Learn how to arrange a business meeting
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 |
| Maryssa: Arranging a Business Meeting. Maryssa Here. |
| Laurent: Bonjour, I'm Laurent. |
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you’ll learn about booking a meeting room. The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Laurent: It's between Thomas and Laurène, and Naïma on the phone. |
| Maryssa: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal French. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laurène: Thomas, est-ce que la salle de réunion est disponible cet après-midi ? Pourrais-tu vérifier sur le planning en ligne si elle est libre s'il te plaît ? |
| Thomas: Bien sûr. Je crois que Naïma en a besoin, elle a reservé la salle tout l'après-midi. |
| Laurène: Mince...peux-tu l'appeler pour confirmer ? |
| Thomas: Allo Naïma ? Oui c'est Thomas. Nous avons besoin de la salle de réunion pour cet après-midi mais tu l'as déjà reservé n'est-ce pas ? |
| Naïma (on the phone): Oui effectivement. Mais j'en ai besoin de 13h à 15h. Vous pouvez y aller ensuite. |
| Thomas: Très bien faisons comme ça alors. Merci. |
| Thomas: C'est bon, la salle est réservée de 15h à 17h ! |
| Laurène: Parfait ! |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Laurène: Thomas, est-ce que la salle de réunion est disponible cet après-midi ? Pourrais-tu vérifier sur le planning en ligne si elle est libre s'il te plaît ? |
| Thomas: Bien sûr. Je crois que Naïma en a besoin, elle a reservé la salle tout l'après-midi. |
| Laurène: Mince...peux-tu l'appeler pour confirmer ? |
| Thomas: Allo Naïma ? Oui c'est Thomas. Nous avons besoin de la salle de réunion pour cet après-midi mais tu l'as déjà reservé n'est-ce pas ? |
| Naïma (on the phone): Oui effectivement. Mais j'en ai besoin de 13h à 15h. Vous pouvez y aller ensuite. |
| Thomas: Très bien faisons comme ça alors. Merci. |
| Thomas: C'est bon, la salle est réservée de 15h à 17h ! |
| Laurène: Parfait ! |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Laurène: Thomas, is the meeting room available this afternoon? Could you check on the online schedule if it's available with the online planner, please? |
| Thomas: Sure. I think Naïma needs it, she booked the room all afternoon. |
| Laurène: Damn...Could you call her to double check? |
| Thomas: Hello Naïma? It's Thomas. We need the meeting room this afternoon, but it seems you already booked it? |
| Naïma: Indeed. But I need it from 1 PM to 3 PM. You can use it after. |
| Thomas: Great, let's do this then. |
| Thomas: It's okay, it's booked from 3 PM to 5 PM. |
| Laurène: Perfect! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maryssa: It’s good that they were able to figure out the issues around the meeting room. |
| Laurent: Yeah, everyone that needs it, can use it. |
| Maryssa: If you have a meeting set up, how important is it to be on time? |
| Laurent: It’s very important. You shouldn’t just be on time, but you should be early. |
| Maryssa: That gives a good impression. |
| Laurent: It does. It shows that you are concerned with the outcome of the meeting. |
| Maryssa: Are handshakes common in French business meetings? |
| Laurent: Yes they are. When you give your hand, you should state your name, too. |
| Maryssa: What other things can you do to impress your business partners? |
| Laurent: You can host a special event or a dinner. |
| Maryssa: Is this better than giving a business gift? |
| Laurent: Yes, gifts aren’t commonly given to people you’re not close to. |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maryssa: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Laurent: salle de réunion [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "meeting room" |
| Laurent: salle de réunion [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: salle de réunion [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: réserver [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to book" |
| Laurent: réserver [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: réserver [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: confirmer [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to confirm" |
| Laurent: confirmer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: confirmer [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: n'est-ce pas ? [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "Isn’t it?" |
| Laurent: n'est-ce pas ? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: n'est-ce pas ? [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: pouvoir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "can" |
