Business Spanish

238 Pages·1992·17.177 MB·Breakthrough Language Series

by  Pili Batley Matías (auth.), Brian Hill (eds.)

Breakthrough Language Series
BUSINESS SPANISH
Pili Batley Matias
Spanish Lecturer, Brighton Polytechnic,
Roedean School
General editor Brian Hili
Professor of Modern Languages, Brighton Polytechnic
Acknowledgements
I must express my most sincere gratitude to: Anthony David, Tania, Natasha, Karina and
Juan-Antonio Batley for all their support and encouragement. To Patrick Grenham and
Gordon Barr for their constructive comments. To Juan Carlos Palencia Velasco and Mercedes
Molina de Palencia, Yolanda Palencia Velasco, Mari Iglesias de Palencia and Juan Antonio
Palencia for their friendship, assistance, and warmest hospitality. Also to Jose Maria Francino
and Jose Antonio Alvarez, Javier Hemandez Hernandez, Ana Garcia de Hemandez and Ofelia
Cano de Molina for their help and participation.
The author and publishers would like to thank the following companies for the use of their
premises in making the recordings and for their co-operation: Casa Sesefia, Cruz, 23, Madrid
and Antonio, Fini, Ma Luisa, Florencio. Cambio 16, Hnos. Noblejas, 41, Madrid and Ana
LOpez deI Arco, Directora Comercial de INREVISA. Casa Luis Garcia, Ave. Portugal, 177,
Edificio Lisboa, Madrid and Luis Garcia, Angustias GonzaJez. Casa Tenorio, PI. de la
Provincia, 1, Madrid and Felix Garcia Tenorio. Hotel Los Condes, Los Libreros, 7, Madrid.
The author and publishers would like to thank the following for photographic material:
Krammer, page 7; the Spanish National Tourist Office, pages 16, 104.
Actors: Clyde GatelI, Carmen Gomez, Luis Pinilla
Audio producer: Gerald Ramshaw, MAX 11
© Pili Batley Matias and Brian Hili 1992
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph ofthis publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or und er the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published 1992 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-54403-7 ISBN 978-1-349-22023-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22023-6
ISBN 978-0-333-54405-1 cassettes
ISBN 978-0-333-54404-4 book and cassette pack
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
01 00 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92
Contents
How to work through a unit
1 Talking about yourself 7
Making casual conversation and booking into hotels
2 Asking for and understanding directions 25
Finding your way around
3 Talking about yourself and others 41
Describing your work and finding out about
company structure
4 At the hotel 59
Finding out about hotel facilities and how to hire
them for a business conference
5 Ordering drinks and snacks 75
Eating and drinking in hotels, cafes and bars,
and paying the bill
6 Understanding and asking about time 91
Finding out about train timetables, arranging
meetings and making appointments
7 On the telephone 107
Getting through to the right department, leaving
messages, using answering machines and public
telephones
8 Welcoming a visitor 123
Meeting a sales director, presenting a product
and showing visitors around
9 Selling your product 141
Making use of advertising, describing your products
and obtaining information from trade fairs and
exhibitions
10 Getting what you want 157
Responding to an advertisement by telephone,
making wholesale purchases, finding out how
to transport goods
11 Talking about the past 173
Complaining about faulty goods, finding out
about insurance and being interviewed for a job
12 Talking about the future 189
Discussing the financial markets, methods of
payment, personal projects and how to keep up
your spoken Spanish!
Grammar summary 205
Vocabulary Spanish-English 211
Vocabulary English-Spanish 224
Index 235
HOW TO WORK THROUGH A UNIT
Business Breakthrough Spanish is the ideal course for business people who
have little or no previous knowledge of Spanish. Here are some of its main
features:
• The key recordings have been made on location with Spanish
companies. AU the units start with conversations and interviews with
Spanish people employed in a range of jobs.
• The language and the situations are authentie - you are taken from
boardrooms to the factory floor, from commercial exhibitions to
insurance and financial matters.
• Business people have lives outside their jobs and care is taken to
provide training in the language which will help you to survive in
hotels, restaurants and when traveUing in Spain and Spanish-speaking
Latin America.
• The main emphasis throughout is on listening, speaking and reading;
the skiUs you will find most useful in your dealings with the Spanish and
Latin American business world.
