Level B2 Business English
Lesson 1
Meeting- Starting a Meeting
ミーティング 会議を始める

1
PHRASE OF THE DAY
今日のフレーズ

Right then, shall we get started?
それでは、皆さん始めましょうか？

2
SITUATION
状況

Tomo is starting a monthly meeting.
トモは月例ミーティングを始めるところです。

3
DIALOGUE
ダイアログ

Directions: First repeat after your tutor and then practice each role.

Tomo
I’d like to thank everyone for coming today. I think we’re still waiting for Mark to arrive. The weather’s been quite pleasant the past few days, hasn’t it?
Mark
Yes, it has.
Cathy
Yes! Absolutely wonderful!
Mark
I’m terribly sorry for being late. I hope I didn’t keep everyone waiting long.
Tomo
Not long at all, Mark. Is that everyone? Right then, shall we get started? As you know we have a lot of ground to cover today and precious little time to do it in. How about if we begin by making some introductions?

4
VOCABULARY
語い

Directions: First repeat after your tutor and then read aloud by yourself.

pleasant
快適な
absolutely
絶対に
being late
遅れる、遅刻
right then
それでは

5
LANGUAGE FOCUS
今日のポイント

Right then, shall we get started?
それでは、皆さん始めましょうか？
Meeting – Starting a Meeting

Directions: First repeat after your tutor and then read aloud again by yourself.

Welcome everyone. Let’s get started, ok?
If everyone’s here, how about starting the meeting?
Good afternoon, thank you all for coming.
Well, since everyone is here, we should get started.
I think we'll begin now. First I'd like to welcome you all.
We have a lot to cover today, so we really should begin.

6
ACTIVITY
練習

Activity 1: Discuss when it’s appropriate to hold an informal meeting and when it’s most appropriate to hold a formal meeting. Discuss what sort of language is used in each. Once finished, practice opening a formal and an informal meeting.

Activity 2: It’s often customary to have a brief chitchat session before the meeting officially begins. People often discuss things unrelated to the meeting, like the weather, family, weekend plans, etc.
How does this differ from a Japanese meeting? What things are suitable to discuss before the beginning of a meeting and what things are inappropriate?

HINTS
suitable
適切な
chairperson
議長
chit-chat
雑談
talk about
～の話
appropriate
適切な
inappropriate
不適切な
brief
小さな、短い、簡単な