Englisch Im Job

257

Transcript of Englisch Im Job

Englisch im Job

Gertrud GoudswaardSander M. Schroevers

Inhalt

Teil 1: Business English

The First Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte 9J The letter / Der Brief 10J Making a telephone call / Telefonieren 13J Fax / Fax 16J E-mail / E-Mail 18J List of vocabulary 19J Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps 20

Travelling / Reisen 23J Booking a flight / Flug buchen 24J Hotel reservation / Hotelreservierung 25J Car rental / Autovermietung 27J At the airport / Am Flughafen 28J At the hotel / Im Hotel 31J List of vocabulary 33J Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps 35

The Company / Die Firma 37J Arrival at the company / Ankunft in der Firma 38J Meeting new colleagues / Die neuen Kollegen 40J Line of business / Branche 44J Finding your way around / Sich zurecht finden 45J The conference facilities / Der Konferenzraum 47J List of vocabulary 50J Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps 52

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Effective Business Discussions /Erfolgreich kommunizieren 55J Meetings / Sitzungen 56J Negotiations / Verhandlungen 67J Presentations / Präsentationen 70J List of vocabulary 83J Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps 89

After Business Hours / Nach Büroschluss 93J The personal invitation /Die persönliche Einladung 94

J At the restaurant / Im Restaurant 96J Small talk / Leichte Konversation 99J Saying goodbye / Abschied nehmen 103J List of vocabulary 105J Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps 108

J Alphabetical list of vocabulary / AlphabetischeWortschatzliste 111

J The international telephone alphabet /Internationale Buchstabierliste 129

J Abbreviations / Abkürzungen 129J Weights and measures / Gewichte und Maße 132J Temperature conversion / Temperaturumrechnung 133J Map of time zones / Zeitzonenkarte 135

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Teil 2: E-mails in English

An E-mail's Anatomy 139J Subject Lines That Work 140J Common Salutations and Openings 142J Ending an E-mail 149J Signatures and Disclaimers 153J E-mail Techniques: about CC and BCC 156

A Reader-friendly Approach 157J When to Use E-mail and When Not? 158J Structuring the Information 159J Formal or Informal? 164J Netiquette Guidelines 167J How to Deal with Attachments 170

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Common Business Situations 175J Requesting Information or Favours 176J Hotel or Conference Enquiries 179J Giving Enquiries 183J Change of Address 186J Appointments 187J Invitations 190J Sending Agendas and Minutes 197J Refusing a Request 199J Complaints 202J Apologies 203J Congratulations and Season's Greetings 205J Thanks 206J Payments and Reminders 207J Making Offers 210J Delivery and Incoterms 211J Numbers and Currency Symbols 213

Practical Reference 217J Linguistic Characteristics 218J Linguistic Differences: UK-USA 223J Useful Vocabulary and Key Terms 226J Abbreviations and Acronyms 231J False Friends 238J E-mail Features 239J Tables and Overviews 245J Electronic Guidelines on Internet 253

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Teil 1: Business English

VorwortWer ausländische Geschäftskontakte hat, kennt das: telefo-nieren, an einer Besprechung teilnehmen, Verträge diskutie-ren oder sich nach Feierabend locker mit den ausländischenKollegen oder dem Firmenchef unterhalten – auf Englisch!Viele fühlen sich in solchen Situationen unbehaglich oderhaben Angst, nicht die richtigen Worte und Redewendungenzu finden.

Hier bietet Ihnen dieser TaschenGuide die richtige Unterstüt-zung. Die Kapitel zeigen jeweils typische Berufssituationen,z.B. die ersten Kontakte per Brief, Fax, Mail und Telefon oderGeschäftsverhandlungen vor Ort. Sie lernen mit Hilfe vonBeispieltexten und -gesprächen, Mustersätzen und Satzbau-steinen. Am Ende eines jeden Kapitels finden Sie eine Liste desWortschatzes zum Thema sowie kulturelle und sprachlicheTipps. So können Sie noch sicherer auftreten und manchepeinliche Situation vermeiden. Spezifisch britische Ausdrückesind mit BE für British English, spezifisch amerikanische mitAmE für American English gekennzeichnet.

Viel Erfolg mit Ihren englischsprachigen Geschäftspartnernwünscht Ihnen

Gertrud Goudswaard

8 Vorwort

The First Contacts /Die ersten Kontakte

In diesem Kapitel erfahren Sie, welche Konventionen Sie beimersten Kontakt berücksichtigen sollten und wie Sie

J einen Brief,J ein Telefonat,J ein Fax oder eine E-Mail

optimal in der Fremdsprache gestalten.

9

The letter / Der BriefExample

Ü 1 Miller Communications Inc.4 Pheasant Run, Chicago, IL 60607

tel. 201-9349493

2 Our ref. MC / JD

3 30th August, 20XX

Fa. Hirsch GmbHMoellerstrasse 4070469 StuttgartGermany

4 For the attention of Mr G. Horst

5 Dear Mr Horst,

6 Our annual clients' meeting

7 As you may have heard we annually arrange meetings forour clients in the States, Europe and Asia at which theyhave the opportunity to get informed about the latestinnovations in telecommunications.

Knowing of your experience in the field of electroniccommunications we would like to invite you as a guestspeaker in our annual meeting in Chicago on October 15.Details on the program will be enclosed.

We do hope that you will be present on this occasion andlook forward to hearing from you soon.

8 Yours sincerely,

Martin S. Chester

c.c. (Verteiler)

Enc. (Anlage)

RSVP (um Antwort wird gebeten)

10 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

Die richtige FormGeschäftsbriefe folgen stets relativ strengen Richtlinien (sieheMusterbrief). Folgende Regeln sollten Sie beachten:

1 Unter dem Briefkopf steht

2 die Bezugszeichenzeile (Our ref. / Your ref.) am linkenRand und

3 rechts das Datum. Für die Schreibweise des Datums gibtes folgende Möglichkeiten:30th August / August 30 / 30 August / August 30thFormen wie 11/05 oder 11-05 sollten Sie vermeiden, dasie im britischen Englisch „11. Mai“, im Amerikanischenaber „5. November“ bedeuten.Wenn die Adresse des Absenders nicht schon im Briefkopfenthalten ist, steht sie rechts über dem Datum.

4 Besondere Anmerkungen wie confidential (vertraulich)oder for the attention of (zu Händen von) folgen meistder Adresse.

5 Die Anrede:Wenn der Name des Adressaten bekannt ist:Dear Mr Chester / Mrs Chester / Miss ChesterWenn der Name nicht bekannt ist:Dear Sir / Dear Madam / Dear Madam or SirWenn eine Firma angeschrieben wird:Dear Sirs (BE) / Gentlemen (AmE)

6 Die Betreffzeile folgt, im Gegensatz zum deutschen Ge-schäftsbrief, der Anrede und wird unterstrichen.

7 Der Briefanfang wird groß geschrieben.

The let ter / Der Br ief 11

8 Die Gruß- und Schlussformel ist abhängig von der Anre-deform:Dear Mr / Mrs / Miss – Yours sincerelyDear Sir(s) or Dear Madam – Yours faithfullyAmerikanische Briefe werden oft abgeschlossen mit:Sincerely (yours) oder Yours trulySchreiben Sie jemandem regelmäßig oder kennen Sie diePerson sehr gut, können Sie verwenden:Best wishes / Kind regards / Best regards / Regards

Useful PhrasesStarting a letter / Briefanfang

J Thank you for your letter of August 30th.J With reference to / Further to …J In reply to your letter …

Accepting an invitation / Eine Einladung annehmen

J We shall be very happy to accept your invitation to …J I should like to accept …

Rejecting an invitation / Eine Einladung ablehnen

J We regret / are sorry to inform you …J Unfortunately we have to inform you that …J I am afraid that I will not be able …

12 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

Confirmation / Bestätigung

J We are pleased to confirm …

J We acknowledge receipt of your letter of …

Request / Bitte

J We would appreciate if …J Could you please …?J I would be grateful if …

Ending a letter / Brief abschließen

J I look forward to hearing from you soon.J Thank you in advance …J I am looking forward to meeting you.J If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us.

Making a telephone call /TelefonierenBereiten Sie sich auf ein Telefonat in einer Fremdsprache gutvor. Machen Sie sich vorab Notizen mit den wichtigstenMitteilungen und Fragen und legen Sie sich eine Liste mitRedewendungen neben das Telefon. Sprechen Sie langsamund lassen Sie sich Zeit zum Überlegen. Sie werden sicherlichgebeten, Ihren Namen und den Ihrer Firma zu buchstabieren:Could you please spell your name? Benutzen Sie dazu dieinternationale Buchstabierliste im Anhang. Vergessen Sie

Making a te lephone cal l / Te lefonieren 13

nicht, auch Ihre eigene Telefonnummer mit Landeskennzahl(country code) durchzugeben.

Example

Ü A: Miller Communications. Good morning. Can I help you?

B: This is Mr Horst speaking. Could I speak to Mr Chester, please?

A: One moment please. I'm sorry but Mr Chester is on the otherline – will you please hold the line? I'll put you through as soonas possible. Or would you like to leave a message?

B: Could you ask Mr Chester to call me back?

A: Of course, what was your name again?

B: My name is Richard Horst.

A: Could you please spell your last name?

B: That's H for Harry, O for Oliver, R for Robert, S for Sugar and Tfor Tommy.

A: OK, my colleague will call you back as soon as possible.

Thank you for calling and goodbye.

Useful phrasesDirectory enquiries (BE), Assistance (AmE) /Telefonauskunft

J Could you please give me the number of …J What's the country code, area code of …J You must omit the 0 (ausgesprochen [o] BE und zero AmE)before the area code.

J I would like to make a reverse charge call (BE) / collect call(AmE).

J I'd like to book a person to person call.

14 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

Starting the call / Das Gespräch beginnenJ Hello, this is …J Could I speak to …?J Could you put me through to …?J I'm calling about / to …

Making an appointment, arranging a date /Termine vereinbarenJ I'd like to make an appointment with …J Would the 28th of August suit you / be convenient / be OK?J Could we meet on Friday the 28th?J How about Friday the 28th?

Changing appointments / Termine verschiebenJ I'm afraid that / sorry but …J I have to change / postpone our appointment.J I can't make it on Monday.J Could we arrange another date?J I'm afraid I have to cancel the meeting.

Problems / ProblemeJ We have a bad connection.J Would you speak a little louder / more slowly please?J You've got the wrong number.J I've dialed the wrong number.J I'm sorry, he's not available, try again later.

Making a te lephone cal l / Te lefonieren 15

J I beg your pardon?J I didn't catch that, would you repeat that please?

Closing the call / Das Gespräch beendenJ Right / So / Well / OK!J Thank you for calling / the information / your help.J Goodbye!J I look forward to hearing from you again.J I'll talk to you later / soon.

Answering machine, answerphone /AnrufbeantworterJ The number you're calling is momentarily unavailable.J Please, leave a message after the tone / signal / beep.J We'll call you back as soon as possible.

Fax / FaxDa das Fax hauptsächlich als schnelle und sichere Datenüber-tragung dient, zur Bestätigung von Lieferungen oder Reser-vierungen (siehe z.B. Abschnitt „Hotelreservierung“) und zumWeiterleiten von Formularen oder Dokumenten, gibt es kaumFax-Formalitäten. Das Fax ist deshalb für formelle Briefe auchnicht geeignet. Damit es kurz und bündig bleibt, werden beimFax häufig Abkürzungen benützt, die manchmal die Verständ-lichkeit etwas beeinträchtigen. Groß- und Kleinschreibungwerden dabei nicht beachtet.

16 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

Example

Ü 25/11/XX

ATTN: Millers comunications Chicago, Pchsing Dpt.

Re order BR 1826/5H

rcvd 20 boxes tday. 4 dmged.

pls send new boxes asap. del. urgent.

rgds.

sales dpt. Collins&Co.London

Ohne Abkürzungen würde das Fax so lauten:For the attention of Millers communications Chicago, the Pur-chasing Department.

With reference to the order number BR 1826/5H

We received 20 boxes today, 4 of which were damaged.

Please send us new boxes as soon as possible, as the delivery isvery urgent.

Regards.

Sales Department Collins&Co. London

Useful abbreviations / Abkürzungen

J asap – as soon as possibleJ attn – for the attention ofJ cfm – confirmJ dlvry – deliveryJ eta – expected time of arrivalJ pchsing dept – purchasing DepartmentJ pls – pleaseJ qt – quantity

Fax / Fax 17

J rcpt / rcvdJ receipt / receivedJ re – referring toJ rgds – regardsJ yr – your

J U – you

E-mail / E-MailDie E-Mail ist so schnell und unkompliziert, dass sie sich raschals Alternative zum Telefon oder Brief durchgesetzt hat.Inzwischen haben viele bereits mit einer Flut an Mails zukämpfen. Um den E-Mail-Verkehr zu optimieren, haben sichfolgende Abkürzungen in der Betreffzeile durchgesetzt: RE(bezüglich) beim Beantworten einer E-Mail, REQ (request),wenn Ihre E-Mail dringend ist und eine Reaktion fordert, FYI(for your information) und BTW (by the way), um dem Emp-fänger deutlich zu machen, dass Sie keine direkte Reaktionoder Handlung erwarten und ihn nur informieren möchten.

Example

Ü RE: Your request for list of conference participants

REQ: reservation hotel accommodation

FYI: interesting sights in Chicago

BTW: 29th is a Bankholiday.

18 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

List of vocabularyacknowledge bestätigen (Empfang)

annually jährlich

appreciate zu schätzen wissen

area code Ortsnetzkennzahl

collect call (AmE) R-Gespräch

confidential vertraulich

confirm bestätigen

convenient günstig, passend

country code Landeskennzahl

directory assistance (AmE) Telefonauskunft

directory inquiries

(BE) /assistance

Telefonauskunft

enclosure Anlage

extension number Durchwahl

for the attention of zu Händen von

hesitate zögern

hold the line am Apparat bleiben

in advance im Voraus

in reply to mit Bezug auf

leave hinterlassen

List of vocabulary 19

line Verbindung

long distance call (AmE) Ferngespräch

occasion Gelegenheit

postpone verschieben

put through; connect verbinden

receipt Empfang

reference Bezug

regards Grüße

reply; response Antwort

request Anfrage

reverse charge call (BE) R-Gespräch

salutation Anrede

spell buchstabieren

subject line Betreffzeile

suit passen

trunk call (BE) Ferngespräch

Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps

Eine Unterschrift leistenWenn Sie unter einen Brief, einen Vertrag oder �hnliches IhreUnterschrift setzen sollen, werden sie meist mit den folgen-

20 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

den Worten darum gebeten: Could you please sign here? / Putyour signature here. Es gibt aber auch eine Variante, dieAmerikaner untereinander benützen: Could you put yourJohn Hancock here? Dieser Ausdruck hat historische Wurzeln.Er geht zurück auf die Unterzeichnung der Unabhängigkeits-erklärung (Declaration of independence) am 4. Juli 1776durch John Hancock, Präsident des Kontinentalkongresses.Dieser Tag ist bis heute ein nationaler Feiertag in den USA,bekannt als Independence Day.

Termine am Telefon vereinbarenObwohl das Telefon gut geeignet ist, um Termine zu verein-baren, kommt es doch häufig zu Missverständnissen, vorallem bei den Zeitangaben. Im Englischen wird nämlichmeistens nur mit der 12-Stunden-Angabe gearbeitet. So wird8.30 Uhr als 8.30 a.m. und 20.30 Uhr als 8.30 p.m. angegeben.Um Probleme zu vermeiden, sagen Sie lieber 8.30 in themorning oder in the evening. Die Engländer sagen auch gernehalf eight, was in manchen Teilen Englands unserem halbneun, in anderen Regionen unserem halb acht entspricht.Entweder vereinbaren Sie nur Termine zur ganzen Stundeoder Sie fragen noch einmal nach, zum Beispiel so: Do youmean 8.30 in the morning or in the evening? Lassen Sie sichauf jeden Fall zur Sicherheit den Termin schriftlich per Faxoder E-Mail bestätigen: Could you please confirm the timeand date by fax / E-mail?

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 21

E-Mails unter FreundenE-Mails werden häufig für die persönliche, alltägliche Kom-munikation unter guten Freunden und Kollegen eingesetzt,wobei Stil und Ton entsprechend locker und informell sind.Rechtschreibung und Satzzeichen werden dabei meist miss-achtet. Vor allem in den USA wurde es zum Spiel, Abkür-zungen für ganz alltägliche Ausdrücke einzuführen. Die untenaufgeführten Beispiele zeigen, dass dabei die Möglichkeitenwirklich unbegrenzt sind und die Fantasie des Empfängersziemlich gefordert wird. Bedenken Sie aber, dass diese Abkür-zungen nur unter guten Freunden und Kollegen benütztwerden!

Examples

Ü afaik – as far as I know

bbl – be back later

btw – by the way

cu – see you

ic – I see

imho – in my humble opinion

irl – in real life

lol – laughing out loud

rtfm – read the f… manual

ttm – talk to me

22 The Fi rst Contacts / Die ersten Kontakte

Travelling / Reisen

In diesem Kapitel finden Sie die wichtigsten Redewendungenund Vokabeln, mit denen Sie auch dann gut weiterkommen,wenn es auf Reisen irgendwo Schwierigkeiten gibt. Sie erfah-ren, wie Sie auf Englisch

J einen Flug buchen,J ein Hotel reservieren,J ein Auto mieten undJ die ersten Gespräche bei Ankunft im Hotel führen.

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Booking a flight / Flug buchenAbflugzeit (time of departure) und Ankunftszeit (time ofarrival) werden immer in Ortszeit angegeben. Achten Siedarum beim Aufstellen ihres Reiseplans (itinerary) immer aufden Zeitunterschied (siehe Zeitzonenkarte im Anhang). WennSie einen Fenster-, Mittel- oder Gangplatz reservieren wollen,fragen Sie nach einem window seat, einem middle seatbeziehungsweise aisle seat (ausgesprochen [ail si:t]).

Example

Ü A: I'd like to book a direct flight from Miami to Chicago on the28th of August, please.

B: Business or economy class, single or return?

A: Return ticket, economy class, please.

B: I'm sorry but there are no direct flights available, you'll have tomake a stop-over in New York. Departure from Miami at 7.35a.m., arrival at New York 9.45 a.m., connecting flight to Chicagoat 11.05. a.m., arrival at Chicago 12.30 p.m.

A: O.K. I'll take that flight then. Could you reserve an aisle seat,please?

B: I'll give you seat number 17c. Your confirmation number isTG01K8 and your tickets will be available at the airline informa-tion desk. Check-in will be 2 hours before take-off.

A: Thanks.

Useful phrasesBooking a flight / Flug buchen

J I would like to book a flight to …J I'd like a single / return ticket (BE).

24 Trave l l ing / Reisen

J How much is a one-way / round-trip (AmE) to … ?J What is the city of destination?J What is the time of departure / arrival?

Problems / Probleme

J I'm afraid this flight is fully booked.J There are no more seats available.J There's no direct flight / non-stop flight to …J All inland flights / domestic flights have been cancelled.J There is no connecting flight to …J Could you put me on stand-by / the waiting list?

Hotel reservation / HotelreservierungSo wie in Deutschland haben Sie die Auswahl zwischen Über-nachtung mit Frühstück (bed & breakfast), Halbpension (halfboard) und Vollpension (full board), Doppelzimmer (doubleroom), Einzelzimmer (single room), mit Bad (bath) oder Du-sche (shower). In den USA wird zusätzlich immer die Bett-größe erwähnt: king-size bezeichnet ein 2 m breites Bett,queen-size ein ungefähr 1,50 m breites Bett und twin bedssind zwei Einzelbetten.

Hotel reservat ion / Hote l reserv ierung 25

Example

Ü Dear Sir / Madam,

I would like to confirm our telephone call of March 16th

concerning my reservation of 1 double room with bed andbreakfast for 4 nights from the 28th of August till the 1st ofSeptember. Would you be so kind as to confirm this booking byfax, stating the confirmation number and including sometravelling directions towards your hotel?

Regards R. Horst

Useful phrasesBooking a room / Zimmer reservieren

J I would like to reserve / book a double room with shower,please.

J I require / need accommodation for the following nights.J I'd prefer a non-smoking room.J Have you got any vacancies? / Do you have any roomsavailable?

J How much is the room per night, with breakfast / halfboard / full board?

J How much do you charge for a single room with bath?J I'm not sure whether I'll be staying 3 or 4 nights.J Is the hotel nearby the airport / motorway / city centre?

Problems / Probleme

J I'm afraid we're fully booked.J We regret to inform you that we have no rooms available.

26 Trave l l ing / Reisen

J Wewill not be able to accommodate you during that period.J We can only offer you a continental breakfast.J Due to renovations our hotel will be closed.

Car rental / AutovermietungWichtig beim Automieten sind v. a. die verschiedenen Ver-sicherungsbedingungen: Haftpflichtversicherung (liability in-surance), Insassenunfallversicherung (passenger insurance),Vollkaskoversicherung (comprehensive insurance) und Haf-tungsausschluss (collision damage waiver / loss damage wai-ver). Meistens können Sie einen Vertrag mit oder ohne Mei-lenbegrenzung wählen (limited / unlimited mileage).

Useful phrases

J I'd like to rent a car with unlimited mileage.J What is the mileage charge?J Can I see your driver's license (AmE) / driving licence (BE)?J What do I do if the car breaks down?J What kind of fuel does the car take?J How much is the passenger insurance?

Problems / Probleme

J This car seems to be damaged.J I don't know how the automatic works;I'm used to a manual / stick.

J The car won't start.

Car rental / Autovermietung 27

J What is the car's numberplate?J I'm afraid your driving licence is invalid.J I've lost the car documents.J I'm afraid we forgot to fill it up.

At the airport / Am FlughafenEs ist meistens nicht sehr schwierig sich auf Flughäfen zurechtzu finden. Probleme gibt es jedoch oft dann, wenn Ansagen perLautsprecher gemacht werden, die durch den Lärm und dieschlechte Qualität akustisch kaum zu verstehen sind. WennSie Ihre Fluggesellschaft (air line), Flugnummer (flight-number)und den Zielort (destination) wissen, fragen Sie zur Sicherheitkurz nach, ob die Ansage Ihren Flug oder Ihre Person betrifft.

Example

Ü Announcement: Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention, please!All FH 126 transfer passengers continuing their flight with desti-nation Cairo are now requested to proceed immediately to gate 28!Will passenger Mr Johnson please come to the … airlines infor-mation desk!Question: Excuse me, I couldn't hear the announcement. Was itconcerning flightnumber … destination … or did they ask for MrHorst?

Useful phrasesChecking in / Einchecken

J I'm sorry, where's the check-in counter for … airlines?J Have you got any handbaggage / carry-on luggage?

28 Trave l l ing / Reisen

J I'm sorry, this suitcase is too large, you'll have to check itin.

J What's the charge for excess luggage?J This is your boarding card.J Your flight departs from terminal 1 gate 8.J It's through concourse 4 on level 2.

Flight information / Fluginformation

J You'll find the information on the arrival / departure board.J The estimated time of arrival (ETA) / departure (ETD) is …J The scheduled time of arrival (STA) / departure (STD) is …

J The actual time of arrival (ATA) / departure (ATD) is …J Flight KL466 from New York has just landed.J We're sorry but the flight has been delayed / cancelled.

Rescheduling / Umbuchen

J My flight has been cancelled. When is the next flight to …?J I'd like an earlier flight.J I'd like an upgrade from economy class to business class.J Could I change my reservation, please?J I missed my connection and I have to be at a meeting,could you find out if there are any flights available?

At the ai rport / Am Flughafen 29

Immigration / Einreise

J All EU citizens to the right please.

J May I see your passport please?J What is the purpose of your visit?J I'm here on business.J Where are you staying?J You can go through then.

Problems / Probleme

J Your passport / visa is invalid.J You must fill in an address or a hotel where you'll bestaying.

J You haven't filled out the complete form.

Baggage reclaim / Gepäckausgabe

J Excuse me, I need a baggage cart / luggage trolley.J Can you change money; I need coins for the cart.J You can collect your luggage at carousel 4.J Your luggage is on the other conveyor belt.J I think that is my suitcase.J Could you help me with his suitcase, it's rather heavy.

Problems / Probleme

J I've lost my suitcase / my suitcase was damaged.J You have to report that at baggage retracing.

30 Trave l l ing / Reisen

J You have to fill in this questionnaire.J Could you send my suitcase to the following address?

Customs clearance / Zollabfertigung

J Do you have anything to declare?J Could I see your customs declaration form, please?J Would you please open your suitcase?J I'm afraid you're over the allowance.J You have to pay duty on the excess.

At the hotel / Im HotelExample

Ü A: Good evening. My name is Horst. I made a reservation for 4nights.

B: Welcome to our hotel Mr Horst. Could I have your confirma-tion number, please?

A: Here you are!

B: Thanks. Would you just register here, please? Here's your key.Your room number is 215. It's on the 2nd floor at the end of thecorridor, on the right. You can leave your baggage in the lobby;I'll call the bellboy to bring it up to your room.

A: At what time do you serve breakfast?

B: We serve breakfast from 7.00 a.m. till 9.30 a.m.

A: Could you give me a wake-up call at 7.30 a.m. please?

B: Sure, no problem. I hope you'll enjoy your stay.

At the hotel / Im Hote l 31

Useful phrasesAt the reception desk / An der Rezeption

J I've booked a room for 2 nights.J I'd like to extend my stay for an extra 2 nights, please.J My wife will be joining me this weekend. Will there be anextra charge?

J Do you offer an overnight laundry / (dry-)cleaning service?J Can I send a fax to my office from here?J Could you arrange for a taxi at 3 o'clock this afternoon,please?

J Are there any messages for me?J Could I have my shirt ironed?

Problems / Probleme

J I'm afraid I've lost my key / key card.J I can't get the air-conditioning / television to work.J Could I change rooms? My neighbours are very noisy / loud.J I can't turn off / on the heating.J The toilet is blocked / doesn't flush.J Do you have a hairblower (AmE) / hairdryer (BE) / extratowels?

J The tap (BE) / faucet (AmE) is dripping.J I'd like to see the manager, please.

32 Trave l l ing / Reisen

Checking out / Abreise

J Could I have a late check-out, please?

J I'd like to check out, please.J We're leaving today. Could you make up my bill / check?J Can I pay by credit card?J Could you make a separate bill for my telephone calls,please?

J Did you have anything from the minibar?

