Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 6 - A Fashionable Dutch Business Deal
INTRODUCTION
Kellie: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DutchPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 6 - A Fashionable Dutch Business Deal. Kellie Here.
Jacob: Hallo, I'm Jacob.
Kellie: In this lesson, you'll learn about making business deals. The conversation takes place at a wholesale market.
Jacob: It's between Pip and Piet.
Kellie: The speakers have a professional relationship, so they will use formal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Pip: Goedemorgen Piet, hoe gaan de zaken in deze moeilijke tijden?
Piet: Ik heb zeker betere dagen gekend, maar ik klaag niet.
Pip: Ik moet een heleboel jeans kopen, maar kan niet alles meteen betalen. Kunnen we wat afspreken?
Piet: Tja? Maar ik moet ook huur betalen en rente aan de bank etc...
Pip: En als ik nu eens de helft betaal en de andere helft de volgende maand?
Piet: Over hoeveel jeans hebben we het? Welk merk, welke maten?
Pip: De meest goedkope merken. Zo'n 50 Euro inkoopprijs per stuk.
Piet: OK, maar dan wil ik 7% rente over het gedeelte dat je volgende maand betaalt.
Pip: Nee, zullen we daar 5% van maken? Zeven krijg je nergens meer tegenwoordig.
Piet: OK, afgesproken.
Kellie: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Pip: Good morning Piet. How is business in these difficult times?
Piet: I've definitely known better times, but I won't complain.
Pip: I need to buy a very large amount of jeans, but can only pay you part of it now. Can we make an arrangement?
Piet: Ah! But I have to pay the rent and the interest to the bank, and so on...
Pip: What if I pay half now and the other half next month?
Piet: How many jeans are we talking about? What brand, what sizes?
Pip: The cheapest brands. Some 50 Euros a piece, purchase price.
Piet: OK, but then I want 7% interest on the bit you pay next month.
Pip: No, let's make that 5%! OK? There is no place where you can get seven anymore these days.
Piet: OK, deal.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Kellie: It sounds like a business deal for some jeans was taking place in this conversation.
Jacob: Yes, Pip was trying to buy some jeans wholesale.
Kellie: It seemed to be a pretty relaxed way of doing business - more like a chat between friends.
Jacob: For some people doing business is a chore, so they want to be more relaxed about it.
Kellie: Right. Some people employ others to take care of that for them.
Jacob: Especially artists. They often have agents to take care of the business side so the artist can concentrate on the art.
Kellie: You have to pay for agents though, right?
Jacob: You sure do, but for a lot of people it’s worth it. It’s less hassle for you, and the agent might find you extra work.
Kellie: That’s true.
Jacob: Also, Dutch people like to make personal relationships with people they do business with.
Kellie: If you’re friends, you’re more likely to do business.
Jacob: That’s not always the case in other countries though, and I think that Dutch people sometimes forget that when doing business internationally.
Kellie: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Kellie: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Jacob: zaken [natural native speed]
Kellie: business
Jacob: zaken[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: zaken [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: zeker [natural native speed]
Kellie: certainly
Jacob: zeker[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: zeker [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: gedeelte [natural native speed]
Kellie: part
Jacob: gedeelte[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: gedeelte [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: rente [natural native speed]
Kellie: interest
Jacob: rente[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: rente [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: volgende [natural native speed]
Kellie: next
Jacob: volgende[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: volgende [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: merk [natural native speed]
Kellie: brand
Jacob: merk[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: merk [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: inkoopsprijs [natural native speed]
Kellie: purchase price
Jacob: inkoopsprijs[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: inkoopsprijs [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: tegenwoordig [natural native speed]
Kellie: nowadays
Jacob: tegenwoordig[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: tegenwoordig [natural native speed]
Kellie: Next we have..
Jacob: nergens [natural native speed]
Kellie: nowhere
