Interlingua/Curso de conversation/Capitulo 6, Scenas 1 e 2 (anglese)

SCENE 1: Geneva, a cafe: Catherina finds Petro seated in a cafe in Geneva. He is very nervous and worried because of Alicia. Catherina tries to calm him down. Finally she tells him that Alicia called from the Strasbourg airport. Catherine then said that she told Alicia that he would soon be going to Mexico for another job and that it would be useless for her to fly to Geneva.

This information calms Peter down, naturally, and he invites Catherina to have another drink with him to celebrate this piece of good news. Catherina, however, says that she has a lot to do, and Petro remains in the cafe to have another drink without her.

Waiter: What would you like, sir?

Petro: Uh, a beer, please, and I am waiting for somebody else who will want something a little later.

(Catherina comes in.)

Catherina: Ah, there you are!

Petro: Oh, it's you.

Catherina: Why are you hiding in this corner of the cafe?

Petro: Where's Alicia. I hope she isn't with you.

Catherina: Don't worry. Calm down.

Petro: I'm trying to do that, but it's hard. What do you want to drink?

Catherina: Oh, I only want a little orange juice.

Petro: Okay. Waiter! Waiter! Can you bring us a glass of orange juice? Thanks.

Waiter: Yes, sir, right away.

Petro: Thanks. So what happened exactly?

Catherina: Listen, and calm down. It's useless for you to get all worked up.

Petro: That's very easy to say. But how would you feel if you were in my place?

Catherina: It's hard, I know. But Alicia only wanted to help you out.

Petro: Good God! How would things be if she had really bad intentions?!

Catherina: She doesn't know that you don't want the type of help she's offering you. It is not always easy to accept the truth.

Petro: But where is she right now?

Catherina: In Strasbourg.

Petro: Where?

Catherina: In the airport. She called up from the airport to say that she was going to come here to Geneva. I then told her to stay there.

Waiter: Here you are. A beer for the gentleman, and an orange juice for the lady.

Petro: Thanks.

Catherina: Thanks. Mmm. It is delicious, this orange juice.

Petro: Yes, and my beer is too. So it is true that you have kept Alicia from coming to Geneva?

Catherina: Exactly.

Petro: But how did you do it?

Catherina: I told her that you are soon gonna be leaving Geneva.

Petro: What?

Catherina: I told her that you have the intention of working in Mexico and that it is useless for for her to come to Geneva because before too long you will be in Mexico.

Petro: Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!

Catherina: But not all that brilliant. It's the truth.

Petro: And what did she say?

Catherina: She said that in that case she would not be coming to Geneva.

Petro: Fantastic! So she's gonna stay in Strasbourg. What a relief for me!

Catherina: You can now relax a little. The danger has gone by.

Petro: Catherina, you are extraordinary. You have saved my life.

Catherina: Oh, you're exaggerating a great deal.

Petro: I want another beer to celebrate that. And you, can I buy you something? Another orange juice? Or would you like something different?

Catherina: No, thanks. I should go back to the office pretty soon.

Petro: Oh, what is Mr. Tanner's first name?

Catherina: Alan.

Petro: Ah, yes, yes, I now remember.

Catherina: Good. I've gotta go away now.

Petro: Okay.

Catherina: See you tomorrow.

Petro: See you. I hope you have a nice evening. And thanks again.

Catherina: Oh, it was a pleasure.

EXERCISE 1: Reporting the words of another person.

Guide: In this scene, Catherina reported what she had said to Alicia. Liliana repeated to Catherina her phone conversation with Alan Tanner. In all languages people do this a great deal. I would now like to know if I can also do this in Interlingua.

A woman: I'm gonna study Interlingua.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she's gonna study Interlingua.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she was gonna study Interlingua.

A woman: I'm not gonna stay in Geneva.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she's not gonna stay in Geneva.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she was not gonna stay in Geneva.

A woman: I'm coming Thursday.

Guide: What did you say?

A woman: I said that I'm coming Thursday.

Guida: What did you say?

A woman: I said that I was gonna come Thursday.

Guide: Ah, I understand.

A woman: He'll be in England very soon.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that he'll be in England very soon.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that he'd be in England very soon.

A woman: I'm gonna send a telex.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she's gonna send a telex.

Guide: What did she say?

A man: She said that she was gonna send a telex.

Gude: Hmm, I think I understand this type of indirect discourse much better. Let's continue with our story.