List of vocabularyaccommodate; lodge unterbringen

actual time of arrival tatsächliche Ankunftszeit

announcement Ansage

baggage (AmE); luggage (BE) Gepäck

baggage (re)claim Gepäckabfertigung

baggage allowance Freigepäck

baggage carousel; baggageconveyor belt

Gepäckförderband

baggage tracing Gepäckermittlung

bill (BE); check (AmE) Rechnung

cart (AmE); trolley (BE) Gepäckwagen

charge Gebühr

List of vocabulary 33

concourse; hall Halle

connecting flight Anschlussflug

customs clearance Zollabfertigung

customs declaration Zollerklärung

declare verzollen

domestic flights;inland flights

Inlandflüge

estimated time of arrival voraussichtliche Ankunftszeit

excess luggage Übergepäck

extend verlängern

fill up a car tanken

flush spülen (Toilette)

gate Flugsteig

hairblower (AmE);hair-dryer (BE)

Haarfön

(in)valid (un)gültig

itinerary Reiseplan

laundry / (dry-)cleaning Wäscherei /(Trocken-) Reinigung

level Ebene

manual; stick Gangschaltung

porter (BE); bell boy (AmE) Gepäckträger

34 Trave l l ing / Reisen

proceed sich begeben

request Bitte

return ticket (BE);round-trip ticket (AmE)

Rückfahrkarte

scheduled time of departure planmäßige Abflugszeit

stopover Zwischenlandung

tap (BE); faucet (AmE) Wasserhahn

upgrade aufwerten

Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps

„Höflichkeit“ am FlughafenAuf amerikanischen Flughäfen scheint courtesy (Höflichkeit)groß geschrieben zu werden: Sie begegnen dem Begriff aufSchritt und Tritt und in allen möglichen Kombinationen.

Example

Ü J Courtesy transportation is available from each terminal.

J You'll find the hotel courtesy shuttles right outside the arrivalhall.

J There are courtesy telephones in the hall.

J You'll find courtesy carts in the baggage claim area.

Amerikaner verstehen in diesem Kontext unter „Höflichkeit“Kundendienst oder Service, und courtesy bedeutet dabei, dassdie jeweiligen Dienstleistungen gratis sind.

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 35

Englisches und amerikanisches FrühstückDas traditionelle English oder cooked breakfast besteht meis-tens aus coffee / tea / orange juice, toast with butter andmarmelade, cereals (z.B. Cornflakes) oder porridge (Haferbrei),bacon and eggs (Speck mit Eier) oder scrambled eggs (Rührei),baked beans (weiße Bohnen in Tomatensauce), baked toma-toes, sausages (gebratene Würstchen) und kippers (geräu-cherte Heringe). In den USA ist das Frühstück ähnlich reich-haltig. Sie können wählen zwischen pancakes with maplesyrup (Pfannkuchen mit Ahornsirup), baked potatoes, muffins,cereals, omelettes und eggs, sunny side up (Spiegelei) oderover easy (gewendetes Spiegelei). Dazu bekommen Sie so vielKaffee, wie Sie möchten. In den USA wird immer auch decaf(koffeinfreier Kaffee) angeboten. Ein leichteres Frühstück istdas continental breakfast, bestehend aus Kaffee oder Tee,Brötchen, Butter und Marmelade.

Alternatives AutomietenMöchten Sie mal so richtig amerikanisch Auto fahren? Dannsollten Sie Ihr Auto statt bei einer der großen internationalenFirmen in einem der kleineren Privatunternehmen mieten, diesich ironischerweise Rent a Wreck (Miete ein Wrack) nennen.Hier bekommen Sie günstige Angebote für etwas ältere Mo-delle, und Sie haben die Möglichkeit, einen echten amerikani-schen Schlitten zu fahren – natürlich nur nach dem Motto:

No risk no fun!

36 Trave l l ing / Reisen

The Company / Die Firma

Vor Ort bei Ihrem ausländischen Geschäftspartner wollen Siesich möglichst rasch in der neuen Umgebung zurechtfindenund die Kollegen kennenlernen.

In diesem Kapitel finden Sie dazu das nötige kulturelle Wis-sen, die passenden Sätze und das Vokabular für

J die Ankunft in der neuen Firma,J die ersten persönlichen Kontakte mit den neuen Kollegenoder Geschäftspartnern,

J die Vorbereitung einer Sitzung.

37

Arrival at the company / Ankunft inder FirmaIhre Ankunft in der Firma wird zunächst einmal damit begin-nen, sich zu begrüßen und sich gegenseitig vorzustellen.Wenn man sich zum ersten Mal trifft, benützt man die Gruß-form How do you do? Man antwortet darauf entweder eben-falls mit How do you do? oder auch mit Nice / pleased to meetyou (Schön, Sie kennenzulernen). How are you? bedeutet eher„Wie geht's?“ und wird meistens beantwortet mit Fine, thanksand how are you?

Example

Ü Mr Horst: Good morning, my name's Mr Horst. I have anappointment with Mr Chester.

Mr Smith: Ah, Mr Horst we've been expecting you! I'm Mr Smith.I'm the assistant purchasing manager at Millers. How do you do?

Mr Horst: Pleased to meet you, Mr Smith.

Mr Smith: As Mr Chester is held up in a meeting until 12.30, heasked me to introduce you to your new colleagues and show youaround the premises. Let me first introduce you to our faithfulsecretary, Mrs Simpson.

Mr Horst: How do you do?

Mrs Simpson: How do you do? Welcome at our company. Did youhave a good flight?

Mr Horst: Yes, thank you.

38 The Company / Die F i rma

Useful phrasesIntroducing / Vorstellen

J My name is … / I'm …J How do you do? / Pleased to meet you.J Let me / May I introduce … / This is …J Have you met …?J Yes we have. Nice to see you again.J How are you?

Questions and answers / Fragen und Antworten

J Did you have a good trip / journey? – Yes, thank you.J Is this your first time in …? – Yes it is / no it's the secondtime.

J How long have you been here? – I arrived yesterday.

J How long and where are you staying? – I'll be staying for 3more days in the Plaza hotel.

J Are you satisfied with your hotel? – Yes, I am thanks. / NoI'm afraid I'm not.

J Could we have lunch together? – Yes. I'd love to. / I'm sorrybut I can't. / I'm afraid I have another appointment.

Arr ival at the company / Ankunft in der F i rma 39

Meeting new colleagues / Die neuenKollegenNachdem man sich kurz vorgestellt hat, interessiert zualler-erst, für welchen Tätigkeitsbereich man jeweils zuständig ist.Die deutschen Berufsbezeichnungen einfach zu übersetzen,macht wenig Sinn, da man im Englischen eher die Tätigkeitumschreibt. Selten nennt man hier einfach die Berufsbezeich-nung. Sie werden denn auch häufig gefragt What do you do?,wo Sie im Deutschen fragen würden „Was sind Sie vonBeruf?“. Nennen Sie als Antwort die Abteilung, in der Sie tätigsind, z.B. I'm in Research & Development (Forschung undEntwicklung), oder den Bereich, für den Sie zuständig sind:I'm responsible for / in charge of the after-sales service(Kundenbetreuung). Auch die hierarchische Position in derFirma können Sie angeben: I'm the managing director (sieheauch Abschnitt „Line of business“). Manchmal wird auch derVorgesetzte erwähnt: I report to Mr Johnson.

Lediglich in Formularen oder Verträgen, wenn nach occupa-tion oder profession (Beruf) gefragt wird, brauchen Sie einekurze Berufsbezeichnung. Die wichtigsten finden Sie in derunten stehenden Liste.

Example

Ü Mr Smith: Let me introduce you to Mr Mansion, he is the head ofhuman resources / the personnel department and directly reportsto Mr Miller.

As he's responsible for our salaries and fringe benefits the wholestaff tries to stay friends with him.

Mr Horst: Nice to meet you, Mr Mansion.

40 The Company / Die F i rma

Mr Mansion: Nice to meet you too. Now that you're here, couldyou please send me a list of all your expenses, including thereceipts, before your return to Germany?

Mr Horst: Of course, with pleasure!

Useful PhrasesIntroduction / Vorstellung

J What do you do?J I'm in administration.J He's in charge of advertisingJ She's responsible for …J He's my boss. / He's my superior. / I report to him.J Who does he report to? Who's his boss?J He works part-time / full-time.J I organize the work shifts.J He plans the production programmes.J That's not my job / work.J I supervise production.J He deals with personnel problems.J I'm a temporary worker / temp.

Meet ing new col leagues / Die neuen Kol legen 41

Departments / Abteilungen

accounting Buchhaltung

administration Verwaltung

advertising department Werbeabteilung

after-sales service Kundenbetreuung

assembly Montage

customer service Kundenberatung

despatch; dispatch Versand

finance department Finanzabteilung

human resources;personnel department

Personalabteilung

information technology (IT) IT-Abteilung

legal department Rechtsabteilung

logistics Logistik

marketing Marketing

orders Bestellungen

production Produktion

public relations (PR) Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

purchasing Einkauf

research and development(R&D)

Forschung und Entwicklung(F&E)

42 The Company / Die F i rma

sales and distribution Vertrieb

warehouse Lagerhalle

Occupation, profession / Beruf

accountant Buchhalter /-in

apprentice Lehrling

branch manager Filialleiter /-in

caretaker Hausmeister /-in

clerk; office worker kaufmännische(r)Angestellte(r)

engineer; technician Ingenieur /-in; Techniker /-in

foreman Meister /-in (im Betrieb)

lawyer Rechtsanwalt /-anwältin

master Meister /-in (im Handwerk)

mechanic Mechaniker /-in

personnel manager;head of the personneldepartment

Personalleiter /-in

plant manager Werkleiter /-in

porter Pförtner

sales representative; rep Handelsvertreter /-in

Meet ing new col leagues / Die neuen Kol legen 43

salesperson Verkäufer /-in (im Betrieb)

secretary Sekretär /-in

temporary; temp Aushilfskraft

trainee Auszubildender

Line of business / BrancheAuch wenn Sie Ihre Firma vorstellen wollen, erklären Sie ambesten, was Ihr Betrieb herstellt (produces), verarbeitet (pro-cesses), importiert oder exportiert (imports or exports), wen erbeliefert (supplies) oder in welcher Branche Sie tätig sind(which line of business you're in). Vorsicht übrigens mit demenglischen Wort branch: Es bedeutet „Filiale“ oder „Zweig-stelle“, das deutsche „Branche“ müssen Sie mit line of busi-ness übersetzen.

Example

Ü Mr Horst: I work for a company called Hirsch ltd.

We are a medium-sized electronics company which initiallyproduced household appliances but since 1990 has specializedin telecommunications.

The company is based in Stuttgart and we have a few branchesthroughout Germany. We export our products mainly to Japanand recently also to the USA.

Useful Phrases

J Our head / main office is in Frankfurt.J Our main business is communications.

44 The Company / Die F i rma

J We have offices / branches / subsidiariesJ I'm in the oil / computer / construction etc. business.J We employ 200 people. / We have a staff of 200.J We're a service company / provider.J We have some overseas subsidiaries.

J We specialize in telecommunications.J We do a lot of business with the USAJ We supply spare parts.J We produce / manufacture electrical devices.

Finding your way around / Sichzurecht findenDas „Erdgeschoss“ wird in Großbritannien the ground floorgenannt. In den USA aber zählt das Erdgeschoss schon alserstes Stockwerk und heißt dann auch the first floor, der„erste Stock“ ist demnach the second floor usw. Wird dieHöhe eines Gebäudes angegeben spricht man oft von storeys(stories). Zum Beispiel: He lives on the second floor in a fivestorey(ed) (storied) house (in einem fünfstöckigen Haus).

Wenn Sie nach dem Weg fragen oder um etwas bitten, be-nutzen Sie immer die Höflichkeitsform: Could you, please …?oder Would you, please …? (Könnten Sie / würden Sie bitte …?)und nicht Can you?, das etwas unhöflich wirkt. Wenn Sie nachden Fähigkeiten eines Kollegen fragen, ist Can you? dagegendie richtige Formel.

F inding your way around / Sich zurecht f inden 45

Example

Ü A: Could you show me the conference room, please?

B: Sure, it's on the sixth floor, on the top of the building, at theend of the corridor next to the advertising department andopposite the rest rooms.

A: The sixth floor! I do hope you have an elevator!

B: Don't worry, there's one right behind the stairs near the mainentrance.

A: Thanks very much!

B: You're welcome.

Useful phrasesAsking the way / Nach dem Weg fragen

J Could you tell me where the … is? – It's on the third floor.

J Excuse me, how do I find the …? – It's behind the lift (BE) /elevator (AmE). / You're standing right in front of it.

J How do I get to your office? – Go through that glass doorand … / Go along this corridor.

J Would you, please, show me the car park (BE) / parking lot(AmE)? – You have to go past the production plant / works.There's a parking garage in the basement.

J Where can I find the photocopier? – It's next to / by thepost room.

J Which building is the conference centre? It's the buildingon the left. / The building is on the other side of / acrossthe street.

46 The Company / Die F i rma

The conference facilities /Der KonferenzraumWenn Sie selbst eine Sitzung leiten sollen oder eine Präsen-tation vorbereitet haben, ist es meist sinnvoll, den Raumvorher kurz zu begutachten. Could I please have a look atthe conference room? So lässt sich manch unangenehmeÜberraschung vermeiden. Vielleicht möchten Sie die Sitzord-nung ändern, oder die Sonne blendet und man kann Ihremühsam vorbereiteten Folien (transparencies / foils) kaumlesen. Dann brauchen Sie eine Möglichkeit, den Raum zuverdunkeln: Is there a possibility to darken the room?

Example

Ü Mr Brown, the caretaker: Here you are Sir. This is the conferenceroom. Are there enough chairs or should I get some extra?

Mr Horst: No that's fine, but I would like to change the seatingarrangement into a U-form. Could you arrange that?

Mr Brown: Sure, no problem. Anything else?

Mr Horst: Yes, I'll need a projectorstand for the beamer and doyou happen to have a laserpointer and a flipchart?

Mr Brown: I'll have a look.

The conference fac i l i t ies / Der Konferenzraum 47

Useful phrasesRoom facilities / Raumausstattung

J Could you please arrange the room in advance?J I would like to change the seating arrangement.J I prefer a frontal / round table / form seating.J For how many persons is this room? / What is the seatingcapacity?

J I expect 20 participants.J Could we order some coffee / tea / drinks / lunch?J I would like to have a rostrum, if possible.J Have you circulated the agenda?

Technical facilities / Technische Ausstattung

J Excuse me, where can I find the light switch?

J Do you have a data projector (deutsch: Beamer!) I canattach to a computer or should I bring one myself?

J I need an extension cord for the projector.J We should test the speakers / Tannoy and the microphone.J Can I use the white board as a screen?J Is there a flipchart in the room?J Do I have access to the internet?J Could you make a printout of this list of participants?J Can I plug in my laptop somewhere?

48 The Company / Die F i rma

Problems / Probleme

J My plug doesn't seem to fit into the socket.

J I'm afraid the file transfer didn't work.J I can't access / call up my computer file.J There's an error message.J Do you have an adapter?J The slide projector doesn't function.J The microphone doesn't work.

J I'm afraid I don't know how this device works.J I don't have a marker or an eraser for the white board.

The conference fac i l i t ies / Der Konferenzraum 49

List of vocabularyaccess Zugriff; zugreifen, aufrufen

(Datei)

in advance vorher, im Voraus

agenda Tagesordnung

along entlang

appointment Verabredung, Treffen

behind hinter

board of directors Firmenvorstand

bulb Glühbirne

caretaker Hausmeister

chairman; chairperson Vorsitzender

in charge of zuständig für

darken verdunkeln

elevator (AmE) / lift (BE) Aufzug

eraser Wischer (Tafel)

executive Führungskraft

expect erwarten

extension cord Verlängerungskabel

facilities Ausstattung, Einrichtung

file transfer Dateiübertragung

50 The Company / Die F i rma

floor Stock

fringe benefits Sondervergünstigungen

in front of vor (räumlich)

managing director (BE);president (AmE)

Generaldirektor

next to neben

occupation; profession Beruf

opposite gegenüber

overhead projector Tageslichtprojektor

participants Teilnehmer

plant; works Werk, Fabrik

premises Gelände, Räumlichkeiten

projector; data projector Beamer

projectorstand Projektor-/Beamertisch

report to jdm. unterstehen

responsible for verantwortlich

rest room Toilette

rostrum Rednerpult

salary Gehalt

screen Leinwand, Bildschirm

slide projector Diaprojektor

socket Steckdose

List of vocabulary 51

spare part Ersatzteil

staff / workforce Belegschaft

storey; story Stockwerk

supervise beaufsichtigen

Tannoy Lautsprecheranlage

transparencies; foils Folien

white board weiße Kunststofftafel

Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps

Die Führung einer FirmaSowohl in den USA wie in Großbritannien steht an der Spitzeder Firma der board of directors (Firmenvorstand), der Auf-sichtsrat und der Vorstand. Im Gegensatz zum deutschenSystem, wo Geschäftsführung und Aufsichtsrat getrennteOrgane sind. Der Vorstandsvorsitzende chairman / chairpersonoder president ist meistens auch gleichzeitig verantwortlichfür die Ausführung und Umsetzung der Entscheidungen undheißt dann chief executive officer (CEO) in den USA undmanaging director in Großbritannien. In der Hierarchie folgtdas so genannte senior management das aus den seniorexecutive directors (BE) / officers (AmE) besteht. Die middlemanagers oder line managers / head of the departments(Abteilungsleiter) sind verantwortlich für die einzelnen Abtei-lungen in der Firma.

52 The Company / Die F i rma

Die verschiedenen GesellschaftsformenTrägt eine Firma in Großbritannien den Firmenzusatz Ltd.(Limited) oder in den USA LLc / Inc. (Limited Liability company/ Incorporated), entspricht sie in etwa unserer deutschenGmbH oder Familien-AG, deren Aktien (shares BE / stocksAmE) nicht öffentlich gehandelt werden. Die Abkürzung Plcsteht für Public limited company und ist mit unserer Aktien-gesellschaft (AG) zu vergleichen. In den USA spricht man hiervon open corporation, das bedeutet, dass die Firma an derBörse notiert ist (quoted / listed). Andere Formen sind soletrader / sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmer) und partner-ships wie & Co. oder Sons (Personengesellschaften). TheParent company oder Holding (Muttergesellschaft) kontrol-liert die subsidiaries (BE) / affiliates (AmE) (Tochtergesell-schaften) und besitzt mehr als 50 % des Kapitals.

Wenn sich jemand selbstständig gemacht hat oder machenwill, spricht man im Englischen von a self-employed (busi-ness) person bzw. he wants to set up on his own. Wennjemand freiberuflich arbeitet, heißt es: He works freelance.

Falsche FreundeGerade im beruflichen Kontext können Wörter, die sehr ähn-lich oder gleich geschrieben werden, jedoch oft eine ganzandere Bedeutung haben – die so genannten „FalschenFreunde“ – zu folgenschweren Missverständnissen führen.

Das Wort „Unternehmer“ z.B. übersetzt man mit entrepreneuroder businessman / -woman. Verwenden Sie hier auf keinen

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 53

Fall den Begriff undertaker, das bedeutet nämlich „Leichen-bestatter“! A warehouse ist eine „Lagerhalle“ und a depart-ment store ein „Warenhaus“. Loan bedeutet „Darlehen“ undwages oder salary bedeutet „Lohn“. Die englische Übersetzungvon „Chef“ lautet boss und nicht chef oder chief. Letzterebedeuten nämlich „Koch“ und „Indianerhäuptling“. Darauf,dass branch nicht etwa „Branche“, sondern „Filiale“ bedeutet,haben wir schon hingewiesen.

54 The Company / Die F i rma

Effective BusinessDiscussions / Erfolgreichkommunizieren

In einer Fremdsprache einen Vortrag zu halten oder an einerDiskussion teilzunehmen, ist ein Stressfaktor.

Mit den praktischen Redewendungen in diesem Kapitel kön-nen Sie sich perfekt vorbereiten und Ihren Wortbeiträgen dennötigen Nachdruck verleihen. Sie erfahren, wie Sie

J sich in Meetings aktiv einbringen,J Verhandlungen kommunikativ erfolgreich führen undJ kompetent auf Englisch präsentieren.

55

Meetings / SitzungenDas Wort meeting umfasst mehrere Bedeutungen, variierendvon einem einfachen Treffen über eine Sitzung oder Bespre-chung bis hin zur Tagung oder Versammlung. Wichtige for-melle Versammlungen sind z.B. the annual general meeting(Jahreshauptversammlung / Aktionärsversammlung), the bo-ard meeting (Vorstandssitzung) oder das international projectmeeting mit jeweils unterschiedlichen Zielsetzungen: decisionmaking (Entscheidungen treffen), problem solving (Problem-lösung), informing on company's performance or project de-velopment (Bericht über die Geschäftslage oder eine Projekt-entwicklung).

Der chairman (Vorsitzende) eröffnet die Sitzung, begrüßt dieTeilnehmer und stellt eventuelle Gastredner vor: It's mypleasure to introduce our German guest Mr Horst. Er soll sichum Formalitäten wie Protokoll (minutes) und Tagesordnung(agenda) kümmern, Art und Anlass der Sitzung bekannt geben(stating the objective) und die Diskussion einleiten: Let's startwith the first item on the agenda.

Example

Ü Chairperson: Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I'd like to welcome you to our meeting. I hope everybody hasreceived a copy of today's agenda.

Mrs Simpson, could you keep the minutes of this meeting,please?

Mrs Simpson: Yes, of course, as usual.

Chairperson: As you can see from the agenda, the main purposeof this meeting is to come to a decision on a new office building.

56 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Useful phrasesOpening the meeting / Die Besprechung eröffnen

J I declare the meeting open!J Ladies and gentlemen, may I please open this meeting?J I would like to welcome you all to our sales meeting.J Thank you for coming to today's meeting.J Let's get down to business.J Right, shall we get started / begin?

The minutes / Das Protokoll

J Has everybody seen the minutes of the last meeting?J Can we take the minutes for read?J Who's taking the minutes?J As the minutes of the last meeting have been approved, wecan start with the first item on the agenda.

The agenda / Die Tagesordnung

J We circulated the agenda in advance.J Has everybody received a copy of the agenda?J Does anyone want to add an item?J I'd like to put another item on the agenda.J I think we can delete item 3.J Let's discuss that under AOB / any other business.J Any remarks before we move on to the next point?

Meet ings / S i tzungen 57

Stating the objective / Zielsetzung

J The reason for our coming together is …

J We are here to discuss …J I've called a meeting to …J The purpose of today's meeting is …

Die DiskussionWenn Sie eine Diskussion leiten, fordern Sie die Teilnehmerauf, ihre Meinung zu äußern. Gleichzeitig haben Sie dieAufgabe, den Zeitplan einzuhalten und eventuelle Abschwei-fungen vom Thema zu verhindern: Could you stick to thesubject, please? Sie müssen auch hin und wieder Missver-ständnisse und Unklarheiten beseitigen: Could you explainthat in a little more detail?

Example

Ü Chairman: Mr Jones. You have investigated the area. Could I askyou to start this discussion by giving us your views on the choiceof the building site?

Useful phrasesAsking opinions / Um Meinungsäußerungen bitten

J I'd like Mr Brown to take the floor.J I would like to invite Dr Lee to present his views on …J Mr Grem would you like to say something about this?J I wonder if you like to comment, Mr Smith?

58 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

J What's your opinion on this, John?J What do you think of that / say to that, Jim?

Digressions / Abschweifungen

J I'm afraid we're moving too far away from the subject.J I'm afraid this isn't really relevant to the discussion.J Shouldn't we rather return to the topic?J Let's not get side-tracked.J I don't think this is essential.J Could we stick to the subject, please?J Could you keep to the point.

The time schedule / Der Zeitplan

J Let's try to keep this meeting short.J Let's try to finish by four o'clock.J I'm sorry, but we're running out of time.J Could you keep your comment short?J As time is short we have to move on.

Misunderstandings / Missverständnisse

J There seems to be a misunderstanding.J Could you explain what you mean?J Could you give us some more details?J Could you be a little more precise?J I'm afraid I don't really understand you?J Do you mean to say that …?

Meet ings / S i tzungen 59

Die Diskussion schließenExample

Ü Chairman: I hate to interrupt you Mr Jones but we're runningshort of time and we really need to come to a decision. Let mejust summarise the main points that have been made, before weput the proposal to a vote and bring this meeting to an end.

Summarise / Zusammenfassen

J In short, the main points that have been made are …J Let me summarise what we have discussed so far.J To sum up, it seems that we all agree …J I'd like to go over the most important pros and cons.

A vote / Abstimmung

J I suggest we move to a vote.J Could we take a vote on it? / Let's have a vote on this.J Can I ask for a show of hands?J All those in favour raise their hands.

J Those against?J Any abstentions?J I'd like to abstain.J The motion is carried by six votes to four.J The motion is carried unanimously.J The proposal is rejected.

60 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Any Other Business? / Sonstiges?

J Is there anything else to discuss?

J Any further points of discussion?J Is there any other business?

Closing the meeting / Besprechung beenden

J We seem to have arrived to the decision that …J I think we've discussed everything.J I'd now like to draw this meeting to a close.J I declare the meeting closed! Thank you Ladies and Gentle-men.

J I'd like to / let's call it a day now.J Thanks for coming everyone!

Die SitzungsteilnehmerVon den Teilnehmern (participants) wird erwartet, dass siesich zu Wort melden und Vorschläge machen (make pro-posals), Meinungen austauschen (exchange opinions) oderInformationen weitergeben (give information). Besondersschwierig für den Ausländer ist es dabei, deutlich zu sein undzugleich höflich zu bleiben.

Example

Ü Mr Jones: Well, yes. I investigated the area and I'm afraid that interms of accessibility this site is somewhat problematic. I knowthat they have planned a new motorway, but this plan will takeat least 2 years and I don't think we can wait that long.

Meet ings / S i tzungen 61

Mr Wells: I'd like to suggest that we try to find a more suitablelocation. Don't forget that some of us have to travel quite adistance and when I think of all the extra hours that I alreadywork for this company and …

Chairman: I understand what you mean, Mr Wells, but let's stickto the subject, please.

Mr Shawn: Could I say something on this matter, please? I thinkMr Wells is absolutely right and we should try to find a placewhich is more accessible not only for ourselves but also for ourcustomers.

The international character of our company demands a locationnear an airport or railway station.

Mr Jones: But these places are so terribly expensive!

Useful phrasesProposing / Vorschlagen

J I would like to put forward an alternative proposal.J I would like to make another suggestion.J Wouldn't it be a good idea if …J I suggest / propose that we …J Let's first have a look at …J Why don't we …?

