English for Business (13) – Business Travel

English for Business (13) – Business Travel

GELERNT IST GELERNT
English for Business (13) – Business Travel
GRUNDLAGEN Auch im Zeitalter des »World Wide Web« und trotz moderner Kommunikations-
mittel ist der persönliche Kontakt im Geschäftsleben durch nichts zu ersetzen. Man lernt so
seine Geschäftspartner besser kennen und einzuschätzen und kann so manches Geschäft besser
unter Dach und Fach bringen.
D
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE
76
Quelle: S. Boiselle
phone in a tray. After a quick search by the
security officer with a metal detector, he is
allowed to proceed to passport control and
his departure gate. 10 minutes later his
flight is ready for boarding and Michael has
to have his passport and boarding pass
ready for inspection. So finally onboard the
aircraft, he places his hand luggage in one
of the overhead compartments, switches
off his mobile phone and fastens his seat
Arranging a trip
belt. Ready for take-off!
Many of the expressions used in the
Michael Kurz has also decided now that a Bild: Notice the rest of the joke at the end of this
text are probably known to you because
business trip to England is necessary in lesson, please
you see so many English terms even at
order to have a look at the old town hall
German airports or have heard them on
and discuss some more details about the
TV, in movies etc. But let’s have a look now at how you say dates and
further proceeding regarding this project. He’s therefore making a
times in English.
telephone call to discuss the details with Tim, so that he can make the
necessary arrangements.
»Shiny Light Electronics, Tim Evans speaking, what can I do for you?«
Times and dates
»Hi Tim, this is Michael Kurz from Germany.«
Asking for the time
»Oh hi, Michael, good to hear from you, how are you?«
Time to say goodbye already? To find it out, you can ask the following
»I’m fine, thanks. And you?«
questions for »Wieviel Uhr ist es?«:
»Very well. What about your plans to see me in England?«
• What’s the time?
»That’s exactly why I’m calling you, in order to arrange an appoint• What time is it?
ment. Would you have time in the week beginning 11 May?«
• Have you got the time? / What time do you make it?(UK)
»Let me check my diary. Oh no, sorry. I’m very busy in that week, but
• Do you have the time? / What time do you have? (US)
can we postpone it to the week after that? I would be free then except
for Friday. What days would suit you best?«
Clock times
»Well, let me see. Yes, that’s fine with me. Why don’t we start on
Monday, 18 May? Shall we say two o’clock? Then I could take an
Don’t confuse »clock« and »watch«. A watch is what you wear
early morning flight from Frankfurt to London.«
around your wrist. You can find a clock on the wall, a computer
»Monday, 2 o’clock is fine with me. Let me know your flight times as
etc. Here are some examples:
soon as you have them. I will then send you the necessary informa• half past two: halb drei (UK: half past two = half two!)
tion on how to get to our company. So I’m looking very much forward
• quarter to three: Viertel vor drei, dreiviertel drei
to your visit Michael. I’ll make sure that we can meet some of the
• twelve minutes past five: zwölf Minuten nach fünf (US auch: twelve
important people who are involved in this project.«
after five)
»This would be great Tim. I’ll inform you when I’ve booked my flight.
• five twenty: zwanzig nach fünf, zehn vor halb sechs
So see you in May. Take care. Bye bye.«
• 12 noon: 12 Uhr Mittag
»See you, Michael. Bye bye.«
• 12 midnight: 24 Uhr Mitternacht
It’s a few weeks later and Michael Kurz is now at the airport in Frankfurt.
He has just checked in his luggage with the airline, has shown his ticket
Some more tips and rules
and passport and has received his boarding pass with an aisle seat.
• Use »o’clock« only at the full hour: It’s exactly five o’clock.
His flight with destination London departs from Terminal 1, gate B,
The short expressions »a.m.« and »p.m.« mean:
departure time is 7:55 am. As it is still early in the morning, Michael
• ante meridiem (= vor Mittag, vor 12 Uhr Mittag, d. h. von 0 Uhr bis
hopes that there won’t be any delays and hopefully no fog in London.
12 Uhr)
His ETA (estimated time of arrival) is 8:40. At the security check, he
• post meridiem (= nach Mittag, nach 12 Uhr Mittag, d. h. von 12 Uhr
has to place his bag on the belt and put his jacket, keys and mobile
bis 24 Uhr).
ies ist sicherlich auch der Grund,
warum es nach einer neuesten Studie
10 Mio. Geschäftsreisende pro Jahr gibt,
entsandt von Firmen, deren Sitz sich alleine
in Deutschland befindet. Dies bedeutet
Ausgaben in Höhe von 48,2 Mrd. € pro
Jahr für Geschäftsreisen, deren Durchschnittsdauer bei 2,1 Tagen liegt.
