Learn how to ask for a day off
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Business Italian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 16 - Asking for Time Off Work. Eric Here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for a day off work. The conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Ofelia: It's between Linda and Torri. |
| Eric: The speakers are employer and employee, so they will use a mix of both formal and informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Signor Torri, scusi se la chiamo così presto... |
| Torri: Buongiorno Linda. Cos'è successo? |
| Linda: Oggi sono raffreddata e non mi sento bene. Vorrei prendere un giorno di permesso. |
| Torri: Se porti il certificato medico, puoi prendere un giorno di malattia. |
| Linda: Grazie per il consiglio. Chiamo subito il medico. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Signor Torri, scusi se la chiamo così presto... |
| Torri: Buongiorno Linda. Cos'è successo? |
| Linda: Oggi sono raffreddata e non mi sento bene. Vorrei prendere un giorno di permesso. |
| Torri: Se porti il certificato medico, puoi prendere un giorno di malattia. |
| Linda: Grazie per il consiglio. Chiamo subito il medico. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Mr. Torri, sorry to call so early... |
| Torri: Hello Linda. What happened? |
| Linda: Today I have a cold and I don't feel well. I would like to take a day off. |
| Torri: If you bring the medical certificate, you can take a day of sick leave. |
| Linda: Thank you for the advice. I'll call the doctor right away. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, how does taking leave work in Italy? |
| Ofelia: The rules surrounding work leave in Italy are different and depend on your contract. |
| Eric: Let’s consider the case of a permanent employee. |
| Ofelia: When you’re a permanent employee, you are given a certain number of paid leave days, which wouldn't be counted against your vacation, if you take leave because you are sick. |
| Eric: I see. So what happens when you’re sick? |
| Ofelia: First of all, it's necessary to provide official proof from a doctor, but once that is done, during your sick leave you have the right to be paid as if you were working, unless the leave goes on for a long time. Then, the rules change depending on the situation. |
| Eric: Are there other types of leave? |
| Ofelia: Another form of guaranteed leave if you have a permanent contract is maternity leave, called maternità. |
| Eric: These kinds of guarantees seem very good for any employee. |
| Ofelia: Yes, they are. On the other hand, in this day and age, they are one of the reasons finding a permanent position has become quite difficult in Italy. |
| Eric: I suppose not too many employers are willing or able to guarantee such rights. |
| Ofelia: Unfortunately, that’s true. |
| 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: chiamare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to call, to phone |
| Ofelia: chiamare[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: chiamare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: presto [natural native speed] |
| Eric: early |
| Ofelia: presto[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: presto [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: sentirsi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to feel |
| Ofelia: sentirsi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: sentirsi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: permesso [natural native speed] |
| Eric: permission, work leave |
| Ofelia: permesso[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: permesso [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: certificato [natural native speed] |
| Eric: certificate |
| Ofelia: certificato[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: certificato [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: medico [natural native speed] |
| Eric: medical |
| Ofelia: medico[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: medico [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: malattia [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sick leave |
| Ofelia: malattia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: malattia [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Ofelia: consiglio [natural native speed] |
| Eric: advice |
| Ofelia: consiglio[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: consiglio [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: giorno di permesso |
| Eric: meaning "leave day,” or “day off". |
| Ofelia: This phrase is made up of two nouns, giorno meaning "day," and permesso meaning "leave," connected by the preposition di, meaning "of." It literally means "day of leave." |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Ho chiesto quindici giorni di permesso per fare un corso di specializzazione. |
| Eric: ..which means "I asked for fifteen days off to take a specialization course." |
| Ofelia: Permesso, in a different context, usually means "permission." |
| Eric: It means "leave" only in a work context or in a military context, referring to a short leave a soldier can take from military life. Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: malattia |
| Eric: This word usually means "disease," and in a work context it takes the wider meaning of "sick leave." |
| Ofelia: When it means "sick leave" it's usually preceded by the verb prendere, meaning "to take," or fare, meaning "to do," and by the indication of the sick leave duration. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Anna ha l'influenza e deve fare due settimane di malattia. |
| Eric: .. which means "Anna has influenza and has to take two weeks of sick leave.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to ask for a day off. |
| Ofelia: When you make a sudden request for a day off because of an emergency or illness, you need to call your supervisor or the office in charge before your working hours start, so that you can be covered by a different staff member. |
| Eric: First, you are expected to give a reason or an explanation for the sudden change. Let’s consider the example from the dialogue, where Linda says that she doesn’t feel well. |
| Ofelia: She says Oggi sono raffreddata e non mi sento bene. |
| Eric: Meaning “Today I have a cold and I don't feel well.” In cases of sick leave, it’s good to give a simple description of what’s wrong. In the dialogue, that is... |
| Ofelia: Sono raffreddata |
| Eric: Meaning “I have a cold.” |
| Ofelia: The structure is simple – sono, “I am,” is followed by an adjective. Here is another example, Sono ammalato. |
| Eric: “I’m ill.” |
| Ofelia: You can also use the verb avere meaning “to have,” followed by a phrase to describe other symptoms, for example Ho un forte mal di testa. |
| Eric: Meaning “I have a severe headache.” |
| Ofelia: Or Ho la febbre alta. |
| Eric: “I have a high fever.” |
| Ofelia: To say that you don’t feel well, you can use the reflexive verb sentirsi, which literally means “to feel oneself.” It can be followed by the adverbs bene, “well,” or male, “bad,” or by some adjective that describes your condition. |
| Eric: Can you give us some examples? |
| Ofelia: For example, Oggi mi sento male. |
| Eric: “Today I feel bad.” |
| Ofelia: Mi sento molto debole. |
| Eric:“I feel very weak.” Ok, now let’s go over how to ask to take a day of leave. The milder your request is, the better it is. |
| Ofelia: In the dialogue, Linda uses vorrei, which means “I would like,” and makes her request sound polite. |
| Eric: How is this verb used? |
| Ofelia: Vorrei is usually followed by an infinitive verb, for example vorrei prendere. |
| Eric: Meaning “I would like to take.” |
| Ofelia: Vorrei is the first person singular, conditional mood, of volere, “to want”. |
| Eric: As we already said in another lesson, in general you use the conditional mood whenever you need some conditions to be satisfied. In the case of the dialogue, the condition is the permission from the boss. Let’s give some other examples. |
| Ofelia: Vorrei chiedere un giorno di permesso. |
| Eric: “I would like to ask for a day off.” |
| Ofelia: Vorrei restare a casa. |
| Eric: “I would like to stay at home.” |
| Ofelia: You can also make a question by using the verb potere, “can,” followed by an infinitive verb as we have seen in different lessons. For example, Posso prendere un giorno di permesso? |
| Eric: “Can I take a day off?” |
| Ofelia: Posso lavorare da casa? |
| Eric: “Can I work from home?” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto! |
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