Learn how to introduce your boss in a business situation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Business Italian for Beginners, Season 1 Lesson 3 - Introducing Your Boss to a Client in Italian. I’m Eric. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to clearly introduce your boss. The conversation takes place at a business fair. |
| Ofelia: It's between Linda and Mr. Rossi. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Signor Rossi, questa è la vicepresidente della ABC. |
| Linda: La signora Martini. |
| Sig. Rossi: Signora Martini, piacere di conoscerla. |
| Sig. Rossi: Io sono Rossi, direttore vendite della Gatti Spa. |
| Sig. Rossi: Siamo onorati di avervi ospiti nel nostro stand. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Signor Rossi, questa è la vicepresidente della ABC. |
| Linda: La signora Martini. |
| Sig. Rossi: Signora Martini, piacere di conoscerla. |
| Sig. Rossi: Io sono Rossi, direttore vendite della Gatti Spa. |
| Sig. Rossi: Siamo onorati di avervi ospiti nel nostro stand. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Mr Rossi, this is ABC's vice president. |
| Linda: Mrs Martini. |
| Mr. Rossi: Mrs Martini, nice to meet you. |
| Mr. Rossi: I’m Rossi, Gatti Ltd.’s sales manager. |
| Mr. Rossi: It’s an honor to have you as a guest at our booth. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, are business fairs or exhibitions common in Italy? |
| Ofelia: Yes, they are. |
| Eric: Why is that? |
| Ofelia: As you may know, the most important role in the Italian economy is played by small and medium-sized enterprises. |
| Eric: In most cases, this has enabled companies to keep the quality high and to pass down refined crafting traditions through the generations. |
| Ofelia: In environments like these, international business fairs have always played a central role. |
| Eric: That’s because the fairs become the point of contact between small Italian businesses and attractive and powerful foreign buyers. |
| Ofelia: Right. Among the most important fairs is the Pitti Fair held in Florence, which is important for the fashion world, and Cersaie, which is held in Bologna and is the biggest event for the tile market. |
| Eric: What’s the Italian for "international fair"? |
| Ofelia: Fiera internazionale |
| 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: vicepresidente [natural native speed] |
| Eric: vice president |
| Ofelia: vicepresidente[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: vicepresidente [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: referente [natural native speed] |
| Eric: supervisor |
| Ofelia: referente[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: referente [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: signora [natural native speed] |
| Eric: madam, lady, Mrs |
| Ofelia: signora[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: signora [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: direttore vendite [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sales manager |
| Ofelia: direttore vendite[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: direttore vendite [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: essere onorato di [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to have the honor of |
| Ofelia: essere onorato di[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: essere onorato di [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: ospite [natural native speed] |
| Eric: guest |
| Ofelia: ospite [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: ospite [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Ofelia: nostro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: our |
| Ofelia: nostro[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: nostro [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: vicepresidente |
| Eric: Meaning "vice president" |
| Ofelia: This is a compound noun made up of the prefix vice- and the noun presidente. The prefix vice-, similarly to English, is used to indicate the person in the position right under the one indicated by the main noun, in this case presidente. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Il vicepresidente verrà a Roma. |
| Eric: ..which means "The vice president will come to Rome." |
| Ofelia: There are other similar prefixes that you may hear in a business situation, such as co-, which has the same meaning as in English, for example co-presidente |
| Eric: Which means “co-president.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Ofelia: Essere onorato di |
| Eric: Meaning "to have the honor of" |
| Ofelia: This phrase is made up of the verb essere, "to be," followed by the adjective onorato which describes the condition of "having an honor" and the preposition di meaning "of." |
| Eric: You may hear this phrase often in official situations – it's very polite and it definitely makes a good impression on the person who is listening. Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Sono onorata dal tuo invito. |
| Eric: .. which means "I have the honor of (getting) your invitation." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to clearly introduce your boss. |
| Ofelia: When you introduce your boss or supervisor in Italian, be sure to indicate their position. That will allow your business partner to understand that they’re being introduced to someone who they can refer to, to make important requests. |
| Eric: Now let’s see how to do that in a clear way. Let’s start from the example in the dialogue... |
| Ofelia: Signor Rossi, questa è la vicepresidente della ABC. La signora Martini. |
| Eric: “Mr Rossi, this is ABC's vice president. Mrs Martini.” |
| Ofelia: First, if necessary, address the person you’re talking to by stating their name and possibly their title, for example Signor or Signora, |
| Eric: This way you’ll be sure you have their attention. Secondly, use this formula... |
| Ofelia: Questo è if the person you are introducing is a man, or questa è if the person you are introducing is a woman. |
| Eric: Both mean “this is.” Then state the position and the name of the person you are introducing. You can also state their name before their position. Let’s hear an example. |
| Ofelia: Signor Bianchi, questo è il capo della ABC, il Sig. Marni. |
| Eric: Which means “Mr. Bianchi, I’ll introduce you to ABC’s boss, Mr. Marni.” |
| Ofelia: Or you can change the order, Signor Bianchi, questo è il dottor Marni, il capo della ABC. |
| Eric: Which similarly means “Mr. Bianchi, I’ll introduce you to Dr. Marni, ABC’s boss.” |
| Ofelia: In Italy, as we already mentioned in another lesson, stating someone’s title, such as dottore, meaning “graduate,” is quite normal, though even some Italians may think it’s crass. |
| Eric: This means that there isn’t any standard etiquette and the best thing to do is keep an eye on your partner and try to model yourself after him or her. Ok, now let’s see some of the most commonly used position names in many Italian companies. Ofelia will say the Italian and I’ll follow with the English translation. |
| Ofelia: presidente |
| Eric: “president” |
| Ofelia: amministratore delegato |
| Eric: “CEO” |
| Ofelia: direttore vendite |
| Eric: “sales director” |
| Ofelia: capoufficio |
| Eric: “office manager” |
| Ofelia: segretario |
| Eric: “secretary” |
| Ofelia: capo |
| Eric: “boss” |
| Ofelia: Responsabile |
| Eric: “Supervisor” or “director”. Since Italian differentiates genders, what about the feminine? |
| Ofelia: That’s a good question. Some of these titles have a regular feminine form, such as direttrice |
| Eric: Which is the feminine form of “director” |
| Ofelia: Other titles have the feminine version ending in -essa, for example presidentessa, but those are not used. Using that form is perceived as politically incorrect, so be careful. When you are referring to a woman, use the masculine version with the feminine article, for example la presidente. |
| Eric: Which is the correct way to mean “the female president”. Ok, now let’s give a final tip. What if we are introducing someone very far from both the person you are talking to and you? |
| Ofelia: In that case, you must use the demonstrative quello if the person you are introducing is a man, and quella if it’s a woman. For example, Quella è la mia referente, la vicepresidente della ABC. La signora Martini |
| Eric: “That is my supervisor, ABC's vice president Mrs Martini.” Ok, let’s wrap up this lesson with some more sample sentences. |
| Ofelia: Signora Smith, questo è il capoufficio, il signor Bianchi. |
| Eric: "Mrs. Smith, this is the office manager, Mr. Bianchi." |
| Ofelia: Signor Rossi, questa è la signora Manila, la mia capoufficio. |
| Eric: "Mr. Rossi, this is Mrs. Manila, my office manager." |
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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