Learn what to say when you return to the office from a business meeting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Business Italian for Beginners Season 1, Lesson 7 - How was Your Italian Meeting? I’m Eric. |
| Ofelia: Ciao, I'm Ofelia. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you come back to the office after going out for a meeting. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Ofelia: It's between Linda and Carlo. |
| Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use informal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Rieccomi! Sono rientrata. |
| Carlo: Allora, com'è andato l'incontro con la Delta? |
| Linda: È andato molto bene! Ci hanno anche offerto il pranzo. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: Rieccomi! Sono rientrata. |
| Carlo: Allora, com'è andato l'incontro con la Delta? |
| Linda: È andato molto bene! Ci hanno anche offerto il pranzo. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda: Here I am again! I came back. |
| Carlo: So, how was the meeting with Delta? |
| Linda: It went very well! They also treated us with lunch. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Ofelia, is it common to have lunch with your business partner in Italy? |
| Ofelia: Yes, sometimes you may be invited to eat with your Italian business partners. That means that they consider you important and want to make your relationship stronger. |
| Eric: Which are the most common places that they choose to eat together? |
| Ofelia: On these occasions Italians choose a very good place, or at least somewhere they think is good, though not necessarily one that’s expensive. So be sure to show your appreciation, even if you decline their offer. |
| Eric: Are there any specific rules or manners we should keep in mind? |
| Ofelia: You should avoid leaving food on the plate, because that will be seen as rude, so if you don't like something tell your hosts clearly as early as possible. For example you can say Non posso mangiare pesce. |
| Eric: which means "I can't eat fish." |
| Ofelia: To make a good impression, you may also want to ask about the dishes. |
| Eric: Talking about the food will help create a positive atmosphere. |
| 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: rieccomi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: I'm back, here I am again |
| Ofelia: rieccomi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: rieccomi [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: allora [natural native speed] |
| Eric: so, then |
| Ofelia: allora [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: allora [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Ofelia: incontro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: meeting |
| Ofelia: incontro[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: incontro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And next. |
| Ofelia: offrire [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to offer, to pay |
| Ofelia: offrire[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: offrire [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last |
| Ofelia: pranzo [natural native speed] |
| Eric: lunch |
| Ofelia: pranzo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: pranzo [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: rieccomi |
| Eric: Meaning "I'm back” or “here I am again" |
| Ofelia: This word is made up of two main parts - the prefix ri which means "again," and the word eccomi |
| Eric: Which means "here I am." |
| Ofelia: Eccomi in turn is made up of ecco meaning "here it is" and mi which refers to the first person singular, "me." |
| Eric It can be used when you go back to a place where you were before. The tone is very informal, so be careful not to use it when talking to someone you don't know well. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Rieccomi, avevo dimenticato le chiavi. |
| Eric: ..which means "Here I am again, I had forgotten the keys." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Ofelia: Offrire il pranzo |
| Eric: Meaning "to treat with lunch." Literally, this means "to offer lunch," |
| Ofelia: You need the preposition a, meaning "to", when referring to the person you're treating. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say.. Offro il pranzo a Elisa. |
| Eric: Which means "I'll treat Elisa with lunch." |
| Ofelia: Similar phrases can be used when referring to different meals, such as offrire la cena, |
| Eric: "To treat to dinner," |
| Ofelia: Offrire un caffè |
| Eric: "To treat to coffee." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn what to say when you come back to the office after going out for a meeting outside. When you come back to the office, it’s best to greet your co-workers, or at least the ones that are in the same room you are. |
| Ofelia: As in the dialogue, if you have a good relationship with them, you could use some informal expressions, such as rieccomi or eccomi |
| Eric: That’s just to get their attention and make it clear that you are back. |
| Ofelia: After that, you could add sono rientrata, which is the past tense, or passato prossimo, from rientrare meaning “to come back,” in the feminine form. |
| Eric: This specific past form is made of an auxiliary verb followed by the past participle. Let’s see the whole conjugation to make it clear how the verb changes according to the gender and the number of the subject. Ofelia will say the Italian, in both the masculine and the feminine form, and I’ll follow with the translation |
| Ofelia: Sono rientrato or sono rientrata |
| Eric: “I came back” |
| Ofelia: Sei rientrato or sei rientrata |
| Eric: “you came back” |
| Ofelia: È rientrato or è rientrata |
| Eric: “He came back” and “she came back” |
| Ofelia: Siamo rientrati or siamo rientrate |
| Eric: “We came back” |
| Ofelia: Siete rientrati or siete rientrate |
| Eric: “You came back” plural |
| Ofelia: Sono rientrati or sono rientrate |
| Eric: “They came back” |
| Ofelia: Since the auxiliary verb is essere meaning “to be,” the past participle changes according to the gender and the number. |
| Eric: Let’s remember that this specific past tense expresses a completed action and it’s one of the most common past forms used colloquially, so mastering it will allow you to expand your speaking proficiency a lot. |
| Ofelia: After you have made it clear that you are back, don’t expect the other people to answer you with a greeting. They will more likely ask you about what you did. |
| Eric: In some cases, if your trip out was very short, meaning 30 minutes or less, or a routine one, it’s not necessary to say anything. Now let’s see how to report about what you did while you were out. |
| Ofelia: Again in this case, the passato prossimo will be very useful. |
| Eric: In the dialogue it’s used more than once. |
| Ofelia: Yes, we have è andato meaning “it went” and hanno offerto meaning “they offered”. In hanno offerto, the auxiliary verb is avere, so the past participle doesn’t change. |
| Eric: Let’s see the complete conjugation. |
| Ofelia: Ho offerto |
| Eric: “I offered” |
| Ofelia: Hai offerto |
| Eric: “You offered” |
| Ofelia: Ha offerto |
| Eric: “He or she offered” |
| Ofelia: Abbiamo offerto |
| Eric: “We offered” |
| Ofelia: Avete offerto |
| Eric: “You offered” plural |
| Ofelia: Hanno offerto |
| Eric: “They offered” |
| Ofelia: Using this past tense, you could talk about many things that happened before. For example, Abbiamo ricevuto un’offerta interessante. |
| Eric: “We received an interesting offer.” |
| Ofelia: Abbiamo negoziato un buon prezzo. |
| Eric: “We negotiated a good price.” |
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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