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Welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Jennifer and I'll be your host for this lesson on hosting visitors.
Have you ever had the good fortune to be invited to someone's home during a business trip?
Perhaps it was a client or a prospective client.
Maybe it was a colleague or potential business partner.
And have you ever had the opportunity to have overseas visitors in your own home?
These are great chances to get to know the people you do business with.
You're engaging with people on a personal level and building better relationships.
And it's important to do that right.
The language you use, either as a host or a guest, requires great care.
In today's lesson, we're going to hear a conversation among four people.
Grace and Lee are on a business trip to their company offices in California.
During their trip, they have been invited to visit the home of a work colleague, Tanya.
Tanya and her husband, Mark, are hosting a dinner for the two guests.
This is a perfect situation to learn some important aspects of English.
We'll look at how to make people comfortable, how to show interest in others, how to refuse offers politely and how to show modesty.
These are all essential skills when you sit down to dinner with colleagues or clients.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
2.
What is interesting about Tanya and Mark's home?
3.
What is Grace hoping to do if they finish their work on time?
All right, everyone.
Dinner is ready, if you'd like to have a seat.
Great.
Is here okay?
Sure.
Sit wherever you like.
We're not setting our ways or anything.
And please, go ahead and start.
Make yourself right at home.
There's more wine on the table.
Wow, amazing spread.
I can't wait to dig in.
Yes.
Looks like you're a real wizard in the kitchen, Mark.
Oh, it's nothing really, and Tanya did a lot of it.
Well, it's really nice of both of you to have us over.
You know how these trips are.
It's a lot of hotels, it's a lot of restaurants, so it's great to be in a home environment for once.
It's our pleasure.
And you have such a beautiful home.
So much character.
And the decoration is truly wonderful.
You've obviously collected a lot of pieces during your travels.
Yes, we have.
It's nice to have a keepsake from all of the places we've visited.
Here, Lee, I don't think you've had the potatoes yet.
Let me pass them your way.
Oh, thank you, Tanya, but that's all right.
I've got lots of everything else and I just hope I have room for it all.
There's plenty to go around, so please don't be shy.
We're still used to cooking for our three kids, so we always have too much.
Three children, wow!
That sounds like a handful.
Sure, but a lot of fun too.
And Grace, do you have a big family?
You mentioned one daughter before.
Yeah, that's right, Susan.
She's actually studying at Caltech.
I'm hoping to be able to squeeze some time in with her if we finish the audit in time.
But you know how these things go.
I won't be sure until next week whether I'll actually have the time or not.
Now let's take a closer look at the dialogue.
All right, everyone.
Dinner is ready.
If you'd like to have a seat.
Great.
Is here okay?
Sure.
Sit wherever you like.
We're not setting our ways or anything.
And please, go ahead and start.
Make yourself right at home.
There's more wine on the table.
Tanya asks everyone to have a seat or sit down, wherever they like.
Mark, who is the cook of the household, tells his guests to make themselves at home.
This is a common expression used by a host to make guests feel welcome and relaxed.
And what else can we say to help make our visitors feel welcome?
Let's practice a few more expressions.
Please, just help yourself to whatever you'd like.
Come on in.
Take your coats off and relax.
If there's anything you need, please let me know.
So glad you could come.
What'll you have to drink?
Grace and Lee are eager to show their appreciation to their hosts.
Wow, amazing spread.
I can't wait to dig in.
Yes.
Looks like you're a real wizard in the kitchen, Mark.
Oh, it's nothing really, and Tanya did a lot of it.
Grace is complimenting the spread or a table full of food and says she can't wait to dig in or start eating.
And Lee is impressed with Mark's cooking, calling him a wizard in the kitchen.
But Mark doesn't want to take too much credit.
He says it's nothing, to suggest that preparing the dinner really wasn't that much work.
He also claims that Tanya did much of the preparation.
Mark says these things to demonstrate modesty.
He is downplaying his efforts.
Expressing modesty is seen as an admirable quality in many cultures, so let's run through some more examples.
Well, it's just a bit of a hobby.
I'm not that good.
I can play a little piano, but nothing too complicated.
Grace continues to tell her hosts how happy she is to have been invited to their house.
Well, it's really nice of both of you to have us over.
You know how these trips are.
It's a lot of hotels, it's a lot of restaurants, so it's great to be in a home environment for once.
It's our pleasure.
Grace expresses her appreciation, saying it's nice of Mark and Tanya to have us over, which is another way of saying invite someone to your house.
To emphasise her gratitude.