Jacob: nergens[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: nergens [natural native speed]
Kellie: And last..
Jacob: afspreken [natural native speed]
Kellie: to arrange, to agree
Jacob: afspreken[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jacob: afspreken [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Kellie: Let's take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is...
Jacob: Hoe gaan de zaken?
Kellie: meaning "How is business?"
Kellie: What can you tell us about this?
Jacob: It’s an informal question and means something similar to “How are things?”
Kellie: Okay. Can you tell us a little about the keywords in this phrase?
Jacob: Hoe means “how”, gaan is “to go” and finally, zaken means “business”. It’s also the plural form of zaak, which means “thing”.
Kellie: And it’s used in casual speech?
Jacob: Yes. It can be used to talk about someone’s life.
Kellie: Can you use it in a different sentence?
Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say... Sinds de bankcrash zijn de zaken erg achteruit gegaan.
Kellie: ..which means "Ever since the bank crash, business has gone sour." Okay, what's the next phrase?
Jacob: wat afspreken
Kellie: meaning "to agree to something"
Kellie: Can you give us more detail about this one?
Jacob: “To agree to something” is the most literal translation. Afspreken means “to agree”, as in the noun form afspraak means “agreement” and in the diminutive form afspraakje, it means “date”.
Kellie: So we can talk about agreements or dates, depending on which form we use.
Jacob: That’s right. There is also the past participle afgesproken, and if you say this on its own, it means “OK” or “we have a deal”
Kellie: Can you show us how you might use it?
Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say... Nee, de afspraak was 8% en niet 7%!
Kellie: ... which means "No, the deal was 7% and not 8%." Okay, what's the next word?
Jacob: zullen we
Kellie: meaning "shall we"
Kellie: Do you have any more info on this expression?
Jacob: This phrase has a few different meanings. It usually means either “shall we” or “will we”, and is used to make a proposition or an invitation.
Kellie: Is it formal?
Jacob: It’s polite, but the use of we makes it informal as it shows that both people are on the same level.
Kellie: Is there a more formal way of asking the same thing?
Jacob: If you want to offer someone a drink in a formal way, for example, you can say Mag ik u een glaasje aanbieden?
Kellie: How about an example using this word?
Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say... Zullen we afspreken dat ik 3% rente betaal?
Kellie: .. which means "Shall we agree on me paying 3% interest?" Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Kellie: In this lesson, you'll learn how to make business deals.
Kellie: We’re going back to the topic of the conversation here.
Jacob: Right. First, let’s look at how to ask for favors and deals without making it obvious and blunt.
Kellie: It’s quite a skill to drop a request into normal conversation and not make it obvious.
Jacob: It is. It’s more polite to be subtle, and more traditional.
Kellie: Are there some key expressions to help with this?
Jacob: I can think of a few! First up is En als ik nu eens de helft betaal?
Kellie: This means “What if I pay half?”
Jacob: Zullen we daar 5% van maken?
Kellie: “Shall we make that 5%?”
Jacob: Kunnen we wat afspreken?
Kellie: “Can we make an arrangement?”
Jacob: Another important thing is being able to make a good argument.
Kellie: This is especially important in sales, I think. You need to sell your product with a convincing argument.
Jacob: It’s the same with negotiations. Take Omgerekend naar een uurloon verdien ik dan niet meer dan een cassiere!
Kellie: This means “If you calculate this back to an hourly rate, I won’t make more than a check-out girl.” You might be able to use this to increase your wage in wage negotiations.
Jacob: Nee, de tarieven zijn overal omlaag gegaan. Tegenwoordig gebruiken mensen Google voor vertalingen.
Kellie: This means “No, the rates have gone down everywhere. These days people use Google for their translations!” There’s a sentence that explains why the wage won’t be increased.
Jacob: Als we het verschil nu eens delen?
Kellie: “What if we share the difference?”
Jacob: Laten we afspreken dat ik iedere maand voor minimaal 1.000 euro bij je koop! Dan kan de prijs omlaag.
Kellie: “Let’s agree that I’ll buy for at least 1,000 Euro from you every month! Then the price could go down.”
Jacob: Hopefully those phrases will come in handy.
Kellie: Yes, if you’re after a job or negotiating business in the Netherlands, remember the examples from this lesson!

Outro

Kellie: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Jacob: Tot ziens!

Comments

Hide