SCENE 2: The Geneva offices: Francesca Cardano has arrived, and Catherina shows her the offices after explaining that Petro is in Frankfurt. Catherina describes to Francesca the meeting of senior engineers and explains to her the nature of her work. She then introduces her to their personnel in Geneva and shows her where to find everything necessary for the functioning of the office. She then goes away, allowing Francesca to get used to her new work environment.

Francesca: Good morning.

Catherina: Good morning. You are Francesca Cardano?

Francesca: Yes, I am.

Catherina: Welcome to our office.

Francesca: Thank you.

Catherina: Did you have any trouble getting to our office?

Francesca: No, none.

Catherina: How did you come?

Francesca: On the bus. The trip lasted only fifteen minutes.

Catherina: Oh, very good. Then you don't know anyone at this office?

Francesca: I had an interview with Mr. Minelli.

Catherina: Ah, yes, Petro. He's not here today. He wanted to be here to receive you, but he had to go to Frankfurt.

Francesca: I see.

Catherina: Yes. We are now forming a technical commission of engineers.

Francesca: Ah, yes.

Catherina: Petro was in Paris last week to work on its organization. At this moment he is in Frankfurt.

Francesca: Yes, I understand. Who are you in contact with in Germany?

Catherina: With a company called Elektrobahn. They make electric railway systems.

Francesca: I have the impression that I'm gonna have to learn a lot of things.

Catherina: Don't worry. It will come fast. The liaison commission will meet regularly, every month. One month here, the next month in Paris, after that in London, then in Frankfurt. If I remember correctly, you know how to speak German.

Francesca: Yes.

Catherina: And English?

Francesca: Yes.

Catherina: Very good. You will be in charge of making sure that everyone knows how to get to the meeting. Everyone will need hotel rooms, updated files, photocopies, etc.

Francesca: Yes, I understand.

Catherina: And naturally you will learn how to take care of all our routine affairs.

Francesca: Yes, naturally.

Catherina: You will know all this after a few days of practice. Good. Where should we start? The people in this office, perhaps. There's Liliana over there.

Francesca: Good morning.

Catherina: Liliana is my assistant. And after her there is Minelli, who you already know. Then there is Martijn Ockrente, and Olivero Rossi. Martijn is our service and marketing director, and Olivero is our accountant. And we also have an assistant accountant and someone for the computer work, who will come next week.

Francesca: It seems that there are a lot of people to get to know!

Catherina: Oh, the office isn't very big. You will know all of them before too long. Have you seen the individual offices? Would you like to see them?

Francesca: Yes, of course.

Catherina: Good. Your office is over there.

Francesca: Okay ...

Catherina: The coffee maker is there. The bathroom is there. Here's a diagram of all the offices. Liliana will show you the location of the telex, the photocopier, and other similar things.

Francesca: Uh, can I ask you your name?

Catherina: Oh, sure. I'm Catherina De Sanctis.

Francesca: Then you are the director?

Catherina: Yes, exactly. Good. Listen. First I'm gonna let you get to know all the offices a little. I will come back in an hour more or less, and you can start your work.

Francesca: Very well. Thank you.

Catherina: See you later.

EXERCISE 2: Introducing someone to a new office.

Guide: I haven't understood everything. The new secretary seems good, and Catherina has talked to her about her work. But I would like to practice a little the different ways of introducing someone to a new office.

A woman: Is my office over here? Is this the room where I work?

A man: No. Here's your office over here.

A woman: And supplies like paper, pencils, envelopes and other similar things?

A man: All that is here, in this cabinet. There are other similar cabinets in the other offices.

A woman: Ah, I understand. What am I going to do in my work?

A man: You'll see. Soon you will familiarize yourself with all this. Among your duties will be opening letters and packages that come in the mail, sorting and classifying them, and answering some of them.

A woman: There's a check in this letter. What should I do with it?

A man: You send it to the assistant accountant for processing. They will tell you where to put them.

A woman: And where is the assistant accountant?

A man: His office is next the office of the accountant himself.

A woman: Good God, I'll need a lot to time to learn all these details.

A man: Oh no, you will get used to all this very quickly.

A woman: Yes, but when?

A man: Oh, it'll be a question of just a few days, nothing more. Soon you will know your various duties and where to find all of us.

A woman: I hope so.

Guide: It seems that Catherina has said that Petro was in Frankfurt. Let's see what he is doing there.