long holiday related to some specific celebration, you might want to greet your boss and co-workers in a special way. |
| Ofelia: In Italy this might be the case before the Christmas or Easter holidays. |
| Eric: Let’s go over the expressions used in the dialogue. |
| Ofelia: Signor Torri, Le faccio gli auguri di buone feste. |
| Eric: If you are talking to your boss or a supervisor, saying their name before wishing them a good holiday is more polite. |
| Ofelia: Following that, you can say Le faccio gli auguri di buone feste. |
| Eric: Which literally means, “I give you my best wishes for a nice feast!” |
| Ofelia: In this expression we use the verb fare, which literally means “to do.” |
| Eric: This verb is one of the most flexible verbs in the Italian language and if combined with different words, can have different meanings. |
| Ofelia: In this case it’s fare gli auguri a qualcuno, |
| Eric: meaning “to give one's best wishes to somebody.” |
| Ofelia: A qualcuno meaning “to somebody,” is usually replaced by an indirect object personal pronoun, such as le, meaning “to you” (polite), or ti meaning “to you” (informal). |
| Eric: You can use the same expression on different occasions, such as a specific celebration or a birthday. Let’s give some examples. |
| Ofelia: Le faccio gli auguri di buona Pasqua. |
| Eric:“I give you my best wishes for a nice Easter!” This is polite. |
| Ofelia: Ti faccio gli auguri di buon compleanno. |
| Eric: “I give you my best wishes for a nice birthday!” This is informal. |
| Ofelia: Another simple way to give your best wishes is using the expression Auguri!, which means “Best wishes!” |
| Eric: Listeners, the only thing you should remember is that this phrase is commonly used on the same day as the celebration. Let’s say that you meet a coworker of yours by chance on Christmas Day, that would be the right time to say this. |
| Ofelia: Right, you can use it also during the first week after New Year’s Day, when you meet someone for the first time in the new year. |
| Eric: Now, let’s proceed and see how to answer when someone says these to you. |
| Ofelia: the most natural answer can be a simple “Thank you,” which is Grazie. |
| Eric: On the other hand, it’s good to return the greeting with a similar wish followed by “you too,” |
| Ofelia: which in Italian has an informal version, anche a te and a formal version, anche a Lei. For example, Grazie, buona Pasqua anche a Lei! |
| Eric:Which means “Thank you, happy Easter to you too!” and is polite. Ok, let’s wrap up with two more sample sentences. |
| Ofelia: Auguri Carlo! Felice anno nuovo! |
| Eric: "Best wishes Carlo! Happy new year!" This can be said on New Year’s Day or in the first week of January. |
| Ofelia: Right. Here is a sentence with the phrase fare gli auguri – Ogni anno il direttore della mia banca mi fa gli auguri di Natale al telefono. |
| Eric: which means "Every year my bank's director gives me his best wishes for Christmas on the telephone." |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Ofelia: A presto! |
Comments
Hide