She explains that it's especially nice to be at someone's home during a business trip.
Homes are special places and Grace clearly understands this.
And you have such a beautiful home.
So much character.
And the decoration is truly wonderful.
You've obviously collected a lot of pieces during your travels.
As a guest, it is good of Grace to show interest in a host's home.
She says that the house has character, which means it is unique.
And she talks specifically about the decorative pieces from their travels.
Grace uses words such as beautiful and wonderful, which will surely make her hosts happy.
Let's listen to some other ways to show interest in someone's home.
Your floors are beautiful.
Are they oak?
I really like what you've done with the decor.
It's both homey and chic at the same time.
Are you the original owners?
It looks like you've redone your kitchen.
Looks great.
Now back to our dialogue.
Yes, we have.
It's nice to have a keepsake from all of the places we've visited.
Here, Lee, I don't think you've had the potatoes yet.
Let me pass them your way.
Oh, thank you, Tanya, but that's all right.
I've got lots of everything else and I just hope I have room for it all.
Tanya responds to Grace's interest in their keepsakes or souvenirs.
She then wants to make sure that Lee has all the food he needs.
She offers to pass the potatoes Lee's way.
In other words, she wants to give him the potatoes.
But Lee doesn't want any.
Of course, he can't just say no.
He needs to be polite in his refusal.
He says, that's all right, which is a common way of rejecting an offer.
It sounds similar to, all right, which is a way of accepting an offer.
It's important not to confuse these two expressions.
Lee also says he had a lot of food already and hopes he has room for it all.
Lee is saying that it's not possible for him to have more.
This is the best reason to refuse someone's offer of more food.
Here are some other ways of refusing an offer politely.
In many cases, you will see that the speaker makes it seem that they want to accept, but can't.
Oh, thank you, but I'm really full.
You are very kind but I should probably get going.
I'd love to but I'm afraid I'm just too busy at the moment.
That sounds really great but if I have any more I won't be able to drive.
I'm okay for now.
Mark wants to back up his wife's offer of more food.
There's plenty to go around, so please don't be shy.
We're still used to cooking for our three kids, so we always have too much.
If there is plenty to go around, as Mark says, it means there's lots of food for everyone.
He explains that they're still accustomed to cooking for their three children, and this introduces a good topic for socialising with business colleagues.
Family.
Three children, wow!
That sounds like a handful.
Sure, but a lot of fun too.
And Grace, do you have a big family?
You mentioned one daughter before.
Grace thinks that having three children would be a handful, or a lot of work.
Tanya turns the topic to her guests by asking whether Grace has a big family.
More specifically, she asks about a daughter.
This type of question shows interest in a person's family, just as the following examples do.
And your husband, what does he do?
Has your family lived in this area for long?
I heard your son just got into medical school.
Tanya's question about Grace's family was a good one, as we can hear.
Yeah, that's right, Susan.
She's actually studying at Caltech.
I'm hoping to be able to squeeze some time in with her if we finish the audit in time.
But you know how these things go.
I won't be sure until next week whether I'll actually have the time or not.
Grace is certainly eager to talk about her daughter.
And it sounds like the dinner is going very well.
Now let's practice some of the language we looked at for refusing offers politely.
In a moment, you'll hear a question, then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to make a polite refusal in response to the question.
For example, if you hear Thanks, but really shouldn't.
You can say, We'll play an example answer after each question.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Can I make you a cup of coffee?
Kind Have to Get going Example answer That's very kind, but I have to get going.
Can you join us tomorrow for a tour of the town?
Love to.
Unfortunately.
Very busy.
Example answer.
I'd really love to, but unfortunately I'm very busy tomorrow.
Why don't we take our drinks out back on the deck?
Sounds great.
Getting late.
Example answer.
That sounds great, but it's getting late.
Would you like some more steak?
Thank you.
Had lots.
Already.
Example answer.
Thank you very much, but I've had lots already.
Now let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear... You can say... After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
I hope we have enough time to squeeze a visit to the museum.
Answer.
I hope we have enough time to squeeze in a visit to the museum.
Answer.
It's really too bad that our dinner plans didn't work out.
Please come on in and make yourself at... Answer.
Please come on in and make yourself at home.
We've looked at showing interest in a person's home and family, making people comfortable, showing modesty and refusing offers politely.
Be sure to listen next time as we hear how the evening comes to a close and the guests and hosts say their goodbyes.
For more practice, Premium members can access the online quizzes and study notes for this and other episodes in the new Learning Centre.
And sign up for a free trial to preview some of the extra resources available to members.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
