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Hello, my name is Jennifer Gray and I'll be your host for this lesson.
In most parts of the world, having lunch or dinner together is an important part of doing business.
In places such as North America, eating meals is a way of building a relationship or celebrating a partnership.
And in other cultures such as China, much of the real work of making deals actually often gets done over the dinner table.
No matter where you are doing business, it's important to be able to handle the basics of dining out.
This includes ordering food, recommending dishes, proposing a toast and paying for the check, among other things.
These skills will be the focus of this episode.
In the listening.
We continue to follow Mario and Francesca, who represent the Italian fashion company Viva, on their visit to the US.
As planned, they are having dinner in Las Vegas with their distributor Adriana, who works at the American company Foxtrot.
Bill, one of their new customers, has also joined them.
When the dialogue begins, the group has already made some small talk and looked at the menu.
Now they are ready to order.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
As usual, we'll post the answers in a few days on our website, www.businessenglishpod.com.
Who pays for the meal?
Shall we order now?
Fine.
I can't make up my mind.
What would you recommend?
Can I suggest the steak tartare?
It's the specialty here.
What exactly is it?
It's finely chopped raw beef with egg.
They marinate it in lime juice.
It sounds great, but I was actually hoping to try something a little lighter.
Have the yellowfin tuna then.
It's delicious.
That sounds good.
Yes, the tuna's tasty, too.
Really, you can't go wrong.
Everything is great.
Are you ready to order?
Yes.
I'd like the house-smoked salmon and a tomato soup, please.
Smoked salmon, tomato soup.
Got that.
Mario?
I'll have the Nebraska corn-fed sirloin steak.
Good choice.
I want to try some American beef.
How would you like that cooked, sir?
Medium rare, please.
Certainly, sir.
And for you, madam?
Cheers.
Here's to a successful partnership.
Cheers.
Mmm, this is very good.
How's your tuna, Francesca?
Wonderful.
Could you pass the salt, please?
Here you are.
Some more wine?
Thanks, I'd better not.
I'm still a little jet-lagged.
Yes, it's getting late.
We'd better let you get back to your hotel.
It's been such a lovely evening.
We really enjoyed it, too.
Waiter, can I have the bill, please?
Let us pay for this.
No, no, I insist.
I thought we had a deal.
You guys can get the next one.
You still have a few days in Las Vegas.
Well, only if you let us treat you next time.
Of course.
We're looking forward to it.
Well, thank you for a most enjoyable evening.
Not at all.
It was our pleasure.
The dinner sounds like it was a success, doesn't it?
Let's go through the dialogue bit by bit to examine the language.
How does it begin?
Adriana says, To check if everyone is ready to talk to the waiter.
There are also more phrases we can use either to check whether other people have had enough time to look at the menu or to signal that we are ready.
Let's practice.
I think I've made up my mind.
I think I know what I'm going to have.
What about you, Steve?
Is everybody ready to order or do you need more time?
What happened next?
Francesca says, I can't make up my mind.
And she asks Bill what he would recommend.
Especially when we are guests.
Asking for a recommendation is both a great method for finding out what is good to eat and a polite way of making conversation.
Listen to some more language for asking for a suggestion.
Everything looks great.
I don't know what to have.
What do you suggest?
What kind of desserts are really good here?
What is Bill's recommendation and what does Francesca think about it?
Let's listen again.
Can I suggest the steak tartare?
It's the specialty here.
What exactly is it?
It's finely chopped raw beef with egg.
They marinate it in lime juice.
It sounds great, but I was actually hoping to try something a little lighter.
Francesca asks what exactly the steak tartare is and Bill replies that it is finely chopped ground raw beef with egg.
To chop is to cut something into pieces. and finally means very small.
Raw is not cooked.
As Bill points out, the dish is marinated in lime juice.
Marinated means to put food, such as meat, into a sauce and to let it sit for a while so that it takes in or absorbs the flavour.
How does Francesca feel about Bill's recommendation?
To be polite, she says, It sounds great.
Then she says she was actually hoping to try something a little lighter.
Raw beef with egg is a heavy dish.
That is, it contains a lot of dark meat and fat.
Lighter dishes are things like fish, chicken or salad.
In a future episode, we'll focus on more language for describing food.
Now, let's get back to the dialogue.
What happens next?
Adriana recommends another dish for Francesca.
Have the yellowfin tuna then.
It's delicious.
That sounds good.
Yes, the tuna's tasty too.
Really, you can't go wrong.
Everything is great.
Adriana tells Francesca to try the yellowfin tuna, which is a kind of fish.
Bill says that it's also tasty, that is, delicious.
And Francesca really can't go wrong, which means no matter what she orders, it will be good.
Now that everyone is ready to talk to the waiter, what language do they actually use to order food?
Are you ready to order?
Yes.
I'd like the house smoked salmon and a tomato soup, please.
I'd like is one way to order.
Notice that Adriana says the house-smoked salmon.
We use the definite article the to refer to a specific dish on the menu.
What's another way to order?
Listen to Bill.
I'll have the Nebraska corn-fed sirloin steak.
Good choice.
I want to try some American beef.
How would you like that cooked, sir?
Medium rare, please.
As Bill shows us, another way to order is, I'll have... What has Bill decided to eat?
He wants the Nebraska corn-fed sirloin steak.
Nebraska is a US state famous for raising cows or cattle.
Sirloin is a specific piece of beef that is very tender, that is, easy to cut and chew.
Corn-fed refers to how the cattle were raised.
They were fed only corn, which makes their meat tastier.
