Table Of Content

TEACH YOURSELF Business Spanish Juan Kattan-lbarra 468.34 KAT Kattan-Ibarra Juan , Business Spanish 328509 BUSINESS SPANISH Juan Kattan-Ibarra was born in Chile, and has travelled extensively in Spain and Latin America. He has degrees from the University of Chile, Michigan State University, Manchester University and the Institute ofEducation, London University. He has taught Spanish at Ealing College and Shell International and has been an examiner in Spanish for the London Chamber ofCommerce and Industry and the University ofLondon School Examinations Board. He is the author of Teach Yourself Spanish, Teach Yourself Basic Spanish, ECO: A Spanish Practice Book, Basic Spanish Conversation, Perspectivas CulturalesdeEspana, Perspectivas Culturalesde Hispanoamerica, and co-author of Spain after Franco, Working with Spanish, Mundo Nuevo, Se Escribe Asi and Sistema. TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS An audio-cassette has been produced to accompany this course and is available separately via all good bookshops or, in case of difficulty, direct from the publishers. Forfurther details please write to the publishers at the address given on page iv, enclosing an SAE and quoting Teach Yourself Books (Dept. S/Cass.). BUSINESS SPANISH Juan Kattan-Ibarra TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS Hodder and Stoughton First published 1989 Copyright© 1989 Juan Kattdn-Ibarra No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without either the prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence, permitting restricted copying, issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-34 Alfred Place, London WC1E7DP. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Kattan-Ibarra, Juan Business Spanish. - (Teach yourself books). 1. Spanish language. - For business enterprise I. Title 468'.002465 ISBN 340 49549 9 Printed and bound in Great Britain for Hodder and Stoughton Educational, a division ofHodder and Stoughton Ltd, Mill Road, Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, Kent, by Richard Clay Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk Typeset by Cotswold Typesetting Ltd, Gloucester This volume is available in the USAfrom: Random House Inc., 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022 5 Contents Introduction viii Pronunciation guide xii 1 Introducing yourself and others 1 Definite article - gender of nouns - subject pronouns - 'estar' and 'ser' - demonstrative adjectives and pronouns - plural of nouns - possessive adjectives - present tense 2 Describing a place 1 'Ser' -'tener' - 'hay' - indefinite articles - relative pronoun 'que' - present tense of stem-changing verbs - - + prepositions preposition infinitive 3 Describing an organisation 27 Interrogative sentences - gender of nouns - present tense of spelling-changing and irregular verbs - present tense of stem-changing verbs - reflexive verbs - possessive pronouns 4 Discussing your work 43 Indefinite pronouns - verbs used with indirect object - present tense of irregular and stem-changing verbs - frequency adverbs - personal 'a' 5 Describing a product and a process 54 'Ser' and 'estar' in description- verb+infinitive - indirect and direct object pronouns - 'si' - passive voice - 'al'+infinitive 6 Making enquiries and appointments 68 'Estar'+past participle - prepositions - the alphabet - 'estar'+present participle - present participle of stem-changing verbs - position of pronoun with present participle 7 Discussing plans and obligations 79 - + - + 'Ir a'-I-infinitive 'pensar' infinitive 'tener que' infinitive - 'hay que'+infinitive+ preposition+pronoun - gender of nouns - prepositions 1 vi Contents 8 Making travel arrangements 91 Future tense prepositions gender of nouns 9 Applying for a job 104 Perfect tense - verb+ preposition - irregular past particles 10 Attending an interview 117 Preterite tense - irregular preterite forms - 4algo de' 1o que' 1 Making social contacts 132 Imperfect tense - irregular imperfect forms - preterite tense versus imperfect tense - 'llevar' in time expressions - 'hacer' in time expressions - 4acabar de'-hinfinitive - prepositions - use of infinitive 12 Giving directions, instructions and advice 146 Imperative - pronouns with imperative 13 Buying and selling 160 Subjunctive usage - subjunctive tenses - present subjunctive - irregular forms of the present subjunctive - subjunctive after conjunctions - subjunctive in time clauses 14 Import and export 176 Present subjunctive - pluperfect indicative tense - use of pluperfect with preterite - let's +verb - infinitive used as noun 15 Making complaints and apologising 190 Conditional tense - irregular conditional forms - imperfect subjunctive - imperfect subjunctive used with conditional - absolute superlative 16 Banking, insurance and transport 205 Perfect subjunctive tense - pluperfect subjunctive tense - conditional perfect tense - conditional perfect tense versus pluperfect subjective Background section 17 La geografia de Espafia (The geography of Spain) 224 La economia espanola (The Spanish economy) 226 (1) 18 La economia espanola (The Spanish economy) 228 (2) La mujer espanola en el trabajo (Spanish women at 230 work) Contents vii 19 EI comercio (Commerce) 233 Nuevas tecnologias (New technologies) 235 20 El transporfe y las comunicaciones (Transport and 238 communications) El turismo (Tourism) 240 21 La nueva Espana (The new Spain) 243 El empleo (Employment) 246 22 Los impuestos y la Seguridad Social (Taxes and Social 248 Security) La legislation laboral (Labour legislation) 251 23 La economia latinoamericana (The Latin American 253 economy) Causas del subdesarrollo latinoamericano (Causes of 257 Latin American underdevelopment) 24 Presencia hispana en los Estados Unidos (Hispanic 260 presence in the United States) La economia mexicana (The Mexican economy) 262 Key to the Exercises 265 Appendix 1 Numbers - Latin American currency - days of the 286 week - months - colours -asking and telling the time Appendix 2 Verb tables 291 Reference material 295 English-Spanish glossary of commercial terms 297 Spanish-English vocabulary 302 Grammatical index 324 Introduction This course is intended for those who wish to acquire a knowledge of Spanish for use in a practical business context. It has been designed to meet the basic needs of anybody involved in trade with Spanish speaking people whether at managerial or secretarial level, or otherwise. Part-time and full-time students who are studying Spanish as part oftheir secretarial or business courses will also find this book particularly suitable in preparing for their examinations. Bearing in mind that the majority ofEnglish speakers who want to study business Spanish have had very little orno previousexposure to the language, the book has been graded grammatically. Those who already have a basic knowledge of general Spanish will have the opportunity of revising all the major grammatical points, in a step- by-step progression, from the most simple structures to the more advanced. This grading will also allow beginners to use the course without undue difficulty. However, the book claims no exhaustive coverage ofgrammar, therefore those who are starting Spanish may find it useful to supplement this material with a basic grammar or a general course. The language and vocabulary have been selected with the aim of enabling learners to use their Spanish in a wide range ofcommercial and social matters, orally as well as in writing, and at buildingon their understanding. The course structure and how to use it The main objective of this course is to help the learner achieve communicative competence in his own field. With this intention in mind, the first part of the book - Units 1-16 - has been organised around specific language functions. Each of these units brings in a particular language use, built around one or more themes or situations. Thus, for instance, Unit 1 will teach you how to introduce yourselfand others, Unit 5 how to describe a product and a process, Unit 7 how to discuss plans and obligations, and so on.