Breakthrough Language Series BUSINESS FRENCH Brian Hili with Didier Riccard, Mohammed Saad and Steve Burrough General editor Brian Hili Professor of Modem Languages, Brighton Polytechnic (Im ~1t\CMILLAN Acknowledgernents Many people have contributed to the development of Breakthrough Business French. I am indebted to members of the French business community who gave their time to be interviewed and to participate in the various dialogues. Steve Burrough and Didier Riccard organized many ofthe recordings in Normandy, and the technical operations were directed by Gerald Ramshaw. Mohammed Saad was invaluable in advising on the business scene in France and on the appropriateness ofbusiness terminology, and Sue Jones helped in the compilation ofthe material. Colleagues at Macmillan, particularly Jane Wightwick and John Winckler, were constantly on hand with support and advice. The scrappy handwritten drafts could never have been understood without the expert help of Zamy Alibhai, who transformed the original material into professionally presented and comprehensible texts. To all of the above I am extremely grateful. Without their invaluable help the course would never have seen the light of day. The authors and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright material: Banque de France, France Telecom, Hertz France S.A., P&O Ferries Ltd, and SNCF for advertising material, and The New York Times Syndication Sales for a table from the 29 May 1987 edition of L 'Express. Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity. Actors: Yves Aubert, Philippe Monnet, Carolle Rousseau Audio producer: Gerald Ramshaw, MAX 11 © Brian Hill 1992 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph ofthis publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, Landon WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1992 by THE MACMILlAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and Landon Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-54397-9 ISBN 978-1-349-22021-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22021-2 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 10987654321 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 Contents How to use this course 1 Hell0 7 Introducing yourself and your company 2 How do you get to ••• ? 23 Finding your way around 3 What do you do? 39 Describing your work, answering questions about yourself 4 At the hotel 57 Finding out about hotel facilities and how to hire them for a business conference 5 Yes, please? 73 Ordering drinks and snacks, hiring a car, opening a bank account, and paying the bill 6 Planning 89 Arranging a seminar, making appointments, discussing working conditions 7 On thephone 109 Making business calls, leaving messages, obtaining information by phone 8 Welcome 127 Finding out about a region or a company, explaining what your company can offer, showing visitors around 9 Buying and selling 143 Selling your company and its products, transporting and purchasing goods, establishing agencies 10 Let's get down to business 163 Bargaining and negotiating, organizing a business trip, discussing business plans 11 What have you done? 181 Outlining your career and preparing for a job interview, complaining about faulty goods, describing your week at work 12 The future 201 Making plans, discussing company training and personal hopes for the future Vocabulary: French-English 221 Vocabulary: English-French 230 Index (a list ofkey grammatical terms and expressions) 239 HOW 10 USE IHIS COURSE Breakthrough Business French is the ideal course for business people who have little or no previous knowledge of French. Here are some of its main features: • The key recordings have been made on location in French companies. The starting point for each unit is conversations and interviews with French people employed in a range of jobs. • The language and the situations are, therefore, authentie - you are taken from boardrooms to the factory floor, from commercial exhibitions to banks financing small businesses. • Business people have lives outside their jobs, and care is taken to provide training in the language which will help you to survive in hotels, restaurants and on the streets of France as weil as in companies. • The main emphasis througbout is on listening, speaking and reading - the skills you will find most useful in contacts with the French business world. • Before producing the course, we talked to hundreds of people about how they leam languages. The result is that great care has been taken with the Breakthrough Business series to ensure that you get enough opportunities to practise the language. We have inc1uded in each unit a variety of activities that get you involved in using the French that has been introduced to you in the authentie dialogues. • This is not a grammar course. Y ou first understand and then you use the language; only then are the main grammar features introduced to provide some cement and to explain how the language works. • Inc1uded in each unit is up-to-date information to ensure you are familiar with key features of the French business scene. General hints • Have confidence in uso Reallanguage is complex and there are certain things in each unit which are not explained in detail and which you may find difficult to understand, particularly on the first hearing. We will build up your knowledge slowly, emphasizing only what you really need to remember at each stage and making a distinction between language you need to use and language where you only need to understand the gist. • Try to practise regularly, but in short periods.20-30 minutes a day is usually better than 3-4 hours once a week. • To develop your speaking skills, do say the words and phrases out loud. This articulation of the language is important in building up a degree of confidence and fluency. • If you don't understand something, don't panic. Leave it for a while. Leaming a language is a bit like doing a jigsaw; it all eventually falls into place. • Don't be afraid to write in the book and add your own notes. • Go back over the units you have already studied. Y ou'll often be surprised at how much you understand and it helps remind you of the vocabulary. • Ifyou are not attending language c1asses, try to pair up with somebody else and leam with them. • If this is the first time you have used a recording to help you leam a language, practise using the pause and repeat-play controls on your cassette or CD player. • Leaming French may take more time than you thought. Just be patient and, above all, don't get angry with yourself. 