Interrupting / Unterbrechen

J May I interrupt you for a moment?J I'm sorry to interrupt you / break in, but …J May I come in at this point …

62 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

J Excuse me, may I ask a question?J I don't want to interrupt, but …J Pardon me for interrupting, but …J I'd like to add something here if I may.J If I might just add something here …

Giving information / Informieren

J I would like to give you some details on this matter.J Let me give you an overview of the figures.J I will brief you on the results so far.J May I inform you on the decisions made by …

Opinions / Meinungsäußerungen

J In my opinion / in my view …J If you want to know my opinon …J The way I see it is …J I feel / think / believe that …J It seems / appears to me that …

Agreeing / Zustimmen

J I can go along with your proposal.J I think we are in agreement on that.

J I share your view.J I agree with you / I think you're right.

Meet ings / S i tzungen 63

Disagreeing / Ablehnen

J I don't think that's a good idea.

J I cannot go along with you there.J I'm afraid I can't agree with you.J I'm sorry, but I don't agree at all.J I absolutely disagree / I think you're wrong.

Protokoll schreibenEin Protokoll (minutes) oder Bericht (report) soll die wichtigs-ten �ußerungen der Teilnehmer /-innen wiedergeben undnachvollziehbar machen, wie die Entscheidungen und Ergeb-nisse zustande gekommen sind. Dazu benutzt man auch imEnglischen die indirekte Rede. Achten Sie darauf, dass dieVerbform jeweils um eine Zeitstufe in die Vergangenheitzurückversetzt wird. Als Beispiel sehen Sie das Protokoll zumDiskussionsausschnitt aus dem vorhergehenden Beispiel.

Example

Ü Minutes of the meeting held at the Head Office of Miller, on Oct.13-20XX.

Subject: New office buildings

Present: Mr Chester: Chairman; Ms Shawn: Public relations;

Mr Wells: Human Resources; Mr Jones: Financial Director

Mrs Simpson: Secretary; Guest: Mr Horst

Absent: Mr Macquire

The chairman opened the meeting, confirmed the minutes of thelast meeting and underlined the importance of coming to adecision. He asked Mr Jones to start the discussion by giving hisopinion on the building site.

64 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Mr Jones said he had investigated the area and thought that theaccessibility was a problem. He added that a new motorway wasplanned but that this plan would take too long to wait for. MrWells suggested to look for another location and reminded theboard of the extra travelling time this site would imply (implizie-ren). He continued to say that he was already working manyextra hours. The chairman interrupted him and summoned (for-derte auf) him to stick to the subject. Ms Shawn agreed with MrWells and stressed the importance of the vicinity (Nähe) of anairport or railway station, considering the international characterof the company. Mr Jones objected to this because he thoughtthese places were too expensive.

Es gibt im Englischen ein vielfältiges Angebot an so genann-ten operativen Verben wie die Verben to agree oder tounderline, womit sich der Verlauf einer Diskussion abwechs-lungsreich und genau schildern lässt. Hat jemand z.B. ziem-lich lange gesprochen und viele Argumente vorgebracht, dannkann man diese wie folgt erfassen: He began by saying that …He continued … He then pointed out … Mr x went on bysaying … He concluded by observing that …

Useful verbsNeutral reporting / Neutral berichten

J He said / stated / observed that …J She pointed out that …J The chairman asked if / whether …J Mr Bloom answered / replied …J The speaker argued …

J He reminded the board …

Meetings / S i tzungen 65

Emphasis / Betonung

J He underlined / emphasized / stressed …

J She warned / cautioned …J He urged …J The chairman summoned the speaker …

Opinions / Meinungsäußerung

J He admitted / acknowledged …J She believed that …J Mr Smith shared the view / opinion of …J He claimed that …J The chairman denied that …J The director suggested / proposed …

Negotiations / VerhandlungenBei den weniger formellen Kundentreffen (customer mee-tings) wird direkt verhandelt (negotiated) über Angeboteoffers und Vertragsbedingungen (conditions / terms of con-tract). Man versucht einander zu überzeugen, ohne dabeiunhöflich zu werden (siehe „Wie Sie Ihre Meinung sagen“ imAbschnitt „Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps“). Will man seinArgument betonen, setzt man im Englischen oft das Hilfsverb„do“ vor das Hauptverb: I do think we should try to compro-mise (Ich denke wirklich, wir sollten versuchen, einen Kom-promiss zu finden).

66 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Example

Ü A: Delivery will be in 6 weeks with a discount of 2 % if you placeyour order this month.

B: That sounds like a good offer but we need the goods in 2weeks. Couldn't you shorten the delivery period?

A: Sure, but then we would have to raise the price.

B: I see what you mean, but we do need these products thismonth. Could I make a suggestion?

If you deliver in 3 weeks, we could discuss another order for thecoming season.

A: Fine, if you could confirm this in writing. I'll talk to our legaldepartment and ask them to set up the contract.

Useful phrasesMaking offers / Angebote machen

J We were thinking of … / suggest …J The best offer we can make you is …J We could offer you a discount of 2 %.J We grant a price reduction of 2 %.J We can deliver the goods in 6 weeks.J Our deal includes maintenance.

Rejecting the offer / Angebot abweisen

J I'm afraid we cannot accept that.J There's no question of our being able to accept.

Negot iat ions / Verhandlungen 67

J We feel that the price is rather high.J We cannot agree to what you propose.J That is not negotiable.J We had much better offers from other companies.J You'll have to do better than that.

Conditions / Bedingungen

J If you shorten delivery, we could …J We may be able to … but only if you …J Provided you … we might …J We accept, on the condition that …J Unless you … we will not be able to …

Winning time / Zeit gewinnen

J That sounds fine but I'll have to confer with my boss first.J I should like to think this over.J Could you keep that offer open for 2 more weeks?J I'm afraid I don't have the authority to decide.J I would like to discuss this proposal with my partner.J I'm afraid I need some more information.

Reaching agreements / Übereinstimmung erzielen

J I'm pleased to say we agree.J I think we've finally come to terms.J This seems a very reasonable offer.

68 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

J We're in complete agreement with each other.J We can sign the contract.

Making complaints / Sich beschweren

J I'm afraid that you didn't respect the date of delivery.J The goods you delivered were damaged.J We're sorry to say that we're dissatisfied with the con-signment.

J I'm afraid you've overcharged us again.J I have to tell you that you didn't keep to the terms / theconditions were not met.

J According to our agreement …

Apologizing / Sich entschuldigen

J Please accept our apologies.J I'm very sorry to hear that.J I really must apologize.

J I quite understand how you feel.J We'll look into the matter immediately.J I'll see to it personally.J I assure you that it won't happen again.J The mistake will be rectified as soon as possible.

Negot iat ions / Verhandlungen 69

Presentations / PräsentationenBei Präsentationen kommt es darauf an, die Aufmerksamkeitder Zuhörer zu wecken und aufrecht zu erhalten. Dazu stehenIhnen zahlreiche Hilfsmittel zur Verfügung (siehe auch Ab-schnitt „The conference facilities“). Der größte Teil IhresErfolgs hängt freilich davon ab, wie Sie Ihre Information oderBotschaft formulieren. Gestehen Sie gleich am Anfang, dassIhr Englisch nicht perfekt ist: I'm afraid my English is notperfect, und laden Sie dazu ein, Fragen zu stellen, wenn etwasnicht klar war: So, please do not hesitate to ask me ifanything was unclear. Vermeiden Sie Sätze mit kompliziertenNebensatzkonstruktionen. Formulieren Sie lieber kurz unddeutlich: I'll try to be brief and clear!

Die EinleitungZuerst stellen Sie sich und Ihre Kollegen vor: Let me brieflyintroduce myself. I'm … and this is my colleague … (sieheauch useful phrases im Abschnitt „Arrival at the company“).Sie bedanken sich für die Einladung: I'd like to thank you forinviting me here today und kündigen das Thema der Präsen-tation an: I'm going to talk to you about … Danach folgt einkurzer Überblick über die Gliederung Ihrer Präsentation (ashort overview of the structure) und ein eventueller Hinweisauf Tischvorlagen (hand-outs). Sagen Sie gleich zu Beginn, obman Sie unterbrechen darf: You can interrupt me at any timeif you have any questions, oder ob Sie es bevorzugen, erstnach der Präsentation Fragen zu beantworten, wo genügend

70 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Zeit sein wird: After the presentation there will be ample timefor questions.

Example

Ü Mr Horst: Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm delighted to be here todayas a guestspeaker at the annual customer meeting of MillerCommunications Incorporated. Let me briefly introduce myself:I'm Gerhard Horst, head of the research and development depart-ment of Hirsch in Germany. I'd like to inform you on the latestdevelopments in the field of electronic communications. I'll beginwith an overview of our latest projects, then I'll brief you on ourcompany's sales figures and I'll finish off with an outlook on thecompany's future plans.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them after mypresentation.

Useful phrasesOpening words / Einleitung

J Good morning. Let me introduce myself …J Let me introduce you to my colleague …J I / We represent …

Thanking for the invitation / Für die Einladungdanken

J It's a great honour to be able to speak here today.J I'm grateful for having the opportunity to …J I'm glad to have a chance to speak.J Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for asking me to …

Presentat ions / Präsentat ionen 71

Announcing the topic / Das Thema ankündigen

J Today I'm going to talk about …

J The topic / subject of this presentation is …J In my presentation I'll be explaining our new project.J I'll try to give you an overview of the development …J You've met here today to hear something about …

Handouts / Tischvorlagen

J In the handout, which will be passing around, you'll find …J I hope everybody received the handout?J May I draw your attention to the handout?J There is a small mistake in the handout which I would liketo correct.

J I'm afraid we've run out of copies, could you share withyour neighbour's?

Structure / Gliederung

J I'll focus on two main points.J I'll be covering the following three main areas.J I've divided this presentation into four sections.J In the first part of my presentation I'll …J I'd like to begin with … then / next / after that …J First / firstly / first of all … Secondly … Thirdly … Finally …J My colleague will take over the second part.

72 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Useful phrases

J Owing to circumstances beyond our control, we will un-fortunately need to …

J Regrettably, due to unexpected events Dr. Dogan mustcancel the lecture of June 26.

J Mr Jorritsma sends his sincere apologies for his absencefrom the conference, and …

Indicating date and timeWhile trying to arrange an appointment, pay attention tousing the proper expressions concerning date and time. Takespecial precautions if your message will be sent interna-tionally to prevent misunderstandings: Spell out dates, as inGermany, 02/05/XX means May 2, 20XX; but in the UnitedStates this means February 5, 20XX. There are more specificdifferences between German and English, e.g. the twelve-hour clock. In case of doubt try to double check appoint-ments; some people ask for confirmation by e-mail or fax.Electronic agendas like MS Outlook offer practical functiona-lities that automatically send reminders per e-mail.

MonthsJanuary Januar July Juli

February Februar August August

March März September September

April April October Oktober

May Mai November November

June Juni December Dezember

Invitat ions 193

J Let me now move on to …J So much for the figures. Now as to …J Having finished this part, I'd like to turn to the next point.J As you can see on the handout this brings us to the lastpart.

Rhetorical questions / Rhetorische Fragen

J The question is: What can we do about this?J What does this mean for our company?J What advantages would this offer us?J You will ask yourselves: In what way does this affect us?

J Isn't there a better way of dealing with this problem?

Bringing arguments / Argumentieren

J On the one hand … On the other …J In addition …, furthermore …J Because of this / as a result of this …J Consequently / therefore …J However, I think that …J Generally speaking / in general we could say …J On the whole …J We should take into account the following …J Instead of increasing our production,

I suggest …J Not only … but also …

74 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

J There are two reasons for this.

First … second …J This is due to …

Offering solutions / Lösungen anbieten

J One way to solve this problem would be …J We propose the following solution …J A possible solution would be …J I found a way to deal with this problem.J However, there's another alternative.J Another option would be to …

Making forecasts / Prognosen stellen

J What's the forecast for next year?J The long / short term forecast is …J The outlook is (not) very encouraging.J The prospects for next year are pretty good.J We expect this trend to continue.J Sales are expected to rise.J We see signs of growth.

Declining interruptions / Unterbrechungenunterbinden

J If I might just finish my sentence.J Perhaps we could return to that question later on.

Presentat ions / Präsentat ionen 75

J If you would be so kind as to let me finish.

I'll answer questions later on.J If you would allow me to finish off first.J I'll come back to you as soon as I've finished my talk.J There are two more points I'd like to mention before Ianswer your questions.

Picking up the thread / Den Faden wieder aufnehmen

J As I was saying …J Coming back to what I was trying to explain …J To return to my subject …

J If we could just return to the topic …J If I could just continue …J This leads us back to what I was saying before …

Grafiken und DiagrammeHäufig ist es sinnvoll, Entwicklungen und Veränderungen mitGrafiken (graphs), Tabellen (tables) oder Diagrammen (charts/diagrams) zu veranschaulichen (siehe auch Abschnitt „Theconference facilities“). Das Kreisdiagramm heißt pie chart;flow chart ist das Flussdiagramm, organisation chart nenntman im Englischen das Organigramm, bar chart ist das Bal-kendiagramm, das Piktogramm heißt auch im Englischenpictogram (siehe auch „Vorsicht: Zahlen“ im Abschnitt „Kul-turelle und sprachliche Tipps“).

76 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Example

Ü As you can see from this graph, profit increased only slightlybetween 2000 and 2001. The following year it plunged to justunder $50 m owing to a change in management. After that therewas a steady growth reaching a peak at 2007 followed by asteady fall until profits then levelled off at around $60 m foryears.

Useful phrasesCommenting diagrams / Diagramme kommentieren

J Let's have a look at this graph / diagram.J The horizontal / vertical axis represents …J Production is indicated by a red line.J This solid line gives us …J The broken line shows …J The dotted line illustrates …J This curve here indicates …J With this pie chart I'd like to show you …J The shaded section represents …J The table in the middle gives us last year's sales figures.J The right-hand / left-hand column shows …J At the top / bottom you see …

Presentat ions / Präsentat ionen 77

Upward trend / Aufwärtsgehender Trend

J The number of … has grown / gone up / risen / increased /climbed.

J Prices have jumped since …J There has been an enormous boom / upturn.J Market has picked up / recovered again.J Sales reached a peak in 1992.J It reached an all-time high.

Downward trend / Abwärtsgehender Trend

J Profits have declined / gone down / dropped / decreased /fallen.

J Sales have slumped / plummeted.J We could almost speak of a recession.J There has been an enormous down turn in production.J Prices bottomed out.J We reached an all-time low.

Continuing trend / Gleich bleibender Trend

J Our sales figures have remained stable / steady.J Prices have been stable / unchanged for several years.J Profits held firm for two years.

78 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Adverbs of change / Adverbien der Veränderung

barely, slightly kaum, leicht

gradually / slowly butsteadily

sanft / langsam, aber sicher

substantially, markedly;significantly, considerably

bedeutend

unexpectedly, surprisingly unerwartet, überraschend

suddenly, abruptly plötzlich

dramatically, sharply dramatisch, steil

Contrast and comparison / Kontraste und Vergleiche

J If we compare these figures, we see that …J Compared with last year, sales have increased by 5 %.J Although we invested a lot, sales figures fell.J Investment increased whereas sales dropped.J The higher the costs, the higher the price.J Investment was not as high as last year.J Despite the recession we managed to expand.

Zum Abschluss kommenNach der Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten Themen könnenSie schließen, indem Sie Ihr Publikum zu Fragen auffordern.Formulierungen wie: If there are no questions I'd like to finish,halten die Zuhörer eher davon ab, noch Fragen zu stellen.Ermutigen Sie sie lieber: I presume (nehme an) you will have a

Presentat ions / Präsentat ionen 79

lot of questions. Was anything unclear or did I forget anythingimportant? I'm very curious (neugierig) to know what youthink of this project.

Manchmal wird nach einer Präsentation applaudiert, aufkeinen Fall sollten Sie auf den Tisch klopfen, wie das inDeutschland üblich ist. In den meisten Ländern will mandamit lediglich Aufmerksamkeit erreichen oder um Ruhebitten.

Example

Ü Mr Horst: Well, with this summary I would like to finish off mypresentation. I hope I have been able to convince you of theimportance of our new project on the international market andwould be happy to answer any questions that remained unans-wered. For more detailed information you may call me at myoffice any time, as soon as I'm back in Germany. You'll find myphone number and E-mail address on the top right of the hand-out.

Thank you very much for the attention.

Useful phrasesClosing words / Abschließende Worte

J I'd like to conclude by making the following statement.J Let me go through the main arguments again beforefinishing this presentation.

J I hope it has become clear through this presentation …J I'd like to close off with the following suggestion …

80 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

J To put it in a nutshell …J So, to summarize we could say that …

Inviting questions / Fragen anregen

J I'd now like to turn to the questions that you certainlyhave.

J If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer themnow.

J I'd welcome any questions or comments.J Please tell me if anything was unclear.J Any further questions?

Difficult questions / Schwierige Fragen

J I don't think I'm the right person to answer that question.J That is beyond my competence.J I'm afraid I don't have those figures here, but I could letyou know later.

J Let me pass this question to Mr Marks who is an expert onthis matter.

J Could we come back to that later?

Dealing with criticism / Umgang mit Kritik

J I quite see your point but still …J That's an interesting observation but we shouldn't forget …

Presentat ions / Präsentat ionen 81

J I understand your criticism, but don't you think …?J I entirely agree with you. On the other hand …J Perhaps I should make myself clearer on this point.J It seems that you have misunderstood me there.J I don't think this is the place or time to discuss this.

Closing the discussion / Die Diskussion abschließen

J With this last question I'd like to finish this presentation.J I'm sorry to break off this interesting discussion but I thinkwe're running out of time.

J I think we should call it a day.

J Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen.J Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for sacrificing your valu-able time.

J Thank you very much for coming and I hope I've been ableto inform you sufficiently.

82 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

List of vocabularyabstentions Enthaltungen

acknowledge; admit zugeben

adjourn vertagen

agenda Tagesordnung

agree / disagree einverstanden /nicht einverstanden sein

agreement Übereinstimmung

all-time high / all-time low Rekordhoch / Rekordtief

ample reichlich

annual general meeting Jahreshauptversammlung,Aktionärsversammlung

AOB / any other business Sonstiges

approve annehmen

argue argumentieren

audience Zuhörer

beyond darüber hinaus

board meeting Vorstandssitzung

brief informieren (Verb);kurz (Adj. /Adv.)

broken line gestrichelte Linie

List of vocabulary 83

call it a day Schluss machen

circulate in Umlauf geben

claim behaupten

column Spalte

come to terms sich einigen

comment sich äußern

complaints Beschwerden

conditions; terms Bedingungen

consignment Warensendung

convince überzeugen

curious neugierig

decide / decision entscheiden / Entscheidung

delighted erfreut

deliver / delivery liefern / Lieferung

deny leugnen; abstreiten

despite trotz

digressions Abschweifungen

discount Rabatt

(dis)satisfied (un)zufrieden

dotted line punktierte Linie

draw to a close abschließen

expert Spezialist

84 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

figure /sales figures Zahl / Verkaufszahlen

flow / bar / pie chart Fluss- / Balken- /Kreisdiagramm

focus konzentrieren

forecast Prognose

get down to beginnen

grant gewähren

graph Grafik

guestspeaker Gastredner

hand out Tischvorlage

imply implizieren

in a nutshell kurz gesagt

in favour / against dafür / dagegen

increase / decrease erhöhen / senken

interrupt; breakin unterbrechen

item; point Punkt

jump sprunghaft ansteigen

keep the minutes;take the minutes

protokollieren

level off ausgleichen, stabil bleiben

main points Schwerpunkte

main purpose Hauptzweck

List of vocabulary 85

minutes Protokoll

misunderstand falsch verstehen

motion Antrag

objective Zielsetzung

on the condition that unter der Bedingung, dass

on the top right / left rechts / links oben

opinion; view Meinung

outlook on Ausblick auf

overcharge zu viel berechnen

overview of Überblick über

owing to; due to wegen

participate / participant teilnehmen / Teilnehmer /-in

pass weitergeben (Frage)

pick up; recover sich erholen

point out darauf hinweisen

presume annehmen

profit / loss Gewinn / Verlust

proposal; suggestion Vorschlag

propose; suggest vorschlagen

pros and cons Für und Wider

provided vorausgesetzt

86 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

rectify korrigieren

remark Anmerkung

remind erinnern

report Bericht

represent für etwas stehen

respect terms; keep to terms; Bedingungen einhalten

meet terms

sacrifice opfern

show of hands Handzeichen

side-tracked vom Thema abgekommen

slum; plummet; plunge drastisch zurückgehen

solid line durchgehende Linie

solve / solution lösen / Lösung

stick to festhalten an

still trotzdem; noch immer

structure Gliederung

sufficiently ausreichend

summarise zusammenfassen

summon auffordern

take the floor das Wort nehmen

time schedule Zeitplan

List of vocabulary 87

underline; emphasize; stress betonen

unless es sei denn; wenn nicht

up turn / down turn Aufschwung / Rückgang

urge drängen

vote abstimmen; Abstimmung

warn; caution warnen

88 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps

Wie Sie Ihre Meinung sagenIm Allgemeinen drückt man im Englischen seine Meinungetwas vorsichtiger aus als im Deutschen. Deutsche wirkendeshalb oft etwas grob, wenn sie ihre Diskussionsbeiträgewörtlich übersetzen.

Wenn Sie einen Vorschlag einbringen wollen, leiten Sie diesam besten mit Ausdrücken ein wie: I think that / I believe / Ifeel that, oder Sie verpacken Ihr Anliegen in die Frageform. Sokönnen Sie zeigen, dass Sie auch die Meinung der Ansprech-partner respektieren: Don't you think it would be a good ideaif …? / Shouldn't we …? / What do you think of …? / I wonderif … (Ich frage mich, ob …).

Wenn Sie einen Vorschlag ablehnen müssen, sollten Sie IhreAussage etwas abschwächen durch Ausdrücke wie: I'm sorryto say but … / I regret that … / Unfortunately / I'm afraid …

Sport und GeschäftIm Wirtschaftsenglischen werden häufig Ausdrücke benützt,die der Welt des Sports entnommen sind, dem Fußball,Basketball oder Baseball. Man kann eine informelle Sitzungz.B. wie folgt beginnen: Let's kick off this meeting by lookingat the figures. Wenn es von jemandem heißt: He playshardball, bedeutet dies, dass es sich um einen ziemlichagressiven und unnachgiebigen Verhandlungspartner handelt.Wenn die Zielsetzung verändert werden muss, sagt man: We'll

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 89

have to move the goalposts (Wir müssen die Torpfostenumstellen). A Ballpark figure ist eine ungefähre Schätzungund a slam dunk hit ein Riesenerfolg. He came in from the leftfield kann man hören, wenn jemand eine unerwartete, meistkritische Bemerkung gemacht hat. Fragt jemand: What's thescore?, will er über die aktuelle Situation unterrichtet werden.Wenn diese sich dramatisch verändert hat, sagt man: We're ina whole new ball game.

Feststehende WendungenBesonders schwer ist es, feststehende Wendungen in einerFremdsprache zu verstehen. Im Englischen gibt es zahlloseWendungen im Bereich Kommunikation. Wenn jemand unvor-bereitet eine Präsentation halten soll, sagt er beispielsweise: Ihave to speak off the cuff oder off the top of my head. RedenSie um den heißen Brei herum, heißt es: You're beating aboutthe bush, und man wird Sie bitten zum Kern der Sache zukommen: Could you please get down to brass tacks! (Reiß-zwecke). Nennen Sie in Ihrem Vortrag zu viele Zahlen, werdenSie ein number cruncher genannt.

90 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

Vorsicht: ZahlenBei Zahlen werden im Englischen Komma und Punkt genauumgekehrt gebraucht wie im Deutschen. So heißt „2,5 Millio-nen Dollar“ im Englischen: $2.5 m, gesprochen: two point fivemillion dollars. Tausenderstellen werden durch Kommas ge-kennzeichnet. Also: $2,000,000, two million dollars. Dabeiwird die Währung in die Pluralform gesetzt und nicht wie imDeutschen die Zahl: Millionen.

Hundert, Tausend, Million etc. wird immer mit Artikel ange-geben: one hundred oder a hundred, one / a thousand etc. Soheißt 135: one / a hundred and thirty-five.

Darf es etwas mehr sein?Präzise Zahlen sind in einer mündlichen Präsentation nichtnur ein Stolperstein für den Sprecher, sie wirken auch auf dieZuhörer erschlagend. Runden Sie die Zahlen lieber. Dazukönnen Sie folgende Ausdrücke benützen:

J Sales in 1998 was a little under / over 60 m.J Approximately / about / around one fifth of our productsare sold in Japan.

J More than half (54.2 %) of the employees are German.J A good third (35 %) of them live in Stuttgart.J Nearly 5000 (4986) persons attended the meeting.

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 91

Falsche FreundeWie schon erwähnt ist das englische Wort für Protokollminutes Protocol im Englischen bedeutet „Vorgehensweise“oder „festgelegte Regeln“. „Eine Notiz machen“ heißt to makea note während notice „Anzeige“ oder „Aushang“ bedeutet.

92 Effect ive Bus iness Discuss ions / Er fo lgre ich kommuniz ieren

After Business Hours /Nach Büroschluss

Bei internationalen Geschäften sind Einladungen zu einemBusiness lunch oder dinner nicht selten, vielleicht hat manauch Karten fürs Theater für Sie gebucht.

Typische Gesprächssituationen mit den passenden Redewen-dungen helfen dabei, dass Ihnen auch diese Situationen Spaßmachen. Sie erfahren, wie Sie

J bei Einladungen einen persönlichen Kontakt zum Gast-geber herstellen und einen guten Eindruck hinterlassen,

J sich im Restaurant korrekt ausdrücken und verhalten,J Small Talk mit Leichtigkeit meistern undJ angemessen Good bye sagen.

93

The personal invitation /Die persönliche EinladungWollen Sie selbst einen Gast zu einem Essen oder zu einerVeranstaltung einladen, leiten Sie mit den Worten ein: Wouldyou like to …? oder I would like to invite you to … Um einenTermin auszumachen, genügt es zu fragen: How about Tues-day eight o'clock? oder: Is Friday at seven OK? (siehe auch„Useful phrases“: „Making an appointment“ und „Changingappointments“, im Kapitel „The First Contacts“). Ablehnungen,ob förmlich oder etwas lockerer, sollten immer höflich formu-liert und vor allem begründet werden: Thank you for theinvitation, but I'm afraid I have another appointment that day.

Example

Ü Mr Chester: Well Mr Horst, that was it for today.

Would you like to go to the theatre tonight?

Mr Horst: Thanks very much, but to tell you the truth I'm verytired.

