Unit 7 Meetings

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
UNIT 7: MEETINGS
achieve an objective
advantage = pros
agenda
He promised to achieve that objective before
the end of his year.
[advantages ( = pros) ≠ disadvantages ( = cons)]
Let's discuss the pros and cons of your proposal.
[ agenda (*ordre du jour) ≠ diary (*agenda )]
There were two important items on the agenda.
atteindre un but
avantage
ordre du jour, programme
Mothers are highly ambitious for their children.
se mettre / être d'accord
sur (after discussion),
convenir de
permettre, autoriser
alternative, choix, autre
solution
ambitieux
He has a very analytical mind.
esprit d’analyse
I'm going to have another cup of coffee.
une autre
Kids, will you stop arguing with each other ?
Women find Brad Pitt very attractive.
se disputer
demander quelque chose
avoir de l'assurance, avoir
de la confiance en soi
attirant, séduisant
John has been absent from work for three days.
être absent de…
I'll have to ask my boss for a day off.
patron
The bank has branches all over the country.
The documents needed are all in my briefcase.
succursale
serviette
We need a meeting to decide on budget cuts.
restriction budgétaire
I'm perfectly capable of doing that alone.
capable
People tend to give to charity at Christmas time.
œuvre de bienfaisance
A TV commercial [ = TV ad] for a cleaning
product caused problems in Canada.
publicité à la télévision
compulsory
confident
Wearing seat belts in cars is compulsory by law.
obligatoire
Be a bit more confident [ = self-confident] !
sûr de soi
cost-effective
It wouldn't be cost-effective to buy an
expensive new computer when all you want to do is
word processing.
This job is so boring. I wish I could do something
more creative. / She is such a creative girl.
They have cut the price of their products by
almost 30 per cent. / A shorter working week
will mean pay cuts for millions of workers.
agree on
We managed to agree on a date for the meeting.
allow
You're not allowed to talk during the exam.
alternative
There is no viable alternative to the present
system.
ambitious
analytical mind
another
argue
ask for
assertive
attractive
be absent from
boss
branch
briefcase
budget cut
capable
charity
commercial (n)
creative
cut, cut, cut (v)
cut (n)
Some people find it difficult to ask for help.
If you really want the promotion, you'll have to be
more assertive.
rentable
créatif
- réduire, diminuer
- coupe, réduction
She is determined to become a top executive.
déterminé
[ ≠ agree] Why do you disagree with my views?
ne pas être d’accord avec
We need to discuss this quality problem.
discuter, débattre
disorganised
[ ≠ organised] He's impossible to work for - he's
so disorganized.
désorganisé
dissatisfied with
[≠ satisfied] My boss is dissatisfied with my work!
mécontent
determined
disagree with
discuss
donation
I'd like to make a donation to your charity appeal.
don
either … or
We should either reduce our prices or make a few
employees redundant.
ou … ou, soit … soit
enthusiastic
All the staff are enthusiastic about the project.
enthousiaste
expenditure
Expenditure [ = costs] on research and
development has increased.
dépenses, frais
Sales figures have risen by 7%.
chiffre
Our flight was delayed.
vol
Freight transport service is more and more
expensive.
service de fret
He didn't give his opinion on the matter.
donner son opinion
His goal is to set up his own business.
but
We're going to halve the budget.
diminuer de moitié
[ ≠ lazy] She is a very hard-working apprentice.
travailleur
Susie has a temperature and has gone to bed.
avoir de la fièvre
Our competitors are headhunting our best
managers. / She was headhunted by a rival firm.
recruter des cadres pour
une entreprise
headhunter
A headhunter tries to persuade someone to leave
their job by offering them another job with more
pay and a higher position.
chasseur de têtes
headhunting, headhunting
= work done by a headhunter.
recrutement de cadres par
approche directe
health centre
A health centre is building where doctors work
and where people can go for medical treatment.
centre médicosocial
She's such a pleasant, helpful person.
serviable, aimable
Let's hold a meeting to discuss this proposal.
tenir
She's honest: she always tells the truth.
honnête, franc
figure
flight
freight transport
service
give an opinion
goal
halve
hard-working
have a temperature
headhunt (v), headhunt
helpful
hold, held, held
honest
instead of
make a point (of doing
sth)
Could I have rice instead of chips ?
au lieu de
He made a point of spending Saturdays with his
children.
make a proposal
We will discuss the new proposal Steve has made.
make redundant
[ = lay off, fire, sack] 250 workers were made
redundant as a result of the economic crisis.
minutes (plural)
Take the minutes of this meeting, please!
national (n)
office hours
opinion
We should employ Spanish nationals.