Bill wants his meat cooked medium-rare.
Usually in English, there are four ways or grades for cooking meat.
Rare means raw.
Medium-rare is slightly more cooked, but still red in the middle.
Medium is cooked longer, usually pink in the middle.
And well done is cooked all the way through.
How does the dialogue continue?
Mario proposes a toast.
Cheers.
Here's to a successful partnership.
Cheers.
Proposing a toast, that is, drinking to something, is a very common way to celebrate.
How does Mario toast the group?
He says, here's to a successful partnership.
There are several more expressions that are useful for toasting.
Let's practice a couple more examples.
I'd like to propose a toast to Joanna and Sasha.
They've worked so hard on this project.
Here's to them.
Let's raise our glasses for all our colleagues who couldn't be here today.
This was a team effort and everybody deserves the credit.
Here's to your health.
Now everyone begins eating.
How's the food?
Francesca seems to like her fish, but what about Mario?
It sounds like his steak isn't salty enough for his taste, doesn't it?
Mmm, this is very good.
How's your tuna, Francesca?
Wonderful.
Could you pass the salt, please?
Here you are.
Could you pass the is a polite way to ask for something on the table?
As the dialogue ends, it's getting late and everybody has had a few glasses of wine.
This is when we typically start a leaving dialogue to show politely that it's time to go home.
Listen again.
Some more wine?
Thanks, I'd better not.
I'm still a little jet lagged.
Yes, it's getting late.
We'd better let you get back to your hotel.
It's been such a lovely evening.
We really enjoyed it too.
Francesca gives a strong hint to her American hosts that she may be ready to leave.
She says, I'm still a little jet-lagged.
Jet-lag refers to feeling tired because of time differences.
Adriana takes the hint.
That is, she understands that Francesca might want to go home.
She says, we'd better let you get back to your hotel.
Then Mario and Bill used some useful language for commenting on what an enjoyable evening it has been.
All of these parts giving a hint, taking the hint and saying you had an enjoyable evening are part of a typical leaving dialogue.
Let's practice some more language we can use to get ready to say goodbye.
Is that the time?
I had no idea it was so late.
I'm really enjoying myself, but I should probably get back to my hotel.
I have a very early morning tomorrow.
Yes, I'm really enjoying this, but we'd probably better get going.
Oh dear, how'd it get so late?
Let's get the check.
I had a wonderful time.
So did I. What an enjoyable evening.
Now there's only one thing left to do before everyone can go home.
The group has to decide who is going to get the check.
That is, pay for the bill.
Let's listen to how they do that again.
Waiter, can I have the bill, please?
Let us pay for this.
No, no, I insist.
I thought we had a deal.
You guys can get the next one.
You still have a few days in Las Vegas.
Well, only if you let us treat you next time.
Of course.
We're looking forward to it.
After Adriana asks for the bill, Mario offers to pay.
But Adriana is firm.
She says, No, no.
I insist.
Mario says, I thought we had a deal.
Because earlier, in BEP 89...
He had said he wanted to pay for dinner.
But as the main host, Adriana probably feels that she should pick up the check.
Now, let's review the language we just learned for offering to pay.
This one's on me.
Let me get this.
I'll pick up the tab.
I'd like to get the check.
It's our treat.
You get the next one.
No, I insist.
How does the group finish off the dinner?
Of course, at the end of the evening, the guests thank the hosts.
Well, thank you for a most enjoyable evening.
Not at all.
It was our pleasure.
Let's review a few more expressions that we can use after dinner.
We had a wonderful time.
That was great.
I'm looking forward to doing it again.
Thanks for a lovely evening.
Not at all.
The pleasure's all mine.
Now it's your turn to practice.
Imagine you are at dinner with some business partners.
One of them will signal that it's time to order.
After the beep you should ask them for a recommendation.
For example, you can say, everything looks great.
What would you recommend?
Then, when the waiter asks for your order, request the dish that was recommended to you.
I think I know what I'm going to have.
What about you?
If I were you, I'd try the smoked salmon.
It's delicious.
Hi, can I take your order?
What would you like?
How did you do?
Let's listen to an example answer.
I think I know what I'm going to have.
What about you?
I think I know what I'm going to have.
What about you?
I don't know.
Everything looks great.
What would you recommend?
If I were you, I'd try the smoked salmon.
It's delicious.
Hi.
Can I take your order?
What would you like?
I'll have the smoked salmon, please.
Rewind and try the practice again to build speed and fluency.
Now let's review some useful vocabulary.
You'll hear a series of sentences.
In each sentence, one word is blanked out with a beep.
Repeat the sentence, but say the missing word.
For example, if you hear... You will say... After each exercise, the answer will be played.
You should really give the yellowfin... a try.
You should really give the yellowfin tuna a try.
They... the chicken here in a special sauce.
Answer.
They marinate the chicken here in a special sauce.
You've really got to try the house salmon.
Answer.
You've really got to try the house smoked salmon.
Please cook my steak thoroughly.
I like it.
Done.
Answer.
Please cook my steak thoroughly.
I like it well done.
Cheers.
I'll... to that.
Answer.
Cheers.
I'll drink to that.
And thanking everyone at the end of the meal.
In future episodes we'll take a closer look at more parts of the dining experience, including describing food.
In the meanwhile, remember to check out the study notes for this and the other episodes.
There you'll find review questions, complete transcripts vocabulary, definitions and example sentences.
Also sign up at wwwbusinessenglishpodcom for our online learning centre, which includes a wider range of language revision and extension exercises flashcards, listening practice.
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