Small talk and beyond! Expressions for your next business lunch in English.

13,875 views ・ 2021-11-01

Business English with Christina


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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- Ah, the business lunch.
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You probably enjoy these in your native language,
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but are you...
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I'm gonna put this down before I hurt someone.
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But are you doing and saying the right things
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in your business lunches, in English?
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Are you feeling like your usual confident self?
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Well today, you'll learn some expressions to make sure
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that your next business lunch in English is a success.
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Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina.
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And welcome to Business English with Christina,
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where you become better at English and better at business.
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In today's lesson,
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we'll talk about a business English essential,
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the business lunch.
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These days, you might be meeting your business contacts
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for coffee, for lunch, for dinner, whatever,
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but in any meal, there are three important parts
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that you need to know how to manage
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to make sure that that meal goes well.
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So today you'll learn expressions and a few soft skills,
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so that you can easily build rapport with small talk,
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and transition to business topics,
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and close your business lunch on a positive note.
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But first, why are business lunches so important?
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You know, I'm originally from the US,
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and for Americans at least,
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business lunches are pretty important.
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The way we see it, a business lunch is a chance
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to meet someone in a different setting from,
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not just the office, so that you have
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your business contact's undivided attention.
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And you get to do them a favor too, buying them lunch.
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And a good business lunch can build a rapport,
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create a good business relationship
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and move your work forward.
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Now, yes, a business lunch has a purpose
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and you probably know why you are there
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and what you want to discuss with your business contact.
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But as you probably already know,
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small talk is very important
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in many English speaking cultures,
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and it's expected at business lunches.
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First, what not to talk about during small talk.
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My clients often ask me what are topics
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that should be avoided, and that's a good question,
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because there are definitely some topics
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that you don't want to discuss in a business lunch.
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The big topics not to discuss clearly are politics,
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religion, and romantic relationships
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because those can be divisive topics of conversation.
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And the idea of small talk is to build a connection
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with the person, to find common ground,
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to show that you're interested in your business contact
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as a person, as a human being.
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And because of that, you want small talk
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to be comfortable for everyone.
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You want a lively conversation, but that's not too personal.
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So how do you do that?
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Before we find out, go ahead and hit that thumbs up
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and subscribe to my channel
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to let me know that you're enjoying
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improving your business English with me.
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Now, here are some questions that you can ask
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to start up a small talk conversation
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at your business lunch.
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You can learn a few of these
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and you'll be ready for any situation.
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Of course, (thunder cracking)
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the weather is a popular topic,
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and we do talk about the weather all the time,
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it's not just a cliche.
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A good way to start a conversation like that
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is just, "Can you believe the weather we're having?"
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Especially if the weather is exceptionally hot, cold,
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rainy, beautiful, sunny, whatever.
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So it's a pretty versatile conversation starter there.
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It's also common to ask if someone
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saw a recent sporting event, especially if it's a big event,
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like in the US, the Super Bowl.
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And you can simply say, "Did you catch the game lately?"
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And if it's a big event,
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they'll know which game you're talking about usually.
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And if not, they'll ask.
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But there are other things you can ask about too.
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And having more ideas will help you make sure
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that you have more lively conversations.
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For example, you can show interest
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in your conversation partner
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by talking about their career path.
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But try asking about maybe the companies
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that they've worked for in the past.
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For example, "Have you always worked at Supercorp?"
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Or you could ask if they've always been in the same field,
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like, "Have you always been in project management?"
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You never know, you may discover you've got something
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in common in your professional backgrounds.
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But small talk can also be about cultural interests,
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especially again, if there's something big going on.
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For example, you could ask,
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"Have you seen the new James Bond movie?
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I heard it's really good."
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- The name's Bond, James Bond.
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- [Christina] Or, "I saw that there's this big exhibit
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at the Louvre, have you seen it by any chance?"
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And of course,
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hobbies can be a great personal topic as well,
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but you can avoid sounding too intrusive or personal
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by offering some information about yourself first.
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So instead of saying, "What are your hobbies?"
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Or, "What do you like to do in your free time?"
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You could say something like, "Last week the weather
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was so great, I just had to go out for a hike.
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What about you, do you do any outdoor sports?"
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And again, during those conversations,
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you may discover that you and your business contact
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share some kind of interest.
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And if that's the case, you can ask follow-up questions
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to show that you're interested in them and their life.
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For example, maybe in that past example,
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maybe your business contact doesn't go hiking,
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but they say, "I don't do a lot of outdoor sports,
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but I do a lot of CrossFit."
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There you go.
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So you can ask them questions
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like when they usually workout, where they workout,
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if it's really difficult, whatever.
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Small talk is just about asking questions
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and showing interest in the other person.
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As important as it is to make small talk,
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you also need to get down to business.
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Now in a normal meeting, you might simply say,
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"All right, shall we get down to business?"
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But in a business lunch, that might feel a little direct.
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It depends on the situation.
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But you can use more business-related questions
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to move the conversation towards business.
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For example, you could ask how their business is going.
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For example, "How have things been at Supercorp
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for the last quarter?"
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Or ask them what's new with their company,
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like, "So what's your team working on these days?"
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Or if you know that their company
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is working on some new developments,
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you could ask about that,
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for example, "How's your new project going?"
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Or,
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"So how have you enjoyed working
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with the new team since the merger?"
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And if your business contact is starting
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to ask business-related questions to you,
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that can be the cue that it's time
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to move the conversation to business.
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Now, eventually, all good things come to an end.
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Your business lunch will come to an end as well.
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And this will usually happen
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when someone brings you the check or when you ask for it.
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Now remember, when you invite someone out
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for a business lunch, it's polite to pay the bill yourself.
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And this is a great moment to thank your business contact.
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And you can say something like,
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"Thanks for meeting me for lunch today.
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It was a real pleasure."
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You could also suggest staying in contact.
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Depending on the situation, you can say something like,
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"I'll be in touch by email with the details we discussed."
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Or, "Would you like to send me that proposal later on?"
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Or, "Feel free to get in touch with me
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if you have any questions."
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And of course, if you don't use it, you lose it.
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So here's how you can use what you learned today.
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First, tell us in the comments
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if you often have business lunches,
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or maybe if you often had them
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maybe more in the past, before COVID.
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And share one small talk question
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that you could ask at your next business lunch.
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It'll happen one day, I'm sure.
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And this is the perfect opportunity to practice,
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to make sure you have a good question
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and add that to your active vocabulary.
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Now, if this lesson was helpful for you,
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I would love to know.
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And there are three ways that you can tell me.
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Give this lesson a thumbs up on YouTube
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and subscribe to my channel
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so that you never miss any more Business English lessons.
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You can go over to my website
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and get the free English habits kit.
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The link is down below, and it's gonna help you
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to build some solid learning habits
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for lifelong enjoyable learning.
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And of course, you can watch this next lesson,
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all about some of my favorite foods from the US.
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Thank you so much for improving your English
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with Business English with Christina.
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I'll see you next time.
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And as they say in my adopted home country, France,
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"Bon appetit."
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