2. Where did he meet Claudia? A. at a music store B. at the post office C. on the Internet
3. What advice does Markus give Pete about meeting Claudia's parents? A. be on time B. take a small gift C. smile and be friendly
4. What is one thing Markus does NOT say about greeting Claudia? A. shake her hand B. give her a friendly hug C. take her some flowers
5. Markus' final suggestion for Pete is that he should: A. brush up on his German. B. buy souvenirs for Claudia's family. C. visit Berlin during his visit.
Listen again and fill in the blanks, please
Pete: Hey Markus. I have a (1) ___________ I'd like to ask you.
Markus: Yes. Go ahead.
Pete: Well, I'm thinking about going to Germany this (2) ______________ [Great!], and I need some advice. You're the best person I know to answer my questions since you're German.
Markus: Thank you. What do you want to know?
Pete: Well, don't (3) ________________, but I met this really nice woman through an online music mailing list, you know, a discussion group on the Internet [laughter]. I need some advice. You see, Claudia, . . .
Markus: Okay. So it's Claudia, oh?
Pete: Yeah, yeah. See, she invited me to (4) ____________________ two weeks in Germany [Hum]. And well, I told here I had studied a little bit about the country and language [Hum], and she's kind of expecting that I know more than I (5) _____________________do.
Markus: Hum. You're really in hot water now!
Pete: Yeah. I think so.
Markus: Well, what do you want to know?
Pete: Well, she's (6) ________________on introducing me to her parents.
Markus: Hey. Sounds kind of serious.
Pete: It isn't, at least I think it isn't. Anyway, what should you do when you (7) ___________________ someone for the first time in Germany?
Markus: Well, it depends upon your relationship with the person. Now, speaking of your girlfriend, Claudia, . . . .
Pete: Hey, I didn't say she was my girlfriend.
Markus: Ah, okay, okay. Now if you're meeting someone (8) __________ for the first time, like Claudia's parents, you should make sure you arrive on time.
Pete: Okay, so arrive on time. Uh, what about common greetings?
Markus: Well, Germans often shake hands, and they use the person's family name, unless they're really (9) __________________ friends.
Pete: Okay, what about with Claudia? I'm not sure what I should do in her case.
Markus: Ah. You can call her Claudia [Okay], shake hands, and why don't you take her some flowers?
Pete: Oh, how do you say "Nice to meet you" anyway?
Markus: Oh, "Ich freue mich, Sie kennenzulernen."
Pete: "Ich freu me senselen"?
Markus: Uhhh. Not exactly. "Ich freue mich, Sie kennenzulernen" [Uhhh].
Markus: Humm. Honestly, I think you need to take a crash (10) ________ in German before you leave. Claudia might think you're speaking Chinese or something if you don't.
Key Vocabulary [Top]
• mailing list(noun): a list of people who subscribe or join a mailing distribution on a particular topic - I'd like to join a mailing list on studying intercultural communication so I can exchange ideas with others.
• to be in hot water: to be in a difficult situation or in trouble that might lead to punishment - The politician is in hot water because of the he lack of lack of cultural sensitivity to that group.
• common(adjective): the same for many situations and people One common gesture of friendship is to greet someone with a firm handshake while looking them in the eye.
• crash(adjective): quick, complete, short or intensive, often difficult She took crash course in Spanish before she left for Mexico, but I'm not sure if it helped.