• Before 'producing the course, we talked to hundreds of people about
how they leam languages. The result is that great care has been taken
with the Business Breakthrough series to ensure that you get enough
opportunities to practise the language. We have induded in each unit a
variety of activities that get you involved in using the Spanish that has
been introduced to you in the authentie dialogues.
• This is not a grammar course. You first understand and then you use
the language; only then are the main grammar features introduced to
explain how the language works.
• Induded in each unit is up-to-date information to ensure you are
familiar with key features of the Spanish business scene.
Important hints on how to use the course
• Have confidence in uso Reallanguage is complex and there are certain
things in each unit which are not explained in detail and which you will
fmd difficult to understand, particularly on the first hearing. We wiU
build up your knowledge slowly, emphasizing only what you reaUy need
to remember at each stage and making a distinction between language
where you only need to understand the gist.
• Try to practise little but often. Half an hour a day is usuaUy better than
three to four hours once a week.
• To develop your speaking skiUs, say the words and phrases out loud.
This articulation of the language is important in building up a degree of
confidence and fluency.
• If you don't understand something, don't panic. Leave it for a while.
Leaming a language is a bit like doing a jigsaw; it aU eventuaUy faUs into
place.
• Don't be afraid to write in the book and add your own notes.
• Revise and go back over previous units. You'U often surprise yourself at
how much you understand and it wiU remind you ofthe vocabulary.
• Ifyou can't attend a dass, try to team up with somebody else.
• Leaming Spanish may take more time than you thought. Just be patient
and, above aU, don't get angry with yourself.
4
How the course is organised and how to make
the most of it
There are twelve units, each one focusing on a particular aspect of Spanish.
Each unit is divided in the same way. In the first section, you get a number
of authentie recordings with transcripts of what is said together with notes
and vocabulary. Each recording is followed by three or four exercises, some
practising comprehension, some practising speaking. When the new
location recordings have been introduced, explained and practised, all the
main words and phrases are brought together in a list called Key Words and
Phrases. Then come short sections, focusing on grammar, reading,
background information and some 'open-ended' practice. The book
contains step-by-step instructions for working through the course: when to
use the book or audio on their own, when to use them together. As the
course progresses you may weil evolve your own pattern of study and that's
fine. As a starting point, here's how we suggest you approach the course.
Dialogues First, listen through each of the key dialogues without stopping the
recording, just to get a feel for the task ahead, then go over the dialogue bit
by bit in conjunction with the explanatory notes and vocabulary. Play the
recordings repeatedly to give yourself time to think. When you feel
confident that you have at least understood what the dialogue is about and
you have become familiar with the most important phrases, move on and do
the associated exercises.
The exercises These have been carefully chosen to practise key vocabulary and structures.
Y ou will come across many different types of exercises but Clyde, our
presenter, will guide you and there are c1ear instructions in the book.
Key words and No magie tips here. By the time you get to this seetion you should be
phrases reasonably familiar with most ofthe words and phrases listed. Use the
seetion as revision, covering up first the English and then the Spanish
column, to check what you know.
Read and In these seetions you will be able to read the kind of signs, faxes, publicity,
understand and brochures, etc you may come across in Spain and you are given some up
to-date information about business and commerce.
Did you know?
Your turn to This final activity is open-ended with no right or wrong answers. It provides
speak an opportunity for you to adapt the language of the unit to your own
particular circumstances. When you've had a go at the guided speaking
activity, you hear a model version on the recording to show you what
somebody else said and, perhaps, to give you a few extra ideas.
Answers The answers to all the exercises (except where the answers are given on the
recording) can be found at the end of each unit.
Vocabulary At the back of the book is a Spanish-English and English-Spanish
vocabulary. This does not replace a dictionary, of course, but you should be
able to use the seetion as an alphabetical reference for most of the words
youneed.
5
If you haven't leamed languages before by means of a recording, just spend
five minutes at the beginning ofUnit One getting used to the mechanics.
n For cassette players:
Practise pausing and seeing how long the rewind button needs to be
pressed to recap on different phrases and secrions. You'll notice a head
phone symbol by the side of each dialogue. It's helpful to zero the counter
on your tape recorder at the beginning of each unit and then to write in
the appropriate counter number at the beginning of each dialogue.
For CD players:
Your player williocate each unit as a track number. Note the number from
your display at the beginning of each dialogue. This will he1p you find the
right place on your disk when you want to repeat-play.
