Learn how to set a time and place for a meeting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com This is Business Italian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 11 - Arranging a Meeting in Italian. Eric Here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to set the time and place of a meeting. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Ofelia: It's between Torri and Linda. |
| 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: Torri vuole controllare i progetti in corso del team PR. |
| Linda: Possiamo organizzare un meeting entro venerdì? |
| Carlo: Sì... |
| Linda: Avete qualche impegno improrogabile? |
| Carlo: Non questa settimana. |
| Linda: Avete bisogno di tempo per preparavi? |
| Carlo: Sì. Almeno un giorno. |
| Linda: Va bene, allora fissiamo per dopodomani mattina alle 10, in sala riunioni. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Torri vuole controllare i progetti in corso del team PR. |
| Linda: Possiamo organizzare un meeting entro venerdì? |
| Carlo: Sì... |
| Linda: Avete qualche impegno improrogabile? |
| Carlo: Non questa settimana. |
| Linda: Avete bisogno di tempo per preparavi? |
| Carlo: Sì. Almeno un giorno. |
| Linda: Va bene, allora fissiamo per dopodomani mattina alle 10, in sala riunioni. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Torri wants to check the PR team’s ongoing projects. |
| Linda: Can we set up a meeting by Friday? |
| Carlo: Yes... |
| Linda: Does the team have any event that cannot be postponed? |
| Carlo: Not this week. |
| Linda: Do you need time to get ready? |
| Carlo: Yes. At least one day. |
| Linda: Ok, so let's set up for the day after tomorrow at 10 a.m., in the meeting room. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, let’s talk about office routine in Italy. What about in-office meetings? Are they common? |
| Ofelia: In Italy, unless you have a management or other high position, in-office meetings are not so common and limited to special occasions... |
| Eric: for example, if there is something really urgent. |
| Ofelia: Right. On the other hand, "labor unions," or sindacati, organize periodic meetings and represent the best way for workers to get up to date about law changes and to open dialogue with the employer, especially if it's a big company. |
| Eric: Good to know. What about the employer side? is there anything similar to a “labor union?” |
| Ofelia: Employers have their own unions, which, even though they’re different for every sector, all come together in the bigger group called Confindustria, |
| Eric: which is the "General Confederation of Italian Industry." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Ofelia: controllare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to check |
| Ofelia: controllare[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: controllare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: progetto [natural native speed] |
| Eric: project, plan |
| Ofelia: progetto[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: progetto [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: entro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: within, by |
| Ofelia: entro[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: entro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: impegno [natural native speed] |
| Eric: plan |
| Ofelia: impegno[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: impegno [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: improrogabile [natural native speed] |
| Eric: that cannot be postponed, urgent |
| Ofelia: improrogabile[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: improrogabile [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: almeno [natural native speed] |
| Eric: at least |
| Ofelia: almeno[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: almeno [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: fissare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to fix, to set up |
| Ofelia: fissare[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: fissare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Ofelia: sala riunioni [natural native speed] |
| Eric: meeting room |
| Ofelia: sala riunioni[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: sala riunioni [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 word is.. |
| Ofelia: improrogabile |
| Eric: meaning "that cannot be postponed,” or “urgent" |
| Ofelia: This adjective sounds quite hard and professional if compared with other similar words, such as urgente |
| Eric: meaning "urgent," |
| Ofelia: you can use improrogabile when you can't accept any extension on a deadline. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. La decisione è improrogabile. |
| Eric: ..which means "The decision can not be postponed." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: almeno |
| Eric: meaning "at least" |
| Ofelia: This is an adverb and it's used to indicate the lowest acceptable level of something. It's widely used in colloquial Italian, so be sure to get used to it. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. È meglio fare l'ordine con almeno tre settimane di anticipo. |
| Eric: .. which means "It's better to place the order at least three weeks in advance." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to set the time and place of a meeting. |
| Ofelia: There will be occasions in which you’ll need to set up a meeting or an appointment. |
| Eric: Since urgent situations are very common when working, it’s good to be prepared and to know which words and sentences to use to make your request clear. Let’s start from the expression used in the dialogue. |
| Ofelia: It was Possiamo organizzare un meeting entro venerdì? |
| Eric: meaning “Can we set up a meeting by Friday?” This question is straightforward and makes clear that the request is quite urgent. Let’s break it down. |
| Ofelia: First we have Possiamo, which is the first person plural from potere, meaning "to be able to," "can," or "may.” |
| Eric: Whenever you need to make a request, you can use this verb, conjugated according to the subject, followed by the verb that indicates the main action in the infinitive form. |
| Ofelia: In the example we saw, the infinitive is organizzare un meeting, “to organize a meeting.” This pattern, potere plus an infinitive verb, is very useful because it makes the request sound polite and very clear at the same time. |
| Eric: Let’s see some more examples... |
| Ofelia: Possiamo parlare degli ordini più urgenti? |
| Eric: “Can we talk about the most urgent orders?” |
| Ofelia: Posso passare dal Suo ufficio più tardi? |
| Eric: “Can I drop by your office later?” |
| Ofelia: Following, after potere and the infinitive, we find the indication of time, entro venerdì... |
| Eric: which means “by Friday.” |
| Ofelia: Entro, meaning “by” or “within,” is very useful when indicating deadlines. If the deadline is a date, it is often combined with the phrase e non oltre il |
| Eric: meaning “no later than” |
| Ofelia: for example, entro e non oltre il 3 gennaio |
| Eric: “by and not later than January 3rd.” Ok, after stating the request for the meeting, it’s best to ask about the other people’s availability. If your colleagues have some other urgent work to be done, they probably won’t be able to grant your request and not asking would be inconsiderate. |
| Ofelia: As in the dialogue, you can first ask if they have other more urgent commitments by asking Avete qualche impegno improrogabile? |
| Eric: “Do you have anything happening that cannot be postponed?” or “Does the team have anything happening that cannot be postponed?” |
| Ofelia:The structure of the sentence is very simple. It basically consists of the verb avere meaning “to have,” followed by an object. |
| Eric: The next question is very similar. |
| Ofelia: It’s Avete followed by the object bisogno di tempo, |
| Eric: literally meaning “do you have the need for time.” |
| Ofelia: Here is another example, Hai qualche appuntamento? |
| Eric: meaning "Do you have any appointments?” |
| Ofelia: or Hai bisogno di più tempo? |
| Eric: meaning “Do you need more time?" |
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! |
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