Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 288, A Business Contract.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 288.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com and download a learning guide for this podcast.
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Our episode is called A Business Contract.
It's a dialogue between two people, two business people, who are coming to an agreement about something.
Let's get started.
Thanks for agreeing to meet with me about the new contract.
It's important that both parties understand and agree to all of the terms before we can move ahead.
It's in the best interest of both of our companies for this agreement to be signed, so I'm glad to be here.
How should we proceed?
You and I have both read the contract, but I think it's useful to go over the main articles to make sure there aren't any clauses that are objectionable.
If you'll take a look at Article 1... This looks in order.
The stipulations we asked for are all there.
Now, if we can move to Article 6...
I have a question about the conditions for declaring the contract null and void.
I'm glad you brought that up.
I know that this was a sticking point during the negotiations and I believe we found an acceptable compromise.
I'm sure you have.
Let's take a look.
Our dialogue is between Violet and Carrick.
Violet begins by saying to Carrick, Thanks for agreeing to meet with me about the new contract.
A contract is an agreement between two people, usually some sort of business agreement.
Violet says it's important that both parties understand and agree to all of the terms before we can move ahead.
Parties here means the people or the groups who are involved in the contract, who are involved in the agreement.
In this example, there are two parties, two groups or two businesses that are part of this agreement.
Violet says it's important to understand all of the terms before we can move ahead.
Terms.
Refers to the specific points in the agreement, the details, what we are actually agreeing to do.
The terms of an agreement would include the price, the time that the contract needs to be completed.
Anything involved in the contract could be part of its terms.
There's another expression we use in business sometimes, terms and conditions.
Sometimes abbreviated the T's and C's, the terms and the conditions.
These are the specifics, the details of the contract that say what has to happen.
Carrick says that it's in the best interest of both of our companies for this agreement to be signed.
When we say something is in the best interest of...
It's in your best interest to wear a seatbelt when you are driving in a car, so that you don't get hurt in an accident.
It's in your best interest to have your eyes open when you are driving instead of closed.
At least, I hope you do that.
It's in your best interest.
Carrick says it's in our best interest or in the best interest of both of our companies...
For this agreement, this contract, to be signed.
To be signed means that you put your signature, your name, on the piece of paper.
Basically, it means that we have agreed to it.
We have said okay.
We have signed the contract.
Carrick says, how should we proceed?
To proceed, P-R-O-C-E-E-D, means to go forward, to move ahead.
He's asking, what is the next step?
What should we do now?
How should we proceed?
There's also an expression proceed with caution, meaning go very carefully, be careful, there might be some problems.
Don't confuse.
Proceed with precede, which is spelled P-R-E-C-E-D-E, which means to come before something in time.
One o'clock precedes two o'clock.
Violet says The contract may be divided into six or seven parts and we call those parts articles, or at least we can call them articles.
There are actually a couple of different definitions of the word article.
Take a look at our learning guide for more information about those additional definitions.
Violet says we want to go over to review, to talk about the main or most important articles, to make sure that there aren't any clauses that are objectionable.
An article is a part of a contract.
A clause is a part of an article, a sentence or part of a sentence.
Violet is concerned about any clauses that are objectionable.
When we say something is objectionable, we mean that we have an objection to it.
An objection is a disagreement, something that you don't like about someone, or something objectionable would be a way of describing things that you don't like about the contract or a particular article in the contract or a specific clause in one of the articles.
Violet then begins to review each of the sections, the articles of the contract.
We then skip ahead, we jump ahead to the end of the conversation.
Carrick says, this looks in order.
When we say something is or looks in order, we mean that it seems to be correct.
Everything is in its correct place.
It is acceptable.
The stipulations we asked for are all there, Carrick says.
Stipulations...
S-T-I-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S are demands or things that you are asking for in a contract or in an agreement.
The verb is to stipulate, which means to say, I want this and this and this.
It's a term we usually use when we are talking about a formal contract or a legal agreement.
Stipulations.
Now Carrick says if we can move to Article 6, I have a question about the conditions for declaring the contract null and void.
The verb to declare means to announce or to decide in this case.
The contract has an article, a clause, about declaring the contract null and void.
The expression null, N-U-L-L, and void, V-O-I-D, here means canceled.
When the contract is ended before the time you expected.
A contract is null and void if there is something wrong with it, if there's something illegal against the law about it, or if one of the parties in the contract doesn't do what they said they would do.
One possibility is to have the contract declared null and void.
Violet says, I'm glad you brought that up.
Meaning, I'm glad you mentioned that.
I'm glad you said something about that.
To bring something up means to ask someone or to talk about something that has not been talked about before with someone or in a group.
Violet says A sticking point is a difficult item or a difficult detail in a contract or an agreement.
That might cause one of the parties to say, no, I don't want this contract.
I don't want to sign this contract.
A sticking point is when you have difficulties.
Negotiations are conversations between two parties two people, two businesses about a specific contract or agreement.
A compromise is when you each agree to something less than what you wanted.
It's when both parties say okay, I can't have 100 of what I want, so I'll only ask for 50.
And the other person only asks for 50% of what he wanted.
That's a compromise.
Some people say marriage is a compromise.
That's not actually true.
Marriage is doing what your wife wants you to do.
If you don't understand that, you need to go back and study the book of marriage again.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Thanks for agreeing to meet with me about the new contract.
It's important that both parties understand and agree to all of the terms before we can move ahead.
It's in the best interest of both of our companies for this agreement to be signed, so I'm glad to be here.
How should we proceed?
You and I have both read the contract, but I think it's useful to go over the main articles to make sure there aren't any clauses that are objectionable.
If you'll take a look at Article 1.
This looks in order.
The stipulations we asked for are all there.
Now, if we can move to Article 6, I have a question about the conditions for declaring the contract null and void.
I'm glad you brought that up.
I know that this was a sticking point during the negotiations and I believe we found an acceptable compromise.
I'm sure you have.
Let's take a look.
The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
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.
This podcast is copyright 2007.
