Briefing
An English-speaking Personal Assistant (PA) of a multinational company has rung Viva Catering Services (VCS) to make a booking for the catering of an upcoming Annual General Meeting. The catering receptionist is a Mandarin-speaking woman.
Listen to Dialogue
Mandarin-English Dialogue #29 – Catering Booking
Transcript and reference translation
VCS: 维哇餐饮服务。我有什么能帮到您的吗?[Viva Catering Services. How may I help you?]
PA: Good afternoon. I’m calling on behalf of TRT Logistics Company. We require catering for the AGM we are holding at our headquarters in Hong Kong on May 3rd. There will be around 100 guests attending. (下午好。我是代表 TRT 物流公司和您通话。在五月三号,我们在香港的总部要举办年度股东大会,需要餐饮服务。大约会有100个客人。)
VCS: 明白了。您定好场地了吗?[I see. Did you already have a venue booked?]
PA: Yes. We’ve booked out the entire floor of an office building on the night of the third. The floor will have more than enough seats for the occasion. Now, the CEO has given me some very specific instructions about the catering and I was wondering if you could provide me with a quotation. (是的,我们已经包下了三号晚上一座办公楼的整层。那儿有足够的座位。我们的首席执行官给了我一些关于餐饮的专门的指示。您能报个价吗?)
VCS: 当然。我们在公司宴会方面经验丰富,我确信可以满足你们的要求。[Certainly. We have extensive experience in corporate functions and I’m sure we will be able to meet your requirements.]
PA: OK. Let’s start with food. The CEO said he would like to provide the guests with an all-you-can-eat buffet, including hors d’oeuvres. Just keep in mind that some of the people in the company don’t eat meat so we’re gonna have to provide some vegetarian dishes as well. (首先谈一下食物。我们的首席执行官希望可以提供自助餐,包括前菜。请注意,有些公司里有些人不吃肉,所以也需要提供素菜。)
VCS: 您倾向于我们提供中餐还是西餐呢?中餐的自助主要有各式点心、炒菜、汤,最特别的是我们会提供正宗的北京烤鸭。西餐方面有牛排、意大利面及各种海鲜,如生蚝、龙虾等。[Would you prefer Chinese or Western dishes? A Chinese buffet would include dumplings, stir-fry and soups. Our most special dish is our authentic Beijing duck. Our Western offerings include steak, pasta and many types of seafood such as oysters, lobster, etc.]
PA: Well perhaps we could do a fusion of the two so guests could pick and match. That way both the Chinese and Western attendees would be happy. (或许两种混合比较好,这样客人就可以自己选择了。中国的客人和外国客人都会满意的。)
VCS: 没问题的。我们会按照您的要求提供素食的。你希望提供什么样的饮料呢?[No problem. We’ll include plenty of vegetarian dishes as well according to your requirements. What kind of beverages do you wish to provide?]
PA: A full bar, including beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks. Forget about cocktails though. My boss said he’d also like to create a nice ambience by ordering in some flowers to place around the venue. (要一个什么饮料都提供的吧台,啤酒、葡萄酒、烈酒、软性饮料都要有。鸡尾酒就不要了。我老板说想要创造一个友好的氛围,买一些花装饰在场地四周。)
VCS: 就您给我的人数来看,一个全套的饮料套餐一晚上下来要1000澳元。至于花嘛,我可以帮您联系一个卖花的,他会给您安排好。[A full bar drinks package for the participant numbers you’ve given me will come to $1,000 for the night. As for the flowers, I can get you in touch with a florist who can arrange that for you.]
PA: We will also need a PA as they’ll be a number of speeches throughout the night. Oh, I just remembered one more thing. The dress code will be formal. With that in mind, what kind of music could you provide us? (我们还需要音响设备,因为会有几场演讲贯穿整晚。我又想起来一件事。着装要求是必须穿正装。据此,您能提供什么样的音乐?)
VCS: 我们可以提供一系列不同的音乐选择。我想一个爵士乐队会比较合适,但是比较贵。或者,您可以定一个本地的DJ。[We can provide a range of different music options. I think something like a jazz band would be suitable, though they’re not cheap. Alternatively you could book a local DJ.]
PA: Money won’t be a problem. We are a multinational company and we have a considerable budget set aside for this event. Anyway, please email me a list of different options about the music and I’ll ask my boss to make a decision. (钱不是问题。我们是一家国际性公司,预算充足。请把可供选择的音乐类型电邮给我。我会请老板做决定。)
VCS: 好。我会按照您给我的要求把报价发过去。我能告诉您的是,花费会大概在2500-2700之间,包括了食物、饮料、设备和人工。租乐队需要额外花钱。[OK. I’ll also send through a quotation based on the requirements you’ve given me. I can tell you the cost will be somewhere in the region of $2,500-$2,700, including food and beverages and equipment and labour costs. Band hire will be extra.]
PA: OK, great. I’ll email you all the extra information about the event now, including the guests list, seating plan and the MC’s name and phone number. Thank you so much for your help. (好的。我会把其他信息通过电子邮件发送给您,包括客人名单,座位安排,司仪的姓名和电话号码。非常感谢。)
Fifth from the bottom, PA should be the public addressing system for the speeches rather than a personal assistant, shouldn’t it be? In other words, it should be 音响設備, not 助理, 对嗎?
Thank you for pointing it out. I have fixed it now. Cheers.