Mr Chester: Of course, I understand. Giving a presentation in aforeign language is quite exhausting, isn't it?

Mr Horst: Yes, indeed and I think I'm still suffering from a jet lag.

Mr Chester: Well, how about tomorrow night?

Mr Horst: That would be fine. Where shall we meet?

Mr Chester: I'll pick you up at around seven at your hotel.

Mr Horst: Great, that would just give me time enough to getdressed.

94 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Useful phrasesInviting / Einladen

J Would you like to come and have dinner with my family?J We would like to invite you to a baseball game.J How about a visit to the museum of modern art thisweekend?

J Would you like to make a tour around the countryside?J Mr Simon would like to invite you for supper this Sunday.J Could you join us for a barbecue this weekend?

Accepting invitations / Einladungen annehmen

J Thank you, I love baseball games.J Thanks I'd love to.J That's a wonderful idea.

Declining invitations / Einladungen ablehnen

J Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm meeting my boss.J Thanks but I'm afraid I'm not feeling very well.J Thanks a lot but I'm flying home on Sunday.J Thanks but I'm very busy this week.

The personal inv i tat ion / Die persönl iche Einladung 95

Reactions / Reaktionen

J Oh, that's a pity, my family will be very diasappointed.

J Oh, I see, well, perhaps some other time.J What a shame! Maybe next week?J Well, never mind. We'll find another date.

At the restaurant / Im RestaurantIn vielen Ländern finden Sie im Eingangsbereich des Restau-rants ein Schild Please wait to be seated! Dies ist ein Hinweisdarauf, dass Ihnen der Kellner einen Tisch zuweist und Sie sichnicht selbst den Platz wählen. Gefällt Ihnen der Tisch nicht,fragen Sie einfach nach einem anderen: Could we have thattable over there at the window, please?

Die Speisenauswahl ist in einem fremden Land oft nicht ganzleicht. Wenn Sie unsicher sind, verlassen Sie sich auf dieEmpfehlung Ihres Gastgebers oder des Kellners: I could re-commend you the veal cutlet (Kalbsschnitzel) which comeswith baked potatoes and seasonal vegetable.

Example

Ü Waiter: Good evening!

Mr Chester: Good evening. We'd like a table for two, please.

Waiter: Smoking or non-smoking?

Mr Chester: Non-smoking, please.

Waiter: Just follow me, please. – Here we are.

Mr Chester: Could we have a table at the window so that we canenjoy the wonderful view?

96 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Waiter: I'm afraid they have all been reserved.

Mr Chester: Well, never mind this one is fine too.

Waiter: Have you made a choice yet?

Mr Horst: No, not yet. I'm having some problems with the menu.Could you tell me what veal is?

Waiter: Let me see, how do I explain. It's the meat of a baby cow.

Mr Horst: OK, I understand, thanks. Well, Mr Chester you've beenhere before. What would you recommend?

Mr Chester: The steak is very good here.

Mr Horst: OK, I'll have the steak with a salad and French fries(AmE)/chips (BE).

Waiter: Are you sure you don't want a starter?

Mr Horst: Yes, I'm sure. A main course will do for me and, ofcourse, a dessert afterwards.

Waiter: Right Sir, and how would you like your steak? Rare,medium or well done?

Useful phrasesThe table / Der Tisch

J Could we have a table for four, please?J I'd like to book a table for two on Tuesday at 8 o'clock.J I reserved a table at seven in the name of Chester.

J Could we have a different table, this one is …

The menu / Die Speisekarte

J Excuse me, could I have the menu?J What kind of meat do you serve? – We have beef, porkchops, lamb, veal and venison.

At the restaurant / Im Restaurant 97

J Do you have any vegetarian dishes?J I feel like having fish.J The fish of the day is salmon which comes with an orangesauce.

J How is the sole done / made? – You can have it grilled,baked or poached.

J All our main dishes are served with a green salad or thevegetables of your choice, french fries or a jacked potatoe.

Ordering / Bestellen

J Are you ready to order now?J I'm sorry, but I haven't decided yet. Could you come back alittle later, please?

J What can you recommend?J What's today's special?J Excuse me, could I order now, please?J OK, I'll have / take the soup as a starter.J As a main course I'd like / I'll have …J Could we have some coffee with our dessert, please?J Could I have some more wine, please?J We'd like another bottle of water, please.J Could I have a spoon, knife, fork?

98 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Small talk / Leichte KonversationWährend des Essens oder bei einem Drink in der Kneipe wirdmeist nicht über geschäftliche Themen gesprochen. Hierschlägt die Stunde des small talk oder socializing, der in einerFremdsprache besonders schwer fällt, da er sprachlich weitüber den fachlichen Jargon hinausgeht. Andererseits kannman sich durch diese Art von Konversation menschlich einStück näher kommen und damit das Geschäftsklima positivbeeinflussen. Beliebte Themen sind dabei das Essen (the food),das Wetter (the weather), der Sport (sports), die Familie (thefamily) und Informationen über das Land (country). Über-lassen Sie es am besten dem Gastgeber, ob noch einmalberufliche Themen zur Sprache kommen oder nicht.

Example

Ü Mr Chester: So, how is your steak? Was it a good choice?

Mr Horst: Oh yes, it's delicious and I love that salad dressing.How's your chicken?

Mr Chester: Well, it's a little bit salty to tell you the truth. Itmakes me rather thirsty. Another drop of wine?

Mr Horst: No thanks, I've had enough.

Mr Chester: So what do you think of Chicago? Is it very differentfrom Stuttgart? I guess it's a little bit colder over here, isn't it?

Mr Horst: It's very different indeed. Chicago is a lot bigger withthese enormous skyscrapers and huge buildings. I like the peoplea lot, but it's true that it's very cold. Is it always like this?

Mr Chester: Yes, with the wind coming from the big lakes it canbe very cold and windy up here with a lot of snowfall in thewinter, but you get used to the climate.

Smal l ta lk / Le ichte Konversat ion 99

Useful phrasesThe food / Das Essen

J The food is really excellent / delicious.J I'm glad you like it.J It tastes wonderfull although it is a little bit spicy.J Is it true that Kraut is a traditional German dish?

The weather / Das Wetter

J What's the climate like in your country?J In summer, temperature may rise up to the nineties (Fah-renheit).

J It is very stuffy / sticky / humid.J In autumn / fall it can be very foggy and gloomy withheavy rains and thunderstorms.

J Spring(time) is absolutely gorgeous with very agreeabletemperatures.

Sports / Sport

J Do you do any sports in your free time?J I like swimming and biking but I'm not in a sportsclub.J In Germany soccer is much more popular than baseball andfootball. We don't even understand the rules of thesesports.

J Have you seen this soccer match between Holland andGermany. The referee was terrible.

100 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Likes and dislikes / Vorlieben und Abneigungen

J I'm into collecting stamps / coins.

J In my spare time I like to read.J I enjoy listening to classical music.J I'm a keen gardener.J I like tennis but I prefer squash.J I'm not very keen on ballet but I love the opera.J I can't stand pop music.

Family affairs / Familienangelegenheiten

J Do you have any children?J I have a boy / son of 14 and a girl / daughter of 16.J What kind of work does your husband / wife do?J Do you live in a flat / appartment or do you have a house.J I have a detached / semi-detached house in the suburbs ofStuttgart.

Country matters / Landesinformation

J From what part of the country are you?J It's in the north / south / east / west of …J We live near the coast / the mountain.J What does that part of the country look like?J It's quite flat / hilly / mountainous.J It's a densely popuplated area.

Smal l ta lk / Le ichte Konversat ion 101

J Which interesting sites do you recommend?J Well, try to visit … it's not far from here.J This area is famous for …

Showing interest / Interesse zeigen

J That's interesting / amazing.J Is that so / true?J Indeed / really? I didn't know that!J And how about …

Back to business / Zur Sache kommen

J What I wanted to talk to you about is …J By the way, coming back to business …J As we were discussing the other day …J Let's get down to business.

The bill / Die Rechnung

J Could I have the bill (BE) / check (AmE) please?J Is service included?J Tips are usually around 15 %.J Would you like separate checks?J This is on me.

J You're my guest today.J Do you accept credit cards?J You can keep the change.

102 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Saying goodbye / Abschied nehmenBeim Verabschieden bedankt man sich für die Gastfreund-schaft: Thank you for your hospitality und hofft auf einbaldiges Wiedersehen: I hope to see you again soon. In denmeisten Ländern gehört es auch zum guten Ton – vor allem,wenn Sie nach Hause eingeladen wurden –, sich nach derRückkehr schriftlich mit einem kurzen thank-you letter zubedanken. Geschäftliche Kontakte sollten Sie durch einen sogenannten follow-up letter pflegen, in dem Sie Ihren Partneran das Besprochene erinnern und versprechen sich wieder zumelden: I'll keep you informed / I'll keep in touch.

Example

Ü 1 Thank-you note

Dear Mr and Mrs …,

This is just a note to thank you very much for a lovely eveninglast Tuesday. It was very nice of you to invite me to your homeand make me feel so welcome. The cooking was delicious and Ienjoyed meeting your children. We had such a wonderfulconversation!

Whenever you come to my country, my wife and I would bevery pleased to welcome you at our home.

Yours sincerely, …

2 Follow-up letter

Dear Mr Chester,

I would like to thank you for the warm welcome you have givenme at your company. As you may remember we discussed thepossibility of adapting (anpassen) one of our systems to match(entsprechen) your company's requirements (Anforderungen).I'm writing this letter to confirm that our company is interested

Saying goodbye / Abschied nehmen 103

in the project and would be happy to answer any questions andprovide you with any further information concerning (bezüg-lich) the subject.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerly, …

Useful phrasesLeaving / Aufbrechen

J I'm afraid I must go.J I think it's about time to go now.J I must be getting back to the hotel.J My plane leaves at …

Thanking / Sich bedanken

J Thank you for a great evening.J I have very much enjoyed my stay in …J I'm glad you enjoyed it.J It's been a pleasure meeting you.J Thanks for inviting me / for everything.J Thank you very much for coming.

Keeping in touch / In Kontakt bleiben

J I look forward to seeing you / hearing from you again.J I hope we'll see you soon.J Give me a ring next time you're in …

104 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

J Here's my card.J Let me write down your number / E-mail address.J Do keep in touch.J I'll come back to you.J I'll drop you a line.

J Pay me a visit next time you're there.J Keep me informed / keep me in the picture.

Farewell words / Abschiedsworte

J Have a safe journey / good trip back.J Have a good flight.J See you / goodbye / take care!J Give my regards to …J Say hello to … for me.

List of vocabularyadapt anpassen

agreeable angenehm

a pity schade

autumn; fall Herbst

beef Rindfleisch

come back to someone Kontakt wieder aufnehmen

concerning bezüglich

List of vocabulary 105

decide entscheiden

disappointed enttäuscht

dish Gericht

don't mention it; not at all keine Ursache

drop a line schreiben

exhausting erschöpfend

french fries Pommes frites

give a ring anrufen

gloomy trüb

gorgeous herrlich

gratuity (AmE) Trinkgeld

here you are bitte (beim Geben)

hospitality Gastfreundschaft

join sich anschließen

keep in touch in Kontakt bleiben

keep someone in the picture;keep someone informed

jemanden auf demLaufenden halten

liquor store Spirituosenladen

look forward to sich freuen auf

main course; entr�e (AmE) Hauptgericht

match entsprechen; passen zu

106 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

never mind! macht nichts!

pay a visit besuchen

personal persönlich; familiär

personnel Personal

poached pochiert

pork Schweinefleisch

rare blutig; nicht durch

recommend empfehlen

regards Grüße

requirement Anforderung

salmon Lachs

salty salzig

seasonal saisonabhängig

sky scraper Wolkenkratzer

soccer Fußball

socialize sich unterhalten

sole Seezunge

spicy scharf gewürzt

spring Frühjahr

starter; appetizer; entr�e (BE) Vorspeise

stuffy; sticky schwül

List of vocabulary 107

suffer from leiden an

veal Kalbfleisch

veal cutlet Kalbsschnitzel

venison Rehfleisch

well done durchgebraten

you're welcome; not at all;don't mention it

bitte; gern geschehen(als Antwort auf einen Dank)

Kulturelle und sprachliche Tipps

BYO-RestaurantsManche Restaurants tragen die Bezeichnung BYO (= BringYour Own). Das bedeutet, dass es keine Alkohollizenz besitzt.Man bringt seinen Wein oder sein Bier also selbst mit. Siekönnen den Kellner aber fragen, wo sich der nächste Geträn-keladen (liquor store) befindet – meistens ganz in der Nähe. Erkühlt und öffnet Ihnen dann gerne die mitgebrachten Geträn-ke. In Australien, wo das Bier sehr kalt getrunken wird, nimmtman auch häufig die eigene Kühltasche mit ins Restaurant.

TrinkgeldDas Geben von Trinkgeld (tipping) wird in jedem Land unter-schiedlich gehandhabt. Am besten fragen Sie kurz Ihren Gast-geber: How much do you usually give as a tip? In manchen

108 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

Ländern sind Kellner und Barkeeper auf Trinkgelder angewie-sen, da sie nur ein sehr geringes reguläres Gehalt bekommen.Wenn nicht ausdrücklich darauf hingewiesen ist, dass dieBedienung inbegriffen ist: Service included / tip included(BE) / gratuity included (AmE), gilt als allgemeine Regel einZuschlag von 15–20 %, entweder aufgerundet auf die Rech-nung oder bar hinterlassen.

Bitte!Das Wort please für „bitte“ wird nur in Fragen oder Bittenbenützt und am Ende des Satzes verwendet: Could you helpme, please? Am Satzanfang klingt es eher als Aufforderung:Please, make a copy of this. Wenn jemand sich bei Ihnenbedankt, wird die Antwort „Bitte!“ übersetzt mit You're wel-come / Not at all / Don't mention it und wenn Sie etwasgeben oder zahlen heißt „bitte“: Here you are / there you are.

Hier geht's ans EingemachteDas Essen ist überall ein wichtiger Bestandteil unseres Lebens– das zeigt sich nicht zuletzt in den sprachlichen Bildern undAusdrücken, die dem Bereich des Essens entlehnt sind. Esbietet uns offensichtlich viel Stoff zum Nachdenken: It'sfood for thought.

Im Englischen nennt man z.B. eine Person, die den ganzen Tagauf dem Sofa sitzt und fernsieht, eine couch potato. Wenn einPlan misslungen ist, sagt man: The plan went pear-shaped(wörtlich: birnenförmig). Ein einfaches Problem ist a piece ofcake und wenn ein Produkt gut verkauft wird, heißt es: it sells

Kulture l le und sprachl iche T ipps 109

like hot cakes. Obwohl Ausländer solche Ausdrücke nichtunbedingt beherrschen müssen, sind sie doch oft das Tüpfel-chen auf dem i: the icing (Zuckerguss) on the cake.

Falsche FreundeFamiliäre Angelegenheiten, die Sie mit Ihren neuen Kollegenbesprechen, nennt man personal matters. Das englische Wortfamiliar dagegen bedeutet „bekannt“: That word sounds fa-miliar! (Das Wort kommt mir bekannt vor!) Das Wort per-sonnel wird, im Gegensatz zu personal, auf der letzten Silbebetont und bedeutet „Personal“: He works in personnel (Erarbeitet in der Personalabteilung).

Wollen Sie das Essen als ausgesprochen gut loben, sagen Sie:The dinner was very / extremely good. Das englische Wortoutspoken ist ein falscher Freund und bedeutet „freimütig“,„unverblümt“: He was outspoken on the subject (Er sprachsehr freimütig über das Thema).

110 After Bus iness Hours / Nach Büroschluss

AnhangAlphabetical list of vocabulary /Alphabetische Wortschatzliste

Deutsch – EnglischA

Abflug departure

absagen cancel

abschließen draw to a close

Abschweifungen digressions

abstimmen; Abstimmung vote

abweisen reject; decline

akzeptieren accept

Anforderung requirement

Anfrage request

Ankunft arrival

Anlage enclosure

Anmerkung remark

annehmen presume

Anrede salutation

Anrufbeantworter answering machine;answerphone

anrufen give a ring; call

111

Ansage announcement

sich anschließen join

Anschlussflug connecting flight

ansteigen (sprunghaft) jump

Antwort reply; response

am Apparat bleiben hold the line

Antrag motion

argumentieren argue

audio-visuelle Hilfsmittel audio visual aids

auffordern summon

aufrufen (Datei) access

Aufschwung / Rückgang up turn / down turn

aufwerten upgrade

Aufzug elevator (AmE); lift (BE)

Ausblick auf outlook on

Ausgaben expenses

ausgleichen, stabil bleiben level off

Aushilfskraft temporary; temp

ausreichend sufficiently

sich äußern comment

Ausstattung; Einrichtung facilities

Auszubildender trainee

112

B

Balkendiagramm bar chart

beaufsichten supervise

Bedingungen conditions; terms

Bedingungen einhalten respect terms; keep to terms;meet terms

unter der Bedingung, dass on the condition that

sich begeben proceed

behaupten claim

Belegschaft staff; workforce

Berater /-in consultant

Bericht report

Beruf occupation; profession

Beschwerden complaints

bestätigen acknowledge; confirm

Bestellungen orders

besuchen (pay a) visit

Betreffzeile subject line

bitten request

betonen underline; emphasize; stress

Bezug reference

mit Bezug auf (Brief) in reply to

Bildschirm; Leinwand screen

Birne bulb

113

bitte (als Antwort auf you're welcome; not at all;

einen Dank) don't mention it

bitte (beim Fragen) please

bitte (beim Geben) here you are

bleiben remain

blutig; nicht durch rare

Botschaft message

Buchhalter /-in accountant

Buchhaltung (Tätigkeit);(Abteilung)

accountingaccounting department

buchstabieren spell

bügeln iron

Bürger citizen

C / D

Chef boss

dafür / dagegen in favour / against

dankbar grateful

Darlehen loan

darüber hinaus beyond

Diaprojektor slide projector

drängen urge

durchgebraten; durch well done

durchgehende Linie solid line

Durchwahl extension number

114

E

Ebene level

sich einigen come to terms

Einkauf purchasing

Einladung invitation

einstimmig unanimously

einverstanden sein / agree /

nicht einverstanden sein disagree

Empfang receipt

empfehlen recommend

Enthaltungen abstentions

entlang along

entscheiden / Entscheidung decide / decision

entsprechen; passen zu match

erfreut delighted

erhöhen / senken increase / decrease

sich erholen pick up; recover

erinnern remind

erreichbar available

Ersatzteil spare part

erwarten expect

es sei denn; wenn … nicht unless

115

F

Fahrer /-in driver

falsch verstehen misunderstand

Fensterplatz window seat

Ferngespräch long distance call (AmE);trunk call (BE)

festhalten an stick to

feucht humid

Filiale branch; subsidiary

Filialleiter /-in branch manager

Finanzabteilung finance department

Firmenvorstand board of directors

Flugsteig gate

Flussdiagramm flow chart

Folie foil; transparency

Forschung und Entwicklung research and development

Fragebogen questionnaire

Freigepäck baggage allowance

sich freuen auf look forward to

froh glad

Frühjahr spring

Führerschein driving licence (BE);driver's licence (AmE)

Führungskraft executive

116

Für und Wider pros and cons

Fußball soccer

G

Gangschaltung manual; stick

Gangplatz aisle seat

Gastfreundschaft hospitality

Gastredner guestspeaker

Gebühr charge

gegenüber opposite

Gehalt salary

geeignet suitable

Gelände; Räumlichkeit premises

Gelegenheit occasion

Generaldirektor managing director (BE);chairman, president (AmE)

Gepäck baggage (AmE);luggage (BE)

Gepäckabfertigung baggage (re)claim

Gepäckermittlung baggage tracing

Gepäckförderband baggage carousel;baggage conveyor belt

Gepäckträger porter (BE); bell boy (AmE)

Gepäckwagen cart (AmE); trolley (BE)

Gerät device

117

gestrichelte Linie broken line

gewähren grant

Gewinn / Verlust profit / loss

Gliederung structure

Grafik graph

Grüße regards

günstig; passend convenient

gutheißen approve

H

Haftpflichtversicherung liability insurance

Halbpension half board

Halle concourse; hall

Handelsvertreter /-in sales representative; rep

zu Händen von for the attention of

Handtuch towel

Handzeichen show of hands

Haupteingang main entrance

Hauptgericht main course; entr�e (AmE)

Hauptzweck main purpose

Hausmeister caretaker

Herbst autumn; fall

herrlich gorgeous

herumschicken; in Umlaufgeben

circulate

118

hinter behind

hinterlassen leave

Höflichkeit courtesy; politeness

horizontale / vertikale Achse horizontal / vertical axis

I / J

Impfpass inoculation record;vaccination certificate

im Voraus in advance

in Kontakt bleiben keep in touch

Informationstechnik Information technology (IT)

informieren brief

Ingenieur /-in; Techniker /-in engineer

Inlandflüge domestic flights;inland flights

Insassenversicherung passenger insurance

Jahreshauptversammlung annual general meeting

jährlich annually

je … desto … the … the …

K

Kalbfleisch veal

Kalbsschnitzel veal cutlet

kaufmännische(r)Angestellte(r)

clerk; office worker

Klimaanlage air-conditioning

119

Koffer suitcase

Kollege colleague

konzentrieren focus

korrigieren rectify

Kreisdiagramm pie chart

Kunde customer; client

Kundenberatung customer service

Kundenbetreuung after-sales service

kurz brief(ly) (Adjektiv / Adverb)

kurz gesagt in a nutshell

kürzlich; in letzter Zeit recently; lately

L

Lachs salmon

Lagerhalle warehouse

Landeskennzahl country code

jdn. auf dem Laufendenhalten

keep someone in the picture;keep someone informed

Lautsprecheranlage tannoy

Lehrling apprentice

leichte Konversation small talk

leiden an suffer from

leider unfortunately

Leinwand; Bildschirm screen

leugnen deny

120

liefern / Lieferung deliver / delivery

links oben / rechts oben on the top left / right

Löffel spoon

Logistik logistics

Lohn salary; wages

lösen / Lösung solve / solution

M

macht nichts! never mind!

Marketing marketing

Mechaniker /-in mechanic

Meilenbegrenzung limited mileage

Meinung opinion; view

Meister /-in (im Betrieb) foreman

Meister /-in (im Handwerk) master

Messer knife

Mittelplatz middle seat

Montage assembly

N / O

nachgehen to see to; look into

Nachricht message

neben next to

neugierig curious

opfern sacrifice

121

Ortsnetzkennzahl area code

Ortszeit local time

P

passen suit

Pendelbus shuttle

Personal personnel

Personalabteilung human resources;personnel department

Personalleiter /-in personnel manager

persönlich; familiär personal

Pförtner porter

planmäßige Abflugszeit scheduled time of departure

pochiert poached

Rednerpult rostrum

PR; Öffentlichkeitsarbeit public relations; PR

Produktion production

Prognose forecast

Projektortisch projector stand

Protokoll minutes

protokollieren keep the minutes;take the minutes

Punkt item; point

punktierte Linie dotted line

122

R

R-Gespräch collect call (AmE);reverse charge call (BE)

Rabatt discount

Rechnung bill (BE); check (AmE)

rechts / links oben on the top right / left

Rechtsabteilung legal department

Rechtsanwalt /-anwältin lawyer

Rednerpult rostrum

Rehfleisch venison

Rekordhoch / Rekordtief all-time high / all-time low

reichlich ample

Reiseplan itinerary

reservieren book; make a reservation

Rückfahrkarte return ticket (BE);round-trip ticket (AmE)

Rückgang / Aufschwung down turn / up turn

S

saisonabhängig seasonal

salzig salty

Schalter switch

scharf gewürzt spicy

zu schätzen wissen appreciate

Schluss machen call it a day

123

Schritt step

Schweinefleisch pork

Schwerpunkte main points

schwül stuffy; sticky

Seezunge sole

Sekretär /-in secretary

Sendung consignment

senken decrease; lower

Sondervergünstigung fringe benefit; perk

Sonstiges AOB; any other business

Spalte column

Spezialist expert

Spirituosenladen liquor store

spülen (Toilette) flush

für etwas stehen represent

Steckdose socket

Stock floor

Stockwerk stor(e)y

T

Tabelle table

Tageslichtprojektor overhead projector

Tagesordnung agenda

tanken fill up a car

tatsächliche Ankunftszeit actual time of arrival

124

Techniker /-in technician; engineer

teilnehmen / Teilnehmer /-in participate / participant

Telefonauskunft directory assistance (AmE) /directory inquiries (BE)

Termin appointment

Tischvorlage hand out

Touristenklasse economy class

Trinkgeld tip; gratuity (AmE)

trotz despite

trotzdem; noch immer still

trüb gloomy

U

Überblick über overview of

Übereinstimmung agreement

überzeugen convince

(un)gültig (in)valid

unterbrechen interrupt; break in

unterbringen accommodate; lodge

Untergeschoss basement

sich unterhalten socialize

Unternehmer entrepreneur; businessman

Unterschrift signature

jmd. unterstehen report to

(un)zufrieden (dis)satisfied

125

V

verantwortlich responsible

verbinden put through; connect

Verbindung line

verdunkeln darken

vergleichen compare

verhandeln / Verhandlung negotiate / negotiation

Verkäufer /-in (im Betrieb) salesperson

Verkaufszahlen sales figures

verlangen; fordern demand

verlängern extend

Verlängerungskabel extension cord

Verlust / Gewinn loss / profit

Versand despatch; dispatch

verschieben postpone

vertagen adjourn

vertraulich confidential

vertraut familiar

Vertrieb sales and distribution

Verwaltung administration

verzollen declare

Visum Visa

Vollkaskoversicherung comprehensive insurance

Vollpension full board

126

vom Thema abgekommen side-tracked

vor (räumlich) in front of

vorausgesetzt provided

voraussichtliche Ankunftszeit estimated time of arrival

vorbereiten / Vorbereitung prepare / preparation

Vorspeise starter; appetizer; entr�e (BE)

vorher; im Voraus in advance

Vorschlag proposal; suggestion

vorschlagen propose; suggest

vorsitzen / Vorsitzender chair / chairman; chairperson

Vorstandssitzung board meeting

W

wählen (beim Telefon) dial

während whereas

warnen warn; caution

Wäscherei /(Trocken-)Reinigung

laundry / (dry-)cleaning

Wasserhahn tap (BE); faucet (AmE)

wegen owing to; due to

weitergeben pass

Werbeabteilung advertising department

Werk / Fabrik plant / works

Werkleiter /-in plant manager

Wetter weather

127

Wischer (Tafel) eraser

das Wort nehmen take the floor

Z

Zahl figure

Zeitplan time schedule

Zielsetzung objective

zögern hesitate

Zollabfertigung customs clearance

Zollerklärung customs declaration

zugeben acknowledge; admit

Zuhörer audience

zusammenfassen summarise

zuständig für in charge of

zu viel berechnen overcharge

zurückgehen (drastisch) slum; plummet; plunge

Zwischenlandung stopover

128

The international telephone alphabet /Internationale BuchstabierlisteA for Andrew N for Nellie

B for Benjamin O for Oliver

C for Charlie P for Peter

D for David Q for Queen

E for Edward R for Robert

F for Frederick S for Sugar

G for George T for Tommy

H for Harry U for Uncle

I for Isaac V for Victory

J for Jack W for William

K for King X for X-Ray

L for Lucy Y for Yellow

M for Mary Z for Zebra

Abbreviations / Abkürzungen@ „at“ sign Klammeraffe

afb air freight bill Luftfrachtbrief

AGM annual general meeting Jahreshaupt-versammlung

a.m. ante meridiem vormittags

AOB any other business Sonstiges

129

approx. approximately ungefähr

asap as soon as possible so schnell wie möglich

ATA actual time of arrival tatsächliche Ankunfts-zeit

ATM automated tellermachine

Geldautomat

attn attention zu Händen

B&B Bed and breakfast Übernachtung mit

Frühstück

bn billion Milliarde

btw by the way übrigens

CC carbon copy Kopie; E-Mail

c/o care of per Adresse

CEO chief executive officer Chef (eines Groß-konzerns)

CFO chief financial officer Leiter(in) Finanz-abteilung

C&F cost and freight einschl. Kosten u. Fracht

COD cash on delivery per Nachnahme

dep department Abteilung

e.g. for instance zum Beispiel

encl. enclosed Anlage

ex. example Beispiel

F Fahrenheit Fahrenheit

130

FAO for the attention of zu Händen von

ft foot; feet Fuß

GDP gross domestic product Bruttoinlandsprodukt

GNP gross national product Bruttosozialprodukt

i/c in charge zuständig

ie that is d.h.

