2. Discussion

1. Do you agree with the saying ‘ When in Rome, do as the Romans do?’ Do we have a similar saying in our language?

2. An American friend of yours is going to work in Japan. Give some advice about how he/she should and shouldn’t behave.

3. Imagine you are at a party in (a) England (b) America. How could you begin a conversation with a stranger? Continue the conversations with your partner.

4. What are the ‘rules’ about greeting people in our country? When do we shake hands? When do we kiss? What about when we say goodbye?

5. Think of one or two examples of bad manners. For example, in Britain it is considered impolite to ask people how much they earn.

6. What advice would you give somebody coming to live and work in your country?

Exercises

1.Greetings and introductions

Read expressions a-h.They can all be used in the first few minutes of a meeting. Match them with the functions 1-8.

1Greet someone you have never met before.	aGood to see you again!
2 Check someone’s name if you didn’t hear it very well.	bI’m Jan Davis, the Human Resources Manager.
3Greet someone you often meet.	c I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name. Can you say it again?
4 Greet someone you haven’t met though you’ve had contact with them by phone or email.	d I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.
5Greet someone you have met before, some time ago.	eHi! How are you?
6 Introduce yourself.	fThis is Carla Suarez. She’s in charge of exports.
7 Introduce a colleague.	g Good morning. Pleased to meet you.
8Ask someone what their name is.	hNice to meet you at last!

What other expressions do you know that match these functions?

2. Useful responses

Choose the best response to each piece of news. ( More than one answer may be possible in some cases)

1. Coming back from New York, our plane was delayed by ten hours!

2. They have closed that nice restaurant we went to last time.

3. Did you know that we have two cathedrals in this city?

4. We have a new baby in the family-a little boy!

5. Our local football team has qualified for the European Cup!

6. In my country, men love to go shopping.

RESPONSES:

A That’s interesting!

B Congratulations!

C That’s too bad!

D How terrible!

E That’s amazing!

F Fantastic!

3. Meeting new business partners

What do you do when someone you haven’t met before visits you in your office? In what order do you do these things? Discuss your ideas with the rest of the group.

• Hand over your business card

• Shake hands with your visitor

• Greet he visitor with a formal greeting

• Introduce yourself

• Ask about their journey to your company

• Ask about your visitor’s company and work

• Be ready to meet your visitor at the appointed time

• Say good morning or good afternoon

• Offer something to drink

• Get down to business

4. Topics for small talk

Many people say that the worst part of a business meeting is lunch! When you don’t know your business partner very well, it can be difficult to find ‘safe’ non-business topics.

Look at the topics below and say which ones are safe and which might cause offence.

Personal topics:	General interest topics:
Family	Films
Marriage or relationships	Sport
Hobbies or special interests	Travel
Religious beliefs	Art and architecture
The other person’s country:	Topics people have strong opinions about:
Climate	World affairs
Political situation	Money
Food/ Customs	Social problems
History	Environment