T.G.I. FRIDAY‘S Casual dining

BEFORE YOU WATCH

1. What do you imagine if someone says “American cuisine“? What kind of dishes can you name?

2. How important is what you eat to you? Do you eat everything that is served to you or are you selective? What principles guide your food choices? Give examples.

3. Describe a visit to a restaurant where you were very satisfied. Where was it? What made is enjoyable? What did you have? Did other factors besides the menu contribute to your feeling of well-being there (i.e. ambiance, décor, wait staff, location, the other customers, aesthetics, serving style, serving dishes, relaxation, etc.)

4. If you could eat anywhere you wanted and price was of no concern, which restaurant would you choose to eat at? Why?

Exercise 1

Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?

1. 2008 was the most successful year for the restaurant holding so far.

2. Czech customers are more choosy than Russian ones.

3. The average bill per person is higher in the Czech Republic than in

Russia.

4. The company operates in 10 countries.

5. T.G.I. Friday‘s and Planet Sushi are owned by the same company.

6. T.G.I. Friday‘s offers no hamburgers on their menu.

7. They lost about 35% customers during the financial crisis.

8. T.G.I. Friday‘s restaurant at Anděl has more customers than that at

Na Příkopě.

WHILE YOU WATCHExercise 2

Listen and fill in the gaps.

Exercise 3

Match the following English expressions with their Czech equivalent

AFTER YOU WATCH Exercise 4

1. HOLDING A) BURZA CENNÝCH PAPÍRŮ

2. STOCK EXCHANGE B) PODSTATNÝ

3. OPERATE C) FRANŠÍZA

4. SUBSTANTIAL D) PŘEDKRM

5. FRANCHISE E) CENOVĚ DOSTUPNÝ

6. SIGNIFICANT F) ÚČET V RESTAURACI (US)

7. APPETIZER G) VYBÍRAVÝ

8. AFFORDABLE H) PROVOZOVAT; BÝT ČINNÝ

9. CHECK I) POKLESNOUT

10. CASUAL DINING J) ZNAČNÝ; VÝZNAMNÝ

11. CHOOSY K) NEFORMÁLNÍ STRAVOVÁNÍ

12. DROP L) SDRUŽENÍ OBCHODNÍCH SPOLEČNOSTÍ

ROLE PLAY

1. PREPARE: Work in small groups of 3 or 4. Role play that you are owners of an up-scale Manhattan restaurant who has bought controlling shares in the TGI Friday’s company. You have paid a visit to Prague because you have gotten their board to agree to your plan and you want to change the lifestyle menu of TGI Fridays to something that is more ‘international’ rather than ‘American’ cuisine. After reviewing the company’s website http://www.tgifridays.com/, you have prepared a list of changes to present to the company’s managers in Prague. What new ‘offerings’ will you suggest they add to the menu?

2. PRESENT: Develop your characters and your script. Act out the merger meeting with both sides sitting at the table. How will the new company convince the old managers to accept their changes?

Exercise 5

REFLECT

3. DISCUSS: After all of the groups have presented their versions of the scenario, discuss how ‘lifestyle’ choices are conditioned by media imagery and advertising. If you wanted to change the lifestyle choices of the public, how would you go about doing it? From what to what would you change the choices? When you are a manager of a company, how important is it for you to negotiate and problem-solve all changes that occur in the day-to-day environment of running the company’s business?

4. TEAMPLAYER: What does it mean to be a ‘team player’ when you work for a large, multinational company?

Exercise 5

1. The speaker in the video said: „The company started in 1990 with one restaurant, right on the main square in Russia, in Moscow.“ Why didn‘t she say in the square?

A) She made a mistake B) Because she speaks American English

C) Because on the square is a colloquial reference to the well-known main center of the town, Red Square.

2. Which of the following grammatical structures are more likely to be used in American English? Can you formulate the rules?

A) Have you had breakfast yet? B) Did you have breakfast yet?

C) Do you have a problem? D) Have you got a problem?

E) The committee were unable to agree. F) The committee was unable to agree.

3. Look at the following pairs of words. Which are used in American English?

4. Look at the following pairs of words. Select the ones that use American English spelling.

Exercise 6

lorry truck sidewalk pavement

garbage rubbish holiday vacation

autumn fall store shop

apartment flat gas petrol

analyze analyse jewelry jewellery

theater theatre defence defense

program programme pyjamas pajamas

color colour tire tyre