JIT. del just-in-time delivery bedarfsorientierteLieferung

lb pound Pfund (Gewicht)

loc.cur. local currency Landeswährung

m million Million

M 2 motorway 2 Autobahn Nr. 2

M.O. money order Postanweisung

n/30 30 days net 30 Tage netto

n/c no charge gratis; kostenlos

o/c overcharge zu hohe Berechnung

oz ounce Unze (28 Gramm)

p.a. per year pro Jahr

PA personal assistant Chefsekretär(in)

p.c. percent Prozent

p.m. post meridiem;afternoon

nach 12 Uhr mittags

RSVP R�pondez s'il vous pla�t um Antwort wirdgebeten

131

ref reference bezüglich

RTS return to sender zurück an den Absender

STA scheduled time ofarrival

planmäßige Ankunft

STD scheduled time ofdepart.

planmäßiger Abflug

TOP terms of payment Zahlungsbedingungen

TU trade union Gewerkschaft

VAT value added tax Mehrwertsteuer

Y economy class Touristenklasse

yd yard Elle (0,91 m)

ZIP code postcode Postleitzahl

Weights and measures / Gewichte undMaßeWeights Gewichte

gross weight Bruttogewicht

net weight Nettogewicht

1 ounce (oz) 28,35 g

1 pound (lb) 453,6 g

1 stone 6,356 kg

1 short hundredweight (cwt) 45,359 kg (USA)

1 long hundredweight (cwt) 50,802 kg (GB)

1 short ton (tn) 907 kg (USA)

132

Weights Gewichte

1 long ton (tn) 1016 kg (GB)

1 metric ton 1000 kg

Linear measures Längenmaße

1 inch (in) 2,54 cm

1 foot (ft) 30,48 cm (12 in)

1 yard (yd) 91,44 cm (3 ft)

1 mile (m) 1,609 km (1760 yd)

Measures of capacity Hohlmaße

1 pint (pt) 0,57 l (GB) / 0,47 l (USA)

1 quart (qt) 1,14 l (GB) / 0,95 l (USA)

1 gallon (gal) 4,55 l (GB) / 3,79 l (USA)

Temperature conversion /TemperaturumrechnungFahrenheit (8F) Celsius (8C)

212 (boiling point) 100 (Siedepunkt)

194 90

176 80

158 70

140 60

122 50

133

Fahrenheit (8F) Celsius (8C)

104 40

98.4 (body temperature) 37 (Körpertemperatur)

86 30

68 20

50 10

32 (freezing point) 0 (Gefrierpunkt)

14 –10

0 –17,8

–459.67 (absolute Zero) –273,15

(absoluter Nullpunkt)

So rechnen Sie um8F –8C: (8F – 32) · 5/9 = 8C

8C – 8F: 8C · 9/5 + 32 = 8F

134

Map of time zones / Zeitzonenkarte

135

Teil 2: E-mails in English

VorwortZweifellos sind E-Mails zum wichtigsten Kommunikations-mittel im Berufsleben geworden. Durch sie bleiben wir inKontakt mit unseren Unternehmen und bekommen die Mög-lichkeit, über unterschiedliche Zeitzonen hinweg zu kom-munizieren. Dieser TaschenGuide „E-mails in English“ sollIhnen dabei helfen, Ihr elektronisches Instrumentarium effi-zienter in Ihr Berufsleben zu integrieren. Und obwohl natür-lich jedermann technisch dazu in der Lage ist, eine E-Mail zusenden, wird es dennoch oft schwierig, wenn man dies ineiner fremden Sprache tun soll. Wenn Sie jedoch das umset-zen, was Sie hier lesen, können Sie die elektronische Kom-munikation produktiver in Ihren internationalen Geschäfts-kontakten einsetzen.

Dieser TaschenGuide deckt alle wichtigen Bereiche des Ge-schäftslebens ab und ist in thematische Einheiten gegliedert,um Ihnen einen schnellen Zugriff zu ermöglichen. Sie bekom-men einerseits das nötige Handwerkszeug, um geschäftlicheE-Mails effektiv verfassen zu können, und bauen andererseitsIhr Selbstvertrauen systematisch auf. Der Autor hofft, dassdieses Buch Sie ermutigt, Schreiben zu einer lohnenden Tätig-keit zu machen.

Viel Erfolg!

Sander Schroevers, LL.M

138 Vorwort

An E-mail's Anatomy

This chapter focuses on the specific elements of Englishbusiness e-mails, that we don't always pay attention to, butcan make all the difference.

From the following pages you can learn

J how to make subject lines that work,J which openings to use,J and how to end an e-mail in a friendly way.

139

Subject Lines That WorkThe subject line is one of the two most critical parts of ane-mail message. Most people (approximately 80 %) makedecisions on reading and responding based on the subjectline and the identity of the sender, not on a first-in – first-outbasis. Nevertheless a subject line seems to be one of the mostneglected lines in e-mails.

How to make subject lines in EnglishThe first step is to consider what your reader needs or wantsto know from the subject line:

J Ideally, it is a summary of your message.J Just like in journalism or direct mail: the more active andinformative phrases are, the quicker they result in action.That's why mentioning essential information like who,what, when already in the subject line is advisable. Try tokeep it short and simple (‚k-i-s-s‘) and avoid vague indica-tions like project or update etc.

J Always try to write subject lines that stimulate the readerto open your message. Should you need anything specificfrom the addressee, then introduce this in the subject line.

J Subject lines are also handy for people who wish to archivemessages. Therefore make sure that they aren't left blankand that the subject line relates to the subject of themessage. Avoid lines like: one more thing or on secondthoughts, if you think that your message might be archi-ved.

140 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Examples

Ü Good news Schaffhausen project

Action needed by 4 p.m.

November 27 committee meeting

Update

Status report

RE: automatically insertedAnother thing is that when choosing ‚Reply‘ most e-mailprograms automatically insert ‚RE:‘ (short for regarding). Thesame happens after choosing ‚Forward‘ when ‚FW:‘ is inserted.The problem is – and certainly you know this from youre-mails in German – that when a message goes back andforth several times, it might lead to unnecessary automatic-ally expanded subject lines. This can easily result in subjectlines such as: „Fw: Re: Aw: Re: Aw: Feedback on seminarJulle“. You may therefore simply want to change subject linessometimes. This also allows you to show the progression in ane-mail correspondence.

Example

Ü I: Request for finance Hamburg project

II: Feedback requested – financing Hamburg project

III: Feedback provided – Hamburg project

IV: Hamburg project – finance request approved

Subject L ines That Work 141

Common Salutations and Openings

SalutationsSalutations or greetings can be formal or informal, dependingon the situation or the relationship. And of course e-maildoesn't always follow the rules of formal business correspon-dence.

First name or last name?Do bear in mind however that many English-speaking peoplewill be quicker on first-name terms, whereas for German-speaking people it is less common to use one's first name inan e-mail message. Therefore be careful not to appear toodistant in a culture which moves to first names easily becausein addressing people with a more formal address, you do. Andthis could indicate you don't consider being friendly to yourcorrespondent. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that in theEnglish language there is no difference between Sie and Du,as they both are translated with you.

A clear indication that it's all right to move to the first-person familiar iswhen a person signs her or his e-mail with the first name only. You mayalso wish to take the first step yourself by writing something like: „DearHelen (if I may)“.

142 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Formal or informal?Which salutation to use may also depend on your company'se-mail policy. The table below gives an overview of thepossible salutations:

Type English German

You do not knowwho you arewriting to:

– Dear Sir orMadam

– Dear clients– Hi everyone

Sehr geehrteDamen undHerren,

You know theperson but you'venever written to ormet this person

– Dear Mr Smith– Dear Mrs Wade– Dear Dr Young

– Sehr geehrterHerr Müller,

– Sehr geehrteFrau Reusch,

The person is alittle bit closer

Dear SophieReusch

Liebe Frau Reusch,

The person is aclose businesscontact or she/hehas signed her orhis e-mail withthe first name

– Dear Sophie– Hello, Sophie*– Hi, Sophie*– Sophie– Hi,– Hello,

Liebe Sophie,

Several persons/closer contact

Hi everyone Hallo zusammen

* Please note the extra comma!

Common Salutat ions and Openings 143

Ms or Mrs? Ms is used more frequently in the meantime as this term doesnot disclose the marital status. Only if the addressee refers to herself asMrs, do you assume this salutation. The English Miss is out of date just asis the German Fräulein. Dear Sirs or Dear Gentlemen also seems oldfashioned nowadays.

Professions or positions in salutationsJust like it is possible in German to mention a profession orposition in the opening without using a person's name, thiscan also be done in English. In this case, the specific wordmust be written with a capital. For instance as in: DearColleague, Dear Webmaster, etc.

Non-gendered salutations / several personsWhen sending bulk e-mail invitations, try to use non-gende-red salutations like colleagues or friends. To whom it mayconcern still seems to function in e-mails, though its useappears to be on the decline. Nowadays e-mail writers preferto use salutations like: Hi all, Hi there, Dear All, Dear Team,Dear Co-workers and so on.

Woman or man?With certain languages you may not always be sure whetheryou are writing to a man or a woman. In cases where youaren't sure, it is acceptable to write the full name in thesalutation. For example: Dear Moriko Kira (this is a Japanesename, where Moriko is the female first name, and Kira is thefamily name). In Asian cultures (e.g. Japan, Korea, Vietnam,but also in Hungary) the family name comes first. Thus: Mrs.

144 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Kira Moriko. Family names in Slavic languages often havemasculine and feminine versions. The latter can be recognisedby the female suffix, often ending with ‚a‘ or ‚e‘.

No salutations?Is it necessary to always use a salutation or greeting? Notalways, although it usually is. But in back-and-forth e-mailcorrespondence, for instance, salutations quickly seem to bedisappearing. And perhaps there is no need to identify orreinforce the parameters over and over again. The sameapplies for a quick answer to a short question for peoplewho know each other well. Also e-mails among colleaguesthat are part of an ongoing conversation do not require asalutation or greeting.

Checklist: formal or informal salutations

1 Is the addressee outside the organisation? Then youusually need a formal salutation.

2 Is the addressee a colleague or a friend? Then you canuse an informal salutation, or even begin with theperson's first name.

3 Have you had previous contact? Then choose betweenformal and informal, depending on that contact.

4 Note how the sender addressed you. You probably wantto return the same salutation.

Common Salutat ions and Openings 145

Punctuation marks and abbreviationsShould there be a colon, a comma or no punctuation after thesalutation? The right answer depends on the country you aree-mailing to.

no punctuation: Dear Mr Smith

colon: Dear Mr Smith:

In other English speaking areas a comma is used: Dear Mr Smith,

When using abbreviations there is another important diffe-rence you should pay attention to:

Contractions in British English are generally written without a full stop,e.g. Mr, Mrs and Ms – American English usually uses a full stop however,called period in North America, e.g. Mr., Mrs. and Ms.

Mrs / MrMrs. / Mr.

Vocabulary:

colon: Doppelpunkt

punctuation: Satzzeichen

contraction: Zusammenziehung

full stop / period: Punkt

Opening sentencesUse one of the following phrases to refer to earlier contact orto give the reason why you are writing.

146 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Formal: referring to earlier contact

J I am writing with regard to your recent e-mail.

J Referring to your request for information, …J I'm writing with reference to order number KULIP-1.J Further to your last e-mail, …J I am mailing this via the ‚Contact us‘ link on your webshop. I would like to ask you …

J Your name was given to me by …

Informal: referring to an earlier contact

J Just a quick note to say I really appreciated …J I got your name from Dr Stampstaaf.J Re your e-mail … (instead of formal: Further to your laste-mail …)

Giving the reason for writing

J Our reason for contacting you is the following: …J Informal: I'm writing about …J As discussed this morning in our telephone conversation,J It is our pleasure to inform you of …J As we agreed during …J As requested in your e-mail of …J I am writing in connection with …J We would like to inform you about …J We would like to draw your attention to the following: …

Common Salutat ions and Openings 147

J Thank you for your e-mail and your interest in …J Thank you for the enquiry you made via our website.

Note that in English the first phrase after the salutation always startswith a capital letter, whereas in German it starts with a small letter.

Small talkAlthough the German translation for small talk is Geplauder,this social skill can have an important function in Anglophonecultures because small talk is not only the ability to conduct aconversation, but also a method of showing some friendliness.This naturally influences the way e-mails are written. Peoplein North America tend to add a bit more of a personal oremotional note in their correspondence than people in Ger-man-speaking areas, although the actual choice of wordsdepends of course on the social and professional hierarchy.

Example

Ü Dear Thomas

I hope you had a pleasant trip and that your accommodation isfine. Although the weather can be quite cold at this time of year,I'm sure you will like the old city.

I'm writing to tell you how happy I am to hear the good news onthe new business deal. My congratulations on the contract. I'msure that it's only the beginning of our work in the Baltic market.And how are Aynur and the kids? Please give them my warmestregards.

148 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Useful phrases

J I hope you had a great weekend?

J I'm writing to tell you how happy I am to hear your goodnews. My congratulations on your recent marriage.

J I hope you're well, and give my regards to your family.J It would be so nice to have you over one day here inMunich.

Ending an E-mail

Closing remarksIn English e-mails it is common to include a closing remark tolet readers know that they have reached the end of amessage. A closing may also be used to express your gratitu-de, or what you expect the reader to do (e.g. answer, provideinformation, etc.).

Standard closing remarks

J I look forward to hearing from you soon.J We look forward to welcoming you to Düsseldorf.J I look forward to receiving your advice on this matter.J We should be glad to receive this information.J We hope we have been of help to you.J We trust to have furnished you with all the necessaryinformation.

Ending an E-mai l 149

Timed closing remarksIn certain situations your choice of words might be influencedby the pressure of time. The phrases below show an increasingamount of pressure:

J We hope for an early replyJ I look forward to receiving this information as soon aspossible.

J I would appreciate a reply asap.J Please deal with this matter urgently. Can I expect a replyfrom you by tomorrow morning, please?

Vocabulary:

increasing: wachsendasap: schnellstens (as soon as possible)

Offering further information or service

J Should you need any further information about … we willbe happy to assist you.

J If you'd like any more details, just let us know.J Should you have any further questions, we stand readily atyour disposal.

J If we can be of service in any way?

Thanks

J Finally, we wish to express our appreciation for the coope-ration we received from your company's employees duringthe audit.

150 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

J Thank you again for your interest in our company.J Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Announcing activities

J I hope I may contact you later on this matter.J Mr/Mrs … will contact you at an early date to explain thedetails.

J We'll inform you on a weekly basis about …J We will forward the report as soon as possible.J We'll be glad to provide you with further details.J We shall inform you as soon as we have the requestedproducts in stock again.

Informal

J I'm looking forward to … (+ ~ing).J Please feel free to contact me.J If you'd like more details, let me know.

J Just give me a call if you have any questions.J Have a nice weekend.J Speak to you soon.

Correct closing expressionsThe closing or ending of an e-mail should correspond to thesalutation. Informal salutation means informal closing; formalsalutation means formal closing; no salutation means noclosing.

Ending an E-mai l 151

Type Salutations ClosingsYou do not knowwho you arewriting to:

– Dear Sir orMadam

– Dear clients

Yours faithfully

You know theperson but you'venever written to ormet the person:

– Dear Mr Smith– Dear Mrs Wade– Dear Dr Young

– Yours sincerely– Sincerely

(yours)– Cordially yours

The person is alittle bit closer:

Dear SophieReusch

– Best regards– With best regards

The person is aclose business con-tact or she/he hassigned her or hise-mail with thefirst name:

– Dear Sophie– Hello, Sophie– Hi, Sophie– Sophie– Hi,– Hello,

– Best regards– With best regardsIf the person is also agood personal friend:– Kind regards– Best wishes

PunctuationAs mentioned earlier there is a punctuation difference bet-ween British English and American English. But besides this,the order of the two words is also reversed:

no punctuation: Yours sincerely

comma: Sincerely yours,

152 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Signatures and Disclaimers

SignaturesMake sure that your signature follows the international stan-dards. Mention telephone and fax numbers with the appro-priate country codes. Also note that the way of using spacesin numbers may differ from country to country. Sometimescity names must be translated to English. Foreign addressescan be difficult for someone who doesn't speak the language,or has a different database structure. Therefore it is best towrite street names out in full without abbreviations. For thesame reason it is advisable to translate the word Postfach toP.O. Box (an abbreviation of Post Office Box). Signatures ofteninclude a one-line description of the service the companyprovides. It is a subtle form of marketing.

Example

Ü Thorsten WächterMuster GmbHMusterstrasse 10 (or P.O. Box 123)10100 BerlinGermanytel. +49-(0)30-123 4567fax +49-(0)30-123 4589e-mail [email protected]

Leadership Symposium 20XX – To be held at the Muster Collegeof Art and Design, Muster University, London.

Signatures and Disc la imers 153

Create an English versionMost e-mail programs allow you to make several signatures,usually by going to ‚Preferences‘ and then into ‚Signature‘.This way you can make a specific English version besides yourGerman one. You can set the preferences of the program sothat the signature you use most is the standard version.

DisclaimersA disclaimer is a statement intended to specify or delimit therights and obligations in connection with a dispatched email.Although the legal status of e-mail disclaimers is relative insome countries, you may want to use one or more of thesample texts below.

Examples

Ü This message and any attachments are intended for the namedaddressee(s) only and may contain information that is privilegedand/or confidential. If you receive this message in error, pleasedelete it and immediately notify the sender. Any copying, dis-semination or disclosure, either whole or partial, by a person whois not the named addressee is prohibited. Virus scanning softwareis used, but any liability for viruses or other devices which remainin this message or any attachments is disclaimed.

This e-mail may contain confidential and / or privileged informa-tion. Any unauthorised copying, disclosure or distribution of thematerial in this e-mail or of parts hereof is strictly forbidden.

For legal and security reasons the information provided in thise-mail is not legally binding. Upon request ABC GmbH would bepleased to provide you with a legally binding confirmation inwritten form.

154 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

Nothing in this e-mail message amounts to a contractual or anyother legal commitment on the part of ABC GmbH unlessconfirmed by a communication signed on behalf of ABC GmbH.

Because it can be annoying to see a long signature blockrepeated with back-and-forth messages, you may just wantto use a hyperlink with a short phrase. This is especiallyhelpful for people who want to print e-mail messages. Toavoid the extra texts you may want to use a phrase like:

J Please visit our e-mail disclaimer for further details.J For further information visit www.abc.de/disclaimer.

Vocabulary:

disclaimer: Ausschlussklausel

liability: Haftung, Verantwortlichkeit

disclosure: Offenbarung

commitment: Verpflichtung

Out-of-office assistantYou can create a customised message to inform people tocontact someone else, or otherwise advise them on when youwill be available again.

Examples

Ü Thank you for your message – this is an automated response. Iam currently away from the office, and will return on Mondaymorning, 26 June. I will respond to your message upon my return.For any urgent matters during my absence, please call the office'sgeneral number (below).

S ignatures and Disc la imers 155

Thank you for your message. I will be out of office until 25 Aprilincluded. For urgent matters please contact my colleague ChiaraChessa on +39(0)4916314 or [email protected].

E-mail Techniques: about CCand BCCIn daily life lots of people tend to send CCs or BCCs too easily.It's probably better to think a little bit about who shouldreally get the message. A copy is best sent to people whenthey need the specific information for their work. But there isanother disadvantage of sending too many CCs. When yousend an e-mail to one person there is a big chance that youwill get a reply, but if you send the message to many peoplethe actual response rate drops to approximately five percent.If you think someone needs or doesn't need to be Cc'd onmessages you can mention this as seen in the examplesbelow.

Examples

Ü Let me know if you still want to be Cc'd on everything, or if you'dprefer we don't clog your inbox.

I have Cc'd Maryam Salehi, who handles all translations, as wellas Mr. Bagherian, the CEO.

By the way, the term BCC might be referred to differently inother languages: CCI in French or CCO in Spanish.

156 An E-mai l ' s Anatomy

A Reader-friendlyApproach

Most of us receive around forty e-mails a day, but many ofthese messages simply fail to communicate. Writing reader-friendly e-mails means thinking about your readers and theirneeds.

This chapter explains to you:

J when to use e-mail and when not,J how to structure your information,J when to write formally or informally,J the so-called netiquette guidelines,

J how to deal with attachments.

157

When to Use E-mail and When Not?Some people can get so used to e-mailing, that they also useit in situations where they simply shouldn't. Already in Ger-man daily business life, the choice between a phone call or ane-mail is substantial, all the more in an international context.And although there aren't any explicit differences betweenthe German and Anglophone business cultures, certain sout-hern cultures are still inclined to be more personal. As a resulta phone call might be more effective than a written messagethere. On the other hand, a telephone call with certain Asiancultures might prove difficult at times. In such cases, anelectronic message could be easier. The following generalchecklist can be helpful when choosing between e-mail andtelephone.

Checklist: to send or not to send?

Send ane-mail

J if you need a written record to document thecorrespondence.

J if your primary reason for writing is to passon information or ask a question.

J if you need to inform a larger group ofpeople at once.

158 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Don'tsend ane-mail

J if an e-mail seems too difficult to write.J if you are answering more complex e-mails.J if you think the content of your message is:personally sensitive, potentially embarras-sing, contains confidential information orlegal implications, e.g. trade secrets, jobperformance or hiring and firing.

J if you need direct feed-back, brainstorming,inspiration or a serious discussion. Hold aconference call or plan a meeting instead.

J if you have a quick question that needs ananswer right away. Then make a phone call,or walk down the hall (if possible).

Structuring the InformationPeople who receive larger numbers of e-mails probably won'thave the time to read each mail word for word. They will scanmessages instead of reading them. Another thing that youshould realise is that people often deal with e-mails incombination with other activities. A third point is that aninbox offers a great deal of competition. A writer of an emailneeds to convince a reader twice: firstly to click on themessage, and secondly to continue reading the content.

Structur ing the Informat ion 159

Writing effectively for the monitorE-mail is usually read from a computer monitor or PDA screen.Studies have shown that people read slower on a screen byabout 25 %. Below are some recommendations for readabilityof e-mails:

J E-mail content has half the word count of a printed letter.J Get to the point in the first sentence.J Write in inverted pyramid style (conclusion before details).J Use short sentences in a simple and direct style becausewhen people are indeed scanning a message ‚less is more‘.

J Organize your content into logical paragraphs. Avoid longblocks of texts. Vary the length of both sentences andparagraphs. Leave extra space (between the lines) aftereach paragraph. Think about using short two or three-wordsubheadings at the beginning of paragraphs.

J Try to keep short messages within one screen, and longmessages within a maximum of four screens.

J Try using bullet lists, which are easy to scan and read.J Avoid using italics as they quickly become illegible.J However, don't overdo it. Try to find the right balancebetween emphasis and readability.

Less is moreE-mails have made business correspondence more compactand most of all faster. Paragraphs in e-mail have becomesmaller.

160 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

J The effectiveness of e-mails is maximised by keeping themshort and simple.

J That's why the language is simple, clear and direct.J Sentences are generally short. An advantage of shortsentences is that they are easier to read on-screen.

J There is more use of contractions (I've instead of I have,etc.) than in paper letters.

J If you make the reader scroll, it better be worthwhile.

Example: e-mail too long and badly structured

Ü Dear Mrs Salehi

Following our pleasant meeting at Jamshidiyeh, I am pleased toinform you about our specific needs for the Farsi version of ouron-line brochure. Firstly we will be needing adaptations of theprofile page (where we could use the beautiful image from‚Keynoosh‘ you suggested), secondly a general introduction textconcerning our publications, thirdly, idem for the workshops, andlast but not least, a contact information overview. We havedecided to accept your offer. If you are indeed interested inparticipating in this project, please e-mail us, sending your emailto the attention of Miss Maryam at [email protected] will send you all specific details. She is also the contactperson should you need additional information. Thank you inadvance for your cooperation in this matter.

Yours sincerely

Vocabulary:

emphasis: Nachdruck

contraction: Zusammenziehung

worthwhile: der Mühe wert

Structur ing the Informat ion 161

Example: e-mail short, simple, well structured

Ü Dear Mrs Salehi

I am pleased to confirm our interest in your offer.

For the Farsi version of our website we'd need:

J a profile page,

J an introduction for the publications,

J an introduction for the workshops

J and contact information.

May I ask you to contact Miss Maryam at [email protected] for further details. I'm delighted that our meeting atJamshidiyeh has had such results.

Yours sincerely

Techniques to make e-mails betterstructuredOne technique is using specific linking words or expressions,indicating to the reader what the connection is betweendescriptions, situations or for instance, actions.

