Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 492, Importing and Exporting Goods.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 492.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan. which will help you improve your English even faster.
We'll be right back.
That's going to use a lot of business vocabulary related to companies that import, bring goods, bring things, products into a country and those that export send those products to be sold in other countries.
Let's get started.
Good morning, Brian.
This is Giselle calling from Intergroup in Kansas City.
Hi Giselle, how are you?
I'm great, thanks.
Listen, the reason I'm calling is that I wanted to touch base with you about the new proposed regulations.
Have you had a chance to review them?
We've only had time to give them a cursory look, but I think we have a grasp on what the changes will be.
I don't think that most of the new regulations would apply to our class of cargo.
As long as our certificates of origin are in order and our shipping agents are well informed of the changes, we won't have anything to be concerned about.
Rest assured we'll take care of all that.
That's good to hear.
Won't the customs procedures be different though?
I understand that there are changes to the regulations affecting which containers we can use and how we transport our freight.
No, lucky for us...
All we need to do is to put some additional information on our waybills and make sure our packing lists reflect the same information.
I'm relieved to hear that.
You've really put my mind at ease.
Thanks.
Don't mention it.
While I have you on the phone, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the latest order?
No, not at all.
Fire away.
Giselle begins our dialogue by saying good morning, Brian.
She's calling him on the phone.
This is Giselle calling from Intergroup in Kansas City.
Kansas City is located in either Missouri or Kansas.
There's actually a Kansas City, Missouri and a Kansas City, Kansas in the center part of the U.S.
Brian says, Hi, Giselle.
How are you?
How are you doing?
Giselle says I'm great thanks.
Listen, the reason I'm calling is that I wanted to touch base with you about the new proposed regulations.
She's saying listen as a way of transitioning, of going back to her main topic.
The reason i'm calling is that i wanted to touch base with you.
To touch base with someone means to speak with someone about something, to get their opinion or to give your opinion.
It's often an expression you hear in the business world.
Someone says i need to touch base with my customer.
That means they need to connect or be in contact with them, usually speaking to them but perhaps emailing them as well.
Tassell says she needs to touch base with Brian about the new proposed regulations, rules, or laws.
Have you had a chance to review them?
To review them here probably means look at them closely, read them carefully.
Brian says we've only had time to give them a cursory look.
Cursory, C-U-S-O-R-Y, here means a quick look without reading them very carefully.
He says, I think we have a grasp on what the changes will be.
This expression.
To have a grasp G-R-A-S-P on something means to understand something.
Well, to believe, in this case, that you can do what is required.
Brian says, Class here means kind or type or classification.
Class has several meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Cargo C-A-R-G-O is something that is carried usually in a truck, a plane or a ship so that it can be sold somewhere else.
Another word we use for cargo is freight, F-R-E-I-G-H-T.
So when one country, one company, decides to sell things that they make to another country or another company in another country, they would have to send that product, send those things that they are selling.
And when they send them, they would be cargo.
They would be sent in a plane, a train, etc. an automobile, a truck, or a ship.
Probably not an automobile.
Giselle is... asking then about regulations that are related somehow to importing and exporting.
To import means to buy things from companies in another country, usually to sell in your country.
To export is the opposite to sell things to a company in another country so they can sell those things to their customers.
Brian says, as long as our certificates of origin are in order and our shipping agents are well informed of the changes, we won't have anything to be concerned about.
Your certificate of origin is a document that states where something was made.
Where a product was was made.
It's used when something is sold and transported internationally.
So if i make say, a cd, a compact disc of my singing, i would, if i were going to sell it in another country and of course i would want to I would have to have a certificate of origin.
Origin is where something is from.
A certificate is just a piece of paper that gives that information.
Well, Brian is saying that as long as our certificates of origin are in order, meaning under this condition, if this is true, If our certificates of origin are in order, then we don't have anything to worry about.
The expression in order here means correct and organized as needed.
If our certificates are done right, done correctly.
Order has several different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide once again for some additional explanations.
Brian also talks about the shipping agents.
To ship something as a verb means to send it somewhere, to mail it or to send it by some form of transportation.
An agent is a person who is responsible for doing something, someone who represents your company.
So a shipping agent is a person whose job is to make sure that products can be sent from one country to another.
Someone who looks at all the regulations, for example.
Brian is saying, as long as these shipping agents are well informed, meaning they know what's going on, we won't have anything to be concerned about.
Rest assured, we'll take care of all of that.
The expression rest assured is used to mean that the other person doesn't have to worry.
Everything is under control.
It's something that you say to someone else in order for them to have confidence in you, for them to know that you are going to take care of this problem.
Giselle says that's good to hear.
I'm glad.
Won't the customs procedures be different though?
Customs is the agency or office of a government that looks at things, inspects things.
We would say that come into a country and looking for things that are not allowed and possibly collecting taxes on certain things.
Usually you have to talk to someone from customs and someone from immigration when you go into a new country.
Giselle says, affecting which containers we can use and how we transport our freight.
A container is just something that holds something else.
A box is a container.
A bottle can be a container for soda or milk and so forth, or beer, which is just like milk or, as important.
Giselle says that she's worried about the changes that will affect how they transport their freight.
Freight, you'll remember, is the same as cargo.
It's the product that you are shipping from one place to another.
Brian says no, lucky for us.
Fortunately, all we need to do is put some additional information on our way bills and make sure our packing lists reflect the same information.
A waybill W-A-Y-B-I-L-L one word is a piece of paper with information about what you are sending, how much it weighs and how much it is worth, how much money it is worth.
A packing list is a piece of paper that says what's inside the box or the container.
Giselle then says, I'm relieved to hear that you've put my mind at ease.
To put someone's mind at ease.
E-A-S-E means to make someone feel more comfortable, to make someone feel calmer, to make someone feel that there is no longer anything to worry about.
Brian says don't mention it, meaning it's no big deal.
That's my job.
While I have you on the phone, he says.
Since I'm talking to you anyway, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the latest order?
Giselle says no, not at all.
Fire away.
Fire away is a somewhat informal expression used to let another person know that you are ready for his or her questions, or you are ready to hear what that other person has to say.
It can also be used in a business context as well.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Good morning, Brian.
This is Giselle calling from Intergroup in Kansas City.
Hi, Giselle.
How are you?
I'm great, thanks.
Listen, the reason I'm calling is that I wanted to touch base with you about the new proposed regulations.
Have you had a chance to review them?
We've only had time to give them a cursory look, but I think we have a grasp on what the changes will be.
I don't think that most of the new regulations would apply to our class of cargo.
As long as our certificates of origin are in order and our shipping agents are well informed of the changes, we won't have anything to be concerned about.
Rest assured, we'll take care of all that.
That's good to hear.
Won't the customs procedures be different, though?
I understand that there are changes to the regulations affecting which containers we can use and how we transport our freight.
No, lucky for us.
All we need to do is put some additional information on our waybills and make sure our packing lists reflect the same information.
I'm relieved to hear that.
You've really put my mind at ease.
Thanks.
Don't mention it.
While I have you on the phone, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the latest order?
No, not at all.
Fire away.
Our script writer has a grasp on how to write a good dialogue.
Her name is Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