| Laurent: pouvoir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: pouvoir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: besoin [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "need" |
| Laurent: besoin [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: besoin [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: faire [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to do" |
| Laurent: faire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: faire [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: comme [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "as" |
| Laurent: comme [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: comme [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Laurent: alors [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "then, so" |
| Laurent: alors [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: alors [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: And last... |
| Laurent: parfait [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "perfect" |
| Laurent: parfait [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laurent: parfait [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maryssa: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Laurent: appeler pour confirmer |
| Maryssa: meaning "to call to confirm." |
| Maryssa: This phrase has two verbs. |
| Laurent: The first is appeler meaning "to call" and the second is confirmer. |
| Maryssa: This means "to confirm." The word in the middle can be translated as "for." |
| Laurent: Yes, that is pour. |
| Maryssa: Usually when you have multiple verbs in a sentence, the first one is conjugated. |
| Laurent: The other ones are in the infinitive form. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Laurent: Sure. For example, you can say... J'appelle le restaurant pour confirmer notre reservation. |
| Maryssa: ...which means "I'm calling the restaurant to confirm our reservation." |
| Maryssa: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Laurent: J'en ai besoin. |
| Maryssa: meaning "I need it." |
| Maryssa: This is a phrase. |
| Laurent: To express need in French, you can use avoir besoin de. |
| Maryssa: Literally, it means "to have need of something." |
| Laurent: You can also use J'en ai besoin plus quelque chose, or an infinitive verb. |
| Maryssa: This can mean "to need to do." |
| Laurent: That’s right. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laurent: Sure. For example, you can say... J'ai besoin de toi. |
| Maryssa: ... which means "I need you." |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you'll learn about booking a meeting room. If we’re going to have a formal or important meeting, then we need a place to have it. |
| Laurent: Yes. You can use a sentence like Est-ce que la salle de réunion est libre… |
| Maryssa: "Is the meeting room free…" |
| Laurent: Or, Est que la salle de réunion est disponible… |
| Maryssa: "Is the meeting room available…" and then you add the date and time that you’re inquiring about. If you’re asking about a day, you should use the definite article. |
| Laurent: Yes, that is le. So, le lundi. |
| Maryssa: "On Monday." For time, you use the preposition... |
| Laurent: à, for example à 15 heures. |
| Maryssa: "At 3pm." Let’s hear some sentences with this altogether. |
| Laurent: Est-ce que la salle de réunion est disponible le mercredi après-midi ? |
| Maryssa: "Is the big meeting room free on Wednesday afternoon?" |
| Laurent: Est-ce que la salle de réunion est disponible à 14 heures ? |
| Maryssa: "Is the small meeting room available at 2 PM?" Now you have a time, you have to ask the attendees if they can make it. For example, |
| Laurent: Êtes-vous libre mercredi après-midi ? |
| Maryssa: "Are you free on Wednesday afternoon?" |
| Laurent: Est-ce que M. Jones est disponible à 14 heures ? |
| Maryssa: "Is Mr. Jones available at 2pm?" If you don’t have a set time, you can ask your co-workers what time is good for them. |
| Laurent: You can say, Quand es-tu disponible ? |
| Maryssa: "When are you available?" |
| Laurent: Quelle heure te convient ? |
| Maryssa: "What time is good for you?" |
| Laurent: Quelle heure t’arrange ? |
| Maryssa: "What time works for you?" Hopefully, your co-worker will respond with a time that works for you, too. But if it doesn’t, you’ll need to tell them that politely. Some phrases you can use include: |
| Laurent: Je suis occupé à ce moment là. |
| Maryssa: "I’m busy then." |
| Laurent: Je ne suis pas au bureau. |
| Maryssa: "I’m out of the office." |
| Laurent: J’ai prévu quelque chose d’autre. |
| Maryssa: "I have something else scheduled." |
Outro |
| Maryssa: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Laurent: A la prochaine! |
Comments
Hide