Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 21 - Accepting a Gift in a Business Setting. John Here.
Karina: Привет, I'm Karina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to handle a gift in a business context. The conversation takes place in an office.
Karina: It's between Linda and Elena.
John: The speakers are acquaintances, therefore, they will speak formal Russian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Линда: Пожалуйста, примите этот подарок от ABC.
Елена: Спасибо! Это очень мило.
Линда: Не за что! Мы хотели выразить нашу благодарность.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Линда: Пожалуйста, примите этот подарок от ABC.
Елена: Спасибо! Это очень мило.
Линда: Не за что! Мы хотели выразить нашу благодарность.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Please accept this present from ABC.
Elena: Thank you. That is very kind of you.
Linda: Not at all! We wanted to express our gratitude.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Linda and Elena finally met in this conversation!
Karina: Yes, after problems with traffic and not knowing where the office was, it finally happened.
John: And Linda came bearing gifts. Is that typical for Russian business meetings?
Karina: In Russia, business gifts are a must!
John: What kind of gifts are usually given?
Karina: Usually, it’s something with the company’s logo.
John: Oh, like stationary and things like that?
Karina: Yes, or art goods like pictures or small statues.
John: Are things sent during holidays, during New Year for example?
Karina: Yes, it’s good manners to send your partners things like sweets or a bottle of champagne. Be careful if you send gifts to politicians though.
John: Why is that?
Karina: Unfortunately, Russia is still a corrupt country, so business gifts of more than 3000 rubles, about $50, must be returned.
John: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Karina: принять [natural native speed]
John: to accept
Karina: принять[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: принять [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Karina: подарок [natural native speed]
John: present, gift
Karina: подарок[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: подарок [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Karina: мило [natural native speed]
John: sweet, cute, charming
Karina: мило[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: мило [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Karina: не за что [natural native speed]
John: not at all, you are welcome
Karina: не за что[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: не за что [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Karina: выразить [natural native speed]
John: to express
Karina: выразить[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: выразить [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Karina: благодарность [natural native speed]
John: gratitude
Karina: благодарность[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: благодарность [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is...
Karina: Это очень мило.
John: ...meaning "That is very kind of you." What can you tell us about this phrase?
Karina: The first word Это, means “this,” the second word очень
John: means “very.”
Karina: And the final word is мило.
John: This means “sweet.” There’s no “is” in Russian.
Karina: If you want to be more polite, you can say это очень мило с вашей стороны
John: “That is very kind of you.”
Karina: This can only be used in gratitude for offered help.
John: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, -Давайте я понесу этот чемодан. -Это очень мило с Вашей стороны.
John: ...which means "-Let me hold this suitcase. -That is very kind of you."
John: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Karina: Не за что!
John: meaning "Not at all!" What can you tell us about this phrase?
Karina: It literally means “not for what.” It’s used as a reply for “thank you.”
John: Is this polite?
Karina: It’s neutral and can be used at anytime. A more polite version is не стоит благодарности.
John: Literally “doesn’t worth the appreciation.” Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, -Вы очень помогли нам! -Не за что!.
John: ...which means "-You helped us a lot! -Not at all!"
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to handle a gift in a business context. Let’s look at giving the gift. What can we say when we hand a gift over?
Karina: In the conversation, Linda said Пожалуйста, примите этот подарок от ABC.
John: “Please accept this present from ABC.”
Karina: Пожалуйста, примите is a polite imperative.
John: It means “please accept.”
Karina: You can follow this with a pronoun and noun in accusative case. You can say from whom in genitive case.
John: Do you have another example?
Karina: Пожалуйста, примите поздравления от исполнительного директора.
John: “Please, accept the congratulations from the CEO.”
Karina: Also in the conversation, Linda said Мы хотели выразить нашу благодарность.
John: “We wanted to express our gratitude.”
Karina: This has the first person plural Мы...
John: meaning “we.”
Karina: The modal verb хотели...
John: meaning “want” in the past tense.
Karina: Followed by an infinitive выразить.
John: This means “to express.” What can you tell us about that word “wanted?”
Karina: хотели has a few things to pay attention to.
John: It’s in the past tense, as you can see by the ending.
Karina: It’s in imperfective aspect. If it was in perfective aspect, it would be захотела.
John: It’s feminine, which again, you can tell by the ending.
Karina: And it’s singular. If it was plural, it would be хотели.
John: Let’s finish this lesson with some more examples.
Karina: Я хотела бы поблагодарить участников проекта.
John: “I wanted to thank the participants of the project.”
Karina: Мы хотели бы сказать слова благодарности
John: “We wanted to say some words of gratitude.”

Outro

John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Karina: Пока!

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