EnumerationsJ First(ly)J Second(ly)J Third(ly)J In the first placeJ To begin withJ First of all

J AnotherJ Then there isJ NextJ FinallyJ Last(ly)J Last but not least

162 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Extra remarksIf you want to add an extra argument or remark it looks nicernot only to use words like and or also, but to vary a bit. Thetable below offers some alternatives.

J Furthermore, ...J Additionally, …J What is more, …J Moreover, …J …as well as …

J On another point, …J In addition, …J Besides, …J On top of that, …

Temporal indicationsJ Then, …J Later, …J In the end, …

J Prior to this, …J Subsequently, …J Eventually, …

SummarisingIf you want to give an overview of the points mentioned, youcan indicate this to the reader by using one of the followingexpressions.

J To conclude, …J To sum it up, …J In conclusion, …J Summarising, …J To recap briefly, …

J All in all, …J In other words, …J i.e.J That's to say, …

Structur ing the Informat ion 163

Miscellaneous linking wordsBelow are some other useful expressions for structuring theinformation in correspondence or reports.J For example, …J For instance, …J e.g., …J As a result, …J For this reason, …J Therefore, …J Actually, …J As a matter of fact, …

J In fact, …J In relation to, …J With reference to …J Regarding, …J In general, …J On the whole, …J Usually, …

Vocabulary:linking: Koppelungprior to this: zuvorsubsequently: anschließend

Formal or Informal?Without wanting to revert to stereotypes, it is fair to say thatthe British tend to be polite, whereas North Americans can bedirect and optimistic in their communication. Interculturalresearch clearly shows that German communication can becharacterised as more direct than British communication.Let's take a closer look at such different ways of expressingourselves, and focus our attention on the differences betweenformal and informal, as well as the differences between directand indirect or polite writing styles.

164 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Informal, direct Formal, indirectI'm writing about … I am writing with regard to…

Re your e-mail, … Further to your last e-mail, …

Just a quick note to arrange aday to meet.

When would it suit you?

I'm writing to arrange a datefor our meeting. What daywould be convenient for you?

Don't forget … I would like to remind you that

So see you in Chemnitz,

and do give me a call if

anything changes.

I look forward to meeting youin Chemnitz. Please let meknow if you need to changethe arrangements.

Please send me I'm interested in receiving

But …; Also …; So … However …; In addition …;Therefore …

Shall I … ? Would you like me to … ?

What about … (+ ~ ing)? Have you thought of …(+ ~ ing)?

Just give me a call if you haveany questions. My number is+49-12345.

Please feel free to contact meif you have any questions. Mydirect line is +49-12345.

Shorter words – more informalIt is also said that loan words of Latin origin sound quiteformal, whereas shorter English words sound more informal.Below you can compare the alternatives (the words of Englishorigin are in brackets).

Formal or Informal? 165

J assistance (help),J possess (have),J inform (tell),J requirements (needs),J obtain (get),

J request (ask for),J verify (check),J provide (give),J repair (fix), enquire (ask).

Colloquial languageE-mail can feel like face-to-face conversation, which is usu-ally shorter and more to the point. Whether a colloquialchoice of words is appropriate, has to do with the relationshipwith the person to whom you're writing. And as vocabulary issituational; you will need to make a judgment about thecompany culture and your relationship to the person withwhom you're communicating. Research shows that readers ofe-mails are more tolerant of a spoken-language writing stylethan readers of printed letters. Besides, short sentences areeasier to read on-screen.

Useful phrases

J Just letting you know that I'll be arriving late.J Could you …? (instead of formal: I was wondering if youcould …)

J Just a short note about … (instead of formal: I am writingin connection with)

J That's good for me. (instead of formal: I would like toconfirm)

J I'm leaving for Shanghai, but I'll try to be there.

166 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

More personal styleContemporary English business letters tend to be writtenslightly more personally then their German counterparts. Youmay notice this in the three examples below, where pronounshave often been used like we, us or our. Although thelanguage that is used is personal, its style is less direct thanspeech.

Useful phrases

J We very much enjoyed meeting you in Berlin last Friday. Ihave now talked to Mrs Funk about our meeting and I ampleased to say …

J Following our discussion earlier this month, I regret toinform you …

J As we agreed on the phone this afternoon, I am mailingyou a PDF file with …

J Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.J I think your idea would work really well.J May I suggest that I call you at your convenience todiscuss the matter further?

Netiquette GuidelinesBy their nature, e-mail conversations tend to be ratherinformal and quickly typed messages. During the evolution ofe-mail certain basic rules of conduct have developed, which is

Net iquette Guidel ines 167

generally referred to as netiquette. Below is a selection ofthese guidelines:

J Unless you are using encryption, you should assume thatmail is not secure. Never write in an e-mail anything youwouldn't want to write on a postcard.

J Don't send emotional messages (called flames) even if youare provoked. It is better to calm down first.

J It is not always permissible to forward just anything.Sometimes forwarding may be in violation of copyrightlaws.

Delivery and read receiptsA delivery receipt informs someone that an e-mail messagewas delivered to the recipient's mailbox. A second option, theso-called read receipt, informs that the message has beenopened as well. The point is that the recipient has the optionto decline sending read receipts, and certain e-mail programsalso don't support read receipts. In daily life, you should keepin mind that asking for receipts means you are in fact freezingsomeone else's computer until they click on a dialogue box.

Electronic humourWhen you are communicating orally, you have the advantageof vocal variety and other non-verbal communication. All ofthat is absent in e-mail. It is therefore important to be carefulwith jokes. It is better to save anecdotes for in-persongatherings. Electronic humour can be a risk especially whencorresponding with other cultures because jokes don't like to

168 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

travel. On the other hand, it is good to realise that in Anglo-phone business cultures, jokes are much more accepted andcan often play an important role in creating the right pro-fessional atmosphere.

EmoticonsAlthough e-mails often tend to be more informal, the smileycreated from a colon-hyphen-close pare probably has noplace in a business document. Therefore, to keep e-mailsprofessional simply avoid all frivolous emoticons.

Gender-neutral languageWith gender-neutral language one can avoid the usage ofmasculine pronouns. Especially in the USA and Canada manypeople find the usage of masculine language inaccurate oreven offensive.

J Using a term like chairperson instead of chairman is a goodexample of acknowledging that a woman in authority willalso read the e-mail in question.

J Other options for gender-neutral language are to recastsentences into plural, to use the generic pronoun one, toreplace typical masculine words like his or he with articles(a, an, the, this, these, etc.), or to use plural pronouns(they, them, their).

Netiquette Guidel ines 169

ErrorsDue to the nature of e-mails occasional errors (while undesi-rable) are not uncommon. Research has shown that readershave become much more permissive in that aspect comparedto the days of paper communication. Nevertheless, errors instyle, punctuation or spelling influence a professional imageor, to some extent, a company's reputation. Therefore, spell-check your e-mail. Most software packages (also webmail)have an automated feature for this. Proofread e-mails, toobefore sending them.

How to Deal with AttachmentsPeople don't always expect and/or welcome the informationgiven in attachments. Besides, attachments may transmitdestructive viruses and worms. It is therefore not surprisingthat people have become reluctant to open attachments,unless of course, they trust the sender and are informed inthe message itself.

Best ways to deal with attachmentsJ Inform the addressee about attachments by indicating thisin the subject line and/or in the beginning of the message.This is even more important since attachments aren'talways indicated as such, and can only be seen afterscrolling to the end of the message. This is caused by theway different software programs react on each other.

170 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Examples

Ü Itinerary Berlin conference – 2 files attached. The first line mightsay: Two files attached.

J When an attachment is long and complex, you mightconsider summarising it briefly in the body of the e-mailmessage.

J If the purpose of a message is to simply forward anattached file, then the cover e-mail should be writtenvery briefly, and should explain where the recipient shouldfocus her or his attention on.

J And finally always try to give instructions to the recipientabout what to do with an attachment. Do you expect thereader to file or forward it, or do you need comments?

Examples

Ü Example: summarising the attachment:Dear Mrs Kawashima

I am pleased to attach the new final report for Cargill Brazil.

This report shows the outcome of …

Example: indicate the addressee to forward the attachment:Attached is the proposal for our new website. Can you forward itto all your managers?

Example: instructions on what to do with the attachment:I've attached the draft of the final report. Thanks for using the‚track changes‘ feature to comment. I would specifically like todraw your attention to the section on Kyoto and Maya Bay. I willbe interested in hearing your thoughts about this report's fin-dings at our next Brazil summit.

How to Deal with Attachments 171

Useful phrasesIndicate attachments

J Enclosed please find the necessary technical specifications.J We are happy to enclose …J You will find particulars of …J A route description has been enclosed.J For the general terms please refer to the attachment.J Please see our prices on enclosed price list.

J Enclosed please find our latest catalogue.J Please find enclosed some low resolution jpg images.J Please find attached my report.J I'm sending you our general conditions as a PDF file.

Make it a habit to attach the file before composing the message. Anddouble-check whether you attached the right file.

Instructions

J That document is stored in PDF format. You need the freeAdobe Acrobat Reader to open the PDF file.

J By clicking on the hyperlink, you will be directed to theappropriate information on our website.

J Because the attached document is a bit complex, I havebriefly summarised it below.

J All documents have been scanned for viruses and arecompatible with Mac and PC.

172 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Say what to do with the attachment

J I've attached the draft of the final report. Please use the‚track changes‘ feature in MS Word for any comments.

J Here is the design for the new Swiss brochure. We'd like toknow your comments by Wednesday next week.

J I have attached the revised quarterly budget. Could youforward it to all the Düsseldorf managers?

Explaining errors when sending attachments

J I'm sorry to say that I forgot to attach the attachment inmy previous mail. Here it is.

J Did you mean to send me the minutes? They weren'tattached. Would you mind sending them again?

Avoiding attachmentsYou can avoid attachments by simply pasting the content ofshort files into the body of an e-mail message. This alwaysworks unless formatting is important. In this way you alsosave people downloading time because business travellersmay have to use slow phone connections in hotels. Also usersof smart phones may be charged per Mb. And they don't wantto download a file for many minutes to discover there is apicture they never wanted anyway.

Vocabulary:general terms and conditions of trade (GTCT): allgemeineGeschäftsbedingungen (AGB)

How to Deal with Attachments 173

Checklist: e-mail basics

J Are the correct addressees in the To, Cc or Bcc fields?J Think of the reader's specific information needs.J Know which key points must be covered.J Decide upon a good subject line.J In the event of attachments: add these first and indicate

them in the subject line or first sentences. When anattachment is complex, summarise it briefly in the bodyof the e-mail message. Give instructions to the recipientabout what to do with an attachment.

J Announce the main point of the e-mail in the beginning.J Write paragraphs in the ‚most-important-first structure‘

(the so-called inverted pyramid).

J Write in an active and direct way.J Try to use short paragraphs.J Make use of headers and bullet points.J Avoid jargon, specific abbreviations or technical

language unknown to readers.J Never forget that an e-mail might have unseen readers:

do not send an e-mail containing confidential informa-tion or one that has legal implications.

174 A Reader-f r iendly Approach

Common BusinessSituations

The business situations which follow are intended to cover awide range of interactions typical of international correspon-dence. The material in this chapter is intended as a sort ofphrase bank and as a basis for further expansion.

In this chapter you will learn more about how to createday-to-day business e-mails:

J requesting information,J giving enquiries,J making appointments,J refusing a request,J complaints and apologies,J making offers.

175

Requesting Information or FavoursE-mails in which information is requested or given are amongthe most common topics in inboxes. When requesting infor-mation, it is well-advised to explain things clearly. Start forinstance by explaining how you obtained the addressee'scontact data and then write what particular information youwould like to have or are interested in.

Bear in mind that writing in a foreign language doesn't meansimply translating a text from German. Different cultures canuse other ways of asking for things. As mentioned, BritishEnglish formulates requests in a slightly more indirect way.For instance, by using modal auxiliaries, or using the wordplease more often. This is shown in the examples below:

Examples

Ü Formal: to an unknown addresseeDear Sir or Madam

During my last visit to the GDS trade fair at Messe Düsseldorf, Isaw a sample of your products. Our company specialises in themanufacture of shoemaker's machines and we are looking for areliable supplier.

May I ask you to send us full information and details of yourlatest models? If possible quote prices in euros please.

Yours faithfully

Silke Mertens

Formal: to a known addresseeDear Mr Roll

I'm writing with regard to booking one of your workshops. As weare organising an in-company conference at our firm ‚InnovateConsulting‘ this March, we'd be interested in finding out whetheryou are able to give a presentation of about 45 minutes? Our

176 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

focus is on creating value through a company-wide brandingapproach. We would be grateful for some information about yourprices and availability. Should you have any further questions, donot hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Mr Pirouz Malekzadeh

Managing Director

Informal: to a colleagueDear Pirouz

Could you send me the latest material on Mahram ketchupplease? I will need it to prepare the pitch in Milan next week.I'd appreciate your help on this. Let's talk next week and see howthings are going.

Best regards

Sander

Vocabulary:modal auxiliaries: Modalverbensupplier: Lieferantto quote: ein Angebot machen

Useful phrasesFormal: introductions

J I was interested to see your advertisement in the latestissue of ‚Deutschland‘ magazine.

J I understand you are manufacturers of …J We have read about your company in the trade press.J Mrs. Zeurpiet, we have not met; however, I would begrateful for your advice.

Request ing Informat ion or Favours 177

Formal: request for information

J I wonder if you could … ?

J Do you think I could have … ?J I'd be grateful if you could …J I would like to know …J We're interested in finding out …J We would like to receive …J I wonder if you could …

J Could you perhaps attach your current catalogue and pricelist as a MS Word or PDF file?

J Please send us information about your product range andprices.

J Please send full details of your prices, discounts, terms ofpayment and delivery times.

Informal: request for information

J Can you tell me a little more about … ?J Can I have … ?J Please could you … ?J Please send me …J Just a quick note to remind you to …J Your name and address were passed to me by …J We met last Thursday at the Leipzig Trade Fair.

178 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Scales of politenessBritish English uses different scales of politeness dependingon the familiarity between people. The examples below areascending:J Why don't you send me the attachment?J Send me the attachment, won't you?J Send me the attachment, will you?J Send me the attachment, would you?J Won't you send me the attachment?

It isn't really possible to make such distinctions in the Germanlanguage system. But when writing in English it neverthelessmatters. It is therefore advised to use the polite or indirectform when you're not exactly sure about which form to use.This means that you should use might instead of may, orcould instead of can. For the same reason you should becareful with translating ich möchte with I want.

Anglophone cultures don't often use a direct no. Therefore a phrase like:I wonder if this is the best solution translates best with Nein …

Hotel or Conference EnquiriesExamples

Ü Reservation: hotel and technical equipmentDear Sir or Madam

For our company Muster GmbH from Düsseldorf, I would like tomake a group booking for 10 guests. It concerns a three daymeeting including accommodation. The date of arrival is Friday,

Hote l or Conference Enquir ies 179

June 13. We'll need two double rooms and six single rooms on ahalf board basis. There are no special requests.

The rooms will be paid for by the participants, and the meetingcan be billed to the organiser: Muster GmbH, Düsseldorf.

For the conference, we'd like a meeting arrangement of: coffee(10:30 AM) and lunch (1:00 PM). We are looking for a medium-sized conference hall with three separate meeting rooms.

Each equipped with WLAN, whiteboards and flipcharts.

Could you please inform me on availability and prices? Thankingyou in advance.

Yours faithfully

Jule Funk

Muster GmbH

Reservation: RestaurantDear Sir or Madam

I would like to reserve a table for four people in your nonsmokingarea, for tomorrow April 1st at noon. Please make the reservationin the name of Muster GmbH from Düsseldorf. Thanking you inadvance.

Yours faithfully

Jule Funk

Useful phrases

J Please reserve a single room with bath for Mr James Bondduring his visit in Aachen from April 25th through May 2nd

(date of departure).J Can you offer a discount for a group of twenty-five?J May I ask you to please quote the inclusive price?J I attach a copy of my intended itinerary.J Layla Kawashima will settle the bill on behalf of Cargill.

180 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

J Unfortunately I have to cancel our reservation at yourhotel.

J I should like to reserve a conference hall for approximatelythirty people. Is it possible to have seating in a U-shape?

J Please send us details of available conference equipment,as well as simultaneous interpretation and translationservices.

J Could you inform us how much the charge per half day isfor a second beamer, flip-chart and white-board?

J We would like to be picked up from the conference bycoach.

Useful vocabularyHotelqueen-size bed 1,5 m breites Bett

king-size bed 2 m breites Bett

settle (the bill) begleichen

booking request Buchungsanfrage

executive class Businessclass

double bed Doppelbett, französisches Bett

double room Doppelzimmer

single room Einzelzimmer

half board Halbpension

high season Hauptsaison

low / off season Nachsaison / Vorsaison

itinerary Reiseroute, Wegbeschreibung

B and B, bed and breakfast Übernachtung mit Frühstück

Hote l or Conference Enquir ies 181

full board Vollpension

no. of rooms Zimmeranzahl

twin-bedded room Zweibettzimer

Conference equipment

meeting room Besprechungsraum

seating Bestuhlung

stage Bühne

fax service Fax-Service

flip chart Flip-Chart

big screen Großbildschirm

Internet access Internetanschluss

air conditioning Klimaanlage

conference room Konferenzraum

photocopier Kopiergerät

laser pointer Laserpointer

integrated loudspeaker Lautsprecheranlage

microphone facilities Mikrofonanlage

flip-over Präsentationsmappe

lectern Rednerpult

reach 25 m. Reichweite 25 m

rows Reihen

wireless presenter schnurlose Computerfern-bedienung

182 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

secretarial support Sekretariatsarbeiten

room dividers Stellwände

meeting and accommodationas flat rate

Tagung und Übernachtungals Pauschale

U-shape U-form

dimming Verdunkelung

video conference Videokonferenz

whiteboard Weißwandtafel

wireless local area network,WLAN

W-Lan

Giving Enquiries

FYI: for your informationOne of the most commonly sent e-mails is the FYI. Thisacronym stands for for your information. FYI is commonlyused in e-mail or memo messages to flag the message as aninformational message that does not require a response. Thisis typically indicated in the subject line: FYI: annual salesmeeting. Sending people an e-mail without informing themyou are actually sending it as an FYI might trick them intoopening a mail, they didn't want to open as generally an FYIdoesn't require someone's immediate attention. Because busyreaders might not always read all the subject lines, it is alsorecommendable to repeat the FYI again in the first line of thebody of the text.

Giv ing Enquir ies 183

Useful phrases

J For your information …

J This is to inform you…J Just so you know…J I wanted to let you know that…J This is just to tell you…J For your files I attach …

Answering requestsThe phrases below offer content for those e-mails in whichinformation is given based upon e-mail requests.

Examples

Ü FormalDear Sir or Madam

Muster GmbH from Linz in Austria, is seeking bids for theproduction of several trade fair stands. May I ask you to send usyour bid if you are interested?

Detailed specifications are attached. Also please note that Mus-ter GmbH doesn't wish to work with products that are in anywayassociated with environmental hazards in the production, manu-facturing or maintenance of materials.

The deadline for bids is June 26, 20XX.

Feel free to contact me should you need more information.

Yours faithfully

Less formalDear Mr Sanchez

I was wondering if I could ask you something regarding the newproduct development analyst. I believe you have known him forsome time and I would be grateful for any information you could

184 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

give us. This will of course be treated with strictest confidence.Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

Yours sincerely

InformalHi Betty,

I wanted to get the June 26 business unit notes to you as soon aspossible. Please get back to me if there's any information that Ican supply.

Regards

Useful phrasesFormal: enterprise and product information

J Thank you for your e-mail of 14 July enquiring about …J Your enquiry/query concerning our products …

J You will note that our … is on special offer.J We are also happy to send you full details of our prices,discounts, terms of payment and delivery times.

Informal: enterprise and product information

J John, it's been a while since we have spoken. I'm attachinga document that gives you full details of …

J I took the liberty to attach a list of some of our clients,which you will see include …

J I understand that you are looking for …J In reply to your e-mail, here …J Allow us to draw your special attention to …J Our products are carefully tested to ensure quality.

Giv ing Enquir ies 185

J All our products carry a one-year guarantee.J Of course we replace all defective parts free of charge.

Formal: more time needed

J We are behind with production.J Because of problems with our supplier …J We therefore cannot guarantee delivery by June 26.J We offer you our sincere apologies for this.J We shall do our utmost to …

Informal: more time needed

J I might need some more time after all.J I'm sorry to inform you that we will not make the deadline.But we're doing everything we can to sort it out.

J I hope you will understand my position.J I'll be in touch again soon with more details.

Change of AddressThese days, more and more changes of address come by wayof e-mail. When informing foreign relations, always try for-matting address information according to international stan-dards. By the way, the so-called Landeskürzel (e.g. D) shouldno longer be used.

186 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Useful phrases

J Change of address notification: …J Our head office has moved to Hanover.J We have now opened a new branch in Vienna.J Our address has changed and is now as follows: …J May we ask you to please forward any correspondence toour new address?

J Change of address: as of July 1: …J Change of address as of May 2nd 20XX: Devon House,Devon Centre, Manchester, M4 5KC

J Our telephone numbers remain unchanged.J Our telephone number now is: …

AppointmentsMaking appointments for meetings, teleconferences or lun-ches are the order of the day. In general such messages canbe brief, but make sure that you don't cancel appointmentstoo abruptly. As already mentioned, all too direct communi-cation might be misunderstood.

Examples

Ü InformalDear Sara Lou,

Could we meet in the next few days? I'm open this Thursday andFriday for lunch or in the afternoons.

Cheers,

Sander

Appointments 187

RefusingSorry Sander, I'm not available then. I've got an offsite clientmeeting. How about next week? Bisoux, Sara Lou

More formalDear team managers

I'm setting up a meeting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 27, 20XX, togetherwith the Marketing Department from head office. It's to reviewand evaluate the performance of the brand against competitors.Please let me know if you will be able to attend as soon aspossible, so I can circulate the agenda.

Best regards

Martin Saunders

RefusingDear Martin

Thank you for your kind invitation. Unfortunately, I have anotherappointment on that day. But please let me know how it went.

Best regards

Sara

Useful phrasesTo ask for an appointment

J I'm writing to arrange a time for our meeting. Could wemeet on Friday, June 26, in the afternoon at 3 p.m.?

J Would be very pleased if you could come to a meeting hereon 1 April.

J The meeting will last all morning and will have an informalagenda.

J Your presence at the meeting will be most useful.J Please everyone let me know if you will be able to attendby next Wednesday at the latest.

188 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Confirming proposals

J Yes, I think I should be able to make next Friday morning atThe Savoy.

J I'll get back to you later today to confirm our appointment.J Just to confirm my visit to you, on Friday 13 at 10 a.m. ET(Eastern Time Zone).

J Looking forward to meeting you next week.J Please let me know if there's anything I can prepare.

Refusing / postponing an appointmentExample: refusing an invitation (formal style)

Ü Thank you for your kind invitation.

Unfortunately, I have another appointment on Friday. Pleaseaccept my apologies.

In the case any reports arise from the discussion on CentralEurope, I would be most grateful to receive a copy. I hope we willhave the opportunity to meet on another occasion in the nearfuture.

J I'm afraid I can't manage next Friday.J I'm not available for lunch on either day, but would 3 p.mon Friday suit you?

J I'm out of the office until 11 p.m., but any time after thatwould be fine.

J This is to let you know, that I will not be able to attend themeeting in Berlin.

J Please accept my sincere apologies for cancelling ourappointment on such short notice.

Appointments 189

J I had an unavoidable emergency that prevented me fromkeeping our appointment.

InvitationsWhen accepting or declining invitations, note that in Englishone often tends to use adjectives like: happy, delighted orpleased, which in German might sound somewhat exaggera-ted at times. Nevertheless, it is advisable to express enthusi-asm or regret with slightly more emphasis.

Examples

Ü Invitation for a conference

Muster GmbH has the pleasure to invite you to the Conference‚XYZ‘, organised in Lucerne on 22 May 20XX, in association withABC-AG. The conference will take place at Auditorium KKLLuzern (Zentralstrasse 9) from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. The programmewill be updated regularly on the website of Muster GmbH. Pleasecomplete the attached form and return to …

Invitation for lunchDear Mr Haas

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you for our monthlybusiness unit lunch at Tantris, on Johann-Fichte-Strasse 7.Friday, 13 February at 13:30 o'clock.Your attendance will be very welcome.

Useful phrasesInviting and RSVP

J We would very much like to invite you for a presentationgiven by Mrs. Maryam Salehi on May 22 in the KhajehNasir Hall, which starts at 11 a.m.

190 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

J It would be a pleasure to receive you at our annual tradeexhibition.

J I would like to take this opportunity to invite you for ourmonthly sales manager meeting.

J The pleasure of your company is requested at the …J Would you please send an answer to our invitation as soonas possible.

J We would very much appreciate it if we could receive yourdecision before 26 June.

J RSVP (regrets only): [email protected]

Route descriptions and other information

J We hereby attach a route description as a PDF file.J If this information is not accurate or if you need additionalinformation about your travel plans or information on ourcompany, please call, e-mail or fax me directly. That way,we will receive your message in time to make the appro-priate changes or additions.

J When you arrive, just ask for me at reception.J Again, we are very honoured that you will be visiting us,and we look forward to a successful business relationshipbetween our two companies.

Formal: accepting / declining an invitation

J May I thank the board for their kind invitation to … on May22 and I take great pleasure in accepting it.

J Thank you for your kind invitation. I would be delighted toattend the …

Invitat ions 191

J I'm very sorry that I will miss the meeting. Please acceptmy apologies.

J Mrs Funk thanks PressEasy Ltd for their kind invitation butdue to a previous engagement she regrets she is unable toaccept.

Informal: accepting / declining an invitationExample: accepting an invitation

Ü Thanks a lot for inviting me. I'd love to come to the meeting.

Would it be okay to bring Silke Mertens as well? She's in chargeof the whole series. I met her in Frankfurt last year.

J Thanks a lot for your kind invitation.J Unfortunately, I have something else on my agenda on thatday.

J I'd really love to come to your lecture.

Canceling an appointmentWhen you deem it necessary to cancel an event and informthe participants by e-mail, it is important to find the propertone of voice and courtesy.

Example

Ü Dear Sirs,

Due to circumstances beyond the control of Muster GmbH, thebanquet unfortunately had to be cancelled. Muster GmbH apo-logises for any inconvenience caused.

Sincerely yours

192 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Useful phrases

J Owing to circumstances beyond our control, we will un-fortunately need to …

J Regrettably, due to unexpected events Dr. Dogan mustcancel the lecture of June 26.