Can you phone again during office hours ?
ne pas manquer de faire
qqch, veiller à faire qqch
faire une suggestion, une
proposition
licencier (pour des raisons
économiques)
compte-rendu, procèsverbal
un ressortissant du pays
heures de bureau
In my opinion you are wrong.
opinion, avis
outsource
[If a company outsources, it pays to have part of
its work done by another company.] Some firms
outsource all their computing work.
sous-traiter, externaliser
paperwork
I spent the afternoon doing routine paperwork.
patrol
A security guard with a dog patrols the building
site at night.
pay deal
Management and unions have reached a pay deal.
petrol
petrol (BR) = gas (US)
The price of petrol has gone up by 15%.
travail administratif,
paperasserie
faire une patrouille dans …,
surveiller
accord salarial
essence
practise (v)
present
His written English is very good but he needs to
practise speaking it.
He presented the report to his colleagues at the
meeting.
s'entraîner
présenter
The firm made a profit of £25 million last year.
bénéfice
She has been recommended for promotion.
recommander
My colleagues rejected my proposal.
rejeter
I'll phone the restaurant to make a reservation.
réservation
I'll review what we do more regularly.
revoir, réviser
review (n)
The company is conducting a review of its safety
procedures.
examen, révision
rise, rose, risen
Sales rose [ = went up] by 20% last December.
running costs
Running costs are the amount of money you need
to operate an organization, system or machine.
profit
recommend
reject
reservation
review (v)
sales organization
save money
He saved enough money to buy a small house.
monter, augmenter
frais d'exploitation, frais
d'entretien
planification des ventes
économiser
très motivé (de par soimême)
autonome, autarcique
self-motivated
He is really self-motivated: he will no doubt
succeed if he goes on working so hard.
self-sufficient
Australia is 65% self-sufficient in oil.
share (n)
They were able to sell their shares at a higher
price. / The company US market share fell
from 25% to 18%
action (en bourse) / part
de marché
We didn't have enough books so we had to share.
partager
You should read his new book.
devrais, devrait, …
She signalled to the children to come inside.
faire un signe à qn
He is a slow walker = He walks slowly.
lent, lentement
stressé
share (v)
should + infinitive
signal to someone
slow (adj),slowly (adv)
stressed (out)
I was really stressed (out) before the exam.
I suggest waiting for him before we start the
meeting.
suggérer, proposer
tax, taxes
teamwork
They're putting up the tax on cigarettes.
impôts
I don't like team work. I'm an individualist.
the foyer of a hotel
We'll meet in the foyer [ = lobby] of the hotel.
ticket
tight
tighten
I got a £25 parking ticket in Baker Street.
travail en équipe
foyer, hall d'entrée d'un
hôtel
amende, P.V.
She was wearing tight jeans.
serré
Management has decided to tighten the rules.
What are your views [= opinion] on the subject ?
renforcer, resserer
timing, choix du moment
opportun
opinion, point de vue, …
Don't wait too long for me. I might be very late…
attendre
It's a waste of time.
perte, gaspillage
Don't waste your time ! Don't waste your money
on that junk !
gaspiller, perdre
suggest
timing
views
wait for
waste (n)
waste (v)
LANGUAGE SKILLS
basic
competent
fluent, fluently
The important thing is timing: this product will
have to be launched at the right time.
He has basic skills in French. [notions de base en …]
de base
Is he really competent to do that job ?
compétent, capable
He speaks English fluently.
courant, couramment
mother tongue
Her mother tongue is Spanish.
He speaks English like a native (comme si c'était sa
native
langue maternelle).
- He speaks French very well.