4 How the course is organized and how to make the most of each unit There are twelve units, each one focusing on a particular aspect of Business French. Each unit is divided in the same way. In the first section, you get a numberof authentic recordings with transcripts of what is said together with notes and vocabulary. Each recording is followed by three or four exercises, some practising comprehension, some practising speaking. When the new location recordings have been introduced, explained and practised, all the main words and phrases are brought together in a list called Key words and phrases. Then come short sections which focus on grammar, reading, background information and some final 'open-ended' speaking practice. The book contains step-by-step instructions for working through the course: when to use the book or recording on its own, when to use them together. As the course progresses you may well evolve your own pattern of study and that's fine. As a starting point, here's how we suggest you approach each unit. Dialogues First, listen to each of the key dialogues without stopping the recording, just to get a fee! for the task ahead. Then go over the dialogue bit by bit in conjunction with the explanatory notes and vocabulary. You should get into the habit of playing the recordings repeatedly to give yourse!f time to think, listen to senten ces a number oftimes, and repeat them after the speaker. When you fee! confident you have at least understood what the dialogue is about and you have become familiar with the most important phrases, move on and do the associated exercises. Practise what These exercises have been carefully chosen to practise key vocabulary and you have learned structures. During the course you will come across many different types of exercises. Our presenter, Yves, will guide you through what to do and there are c1ear instructions in the book. Key words and By the time you get to this section you should be reasonably familiar with phrases most of the words and phrases listed. U se the list to test yourself, covering up and checking what you know, first the English and then the French column. This should ensure that you can remember the most important items. Read and In these sections you will be able to read the kind of written material - understand and signs, faxes, publicity brochures, etc. - that you are likely to come across in France; and you are given some up-to-date information on the organization Did you know? ofbusiness and commerce. Your turn to This final activity is open-ended. It is an opportunity for you to adapt the speak language of the unit to your own particular circumstances, so there are normally no 'correct' answers. When you've had a go at this guided speaking activity, you will he ar a model version on the recording. This will show you what someone e!se said and give you a few extra ideas. Answers The answers to all the exercises (except where the answers are given on the recording) can be found at the end of each unit. Vocabulary At the back of the book is a French-English and English-French vocabulary. This does not replace a dictionary, of course, but you should be able to use it as an alphabetical reference for most of the words you need. All of us involved in producing Breakthrough Business French hope you will enjoy the course and find it useful. Bon courage! 5 Sym.bols and abbreviations For cassette players Ifyour cassette recorder has a counter, set it to zero at the start of each unit and then note the number in the headphone symbol at the start of each dialogue. This will help you to find the right place on the tape when you want to wind back. For CD players Your player williocate each unit as a track number. Note the number from your display in the headphone symbol at the start of each dialogue. This will he1p you find the right place on your disc when you want to repeat play. • This indicates the most important words and phrases. m. masculine sing. singular f. feminine pI. plural lit. literally 6 HELLO Yo u will learn • to introduce yourself • to answer simple questions about yourself • to say where you work • to understand simple questions about your company • how best to address people in business and you will be given some information on France and the French language Study guide To help you keep a check on your progress, you could mark offthe various - tasks as you complete them. - Dialogue 1 + Practise what you have learned Dialogue 2 + Practise what you have learned - Dialogue 3 + Practise what you have learned Dialogue 4 + Practise what you have learned Ensure you know the Key words and phrases Study the Grannnar seetion Do the exercises in Read and understand Did you know? The French-speaking world Your turn to speak Before you start, do make sure you've read the introduction, which explains the fonnat of the course and how to make the most of it. UNIT 1 7 Dialogues 1 A meeting at the Chamber 01 Commerce Steve Ah bonjour Claude, comment vas-tu? Claude Bonjour Steve. Steve <;::a va? Claude <;::a va bien. Steve Bonjour Didier. Claude <;::a va Jean-Pierre? Jean-Pierre Tres bien merci et toi? Steve Bonjour monsieur ... Steve Burrough. Pascal Pascal More!. Steve Enchante. • • tres bien very good / very well merci thank you • Bonjour is the most common way of saying 'Hello'. Lit. 'Good day'. • Comment vas-tu? How are you? ut. 'How goes you?' To somebody you don't know too well you would say Comment allez-vous? • Ca va? How are you? Lit. 'It goes?' Remember in English we can say How's it going? or even How goes it? • Tres bien merci et toi? Very weil thanks and you? You can either reply to this with a smile, or you could simply answer with Ca va (OK) as a statement. Enchante is linked with enchanted in English but in French it's an everyday way of saying 'Pleased to meet you'. 8 UNIT 1 Practise what you have leamed After each dialogue there are a few practice activities to reinforce what you have learned. There are usually one or two comprehension activities then one to get you speaking. Where appropriate, you will find the answers at the end of each unit. 1 Listen on your recording to four people answering the question <;a va? See if you can spot (i) who is very weil indeed, (ii) who is okay and (iii) who is actually not too happy. (Answers on p. 22.) Ü ili ~ (a) Franc;;ois ~ (h) Marie-Claude ~ (e) M. Gauthier m (d) ,.> Jeanne ~ 2 Before you tackle the first speaking aetivity make sure you have read the section on how to make the most of each unit on p.S. On the recording you will be asked to take part in a little exchange of greetings, so start playing the recording now. UNIT 1 9