Learn how to apologize in a business setting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 17 - Apologizing in a Business Situation. Eric here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。 |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say that you'll be late for an appointment with another company, and apologize for your lateness on the phone. The conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Natsuko: It's between Linda and the man who answered her call. |
| Eric: The speakers are on a business call, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Katsumata:はい、あさい商事のかつまたでございます。 |
| Linda:ABCコーポレーションのベーカー リンダでございます。大変、申しわけありません。 |
| : １０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Katsumata:はい、わかりました。お待ちしております。 |
| Linda:ありがとうございます。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Katsumata:はい、あさい商事のかつまたでございます。 |
| Linda:ABCコーポレーションのベーカー リンダでございます。大変、申しわけありません。 |
| : １０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Katsumata:はい、わかりました。お待ちしております。 |
| Linda:ありがとうございます。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Katsumata: Yes, this is Katsumata of Asai Shoji speaking. |
| Linda: I’m Linda Baker of ABC Corporation. I’m sorry. |
| : I’ll be about 10 minutes late to our appointment. |
| Katsumata: Okay, I understand. I’ll wait for you here. |
| Linda: Thank you very much. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Oh no. Linda is running late for a business meeting. She’ll be in trouble. |
| Natsuko: Right. Of course it’s better not to be late, but sometimes you can’t avoid it because of traffic jams, train delays, and so on. And if you know you’ll be late, you should call and apologize, and say how late you’ll be if you know. |
| Eric: That’s proper business manners, right? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Eric: And in this lesson’s dialogue, it seems like Linda is calling Asai Shoji from her cell phone. Do companies commonly provide their workers with cell phones? |
| Natsuko: Some companies do. It depends on the job. By the way, “cell phone” in Japanese is 携帯電話. |
| Eric: You can just say keitai, can’t you? |
| Natsuko: Yes. In conversations, people tend to say just 携帯 since it’s shorter and easier to say. And some business people have two 携帯 or “cell phones.” One is a 仕事用の携帯Eric: "cell phone for work.” |
| Natsuko: And another is a プライベート用の携帯, |
| Eric: “cell phone for private use." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: ほど [natural native speed] |
| Eric: about |
| Natsuko: ほど[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ほど [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 遅れる [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be late (V2) |
| Natsuko: 遅れる[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 遅れる [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: わかる [natural native speed] |
| Eric: understand |
| Natsuko: わかる[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: わかる [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last we have.. |
| Natsuko: 大変 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: very |
| Natsuko: 大変[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 大変 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Natsuko: わかりました。 |
| Eric: meaning "I understand," "Okay," or "I see.” |
| Natsuko: It’s from a verb, わかる, “to understand.” わかります is its masu form and わかりました is a polite past form. |
| Eric: I’ve also heard the expressions ryoukai or ryoukai shimashita. Do they mean “I see” as well? |
| Natsuko: They do, but it sounds like something police officers or self defence force personnel use. |
| Eric: So maybe something like "roger!" in English. |
| Natsuko: Exactly. Of course, normal civilians say りょうかい or りょうかいしました too, but with a less formal connotation. |
| Eric: I see. |
| Natsuko: Also, when you want to be very formal, you should say 承知しました instead of わかりました. |
| Eric: Okay. Let’s recap. How do you say “I see” or “I understand” politely? |
| Natsuko: わかりました |
| Eric: If you want to be even more formal, you should say… |
