Session 25

How important for you is it that people are on time?
ሰዎች በሰዓታቸው መድረሳቸው ለእርስዎ ምን ያህል አስፈላጊ ነው?

በዛሬው ዝግጅታችን ሰዎች ስለ ጊዜ ምን እንደሚያስቡ እንወያያለን።

Session 25 score

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    Activity 1

Activity 1

How late is too late?


  • punctuality
  • resignation
  • courtesy


Which of these countries has the least flexible approach to time?

a) The USA
b) Britain
c) Japan

Listen to the discussion and find out the answer.


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ሰላም፥ ስለአንድ ጉዳይ ወደምንወያይበትና ስለጉዳዩ ለማውራት የሚያስፈልገውን ቋንቋ ወደምናቀርብበት የEnglish Together ዝግጅት እንኳን በደህና መጡ። ዘሩባቤል እባላለሁ። አብረውኝ ሳም እና ፊል አሉ ። 

Hi, I’m Sam.

And I’m Phil.  Welcome!

የሚገርመው ነገር ዛሬ እናወራለን የተባባልነው በሰዓት ስለመገኘት ነበር። ስለዚህ የዛሬው ጥያቄ ይሄውላችሁ፤ ፕሮፌሰር ኤሪን ማየር እንደሚሉት ከሚከተሉት ሃገራት መካከል ስለጊዜ ቀለል ያለ አመለካከት ያለው የት ነው?

ሀ- ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ

ለ- እንገሊዝ

 ሐ- ጃፓን   

I’d be interested to know the answer. Do you think Britain is inflexible?

Hmmm, definitely and you know what? I’m inflexible about time.

መልካም፤ ከእናንተ አገር ታሪክ እንነሳለን፤ በBBC Radio 4፥  Today መርኃ ግብር ላይ የተላለፈ እና ፓርላማ ውስጥ ለስብሰባ ጥቂት ደቂቃችን ዘግይቶ ስለደረሰ ፖለቲከኛ የሚያወራ መሰናዶ ያዳምጡ።

Speaking of dramatic resignations, there was one in the Lord’s. The international development minister Lord Bates had failed to arrive in time to answer a question from a Labour peer, Lady Lister. A little later Lord Bates, mortified, got up to the despatch box: 'I've always believed that we should offer rise to the highest possible standards of courtesy and respect in responding on behalf of the government to the legitimate questions of the legislature. I’m thoroughly ashamed at not being in my place and therefore I shall be offering my resignation to the Prime Minister with immediate effect, I do apologise’ Polite smiles behind him had turned to dismay and there were calls of 'No' but Lord Bates gathered up his papers and strode out. A few peers tried to grab his arm, but off he went.

ይገርማል፥ ጥቂት ደቂቃዎችን ስላረፈዱ ከስራ መልቀቅ? ከመጠኑ ያለፈ እርምጃ ይመስላል።

Maybe it is, but punctuality is really important... he should feel bad - he should be on time.

‘Punctuality’ በሰዓት መድረስ ማለት ነው።- እንግሊዛውያን ይሄንን በጣም ወሳኝ ጉዳይ አድርገው እንደሚያገኙት አውቃለሁ። እኛ ሃገር እንኳን ለሰዓት ያለን አመለካከት ደካማ ነው።

I think being punctual is always important... it’s just a courtesy isn’t it?

Courtesy ጨዋነት ማለት ነው፤ ግን ለሁሉም ሰው ተመሳሳይ መሆኑን እርግጠኛ ነህ? Or is that just your rule?

I think it’s a good rule for everyone - it’s not courteous to keep people waiting for you.

You seem very sure... but let’s turn this around. Say you’re rushing to an appointment with someone.

Rushing መጣደፍ ማለት ሲሆን፥ ለንደን ውስጥ ሁሉም ሰው የሚያደርገው ተግባር ይመስላል።

Yeah, and then you meet someone, someone you haven’t seen for a long time and they want to stop and talk. What do you do then? Is rushing off a courtesy here?

umm... ooh... that’s different...  um... yeah it’s different.

ዛሬ ደግሞ  አርፍደህ ነበር። were you being discourteous to us?

Um, my train was late.

So you see things are a bit more complicated than Phil thinks - I don’t think it’s punctuality that’s important - It’s a shared understanding of how to think about time that’s important.

A shared understanding - የጋራ ግንዛቤ ማለት ነው። Can you give an example of that, Sam?

Sure, say you are organising a party, so you tell people to come at 9 - thinking they’ll be there at 9.30. If someone actually comes at 9.00 you might still be getting ready.

I’d be there at 9.

Hmmm... that’s no surprise! የጋራ ግንዛቤ ሰዎች ስለጊዜ የተለያየ አስተሳሰብ የሚያዳብሩበት ባህል ይመስለኛል። ስለዚህ ቀደም ሲል ለቀረበው ጥያቄ መልስ መስጠት አለብኝ ማለት ነው። ቢዝነስ ኢንሳይደር እንደዘገበው ከጠቀስናቸው ሦስት አገራት መካከል ስለጊዜ ለቀቅ ያለ አመለካከት ያለባት . . .  ጃፓን ነች።

So, there’s somewhere that’s less flexible than Britain.

That sounds good.

Erm, yeah, but you’d have to be on time for work there Phil.

ፊል ለሚቀጥለው ዝግጅት በሰዓቱ የሚገኝበትን ብልሃት ሲፈልግ፥ እኛ ዛሬ የተማርናቸውን ቃላት እንመልከት። Punctuality በተባለው ሰዓት መድረስ ማለት ሲሆን፥ courtesy ደግሞ ጨዋነት ነው። rushing መጣደፍ ፤ shared understanding ደግሞ የጋራ ግንዛቤ ማለት ነው። አብራችሁንብ ስለቆያችሁ እናመሰግናለን። ለተጨማሪ English Together  በሚቀጥለው ሳምንት ይጠብቁን።

Meaning & Use

puncuality (noun)


courtesy (noun)

Courtesy is very important when dealing with customers.
I called back to say thank you as a courtesy.

rush (verb)

I rushed to my child's school to pick them up on time.
I forgot to bring my phone, because I was rushing to leave the house.

shared understanding (noun)

A shared understanding is when people have the same expectations or knowledge of something in particular.

How late is too late?

4 Questions

Choose the correct answer.

ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ

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Session Vocabulary

  • punctuality
    ጊዜን ጠብቆ/ሳያረፍዱ መድረስ


    ጥድፊያ/ መጣደፍ

    shared understanding
    የጋራ ግንዛቤ

    ስራ መልቀቅ

    ጥበቃ/ መጠበቅ