All of us involved in producing Breakthrough Business Spanish hope
you will enjoy the course and find it useful.
jBuena suerte!
6
I
TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF
Yo u will learn
• how to book into a hotel without a reservation
• how to book with a reservation
• how to make yourself known at a company's reception
• casual conversation while waiting
Study guide
Dialogue 1 + Practise what you have learned
Dialogue 2 + Practise what you have learned
Dialogue 3 + Practise what you have learned
Dialogue 4 + Practise what you have learned
Key words and phrases
Granunar
Read and understand
Did you know?
Yourturntospeak
Before you start, make sure you have read the introduction on pages 4-6.
This gives you valuable information about how to make the most of
Business Breakthrough.
The dialogues introduce the new material in the Unit. Work on them
with the he1p of the notes, giving special attention to all the words and
phrases marked • in the explanations.
A hotel in Jerez de la
Frontera, Cadiz, Costa
defuLuz ____________~ ~~~ __________~ ==~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNIT 1 7
Dialogues
n
1
Elia has just arrived at a ho,tel. She wants a single room with breakfast only.
recepcionista Buenos dias.
Elia Hola, buenos dias, quisiera una habitacion, por favor.
recepcionista tTiene ya reserva?
Elia No, no tengo reserva.
recepcionista tEs, habitacion doble 0 sencilla?
Elia Individual, por favor.
recepcionista Y, tmedia pension, 0 pension completa?
Elia Solamente desayuno.
recepcionista De acuerdo. tEl carnet de identidad, por favor, 0 el pasaporte?
Elia Aqui 10 tiene.
recepcionista Gracias. Firma aqui, por favor, muy bien, aqui tiene las llaves.
Bienvenida al hotel.
Elia Gracias, adios, buenas tardes.
recepcionista Hasta luego ...
•
buenos dias good moming (Ht. good days). Greetings are always given in
the plural.
•
hola, buenos dias hello - good moming. This is a more friendly form.
•
quisiera una habitacion I would like a room. Quisiera is apolite and
very useful way of asking for something; it comes from querer, to want.
•
por favor please. This expression can be used either at the beginning or
at the end of phrases. In some Latin American countries you may hear the
shortened form, favor.
•
ltiene ya reserva? do you have a reservation? (lit. do you have already
reservation?) Tiene is from the verb tener, to have. Notice the question
marks here.
•
no, no tengo no, I haven't. The negative no is always placed in front of
verbs.
les, habitacion doble 0 sencilla? is it (for) a double or single room?
• doble 0 sencilla double or single. Es comes from the verb ser, to be.
individual this is another way of saying 'single'.
y, lmedia pension 0 pension completa? and half board or full board?
solamente desayuno breakfast only
leI carnet de identidad, por favor, 0 el pasaporte? identity card or
passport, please?
• aqui 10 tiene here it is (Ht. here it you have).
• gracias thank you. In parts of Latin America and in Southem Spain you
may not hear the 's' at the end.
• firma aqui sign here. Firma comes from the verb firmar, to sign.
aqui tiene las Uaves here are the keys (Ht. here you have the keys).
• bienvenida al hotel we1come to the hotel.
• adios, buenas tardes goodbye, good aftemoon. When used on its own
the expression adios (goodbye) tends to be more final.
• hasta luego untillater, see you soon.
8 UNIT 1
Practise what you have learned
1
Listen to Elia and the receptionist again and fill in the squares with si or no
as appropriate. (Answers p. 24)
si no
(a) Elia quisiera una habitacion
(b) Elia tiene reserva
(c) la habitacion es individual
(d) la habitacion es con media pension
(e) la habitacion es solamente con desayuno
(f) Elia firma
2
Now listen to the spoken details and fill in the hotel form below for Elia.
(Answers p. 24)
HOTEL EL MEJOR
Personas numero
Nombre
habitaci6n sencilla/doble _______
pensi6n completa/media/desayuno
Firma Cliente,
Now for the first speaking activity. You will find one with each dialogue
for you to practise the key words and phrases. Before you start, read the
instructions on page 5.
3
Y ou are going to practise some greetings. Remember that in Spanish you
normally answer with the same greeting as you are met with, e.g:
buenas tardes ... buenas tardes
hasta luego ... hasta luego.
You will be prompted with what to say, and then you say it in Spanish.
UNIT 1 9