de 7.2015
GELERNT IST GELERNT
VOCABULARY
business travel/trip
[BbiznIs Btrævl/trIp]
Geschäftsreise
to make an arrangement
[tə meIk æn əBreIndʒmənt]
Vorkehrungen treffen
to arrange an appointment
[tə əBreIndʒ æn əBpɔIntmənt]
einen Termin ausmachen
to check one’s diary
[tə tʃek wʌns BdaIərI]
im Kalender nachschauen
to postpone
[tə pəCstBpəCn]
etwas verschieben
except for
[IkBsept fɔ]
außer
to suit someone
[tə sjuːt sʌmwʌn]
jemandem passen
as soon as
[æs suːn æs]
sobald
to book a flight
[tə bCk ə flaIt]
einen Flug buchen
to check in one’s luggage
[tə tʃek In wʌns BlʌgIdʒ]
das Gepäck aufgeben
airline
[eəlaIn]
Fluglinie
boarding pass
[bɔːdI> pɑːs]
Bordkarte
aisle seat
[aIl siːt]
Gangplatz
destination
[destIʻneIʃn]
Zielort
to depart
[tə dIBpɑːt]
abfliegen
departure time
[dIBpɑːtʃə taIm]
Abflugzeit
delay
[dIBleI]
Verzögerung
fog
[f?g]
Nebel
ETA – estimated time of arrival
[BestImeItId taIm ɑv əBraIvl ]
voraussichtliche Ankunft
security check
[sIBkjCərətI tʃek]
Sicherheitskontrolle
belt
[belt]
Gepäckband
tray
[treI]
Ablagekasten
quick search
[kwIk sFːtʃ]
kurze Leibesvisitation
metal detector
[Bmetl dIBtektə]
Metalldetektor
to proceed to
[tə prəBsiːd tə]
weitergehen zu/nach
departure gate
[dIBpɑːtʃə geIt]
Flugsteig
ready for boarding
[BredI fɔ bɔːdI> ]
fertig zum Einsteigen in das Flugzeug
ready for inspection
[BredI fɔ InBspekʃn]
griffbereit für die Kontrolle
hand luggage
[hænd BlʌgIdʒ]
Handgepäck
overhead compartment
[əCvəBhed kompɑːtment]
Gepäckfach
to switch off
[tə swItʃ ?f]
ausschalten
to fasten one’s seat belt
[tə Bfɑːsn wʌns siːt belt]
sich anschnallen
take-off
[teIk ?f]
Start, Abflug
wrist
[rIst]
Handgelenk
tiring
[taIrI> ]
ermüdend
travelling broadens the mind
[BtrævlI> brɔːdns ðə maInd]
Reisen erweitert den Horizont
networking
[BnetwFːkI> ]
Kontakte knüpfen
queue
[kjuː]
Schlange (beim Anstehen)
to insist on something
[tə InBsIst ?n BsʌmðI> ]
auf etwas bestehen
safe
[seIf]
sicher
cheerful
[BtʃIəfl]
fröhlich, vergnügt
s
ines
Bus vel
a
r
T
Vokabeltabelle: Alle wichtigen Vokabeln in der Reihenfolge des Erscheinens im Text, inkl. der internationalen Lautschrift (mittlere Spalte)
Don’t say a.m. and p.m. with »o’clock«, »past« and »to«:
• It’s 8 a.m. = eight o’clock in the morning
• It’s 4.30 p.m. = half past four in the afternoon
Prepositions of time:
in the morning
in the afternoon
in the evening
at 8 o´clock
at noon / midnight
at night
• Write: (for UK) 11 September, 11th September, (for US) September
11, September 11th
• Say: the eleventh of September (UK), September the eleventh,
September eleventh (US)
• Write: 1907, 2015
• Say: nineteen-oh-seven, nineteen-hundred and seven, twothousand and fifteen, twenty fifteen
Calendar dates
Airplane travel –
a chance for your business
There are different ways of saying and writing calendar dates. There
are also differences between British and American English.
• UK: 11.09. means 11 September
• US: 11.09. means 9 November
You should therefore avoid the short form if possible.
We all know that business trips are tiring. Airplane travel is nature’s
way of making you look like your passport photo but travelling broadens the mind. You can make more of your time on the road or in the
air if you use at least some of it for practicing your English or even
networking. The person ahead of you in the airport security queue
www.elektro.net
77
GELERNT IST GELERNT
could also be a potential contact. Another place for networking is the
hotel fitness center or the hotel bar.
Enough for today. Next time I will give you some expressions for making
arrangements and changing appointments and we will see how Michael is
doing in England. I hope you had lots of light-bulb moments. Stay tuned!
The bright side of life
An old lady is going to take her first flight in an airplane. She is
very nervous and insists on speaking to the pilot before take-off.
»You will bring the plane down safely, won’t you?« she asks.
78
»Don’t worry,« the pilot says cheerfully. »I’ve never left any passengers
up there so far.«
(Fortsetzung folgt)
AUTORIN
Sabine Barz
English communication-skills trainer
www.english-wanted.de
de 7.2015