J Mr Jorritsma sends his sincere apologies for his absencefrom the conference, and …

Indicating date and timeWhile trying to arrange an appointment, pay attention tousing the proper expressions concerning date and time. Takespecial precautions if your message will be sent interna-tionally to prevent misunderstandings: Spell out dates, as inGermany, 02/05/XX means May 2, 20XX; but in the UnitedStates this means February 5, 2009. There are more specificdifferences between German and English, e.g. the twelve-hour clock. In case of doubt try to double check appoint-ments; some people ask for confirmation by e-mail or fax.Electronic agendas like MS Outlook offer practical functiona-lities that automatically send reminders per e-mail.

MonthsJanuary Januar July Juli

February Februar August August

March März September September

April April October Oktober

May Mai November November

June Juni December Dezember

Invitat ions 193

Dates26 June, reads as: the twenty-sixth of June.

June 26, reads as: June twenty-sixth.

26th June, reads as: June, the twenty-sixth.

2009, reads as: two thousand and nine.

2009, reads as: two thousand nine.

Please note that years are usually pronounced in pairs: e.g.nineteen ninety-nine (1999).

Ordinal numbers

1st – first 8th – eighth (only one‚ t‘)2nd – second 9th – ninth (no‚e‘)3rd – third 10th – tenth4th – fourth 11th – eleventh5th – fifth 12th – twelfth (‚f‘ not ‚v‘)6th – sixth 20th – twentieth7th – seventh 21st – twenty-first etc.

Days

Monday Montag

Tuesday Dienstag

Wednesday Mittwoch

Thursday Donnerstag

Friday Freitag

Saturday Samstag, Sonnabend

Sunday Sonntag

194 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

today heute

tomorrow morgen

yesterday gestern

the day before yesterday vorgestern

the day after tomorrow übermorgen

as from todayas of today

von heute an

this Thursday diesen Donnerstag

next Tuesday nächsten Dienstag

by Friday bis Freitag

on Saturday am Samstag, Sonnabend

a week on Monday Montag in einer Woche

a week from Monday

in a fortnight's timein two weeks' time

in vierzehn Tagen

every Monday jeden Montag, montags

on Mondays

in 6 days' time in sechs Tagen

last / next month im letzten / nächsten Monat

last week letzte Woche

Times of the dayin the morning morgens, am Morgen

early morning der frühe Morgen

morning Morgen, Vormittag

midday Mittag

lunchtime Mittagszeit

Inv i tat ions 195

before lunch vor dem Mittag

after lunch nach dem Mittag

in the afternoon nachmittags, am Nachmittag

afternoon Nachmittag

late afternoon Spätnachmittag

evening Abend

in the evening abends, am Abend

in the morning am Vormittag

What time?Perception of time may differ from culture to culture. In theUK, for instance, people tend to give each other a margin ofseveral minutes. The Irish saying ‚When God created time, hecreated plenty of it‘ is of course only a generalisation, itnevertheless indicates that punctuality might be looked upondifferently from country to country.

Therefore, always plan meetings with a sufficient margin be-cause they may start a little bit later than expected. And alsodon't let yourself be toomuch guided bywhat you are used to inGermany. Apparently, six out of ten Americanmanagers are latefor their appointments, according to research conducted in2006 amongst 2,700 CEOs. This CEO's quarter of an hour's gracealso costs companies a lot of money.

at 8 (o'clock) in the morning /8 a.m.

um 08:00 Uhr

at 8 (o'clock) in the evening / 8p.m.

um 20:00 Uhr

196 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

till 5 (o'clock) in the evening /5 p.m.

bis 17:00 Uhr

after three (o'clock) nach 15:00 Uhr

before three (o'clock) vor 15:00 Uhr

as from 3 p.m.as of 3 p.m

ab 15:00 Uhr

between three and five(o'clock)

zwischen 15 und 17 Uhr

a quarter past nine viertel nach neun

a quarter to nine viertel vor neun

three thirty halb vier

half eight (half past eight) halb neun (not: halb acht!)

twenty-five minutes past ten zehn Uhr fünfundzwanzig

five to twelve fünf vor zwölf

noontime Mittag

half an hour eine halbe Stunde

quarter of an hour eine Viertelstunde

three quarters of an hour eine Dreiviertelstunde

Sending Agendas and MinutesThere are certain standard items that belong to an agenda:like a title, followed by the date, time and venue of themeeting and a list of the people who will be attending it. InEnglish the minutes always follow the agenda exactly. Eachsection of the notes is identified by the number of the item onthe agenda, or the heading taken from the agenda. Below aresome useful hints for making summaries.

Sending Agendas and Minutes 197

Checklist: summary of a meeting.

J Include the date: avoid vague descriptions like yesterdayor last week's meeting.

J List the participants: as members of a departmentchange from time to time, it is better to list people byname.

J Indicate action points to the discussed topics. Alsodesignate responsibility, mention the possible deadlineand describe each action. This ensures the action andserves as a record.

Examples

Ü AgendaMuster GmbH Management Team Meeting

Tues. Nov. 27, 20XX at 10-12 a.m. Rm. 69, 2nd floor

1 Confirmation of minutes

2 Matters arising from Oct. 25 meeting

3 Reports from task groups

4 Late items, AOB (any other business)

5 Closing

MinutesDear all

Below are the minutes from the April 1, 20XX board teleconfe-rence. Attendees: Sylvia, Udo, David and Chiara. Absent withregrets: John, Etsuko. Staff: Truus.

1 Approval of agenda as published: carried unanimously.

2 Motion F:04.10 to approve the Frankfurt bid for 20XX

3 Date of next teleconference: May 10, 20XX.

4 The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. EST.

198 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Useful phrases

J Attached are the approved meeting minutes for the Octo-ber annual meeting held October 2, 20XX.

J Minutes of Berlin team meeting, 27th May 20XX, 11-12.30a.m., be approved and signed. (Noted)

J The next meeting for the London Project Managementmeeting will be on Fri. Nov. 13, 11 a.m,. in room 69-C.

J Could you please check the agenda, and be in touch withyour questions and concerns? Thanks in advance.

J Attached is the report from our last meeting in Berlin,which was held on July 14. Should anyone miss anything,than please notify me before next Friday.

J It was decided to delay action until the next meeting.J Please find below the agenda of …J The notes from the February 13 Business Unit meetinginclude …

J Please take time to consider the minutes …

Refusing a RequestThe actual task of refusing someone something and yetmaintaining goodwill is not the easiest one. But in thebusiness world it simply does not suffice to refuse a requestpolitely. There are methods however that will ensure thatcustomers will want to continue doing business. Let us look atthe four-step format below:

Refus ing a Request 199

Checklist: negative messages

J Buffer statement: the first two sentences contain ge-neral neutral and positive remarks. They must be relatedto the refusal in the next paragraph.

J Explanation: in the second part of the e-mail explainwhy you cannot fulfil the request. Give logical reasonsbefore you mention the negative message at the end ofparagraph two. Also make sure the refusal is clear toavoid further debate on this topic.

J Alternatives: in the third paragraph try to demonstrateyour concern for the reader. This way the reader alsoregains the psychological freedom after your refusal.

J Goodwill ending: which comes last is often rememberedbest. Therefore pay attention to a friendly ending.

Useful phrasesBuffer

J Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.J We regret to inform you that …J With regard to your request, unfortunately we are not ableto …

200 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Explanation

J There appears to have been a misunderstanding.

J I have spoken to my line manager, and unfortunately wearen't able to …

J As we are bound by regulations of the …

Alternatives

J But I am sure we can find an acceptable compromise. Isuggest you contact [email protected] to arrange this matter.

J We are however prepared to let you have the requestedgoods on credit.

J We could replace the damaged goods with …

Goodwill ending

J We offer you our sincere apologies for this.J I have arranged for a member of our customer servicesteam to give you a call later in the week.

J I very much hope you will continue to use our services inthe future.

Stylistic stand back: negative – positiveSometimes a negative phrase can sound much more positiveby replacing the negative element which is in the word not byan alternative word. The table below gives some examples ofthis.

Refus ing a Request 201

Implicitly negative Explicitly negative

unable not able

impossible not possible

insignificant not significant

irrelevant not relevant

different not the same

lacks does not have

prevented did not allow

unless if … not

ComplaintsComplaints can be best dealt with in a neutral polite tone. Tomaintain a good working relationship, you might need tomake a useful suggestion to solve the problem brought toyour attention. Especially North American customers can beused to higher levels of personal service. In that sense adefensive approach might shut down effective communicati-on. Providing rational explanations for a complaint probablygives better results.

Examples

Ü Polite requestThere seems to be an error in the invoice we received for goodsdelivered on May 22. As I discussed this morning with yourassociate Pete Johnsons, Muster GmbH notified you on May 16of this matter.

202 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

May I ask you kindly to revise the billing statement by removingitems ABC and sending us a cancelled invoice please? Thank youfor your prompt attention to this matter.

Regards

UrgentI am writing in connection with our order A-01, which arrivedthis morning. You sent us 11 … instead of the 110 which we hadordered. This has caused us considerable difficulties, as ourproduction unit needs the goods urgently. Unless we receive thegoods by this Wednesday, we will have no choice but to cancelour order. I hope that ABC-AG will deal with this matterpromptly.

Useful phrases

J We regret to write you that the products we receivedFriday, 13th were below the standard we expected.

J Please replace the broken goods as soon as possible.J We wish to point out an error in the consignment wereceived yesterday.

J I hope that you will deal with this matter promptly, as it iscausing us considerable inconvenience.

ApologiesWhen writing a formal e-mail to express regretful acknowled-gement of a failure, you can choose from one of the alterna-tives listed below.

Apologies 203

Useful phrasesFormal styleJ I was very concerned to learn about your problems.J We're doing everything we can to resolve this issue.J Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.J This was due to circumstances beyond our control.J I will look into the matter immediately and get back to youwithin the next few days.

J To compensate for the inconvenience caused by this, Iwould like to suggest …

J We realise this is disappointing news to hear, and weapologise for the inconvenience we have caused you.

J We are sending you a … as a gesture of goodwill …

More personal style

J Please accept my sincere apologies for cancelling ourappointment on such short notice.

J I had an unavoidable emergency that prevented me fromkeeping the appointment.

J An urgent matter at the head office came up that I justhad to deal with immediately.

J Onbehalf of ABCGmbH, I offer sincere apologies to you for…J I'm afraid I had completely misunderstood the situation.J The fault was entirely mine and I really regret that itoccurred.

J I do hope we shall be able to put this unfortunate misun-derstanding behind us.

J Once again, my sincere apologies.

204 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Vocabulary:inconvenience: Unbequemlichkeitresolve: lösen, beikommencircumstances: Umstände

Congratulations and Season'sGreetingsIn business, personal relationships will benefit from sendinggreetings on appropriate occasions.

Congratulations

J I was very happy to hear about your promotion to businessunit manager. I congratulate you heartily.

J I would like to convey my sincere congratulations onwinning the Prix de Rome.

J I am delighted to see that all your work has been recogni-sed in this way.

J Please accept my warmest congratulations on your pro-motion to business unit manager.

J Once again my very best wishes.

Season's greetings

J We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!J Here is wishing you a happy holdiday season and all thebest in the New Year.

Congratulat ions and Season 's Greet ings 205

Informal: congratulations

J Well done!J I'm so glad to hear the news about …J Our sincere congratulations

ThanksFormal style

J Our company is very grateful for the trouble you havetaken to …

J I'm writing to let you know how pleased Muster GmbH waswith …

J If the occasion arises, I hope you will allow us to return thefavour.

More personal style

J I wanted to thank you again for such an enjoyable lunchyesterday.

J I am just writing to say what an excellent job you did ofthe Cologne project.

J Many thanks again for your help yesterday. If we canreturn the favour sometime, please let us know.

Short informal thanks

J Just a quick note to say many thanks for …J We really appreciate it.J Thanks a lot / a million

206 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Vocabulary:convey: überbringenfavour: Gunst, Gefallen

Payments and RemindersThis paragraph is intended for anyone who is faced with thetask of sending English e-mails in the financial world. Giventhe fact that some conventions are different (see the para-graph on numbers and currency symbols), it is good to knowabout such differences in advance.

Example

Ü Dear Mr Holzbauer

We can confirm that we shipped your items, and that thiscompletes your order. You can track the status of this order,online at: www.muster.de. Please note that tracking informationmay not be available immediately.

A copy of our invoice is attached as a PDF file. We kindly requestyou to remit the invoice amount within 14 days after invoicedate.

Sincerely

Customer Service Department

Useful phrasesSending invoices

J Please find enclosed a PDF copy of the invoice for ourservices.

J The total amount payable is: …

Payments and Reminders 207

J We request your remittance of the following balance bypayment in advance: EUR 1,963.

J We request you to make remittance for the amount statedon the invoice to our account no later than 27 November20XX.

J We request you to make payment within 14 days to one ofour accounts.

J We enclose a copy of our invoice for the goods delivered toyou on … against order number …

J We ask you to settle the invoice by May 2.

Reminding paymentsIntercultural text analyses have shown that differences existbetween German and English in the way debt collectioncorrespondence addresses readers. But although the tonemight seem polite, the legal consequences are perfectlyidentical. Below are some useful phrases.

J We refer you to our conditions of payment.J The outstanding invoices however must be paid by the endof this month.

J We should like to kindly remind you that our invoice no.09-01 is due.

J In case you might have settled the account in the mean-time, please ignore this e-mail.

J We kindly ask for early settlement of our invoice.J We request payment of the invoice to account number …J We would be grateful if you could adjust the invoiceaccordingly.

208 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

J We have as yet had no reply to our request for payment.J We must now insist on immediate payment.J We need to take steps to collect the amount due.J We hope you will understand our position.

Confirmations, inquiries and thanks

J We acknowledge receipt of the consignment.J Could you please send us an amended invoice?J At the current rate of exchange …J We have instructed our bank to pay you the sum owed.J We have given instructions to our bank to make paymentof EUR 1,963 against your invoice.

J We have transferred the sum of … to your account.J We thank you for your prompt payment of our invoice.

Useful vocabularybank connection Bankverbindung

concerns Betreff

BIC BIC

date Datum

foreign currency Devisen, Fremdwährungen

total amount Gesamtbetrag

fee Honorar

IBAN IBAN

bank account number Kontonummer

Payments and Reminders 209

Value Added Tax Mehrwertsteuer

VAT MwSt.

incidental expenses Nebenkosten

invoice no. Rechnungs- Nr.

amount of the invoice Rechnungsbetrag

from von

ATTN z. Hd.

at the current rate ofexchange

zum Tageskurs

Making OffersUseful phrases

J We thank you for your enquiry about …J We are pleased to submit the following quotation …J We offer you the goods you specified as follows: …J Enclosed please find a sample of …J The prices are inclusive / exclusive of VAT.

J We can give you a discount of 13 %.J As long as supplies last.J The offer/quotation excludes transportation costs.J We hereby confirm your telephone order of …J This offer is non-binding and valid while supplies last.J The goods will remain our legal property until full paymenthas been received.

210 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

J The prices and terms of delivery mentioned are bindinguntil 27 November.

J Please refer to our conditions of sale for further particulars.J You may rely on a quick and careful execution of yourorder.

Delivery and IncotermsUseful phrases

J Delivery will be made immediately on receipt of yourremittance.

J The goods will be transported by air.

J The merchandise is delivered ex factory (EXW).J The consignment consists of: …J We take extra care in the packaging of our goods.J We have booked your order and will do our best to carryout your request to your satisfaction.

J The products were sent to you today; the tracking numberis: …

Vocabulary:remittance: Überweisungconsignment: Versandtracking: Sendungsverfolgung

Del ivery and Incoterms 211

IncotermsThe Incoterms 2000 (International Commercial Terms: Inter-nationale Regeln für die Auslegung von Handelsklauseln) area series of international sales terms which serve to dividetransaction costs and responsibilities between buyer andseller. They are usually mentioned in an abbreviation-citycombination (e.g. our prices are FOB Hamburg).

Abbre-viation

English German

Group E

EXW Ex Works Ab Werk

Group F

FCA Free Carrier Frei Frachtführer

FAS Free Alongside Ship Frei Längsseite Schiff

FOB Free On Board Frei an Bord

Group C

CFR Cost and Freight Kosten und Fracht

CIF Cost, Insurance andFreight

Kosten, Versicherung,Fracht

CPT Carriage Paid To Frachtfrei

CIP Carriage and InsurancePaid To

Frachtfrei versichert

Group D

DAF Delivered at Frontier Geliefert Grenze

DES Delivered Ex Ship Geliefert ab Schiff

212 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Abbre-viation

English German

DEQ Delivered Ex Quay Geliefert ab Kai

DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid Geliefert unverzollt

DDP Delivered Duty Paid Geliefert verzollt

Numbers and Currency SymbolsWhen writing decimals or amounts of money, the Englishlanguage observes a few other conventions compared toGerman.

J The most important difference probably is the reverse useof commas and full stops (periods):

19,95 % (German)? 19.95 % (English)

16.090 km (German)? 10,000 miles (English)J Amounts in round figures don't necessarily need a commawith two decimals behind it:

25,00 EUR (German)? EUR 25 (English)J The position of the currency can be placed before or behindthe amount, depending on the local linguistic convention.There is no space between the pound sign and the amountin English.

J Another option is to use the ISO abbreviations for curren-cies in stead of the euro or pound sign. Notice the differentposition of the currency abbreviations:

12.904,90 EUR (German)? GBP 10,000 (English)

Numbers and Currency Symbols 213

J Please note that Australian texts may use a space insteadof a comma, and Swiss texts often use an apostrophe toseparate the thousands.

Indicating larger numbersFor describing larger amounts or numbers in the Englishlanguage you may come across the following abbreviations:

J thousand: KJ million: MJ billion (in German: Milliarde): bn or BJ trillion (in German: Billion): T

Expressing numbers in alphabetic characters, such as forty-three billion Canadian Dollars', finds application in officialdocuments and in a formal or contractual context. But forsending e-mails around the globe, it's better to use figures.

Monetary and currency symbolsMonetary units, such as dollars or pound sterling, are oftenabbreviated with their own currency symbols. Note that in theUnited Kingdom a middle dot is often used as the decimalpoint on price stickers (e.g.: £6£95). Besides the currencysymbols, you may also wish to write the international mone-tary abbreviations as stated in the list of currencies from theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO 4217:Currency names and code elements).

214 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

List of currenciesCountry Currency Sign ISO Fract.Australia Australian dollar $ AUD Cent

Bahamas Bahamian dollar $ BSD Cent

Canada Canadian dollar $ CAD Cent

Cyprus Cypriot pound £ CYP Cent

Gibraltar Gibraltar pound £ GIP Penny

Hong Kong Hong Kong dollar $ HKD Ho

India Indian rupee � INR Paisa

Ireland Euro EUR EUR Cent

Malaysia Malaysian ringgit RM MYR Sen

Malta Maltese lira £ MTL Cent

New Zea-land

New Zealand dollar $ NZD Cent

Nigeria Nigerian naira � NGN Kobo

Pakistan Pakistani rupee � PKR Paisa

Singapore Singapore dollar $ SGD Cent

SouthAfrica

South African rand R ZAR Cent

UnitedKingdom

British pound £ GBP Penny

UnitedStates

United States dollar $ USD Cent

Numbers and Currency Symbols 215

Please note the differences in writing the word euro:

J The word euro is written in small letters in English.J EU legislation prescribes using the words euro and centboth in singular and plural. But common usage in the restof the English-speaking world is to use the natural plural in-s. Also most financial media in the UK prefer euros andcents as the plural forms.

216 Common Bus iness S ituat ions

Practical Reference

In this chapter you will find information on:

J linguistic characteristics as the use of capital letters orapostrophes and punctuation,

J linguistic Differences UK-USA,J useful vocabulary and key terms for business correspon-dance,

J the use of abbreviations and acronyms etc.

217

Linguistic Characteristics

The proper use of capital lettersIn English the rules for using capitals are different fromGerman rules.

Capital lettersIn the following cases you do need to begin with capitalletters:

J The pronoun ‚I‘J Proper namesJ Names of

– the days of the week,– the months of the year,– holidays– historical periods– buildings– positions or titles of people– organisations– languages– nationalities or ethnic groups

J Words expressing a connection with geographical placesJ Significant religious termsJ Roman numeralsJ The first word of direct quotations, sentences or fragments

218 Pract ica l Reference

Small lettersOther elements are always written with small letters, such as:

J Names of directions (e.g.: south etc.)J Names of seasonsJ Articles in proper names (e.g.: the Emir of Kuwait)

The title or name of a book, a film or a magazine usually hascapital letters for every significant word, but words like the,of, and or in aren't capitalized, unless they are the first word.Like in: Yesterday we saw The Silence of the Lambs on TV.

In British English the first word after a colon (double-point)generally is not written in capital letters. American usage onthe other hand often prefers a capital after a colon. Asmentioned above: with direct quotations both language va-rieties use a capital to start the quotation.

Vocabulary:pronoun: (Personal)pronomennumeral: Zahlwortquotation: Zitatproper name: Eigenname

Using apostrophesThe apostrophe (') is a troublesome punctuation mark inEnglish, and incorrect use of apostrophes will make someone'swriting quickly look poor. Still there is a lot of confusionabout using apostrophes.

L inguist ic Character i s t ics 219

ContractionsThe apostrophe is used in writing contractions, that is shor-tened forms of words from which one or more letters havebeen omitted. The omitted letter is replaced by an apostrophe.Examples are: it's (it is or it has), can't (cannot), aren't (arenot). When the word not is part of the contracted phrase, theapostrophe is always placed between the ‚n‘ and the ‚t‘.Traditionally contractions were considered as speakinglanguage, and had no place whatsoever in formal businesscorrespondence. Although using contractions in formal wri-ting nowadays isn't considered wrong anymore, it's better totry to use them sparingly.

Full form Contractioncannot can't

do not don't

have not haven't

he has (she) he's, she's

he is (she) he's, she's

I am I'm

I have (we, you) I've, we've, you've

I will / shall I'll

is not isn't

it has it's

it is it's

shall not shan't

they are (we, you) they're, we're, you're

will not won't

220 Pract ica l Reference

Possessive forms

An apostrophe is also used in a possessive form like: Her-mann's report. The basic rule is simple: a possessive form isspelled with ‚s‘ at the end. This also applies when the lastletter is an ‚s‘, for instance like: Klaus's proposal. But there isan exception: plural nouns which already end in an ‚s‘, do nothave a second ‚s‘. They only have an apostrophe at the end asin: four weeks' work. When pluralising dates, there is adifference between British and American usage because thelatter uses an apostrophe:

This model was designed in the 1990s.This model was designed in the 1990's.

Using the spelling checkEspecially in writing e-mails, spelling doesn't always seem tobe a priority. Most errors can be simply prevented by using thespell check of your software. Below are some tips to makeoptimal use of this function. Always make sure that you turnon the function, and that you select the correct variety: forinstance English (United Kingdom) or English (United States).Besides local particular spelling conventions the second majordifference is the vocabulary of each variety. The spell checktakes this into account.

HomophonesOne of the problems that German native speakers might haveis that certain English words sound the same, but mean verydifferent things, and they also don't have the same spelling.

L inguist ic Character i s t ics 221

The little poem below gives no indication whatsoever of aspell check, but is of course absolute nonsense.

Finally eye used the English spelling chequer on my pea see,

This marked four my revue, the miss steaks I could knot sea,

So each time my chequer tolled me; eye quickly stroke the quay.

In linguistics these words are called homophones, i.e. wordsthat have the same sound but a different spelling andmeaning. Below is a selection of some relevant businesshomophones:

aisle isle

buy by

cell sell

cent scent

complement compliment

fair fare

hole whole

hour our

know no

meat meet

principal principle

profit prophet

right write

sight site

some sum

stationary stationery

222 Pract ica l Reference

Linguistic Differences: UK-USAGeorge Bernard Shaw once wrote that ‚Britain and Americaare two countries divided by a common language‘. But alt-hough there are some differences in spelling conventions orvocabulary, only a few words really cause misunderstandings.An example of this is the expression to table a motion. In theUK this means to place it on the agenda, while in the US itmeans exactly the opposite (to remove it from consideration).No idea how this is solved in bilateral meetings …

Spelling differencesIf we take a closer look at the spelling differences betweenBritish and American English, the examples in the table belowshow you some typical spelling conventions. Many nouns andadjectives are turned into verbs by adding -ize (standardize)in the US, and -ise in Britain. If in doubt, you can simplyadjust the spell check on your computer.

UK US

authorise authorize

litre, theatre, kilometre liter, theater, kilometer

colour color

catalogue catalog

cheque (bank) check

defence, offence defense, offense

programme (except compu-ter program)

program

Linguist ic Di f fe rences: UK-USA 223

UK US

-our (labour, colour) -or (labor, color)

-ogue (catalogue) -og (catalog)

-ll (dialled, traveller) -l (dialed, traveler)

But there are exceptions, for example: enrolment (UK), enroll-ment (US).

Different wordsBesides the differences in spelling mentioned above, differentwords are simply used sometimes. Some of the more commonones are listed in the table below (listed by German trans-lation for convenience):

Translation UK US

Bankkonto banking account bank account

Banknote banknote bill

Benzin petrol gas(oline)

Betrieb company corporation

Buchung booking reservation

Erkundigung enquiry inquiry

Führerschein driving licence driver's license

Herbst autumn fall

Lebenslauf curriculum vitae r�sum�, schooltranscript

Rechnung bill check

Rechtsanwalt solicitor/barrister attorney

224 Pract ica l Reference

Translation UK US

Reservierung booking reservation

Rückfahrkarte return ticket round trip ticket

Selbstkostenpreis at cost price at cost

Steuereinnahmen inland revenue duty income tax

Transport transport transportation

U-Bahn underground subway

Unterführung subway underpass

Verfallsdatum expiry date expiration date

vermieten let hire

vierzehn Tage fortnight two weeks

Wohnung flat apartment

Grammar differencesSome grammar differences are consistent between Americanand British:

UK US

look out of the window look out the window

last Monday week a week ago last Monday

talk to, meet talk with, meet with

I have (already) eaten I (already) ate

River Thames, River Avon Hudson River, Mississippi River

to be in a team to be on a team

I've gone I went

Linguist ic Di f fe rences: UK-USA 225

Apart from American and British, other well-known varietiesof English are Canadian, Australian and South African. Coun-tries such as India, Nigeria and the Philippines also have manyEnglish speakers.

