6. so/therefore 7. Secondly 8. furthermore 9. therefore 10. otherwise 11. For example 12. thus 13. also 14. Finally 15. moreover 16. Meanwhile Task 5 Suggested answers 1. Hello this is , PA to Mr X. I am afraid that Mr X has been held up in Italy and will therefore not be able to make the meeting at 9 tomorrow. He suggests meeting on Friday afternoon at a time convenient for you or if Friday doesn’t suit you, perhaps you could meet him next Tuesday. My telephone number is Maybe you could give me a ring and let me know what day and time would be suitable for you. Thank you. 2. Hello this is , PA to Mr X. He has asked me to call you to arrange a telephone conference with Mr Wang. My phone number is Could you please give me a ring and let me know at what time and on what day would be the best for Mr X to call Mr Wang. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Task 6 Suggested answer Hello could I speak to Ana Ribero please. It’s ’ PA to Mr Braun. Ana, how are you? How are things in Madrid? I hope the weather’s better there than here. I am ringing about the meeting in Rome. We know that it’s not a very convenient place for you to get to but we’re planning to rotate the monthly meetings from now on so that we can all get to know the other subsidiaries. We’d very much appreciate it if you could join us for the meeting. Your input is always valued. In fact, we’d very much like to have the next meeting in Madrid and would welcome your recommendations on arranging accommodation. If you need any help with your travel arrangements, please feel free to contact me – I’d be delighted to assist you. 170 Communicating with clarity KEY Task 7 Suggested answer Communicating with clarity KEY 171 To: Mr X From: Karl Braun Subject: European Marketing Meeting Following my email sent yesterday, we’re sorry to inform you that the venue of the next meeting has been changed from Rome to Oslo. This change in plan is due to the fact that Clara Sullivan, our Marketing Director (US), has another meeting in Oslo on the same day and we feel it is important for her to be with us on this occasion. I appreciate that this will involve changing your plans but, in the circumstances, we feel there is no option. Would you kindly let us have any special requests regarding the agenda? My PA will call you in a few days to discuss this further, and I am sure we can have a very useful meeting on this occasion in Oslo. Please remember that if there’s any help we can give you with travel arrangements, we would be delighted to do so. Once again, our apologies for causing you any inconvenience. Regards Karl 2 Best-practice emails and working in multi-cultural teams KEY Task 1 Answers 1. B 2. D 3. C 4. A Task 2 1. flaming; unfriendly tone; no greeting; no closing 2. no greeting 3. no greeting; too many abbreviations/acronyms 4. no greeting; general lack of clarity; generally inappropriate content A. no greeting; unfriendly tone B. flaming; unfriendly tone; no greeting; no closing C. no greeting; no closing; use of abbreviations; unfriendly tone D. general lack of clarity; difficult to read; no greeting; no closing Task 3 Suggested answers 1. We have a problem with Makro due to late delivery. 2. The meeting is on Tuesday next week at 11 a.m. in the Green Room and all are expected to attend. 3. The alarms will be tested every Monday at 8 a.m. 4. Please don’t forget to bring the presentation on team building. A. I am bringing the presentation. B. I have solved the problem. C. Thank you for the information. D. Is it absolutely essential for me to attend the meeting? Task 4 1. No 2. Yes 3. Yes 4. Yes but write the agenda first, attach it to the email, and apologise 5. No 6. No. It would be better to do it face-to-face. Task 5 Suggested answer Task 6 1. draw on 2. diversity 3. issues 4. servicing 5. misunderstandings 6. understatement 7. to bring to the surface 8. expectations 9. vital 10. ever-flowing Task 7 Suggested answers 1. Because the British tend to use understatement and may not signal their problems directly. 2. Through being open and honest about what you expect the outcome of a communication to be, whether it’s a phone call or an email, and also about which type of communication you would prefer to receive if you are signalling that you Best-practice emails and working in multi-cultural teams KEY 173 Dear Mr/Ms X We had a visitor to our company, XYZ Ltd, staying at your hotel this week for three days. We were most dissatisfied with the service you provided. Firstly, the toilet didn’t function for two out of the three days that he stayed with you – we find this completely unacceptable. Secondly, you had informed us that all rooms had Internet access but, in the room in question, Mr X was unable to connect to the Internet which seriously inconvenienced him. Thirdly, when he ordered room service, he had to wait for an unacceptable length of time for it to arrive and when it did finally arrive the food was so cold it was inedible. You will of course understand our reluctance to settle the bill in the light of these complaints. We look forward to hearing from you and are sure that we can come to a mutually acceptable agreement. Yours sincerely have a problem. It’s always good to talk about what you expect and want from colleagues. 3. Because there is more person-to-person contact; it is an interactive method of communication; you can very often hear how a person feels from what they say or don’t say etc.; you can guess the person’s reaction from the tone of their voice. Task 8 Suggested answers CL: Hello, this is Clementine Liu from the Shanghai office. How are you? 1. You: Hello Clementine. I’m fine thank you and how are you? CL: I’m fine too thank you and how’s the weather? 2. You: Raining I’m afraid. What about over there? CL: It’s quite humid here but luckily we have air conditioning. How was your holiday? 3. You: It was great – really relaxing but not long enough. You know how it is – the first week you need to relax and then just when you’re starting to feel better it’s time to come home again. Still, I’m feeling refreshed. CL: Oh good! It’s very nice to talk to you again. I was just wondering if you got my voicemail? 4. You: Yes, I did and I was wondering what exactly I can do to help you. CL: I’ve got a bit of a problem as I said. Do you think you would have the time to just check my charts for me? 5. You: I can make the time. If it’s just checking a few charts, I’d be happy to help you. CL: That would be great. Thank you so much, I’ll email them through to you and I’m really looking forward to seeing you again. 6. You: You’re welcome and I’m looking forward to seeing you too. CL: Thank you once again and goodbye. Task 9 Suggested answer 174 Best-practice emails and working in multi-cultural teams KEY Hi, this is , calling from How are you? I’m returning your call about Mr A and that he wants to reschedule the meeting. I’m sorry but it’s going to be a bit difficult because it’s rather late for so many people to reorganise their schedule. How about if we rescheduled the start of the meeting to 9 and pushed lunch till 12.30. That would suit everyone. Please let me know what you think and if there’s anything else I can do, I’d be happy to help. . don’t forget to bring the presentation on team building. A. I am bringing the presentation. B. I have solved the problem. C. Thank you for the information. D. Is it absolutely essential for me. would be delighted to do so. Once again, our apologies for causing you any inconvenience. Regards Karl 2 Best-practice emails and working in multi-cultural teams KEY Task 1 Answers 1. B 2. D 3 6. so/therefore 7. Secondly 8. furthermore 9. therefore 10. otherwise 11. For example 12. thus 13. also 14. Finally 15. moreover 16. Meanwhile