Uitwerkingen hoofdstuk 9 Basisboek Engels Oefening 1 Er is discussie mogelijk over de volgorde van deze zinnen, maar het is waarschijnlijk duidelijk dat zinnen e en f het minst beleefd zijn. Bij e staat de spreker centraal en in f staat het dwingende should. Deze zeer directe formuleringen worden op de voet gevolgd door b, een gebiedende wijs, zij het iets verzacht met het woordje please. Een stuk beleefder is a: een opdracht geformuleerd als vraag (let op: deze vraag zou ook met can gesteld kunnen worden, dan is hij iets minder beleefd). De beleefdste (en meest indirecte) manieren om dit verzoek te formuleren zijn c en d. Oefening 2 1. to hold (have) / attend / chair a meeting 2. attendees / those present 3. closed meeting 4. meeting / conference room 5. to vote / to have a vote 6. to submit a motion / to make a proposal 7. to carry / pass / adopt a motion / proposal unanimously 8. to reject a motion / proposal 9. to give the floor to 10. to accept / adopt the minutes 11. to take the minutes / to record in the minutes 12. General Meeting 13. chairman (man), chairwoman (vrouw), chair / chairperson (sekseneutraal) Oefening 3 Subject: General Meeting of the Portsmouth Student Association Dear all, You are cordially invited to attend the next General Meeting of the PSA. This meeting will take place in The Canary Cue Club, 33 Dunsbury Way, Portsmouth, on Thursday 4 March. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. and will be closed at approximately 9 p.m. The main item on the agenda will be the election of our new officers. I enclose the agenda for your convenience. If you are not able to attend or if you will arrive late, please email secretary@psa.co.uk. Kind regards / Yours sincerely, [signature] 1
[name] (Secretary) Oefening 4 Oefening 5 1. There s no doubt in my mind that / I have no doubt that many shareholders will be in favour of this plan. 2. Could I ask for your reaction to the proposal to cancel the order? 3. As far as I m concerned we don t have to give this issue a high priority. 4. I m convinced that we should try to spend as little money as possible on this project. 5. In my opinion, fewer people will choose our product if we go for the cheaper design. 6. What is your opinion / view / position, now that you know that the sales figures are disastrous, as we had feared? Oefening 6 a) Asking for an opinion: How do you feel about this? What do you think? You re shaking your head. What s your opinion? (So what do you suggest then?) b) Giving an opinion: Definitely. In my opinion, (she s ideal.) I d say (she s just what we re looking for.) I think (we should find someone else.) I do have someone in mind. In my opinion, (his company has a lot to offer.) c) Agreeing / disagreeing: (We all agree we want to increase our revenue...) I agree, because (she s very good at marketing.) I m afraid I can t agree. I don t think she s suitable at all. Oefening 7 Bij opdracht d merk je misschien dat veel Nederlanders zich het prettigst voelen als ze direct hun mening kunnen geven, zonder te veel poespas eromheen. Als je effectief wilt kunnen vergaderen in het Engels, is het genuanceerd en beleefd uitdrukken van je mening echter wel iets dat je je eigen moet maken. 2
Oefening 8 1. Could I please have a seat near one of the emergency exits? I am almost 6 feet 3 (inches) and I could use the extra leg space. 2. Hier staat dat de hoge olieprijs de olie-inkomsten van Irak dit jaar omhoog zal stuwen tot bijna 80 miljard (80.000.000.000). 3. Amerikanen kopen benzine per gallon. Een (Amerikaanse) gallon is ongeveer 3,8 liter. 4. 4000 * 1,6 = 6400 kilometer. Oefening 9 Bijvoorbeeld: 1. I wonder if I could comment on that? 2. I m sorry, I didn t quite catch that. Could you say that again, please? 3. Can I finish what I was saying first? / I d like to finish, if I may. 4. I m afraid there seems to have been a misunderstanding. (Also possible: Perhaps I haven t made myself clear. Note that the speaker takes the blame; it s not very polite to imply that the person who asked a question did not pay attention or is not intelligent enough to follow the gist of your argumentation! Never accuse the other of being wrong.) 