Learn how to introduce your boss in a business situation
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 |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 3 - Introducing Your Boss to a Client in German |
| John Here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce your boss to somebody clearly. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Paul Schmitt. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda Müller: Herr Schmitt, hier ist die Community Managerin von ABC, |
| Linda: Frau Berg. |
| Paul Schmitt: Frau Berg, freut mich Sie kennenzulernen. |
| Paul Schmitt: Ich bin Paul Schmitt, Sales Manager bei XY. |
| Paul Schmitt: Es ist uns eine Ehre, Sie heute als Gast bei unserem Event dabei haben zu dürfen. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda Müller: Herr Schmitt, hier ist die Community Managerin von ABC. |
| Linda: Frau Berg |
| Paul Schmitt: Frau Berg, freut mich Sie kennenzulernen. |
| Paul Schmitt: Ich bin Paul Schmitt, Sales Manager bei XY. |
| Paul Schmitt: Es ist uns eine Ehre, Sie heute als Gast bei unserem Event dabei haben zu dürfen. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda Müller: Mr Schmitt, this is ABC's Community Manager |
| Linda Müller: Mrs Berg. |
| Paul Schmitt: Mrs Berg, nice to meet you. |
| Paul Schmitt: I’m Paul Schmitt, XY's sales manager. |
| Paul Schmitt: We do have the honor of having you as a guest at our event tonight. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Are business fairs or exhibitions common in Germany? |
| Jennifer: Well, as one of the top nations for industry in the world, Germany hosts a huge range of international fairs. |
| John: Where are these events commonly held? |
| Jennifer: One of the most famous venues for international trade is in Frankfurt am Main. |
| John: What are some of these events? |
| Jennifer: The "International Motor Show Germany" is the most famous trade fair and is held every two years. Then there is the Frankfurter Buchmesse that takes place every year in October, |
| John: This is one of the most famous book fairs in the world. Jennifer, what’s the German for "international fair"? |
| Jennifer: Internationale Messe |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jennifer: Community Managerin [natural native speed] |
| John: community manager |
| Jennifer: Community Managerin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Community Managerin [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: sein [natural native speed] |
| John: his |
| Jennifer: sein[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: sein [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: sich freuen [natural native speed] |
| John: to be happy |
| Jennifer: sich freuen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: sich freuen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: bei [natural native speed] |
| John: at (a person’s place) |
| Jennifer: bei[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: bei [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Wir [natural native speed] |
| John: we |
| Jennifer: Wir[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Wir [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: unser [natural native speed] |
| John: our |
| Jennifer: unser[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: unser [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Event [natural native speed] |
| John: event |
| Jennifer: Event[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Event [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Gast [natural native speed] |
| John: guest |
| Jennifer: Gast[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Gast [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Ehre [natural native speed] |
| John: honor |
| Jennifer: Ehre[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Ehre [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Jennifer: haben [natural native speed] |
| John: to have |
| Jennifer: haben[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: haben [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Jennifer: sich freuen jemanden kennenzulernen |
| John: meaning "to be pleased to meet someone" |
| John: When you meet someone for the very first time, after giving your name, you can add this phrase. |
| Jennifer: That’s right, and be sure to conjugate it as Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: This expresses a positive attitude and shows that you are pleased to meet this person. |
| Jennifer: Regardless of whether it’s a formal or informal situation, you can say this sentence to anyone you meet at the first time. |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Jennifer: das Event |
| John: meaning "the event." This word is an anglicism which is derived from the English word “event.” It has the same meaning as in English. |
| Jennifer: Some synonyms are die Veranstaltung, der Anlass, and das Ereignis. |
| John: When it comes to organising an event, what can you say? |
| Jennifer: ein Event organisieren. However, Das Event has an informal nuance and is related to entertainment. |
| John: So it’s better to use the other synonyms in a more formal situation? |
| Jennifer: Yes, for example, you can be more detailed if you use words like das Meeting meaning “ the meeting”, der Kongress meaning “the congress”, die Versammlung meaning “the conference”, which are more common. |
| John: Can you give us an example using the equivalent of the word “event”? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Das Event steht bevor. |
| John: .. which means "The event is coming up." Okay, onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn How to clearly introduce your boss. |
| Jennifer: When you introduce your boss or supervisor in German, 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. |
| John: Now let’s see how to do that in a clear way. Let’s start from the example in the dialogue... |
| Jennifer: Herr Schmitt, hier ist die Community Managerin von ABC. Frau Berg. |
| John: “Mr Schmitt, this is ABC's Community Manager, Mrs. Berg.” |
| Jennifer: After addressing the person you want to talk to, you could say hier ist, meaning “this is” and then introduce the person. |
| John: And by specifying his or her role. |
| Jennifer: In German, you say hier ist instead of “this” when introducing someone else. |
| John: What if you introduce your colleague to another colleague? |
| Jennifer: you can say Das ist or Hier ist Frau Berg, die Community Managerin von der Firma ABC. |
| John: meaning “That is or this is Mrs. Berg, community manager at the company ABC.” |
| Ok, now let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used position names in many German companies. Jennifer will say the German and I’ll follow with the English translation. |
| Jennifer: Vorsitzender der Geschäftsführung |
| John: “CEO” |
| Jennifer: Vorsitzender des Vorstandes |
| John: “president” |
| Jennifer: Vorstand Personal |
| John: “Senior Executive Vice President, Human Resources” |
| Jennifer: Bereichsleiter |
| John: “Head of Department” |
| Jennifer: But note that even when there are nouns for the job positions in German, it is more common to use the English job titles in international companies, like Manager, Senior Manager, Art Director, CEO, etc.. |
| John: What about the feminine version of these job positions? |
| Jennifer: In most cases in German there are male and female job titles, for example der Arzt and die Ärztin |
| John: Which respectively refer to “male doctor” and “female doctor” |
| Jennifer: In some cases you just have to add -in at the end of the noun. For example, Sekretärin |
| John: “Secretary” |
| Jennifer: Bereichsleiterin |
| John: “Head of Department” |
| Jennifer: Or you have to drop the r-ending. For example “CEO” is Vorsitzende der Geschäftsführung |
| John: Ok, let’s wrap up with a couple of sample sentences. |
| Jennifer: Frau Müller, darf ich vorstellen, Herr Schmitt, der Office Manager. |
| John: "Mrs. Müller, meet the office manager, Mr. Smith." |
| Jennifer: Frau Müller, das ist meine Office Managerin Frau Schulz. |
| John: "Mrs. Müller, meet Mrs. Schulz, my office manager." |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen! |
Comments
Hide