| Natsuko: 承知しました。 |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize in a business setting, such as when you’re late for an appointment or when you make a mistake. |
| Natsuko: We’ll be looking at two useful expressions which are… |
| 大変、申しわけありません。１０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Eric: “I’m very sorry. I’ll be about ten minutes late to our appointment.” |
| Natsuko:...and はい、わかりました。お待ちしております。 |
| Eric: “Okay, I understand. I’ll wait for you here.” So, first of all, you have to apologize by saying... |
| Natsuko:大変、申しわけありません。 |
| Eric: “I’m very sorry.” As we learned in a previous lesson, this is the most commonly used expression to apologize in business settings. |
| Natsuko: And 大変 means "extremely." |
| Eric: Can we hear that apology again? |
| Natsuko: 大変、申し訳ありません。 |
| Eric: OK, listeners, please repeat after Natsuko. |
| Natsuko:大変、申し訳ありません。 |
| Eric:.... Next, after your apology, say how late you’ll be. |
| Natsuko: In the dialogue, Linda said… １０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Eric: “I’ll be about ten minutes late to our appointment.” |
| Natsuko:10分 means “10 minutes,” and ほど means “about.” So １０分ほど means ”about ten minutes." |
| Eric: Now, the latter part, meaning “it seems like I’m going to be late,” is a little complicated. |
| Natsuko: In order to understand this sentence, you need to know two grammar points. ---てしまう and ---そうです。 |
| Eric: Let’s start with the first one. The formation of the te-form of a verb + shimau indicates a speaker’s regret or disappointment. |
| Natsuko: For example, 遅れる means “to be late” So... おくれて しまう |
| Eric: Means “I’m going to be late despite my intentions” or “unfortunately, I’m going to be late.” Next, sō desu is the polite version of -sō da which expresses the speaker’s conjecture or guess. It corresponds to “it looks like” or “it seems like” in English. |
| Natsuko: Please note that そうです follows the masu-stem of a verb. |
| Eric: Let’s go back. |
| Natsuko: 遅れてしまい |
| Eric:“Unfortunately, I’m going to be late” |
| Natsuko:そうです |
| Eric: “It seems like”. So altogether… |
| Natsuko:遅れてしまいそうです |
| Eric: means “it seems like I’m going to be late”. At the beginning of this expression, say how late you’ll be. Natsuko, Can we hear the whole expression? |
| Natsuko: All right. 大変申しわけありません。１０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Eric: “I’m very sorry. I’ll be about ten minutes late to our appointment.” Listeners, it’s your turn. Imagine you’ll be 15 minutes late to an appointment. In that case, what are you supposed to say? Start with an apology. |
| Natsuko: １５ minutes is 15分. So “about 15 minutes” is １５分ほど |
| Natsuko: 大変、申しわけありません。15分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Eric: "I am sorry. I’ll be about 15 minutes late.” Now, if YOUR client called you and said this expression, what would be an appropriate response? |
| Natsuko: はい、わかりました。お待ちしております。 would sound very kind. |
| Eric: The first part… |
| Natsuko: はい、わかりました。 |
| Eric: means “Okay, I understand.” But the second part... |
| Natsuko: お待ちしております |
| Eric:...is a little tricky. |
| Natsuko: Right. Let’s put it in a simple way. おまちしております basically means the same thing as 待っています. |
| Eric: meaning “I’ll be waiting for you.” |
| Natsuko: おまちしております is from a verb お待ちする which is a humble way to say “to wait.” And ております is a humble way to say て います. So basically, おまちしております is a humble way to say 待っています “I’ll be waiting for you.” Try to memorize it as a set. |
| Eric: I see. Natsuko, to recap, can we hear the lines between Linda and Katsumata-san? |
| Natsuko:OK. So Linda called Asai Shoji and said…ABCコーポレーションのベーカー リンダでございます。 |
| Eric: First she gave her name, “I’m Linda Baker of ABC Corporation.” |
| Natsuko: 大変、申しわけありません |
| Eric: Next, she apologized. “I’m very sorry.” |
| Natsuko: １０分ほど遅れてしまいそうです。 |
| Eric: And said how late she will be… “I’ll be about ten minutes late to our appointment.” |
| Natsuko: Katsumata-san kindly said...はい、わかりました。お待ちしております。 |
| Eric: “OK I understand. I’ll wait for you here.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またねー |
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