5. That isn t quite what I meant. 6. I m afraid I don t understand what you mean. Oefening 10 Oefening 11 Bijvoorbeeld: 1. Ik heb me vastgebeten in dit onderwerp. = I have paid a lot of attention to this subject. / I have studied this subject closely. 2. Ik wil niet met de deur in huis vallen. = I ll come straight to the point. / I won t beat about the bush. (Let op: het lijkt alsof het Nederlands het tegenovergestelde betekent van het Engels, maar als je zegt Ik wil niet met de deur in huis vallen, maar... dan is dat vooral een aankondiging van het feit dat je dat wel gaat doen.) 3. Ik wil het gras niet voor je voeten wegmaaien. = I don t want to cut the ground from under your feet. 4. Er is niets aan de hand. = There s nothing wrong. 5. Je steekt je hoofd in het zand. = You are trying to ignore the problem. 6. Dat is erg kort door de bocht. = It seems to me that you re drawing conclusions prematurely. / That s a bit of a generalisation. / That s quite a sweeping assertion. (Let op: kort door de bocht kan betekenen dat een uitspraak weinig doordacht is, of dat iets te sterk gegeneraliseerd wordt. Er is dus meer context nodig om te bedenken hoe je dit in correct Engels zegt. In beide gevallen geldt: pas beleefdheidsstrategieën toe om je boodschap minder direct te maken!) 7. Het is geen eendagsvlieg. = I m sure it won t just be a flash in the pan. / I m sure the success will last. 3
8. We moeten de neuzen in dezelfde richting krijgen. = We ll have to try to come to / reach an agreement. 9. Zoals ik je vertelde, is dit nattevingerwerk. = As I said earlier, this is guesswork. 10. Je bent op glad ijs. = You are taking a risk here. 11. Alle gekheid op een stokkie... = Seriously,... 12. We moeten knopen doorhakken. = We have to make some decisions. 13. We moeten water bij de wijn doen. = We ll have to (reach a / come to a) compromise. 14. We gaan in zee met jullie. = We d like to do business with you. Oefening 12 Oefening 13 1. Concept = an idea or abstract principle. Juist is: the draft report. 2. Global = worldwide. Juist is: a rough estimate. 3. Map = a representation of an area of land (een kaart). Juist is: project folder of project file. 4. Actual = real. Juist is: topical problem. 5. Concurrence = happening at the same time. Juist is: the competition of our competitors (are doing). 6. Control = manage, regulate, maintain influence over. Juist is: verify / check the numbers. 7. Graphic = giving clear and explicit details (e.g. a graphic account ). Juist is: in the graph of in the diagram. 8. Ordeal = an unpleasant experience. Juist is: his judgement of his opinion Oefening 14 Oefening 15 a) Asking for an opinion: Nancy, would you like to begin? What do you think? Is everyone agreed? How do you feel about it, (Nancy)? b) Giving an opinion: I like the idea. I mean... I think we need (a report or an extra survey done about this.) OK. I think (a report is probably better.) Frankly, I was shocked (to see the proposal about hot-desking.) I don t think it s a good idea at all. I m pretty sure (hot-desking won t work unless we have an open-plan office.) I don t think (hot-desking works in closed offices.) I m against (introducing hot-desking now.) 4
c) Agreeing / disagreeing: I m not sure I agree with you there. I agree with Max about privacy. (Meeting rooms?) Yes, that s true... I don t think it works. Well, I m not happy about it. I don t think we should have a vote about it now. Yes, I agree. d) Interrupting: Could I just say something? e) Dealing with interruptions: OK, Max, thanks. Let Stefan finish, please. f) Asking for clarification / clarifying: How do you mean, an extra survey? Are you saying we need to bring in a consultant? No, I was thinking of (someone inside the company.) Sorry, I don t follow you. What exactly are you saying? What I mean is... g) Making proposals: I suggest (we use meeting rooms for private conversations or calls.) I propose that (someone prepares a report...) Case 1 Case 2 5