- Of course. He is a French native speaker.
langue maternelle
- autochtone,indigène,
- locuteur natif
(francophone,
anglophone,…)
proficient
He is proficient in [* très compétent en …] English,
but her German is really basic.
compétent, excellent
same … as
Bill works for the same firm as his brother.
le même … que
Speaking at meetings
I didn't follow what you said.
Any views on this ?
Are we all agreed ?
Can we get back to the main point ?
Can we get to the main point ?
Could you handle that ?
Could you deal with that ?
Could you take care of that ?
Do you want to recruit more staff ?
How do you feel about that proposal … ?
I don’t agree.
I don’t think we should …
I think we should …
It’s a waste of time.
Let's turn to …
Shall we get started ?
Shall we move on ?
Suggest three different solutions to this
problem.
… Je n'ai pas suivi ce que vous avez dit.
Des avis, des idées à ce sujet ?
Est-on tous d'accord ?
Peut-on retourner au point principal ?
Peut-on passer au point principal ? Peut-on
aborder le point central ?
Pourriez-vous vous occuper de cela ?
Voulez-vous engager plus de personnel ?
Que pensez-vous de cette proposition ?
Je ne suis pas d'accord.
Je ne pense pas que nous devrions …
Je pense que nous devrions …
C'est une perte de temps.
Allons au point … Abordons le point … Passons à …
On pourrait peut-être commencer.
On continue ?
We could … / On pourrait…
Shall we … ? / Est-ce qu'on … ?
Why don't we see if …? / Pourquoi ne
regarderait-on pas si … ?
The important thing here is …
We can either … or …
We need to discuss …
We need to …
What do you mean by …?
What do you think ?
Why don’t we …?
Problem
Ce qui est important ici c'est …
On peut soit … soit …
Nous devons parler de …/ Nous devons aborder le
sujet de …
Nous avons besoin de … / Nous devons …
Que voulez-vous dire par…? Qu'entendez-vous par
…?
Qu'en pensez-vous?
Pourquoi ne nous … pas …?
Making suggestions
We could learn Japanese.
We've got some meetings with clients from Shall we get an interpreter ?
Tokyo, but none of us speaks Japanese.
Why don't we see if they can speak
English ?
Linking words
Give a reason
to
pour, afin de
We left work early to [ = in order to / so as to] avoid the traffic.
in order to
pour, afin de
We left work early in order to [ = to / so as to] avoid the
traffic.
so as to
so that
pour, afin de
pour que
I drove at 50 mph so as to [ = to / in order to] save fuel.
Why don't you leave earlier so that you don't have to hurry ?
Compare
in the same way
likewise
de la même façon
de même, aussi
similarly
de même, de la même
façon
The problem didn't affect Anna in the same way.
I'll send a letter of apology and I suggest that you do
likewise.
The cost of food and clothing has risen in recent
years. Similarly, fuel prices have gone up quite
considerably.
Explain
as a result
as a result of
because of
so
en conséquence
à la suite de
à cause de
Sales have dropped. Profits have declined as a result.
donc
I was feeling hungry, so I made myself a sandwich.
Profits have declined as a result of the recent drop in sales.
He had to retire because of ill health.
Oppose
however
nevertheless
on the contrary
though
Give examples
for example
for instance
like
such as
cependant,
toutefois
néanmoins
au contraire
pourtant,
cependant
par exemple
par exemple
comme, tel que
comme, tel que
add something
also
Setting up a business is exciting. However, it requires a great
deal of effort.
What you said was true. It was, nevertheless, a little unkind.
It wasn't a good thing; on the contrary it was a big mistake.
Two heart attacks in a year. It hasn't stopped him smoking,
though.
In the tourist industry, for example, 5000 jobs have been lost.
In the tourist industry, for instance, 5000 jobs have been lost.
Things like glass, paper, and plastic can all be recycled.
Things such as glass, paper, and plastic can all be recycled.
aussi, également
besides
ainsi que, en plus de, de
même que
de plus
not only … but also …
non seulement … mais aussi
as well as…
She's a photographer and also writes
books.
They own a house in France as well as a
villa in Spain.
I don't want to go out tonight. Besides, I
haven't got any money.
The system was not only complicated but
also ineffective.