Useful Vocabulary and Key Terms

Digital vocabularyto an

attachment Anlage

@ (at sign) At-Zeichen, Affenschwanz

subject Betrifft, Betreff

hyphen Bindestrich

file Datei

e-mail die E-Mail (D), das E-Mail (A, CH)

wireless drahtlos

hard disk Festplatte

to download herunterladen

dot Punkt

slash Schrägstrich

back slash umgekehrter Schrägstrich

underscore Unterstrich

to forward weiterleiten

226 Pract ica l Reference

Vocabulary: function keysPgUp (page up) Bild hoch

PgDn (page down) Bild runter

PrtSc (Print Screen) Druck

Insert Einfg

End Ende

Delete Entf

Home Post

Ctrl (control) Strg

Shift Ums

Key terms: e-mailsASCII American Standard Code for Information Inter-

change. A standard set of codes used forrepresenting text and keyboard-control cha-racters. Pronounced as: [aski]

Auto respon-der

A prewritten reply to an e-mail message, whichis sent automatically

Bounced mes-sage

An e-mail that is returned to the sender be-cause it cannot be delivered

Compression File management technique that shrinks datafor easy transportation. For instance: ZIP orRAR

Emoticons Electronic symbols indicating emotions, e.g.:smileys

Encryption Encoding or scrambling of an e-mail messageor attachment for privacy reasons

Useful Vocabulary and Key Terms 227

Filter A feature of an e-mail program to sort inco-ming messages

Flame Angry or insulting e-mail messages

Forward Retransmitting an e-mail message to otherrecipients

Group list A group of e-mail addresses that can be ad-dressed as a single recipient

Instantmessaging(IM)

Direct exchange of messages with other peopleonline

MIME ‚Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions‘: auto-matic recognition and display of file types

Priority Designates an e-mail message's importance:high, normal or low priority

Signature A personal identifier at the end of an e-mailmessage, informing on other contact data

Subject line Topic of an e-mail message

Thread An ongoing e-mail conversation

Word wrap A feature in e-mail programs that allows in-sertion of soft returns at the right-side marginsof an e-mail message

Key terms: the companyThe following tables provide a quick reference source whentrying to describe elements or divisions of a company.

228 Pract ica l Reference

Departmentsorders Bestellungen

accounting Buchhaltung

purchasing Einkauf

finance department Finanzabteilung

research and development,R&D

Forschung und Entwicklung,F&E

information technology IT-Abteilung

customer service Kundenberatung

after-sales service Kundenbetreuung

warehouse Lagerhalle

logistics Logistik

marketing Marketing

assembly Montage

public relations, PR Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

human resources, personneldepartment

Personalabteilung

production Produktion

legal department Rechtsabteilung

sales department Verkaufsabteilung

out-of-office sales Verkaufs-Aussendienst

sales support Verkaufs-Innendienst

sales management Verkaufsleitung

despatch, dispatch Versand

sales and distribution Vertrieb

administration Verwaltung

advertising department Werbeabteilung

Useful Vocabulary and Key Terms 229

Company positionsshop floor worker Arbeiter/-in

assistant Assistent/-in

staff Belegschaft

office staff Büropersonal

director Direktor,

leitender Angestellter

managing director, CEO Generaldirektor/-in

manager Manager/-in

personnel Personal

management Unternehmensleitung

vice president Vizepräsident/-in

supervisor Vorgesetzter

chairman Vorsitzender

board of managers Vorstand

Company divisionsdepartment, section Abteilung

branch Filiale, Niederlassung

business unit, division Geschäftsbereich, Sparte

head office, head-quarters Hauptsitz, Zentrale

holding company Holdinggesellschaft

parent company Muttergesellschaft

subsidiary Tochtergesellschaft

230 Pract ica l Reference

Abbreviations and AcronymsBecause in e-mails people tend to write very quickly, manyelectronic acronyms have found their way into e-mail mes-sages. In the table below you can find a selected overview ofelectronic acronyms and/or abbreviations that have foundtheir way into business e-mail messages.

Only use abbreviations yourself if your readers (the intendedas well as the hidden readers) will recognize and understandthem. And don't use too many abbreviations, as they canmake a sentence hard to read. Furthermore, it's advisable toclarify an uncommon abbreviation by writing it out on thefirst reference and citing the abbreviation in parentheses.

A/P Accounts Payable

AA Author's Alterations

abbr Abbreviation, Abbreviated

abr Abridged

abt About

acc According

acct Account

acq Acquired, Acquisition

ACWP Actual Cost of Work Performed

Afaik As Far As I Know

agg Aggregated

AGM Annual General Meeting

AKA Also Known As

ANI Automatic Number Identification

Abbrev iat ions and Acronyms 231

ans Answer

apt Apartment

ASAP As Soon As Possible

ASL Above Sea Level

ASP Average Selling Price

ASR Automatic Speech Recognition

asst Assistant

AST Atlantic Standard Time

Att Attorney

Attn Attention

Av Avenue, Avenida

AWB Air-Way Bill

AY Academic Year

AYR At Your Risk

B4 Before

BC Before Christ

BE Bill of Exchange

BKA Better Known As

BL Bill of Lading

bldg Building

Bn Billion

BP Bill Payable

BPO Business Process Outsourcing

BS Bill of Sale

BSI British Standards Institution

bsmt Basement

232 Pract ica l Reference

BTW By The Way

BW Black and White

C&F Cost And Freight

c/o Care Of

c/w Coming With

CAP Customer Administration Panel

CBD Cash Before Delivery

CBI Confidential Business Information

CC Carbon Copy, Customer Copy

CC Chamber of Commerce

CCC Customer Care Center

CDT Central Daylight Time

CEO Chief Executive Officer

CET Central European Time, Centraal Eur.Tijd

CFO Chief Financial Officer

CFP Call For Proposals, Call For Papers

CFV Call For Votes

ch Chapter, Chapitre

chmn Chairman

CIO Chief Information Officer

cmte Committee

Co County

co Care Of

Corp Corporation

CPI Consumer Price Index

CST Central Standard Time

Abbrev iat ions and Acronyms 233

CT Central Time

ctr Center

DIY Do It Yourself market

dna Does Not Apply

DoB Date Of Birth

e.g. Exempli Gratia

EDT Eastern Daylight Time

Esq Esquire

EST Eastern Standard Time

ewt Elsewhere Taken

F Floor

F2F Face to Face

FAO For the Attention Off

FAQ Frequently Asked Question(s)

ff Following

FMCG Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

FOB Free on Board

FSS Financial Services Sector

FTC Free Trade Committee

FY Fiscal Year

FYI For Your Information

GA General Average

GL Ground Level

GMT Greenwich Mean Time

H&S Health And Safety

HR Human Resource

234 Pract ica l Reference

i.e. Id Est

i/c In Charge

ICT Information & Communication Technology

Imho In My Humble Opinion

imo In My Opinion

IOW In Other Words

ITT Invitation To Tender

JIT Just In Time

KISS Keep It Short and Simple

L/C Letter of Credit

LL Lines

M/F Male or Female

MD Managing Director

mfg Manufacturing

misc Miscellaneous

MoM Minutes Of Meeting

mph Miles Per Hour

MSGS Messages

n/a Not Applicable

NB Nota bene

NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement

NLT No Later Than

NOTA None Of The Above

o/a On Account

PA Personal Assistant

pct Percent, Procent

Abbrev iat ions and Acronyms 235

pkwy Parkway

PLS Please

PM Post Meridiem, Past Midday

PM Prime Minister

pp Pages

PPI Producers Price Index

PS Pound Sterling

PT Part-Time

PTO Patent and Trademark Office

Pty Property, Proprietary

REC'D Received

RGDS Regards

RoI Return On Investment

SMB Small or Medium Business

SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

SOHO Small Office, Home Office

Spec Specification

SSN Social Security Number

T/B Top and Bottom

TBC To Be Considered

THX Thanks

TIA Thanks In Advance

TS/SI Top Secret/Sensitive Information

TWIC To Whom It Concerns

USASI USA Standards Institute

USPTO United States Patent and Trademark Office

236 Pract ica l Reference

VSB Very Small Business

w/ With

w/o Without

WRT With Regards To

A special e-mail styleBesides such expressions another form of abbreviated wordsin e-mail developed. In this style, the vowels are oftendeleted, or parts of words are replaced by homonyms:

Subject: Thx for yr msgRe your msg on our ans machine: gr8 you've got a back-up :-)Hv 2 work now. CU,Silke

Although you may occasionally come across this kind of newabbreviation, it is nevertheless discouraged from using themin formal business correspondence.

Full stops or periods?There is a tendency in Great-Britain to write abbreviationswithout a full stop (period). British usage favours omitting thefull stop in abbreviations which include the first and lastletters of a single word, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr or St –American usage on the contrary prefers: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr.and St., with full stops. Two other common abbreviations area.m. and p.m., like in: 11.00 a.m. or five p.m. Note that theseare not capitalised in British usage. Funnily enough Americanusage here prefers capitals and no full stops, so 11:00 AM orfive PM.

Abbrev iat ions and Acronyms 237

False FriendsFalse friends (or faux amis) are pairs of words that looksimilar, but differ in meaning in two languages. As falsefriends are a problem for second language speakers, the tablebelow simultaneously compiles some common German-Eng-lish as well as English-German false friends.

German English False friend Translation

auch also also thus, therefore

Bedeutung meaning Meinung opinion

bekommen to get to become werden

Direktion management direction Richtung

eigentlich actual(ly) aktuell up-to-date

ich werde I will Ich will I want to

Konkurrenz competition concurrence Einverständnis

Konzept draft, plan concept Begriff, Idee

Konzern corporate concern Belang

Manager CEO manager Filialleiter

Marke brand mark Note

Messe fair, mass mess Unordnung

Personal personnel personal persönlich

schließlich eventually eventuell possibly

schnell fast fast almost

Streit argument Argument point

Unternehmer entrepreneur undertaker Leichen-bestatter

wenn if when wann

werden to become bekommen to receive

238 Pract ica l Reference

E-mail Features

Formatting e-mail for foreign screensA common problem is the way e-mails look on the screen ofthe receiver. I tested this once by sending an e-mail to fivedifferent people, whom I asked to print and fax the messageto me. Not one of them looked like the original. Some of themain differences that appeared: specific German letters (ß, Ü,�, etc.) were replaced by strings of other characters; Internetaddresses no longer worked like hyperlinks; italicised lettersdidn't show; word wrap influenced the look and feel of thetext. The average line length is 75 characters (screen width).

To avoid such discordances in international business youcould use the following techniques:

J In your options you can choose ‚MIME encoding‘, insteadof ‚BinHex‘ or ‚Uuencode‘. In the ‚Options window‘ you canalso set lines to wrap automatically at 65 to 75 characters.

J Probably it's best to choose ‚plain text‘ (also known asASCII) in stead of ‚HTML‘ in the settings of your e-mailprogram. Then once you know that the addressee's soft-ware is capable of interpreting all symbol codes correctly,you can always opt for fancier settings. One problem withASCII however, is that the only characters that are sure tobe properly transmitted are those with ASCII/ANSI num-bers between 32 and 126. Thus, an outgoing Germancharacter (usually falling outside the range 32-126) trans-mitted from a German QWERTZ keyboard is likely to beconverted into something else. To be on the safe side you

E-mai l Features 239

can replace the following typical characters with alterna-tive keyboard combinations.

Character Alternative Majuskel Minuskel

� ae Alt-142 Alt-132

Ö oe Alt-153 Alt-148

Ü ue Alt-154 Alt-129

ß ss Alt-225 Alt-225

J Another point is the downloading of images that areconnected to the content. It might look great beforesending, but many people have set their mail software toblock automatic picture downloads and other externalcontent in messages (if the content is linked to a server).In the recipient's inbox this results in sloppy areas showingmessages that the content needs to be downloaded first.Not necessarily the best first impression.

TemplatesForm letters or templates are reusable letter elements. Theywere invented for a reason, namely because they can savepeople a lot of time if used properly. In certain jobs peopleprobably need to write the same type of e-mail over and overagain, as both purpose and content are essentially the same.The following situations lend themselves to templates:J Meeting announcements, agendas and minutes,J Common requests and responses to common questions,J Sales letters or other marketing messages.J Regular reports and project updates

240 Pract ica l Reference

In the example below you can see a typical message that isqualified for a template. The fields between square bracketscan be typed in manually, but also be connected to an excelspreadsheet (containing product or address information e.g.).

Example

Ü This is a reminder of the weekly meeting: [date, time andlocation].

May I ask you to please send me any additions and/or correctionsat least two days before the meeting.

Also, please let me know if you won't be able to attend.

Thanks,

Aynur

Checklist: using e-mail templates

J First analyse your existing e-mails or responses to seewhat the essential elements are.

J Keep the template files up-to-date over the years.J Besides features like ‚Autotext‘ there are also specific

(free) software programs available on Internet to helpyou streamline the writing process.

J Try to make a habit of always proofreading the mails youcreate from templates before sending them out.

Identifying international e-mailsPeople who are used to electronic addresses ending withdot-de or dot-com might have some difficulties with thetype of addresses that use a second level domain (SLD).

E-mai l Features 241

Usually such extra codes indicate an activity (co for compa-nies, gov for governments, etc.). Such an address contains anextra dot and the specific code, e.g.: www.bbc.co.uk. In fact,quite a number of countries use this type of electronicaddress. In addition to most Commonwealth countries andSouth America, countries like Austria, Sweden, Turkey orJapan, also use such URLs.

When trying to locate a website it can be practical to knowthe suffix of the country in question. The list below gives anoverview for Anglophone countries.

Code English Germansld*.au Australia Australien

.ca Canada Kanada

sld.hk Hong Kong Hongkong

sld.in India Indien

.ie Ireland Irland

sld.nz New Zealand Neuseeland

sld.za South Africa Südafrika

sld.uk United Kingdom Großbritannien

.com, .gov etc. United States Vereinigte Staaten

* sld. means second level domain, e.g.: www.airberlin.co.uk

Legal implications of e-mailThe first publicised case, in which an e-mail was used asevidence, was the Iran-Contra scandal, which involved theWhite House and Lt. Col. Oliver North. In the past few years,

242 Pract ica l Reference

e-mails have often made the news headlines. The lessonlearned is that e-mails, written in a certain way, can resultin companies being confronted with legal liability. This canhappen in three ways basically:J When the content of the mail involves exaggerations,guarantees, leaking of sensitive information and/or thespreading of rumours.

J People can be presumed to have knowledge of the con-tents of an e-mail once it arrived on their workstation.E-mail can create a responsibility to report in this way.

J Forwarding electronic clippings in an e-mail implies apossible violation of copyright laws.

Vocabulary:liability: Haftungpresume: annehmenviolation: Übertretung, Verletzung

Responding to e-mailRecent surveys reveal that we now spend between 30 minu-tes and four hours or more a day on e-mail-related activities.What tactics can you use to manage the e-mail interruptions?If you compare e-mail to let's say phone calls, then why do weuse our precious times replying to certain information? I askthis because on the phone you probably wouldn't respond.However, quite a few people can click on the reply buttonprobably faster than they can pronounce the word reply. Andthey do so despite the fact that many of these messages mayneed no response at all. Therefore, when a sender is only

E-mai l Features 243

passing along information and has not asked for a reply,probably just reading, filing or deleting the e-mail suffices.

Quite often it's possible to summarise the key points orquestions from several individual messages. Combine yourresponses into one e-mail that includes answers to questions,provides the necessary details, and so on. Also don't openemails you don't really need to read.

Checklist: responding to e-mailBy using the questions below you can see whether yourespond appropriately and efficiently to the e-mails youreceive.

J Wouldn't it be quicker to reply on the phone or in personthan in an e-mail?

J Is a response really necessary? Or can you just file, printout, forward or delete the e-mail?

J Do you need some time to think or calm down first?J In this case, don't respond immediately.J Do you need to inform others by Cc or Bcc?J In case you decide to copy people, do they really need to

have that information, and will they think of it as useful?J Did you run a spell check?J Is it necessary for you to respond at this very moment?

244 Pract ica l Reference

Tables and Overviews

Types of companiesIn many e-mail signatures businesses will write a companyname with suffixes like AG, GmbH etc. This paragraph givesan overview of the different abbreviations that are in use inthe Anglophone world. Although the judicial systems are verydifferent, it is still sometimes very handy to have some kind ofcomparison. Therefore a German equivalent has been added, ifapplicable.

Abbr. Country Legal entity Equivalent

Assocs. USA Associates

(Edms.)Bpk.

RSA Proprietary Limited (Afrikaans:Beperk)

GmbH

CC / BK RSA Close Corporation (Afrikaans:Beslote Korporasie)

UK Company Limited by Guarantee

UK Sole proprietorship, one-manbusiness

EU

UK Unlimited Company GmbH

Co. USA Company

Corp. USA Corporation (see: Incorporated) AG

Cpt Irl Cuideachta phoibl� theoranta(Public Limited Company)

AG

d/b/a USA Doing Business As. EU

ELP Bah Exempted Limited Partnership.

IBC Bah International Business Company offshore

Inc. Can Incorporated. Limited Liability

Tables and Overv iews 245

Abbr. Country Legal entity Equivalent

Inc. Aus Incorporated Association

Inc. USA Incorporated AG

L.P. USA Limited Partnership

LLC USA Limited Liability Company

LLP USA Limited Liability Partnership

LTD Aus,India

Limited GmbH

Ltd. Can Limited (Quebec: Limit�e, Lt�e) GmbH

Ltd. NZ, RSA Limited GmbH

Ltd. UK Private Limited Company GmbH

(Pty.)Ltd.

RSA Proprietary Limited GmbH

N.A. USA National Association für Banken

NT Can Intermediary

P.C. USA Professional Corporation

P/L orPty.Ltd.

Aus Proprietary Limited Company. GmbH

PC Ltd Aus Public Company Limited byShares

PLC Irl Public Limited Company AG

PLC UK Public Limited Company AG

PrC Irl Private Company Limited byShares

GmbH

Pty.Ltd.

Pte.Ltd.

Various Proprietary Limited company GmbH

Pvt.Ltd. India Private Limited Company GmbH

Teo Irl Teoranta GmbH

246 Pract ica l Reference

Country abbreviationsAus: Australia; Bah: Bahamas; Can: Canada; Irl: Irland; NZ:New Zealand; RSA: South Africa; UK: Großbritannien; USA:Vereinigte Staaten.

German abbreviationsAG: Aktiengesellschaft; GmbH: Gesellschaft mit beschränkterHaftung; EU: Einzelunternehmen.

Official holidays and translationsFinding the right translation for a national holiday during aconversation can be difficult. How would you explain MariäHimmelfahrt or Pfingsten in English? Below are English-Ger-man translations for the most commonly celebrated officialholidays. Their specific dates can be found in the next para-graph:

Holiday Translation

New Year's Day Neujahr

Epiphany Heilige Drei Könige

Carnival Karneval / Fasching

Good Friday Karfreitag

Easter Ostern

Labour Day Tag der Arbeit

Ascension Day Christi Himmelfahrt

Whit Sunday Pfingsten (Pfingstsonntag)

Whit Monday Pfingstmontag

Tables and Overv iews 247

Holiday Translation

Corpus Christi Fronleichnam

Midsummer's Day Johannistag / Sommerson-nenwende

Assumption Mariä Himmelfahrt

All Saints' Day Allerheiligen

Christmas Eve Heiligabend

Christmas Day Erster Weihnachtsfeiertag

Boxing Day Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag

New Year's Eve Silvester

National Day Nationalfeiertag (auch für:Tag der deutschen Einheit)

Liberation Day Tag der Befreiung

What are bank holidays?A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom andin the Republic of Ireland. Bank holidays are so called becausethey are the days upon which banks were closed by tradition(since the Bank Holidays Act of 1871). England and Walesshare the same days, but Scotland, Northern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland all have their own public holiday.

Country-specific holidaysBesides the commonly celebrated holidays, most countrieshave specific local public holidays.

248 Pract ica l Reference

Australia26 January – Australia Day, 25 April – ANZAC Day, secondMonday in June – Queen's birthday

Canada24 May – Victoria Day, 1 July – Canada Day, first Monday inSeptember – Labour Day, second Monday in October –Thanksgiving, 11 November – Remembrance Day

England and Wales7 May – May Day Bank Holiday, 28 May – Spring BankHoliday, 27 August – Summer Bank Holiday

IrelandSt. Patrick's Day, first Monday in May, June, August lastMonday in October

New Zealand6 February – Waitangi Day, 25 April – ANZAC Day, firstMonday in June – Queen's birthday, fourth Monday in Octo-ber – Labour Day

Northern Ireland17 March – St Patrick's Day, 7 May – May Day Bank Holiday,28 May – Spring Bank Holiday, 12 July – Orangeman's Day, 27August – Summer Bank Holiday

Tables and Overv iews 249

Scotland2 January – 2 January, 7 May – May Day Bank Holiday, 28May – Spring Bank Holiday, 6 August – Summer Bank Holiday,30 November – St. Andrew's Day

South Africa21 March – Human Rights Day, 27 April – Freedom Day, 1May –Workers' Day, 16 June – Youth Day, 9 August – NationalWomen's Day, 24 September – Heritage Day, 16 December –Day of Reconciliation

United StatesTraditionally 30 May – Memorial Day, first Monday in Sep-tember – Labor Day, 4 July – Independence Day – 4thThursday in November – Thanksgiving Day

Translated geographical namesA number of cities in German-speaking regions have differentnames in English. The list below helps to prevent misunder-standings when giving address information.

Bayern Bavaria

Braunschweig Brunswick

Franken Franconia

Frankfurt am Main Frankfort

Hannover Hanover

Koblenz Coblenz

Köln Cologne

Luzern Lucerne

250 Pract ica l Reference

München Munich

Niedersachsen Lower Saxony

Nordrhein Westfalen

North Rhine Westphalia

Nürnberg Nuremberg

Preußen Prussia

Rheinland Pfalz Rhineland Palatinate

Ruhrgebiet Ruhr River Valley

Sachsen Saxony

Schwaben Swabia

Steiermark Styria

Thüringen Thuringia

Tirol Tyrol

Westfalen Westphalia

Wien Vienna

Temperature conversion tableFahrenheit (8F) Celsius (8C)

212 (boiling point) 100 (Siedepunkt)

176 80

122 50

104 40

98.4 (body temperature) 37 (Körpertemperatur)

68 20

50 10

Tables and Overv iews 251

Fahrenheit (8F) Celsius (8C)

32 (freezing point) 0 (Gefrierpunkt)

14 –10

0 –17,8

–459.67 (absolute zero) –273,15 (absoluter Null-punkt)

Conversion of Celsius and Fahrenheit:

J 8F – 8C: (8F – 32) · 5/9 = 8CJ 8C – 8F: 8C · 9/5 + 32 = 8F

Weights and measuresWeights Gewichte

gross weight Bruttogewicht

net weight Nettogewicht

1 ounce (oz) 28,35 g

1 pound (lb) 453,6 g

1 stone 6,356 kg

1 short hundredweight (cwt) 45,359 kg (USA)

1 long hundredweight (cwt) 50,802 kg (GB)

1 short ton (tn) 907 kg (USA)

1 long ton (tn) 1016 kg (GB)

1 metric ton 1000 kg

252 Pract ica l Reference

Weights Gewichte

Linear measures Längenmaße

1 inch (in) 2,54 cm

1 foot (ft) 30,48 cm (12 in)

1 yard (yd) 91,44 cm (3 ft)

1 mile (m) 1,609 km (1760 yd)

Electronic Guidelines on InternetJ Paradigm Online Writing Assistant:www.powa.org

J Regeln und Schreibweisen der Europäischen Union:http://publications.europa.eu/code/de/de-000100.htm

J BBC Style guide:www.bbctraining.com/pdfs/newsStyleGuide.pdf

J Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch:http://dict.leo.org

Electronic Guide l ines on Internet 253

ImpressumBibliografische Information der Deutschen NationalbibliothekDie Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Natio-nalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet überhttp://www.d-nb.de abrufbar.

Print: ISBN: 978-3-648-02897-1 Bestell-Nr.: 01323-0001ePub: ISBN: 978-3-648-02898-8 Bestell-Nr.: 01323-0100ePDF: ISBN: 978-3-648-02899-5 Bestell-Nr.: 01323-0150

Gertrud Goudswaard, Sander M. SchroeversEnglisch im Job1. Auflage 2012

� 2012, Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, Munzinger Straße 9, 79111 FreiburgRedaktionsanschrift: Fraunhoferstraße 5, 82152 Planegg/MünchenTelefon: (089) 895 17-0Telefax: (089) 895 17-290Internet: www.haufe.deE-Mail: [email protected]: Jürgen Fischer

Lektorat: Gisela Fichtl, Sylvia ReinSatz: Beltz Bad Langensalza GmbH, 99947 Bad LangensalzaUmschlag: Kienle gestaltet, StuttgartDruck: CPI – Ebner & Spiegel, Ulm

Alle Angaben/Daten nach bestem Wissen, jedoch ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit undRichtigkeit.

Alle Rechte, auch die des auszugsweisen Nachdrucks, der fotomechanischen Wiedergabe(einschließlich Mikrokopie) sowie der Auswertung durch Datenbanken oder ähnlicheEinrichtungen, vorbehalten.

254

AutorenGertrud Goudswaardist Lehrbeauftragte an den Fachbereichen European School ofBusiness und Textile Management der FH Reutlingen. Nachihrem Studium der Englischen Sprache und Literaturwissen-schaft war sie lange Jahre in der Erwachsenenbildung in denUSA, den Niederlanden und Deutschland tätig.

Von Gertrud Goudswaard stammt der erste Teil dieses Buches.

Sander Schroeversarbeitet in den Niederlanden, Frankreich und Deutschland alsBerater im Bereich der internationalen Kommunikation undPR. Er spricht häufig auf internationalen Konferenzen und hatbereits zahlreiche Bücher auf dem Feld der europäischenKommunikation publiziert. Daneben ist er Präsident des IECIE-Gremiums, dem Europäischen Institut für Internationale Un-ternehmenskommunikation (l'institut europ�en de communi-cation internationale d'entreprise) in Paris, Frankreich.

Internet: www.schroevers.eu

Von Sander Schroevers stammt der zweite Teil dieses Buches.

255

Weitere Literatur„Phone Calls in English“, von Sander Schroevers, 128 Seiten,EUR 6,90, ISBN 978-3-448-08627-0, Bestell-Nr. 00967

„Business Talk English“, von Stuart Dean, 128 Seiten, EUR6,90, ISBN 978-3-648-01760-9, Bestell-Nr. 00962

„Presentations in English“, von JaquieMary Thomas, 128 Seiten,EUR 6,90, ISBN 978-3-448-08734-5, Bestell-Nr. 00972

„Business Knigge international“, von Kai Oppel, 326 Seiten, EUR19,95, ISBN 978-3-648-02269-6, Bestell-Nr. 00076

256