Learn how to talk about directions using simple imperatives and ordinal numbers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi, everybody. Thanks for listening. This is Sadia. |
| Keith: And I’m Keith. “Take Charge of the Situation Using Your English” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 22, you learned how to shop at a market or street fair. |
| Keith: And you also learned about the plural demonstrative pronouns, These and Those-- |
| Sadia: And how to ask for something using, "Do you have...?" |
| Keith: In this lesson you will learn how to ask directions and also take control of a situation. |
| Sadia: This conversation takes place on a bus, and then on the street. |
| Keith: And the conversation is between Zo, the bus announcement--it’s not really a conversation, you’re hearing the bus announcement-- and also a kind stranger. Alright, let’s listen in to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Train/bus Announcement: The next stop’s 89th Street. |
| Zo: Excuse me, what stop is this? |
| Passenger: This is 89th Street. |
| Zo: What's the next stop? |
| Passenger: 82nd Street. |
| Zo: Thank you. |
| Passenger: You're welcome. |
| [train/bus announcement for stop] |
| [sound of bus closing door and pulling away] |
| Zo: Excuse me, where is the Metropolitan Museum of Art? |
| Helpful Person: Go straight and turn left at the first light. Then go straight and turn right at the second intersection. It's on the right. |
| Zo: Thank you. |
| Helpful Person: Oh, you're welcome! |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Train/bus Announcement: The next stop’s 89th Street. |
| Zo: Excuse me, what stop is this? |
| Passenger: This is 89th Street. |
| Zo: What's the next stop? |
| Passenger: 82nd Street. |
| Zo: Thank you. |
| Passenger: You're welcome. |
| [train/bus announcement for stop] |
| [sound of bus closing door and pulling away] |
| Zo: Excuse me, where is the Metropolitan Museum of Art? |
| Helpful Person: Go straight and turn left at the first light. Then go straight and turn right at the second intersection. It's on the right. |
| Zo: Thank you. |
| Helpful Person: Oh, you're welcome! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sadia: Zo has made his way onto a New York City bus! With a little help from a fellow passenger and a kind stranger on the street, he makes his way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
| Keith: As you heard, asking for directions in New York is pretty easy. |
| Sadia: Yeah, that's true. In fact, I would probably say you should ask for help from a stranger just as soon as you think you’re lost-- you wouldn't want to travel a long distance, you know, only to find out that you've been heading in the wrong direction! |
| Keith: When Zo, when he gets off of the bus, he asks a stranger for directions from the bus stop to the museum. |
| Sadia: You will probably have to do this to if you ever visit New York; if you're not used to, like, the layout of the city, it can be kind of hard to place yourself-- to know exactly where you are-- even if you know what street you're on! |
| Keith: Definitely. If you're not from here, It can be hard to know which way is east, which way is west, north or south-- so do yourself a favor when you're making your way somewhere, you’re going somewhere, and you're worried about getting lost-- ask someone for help! It’s really easy. |
| Sadia: And while you may run into people who aren't as kind as the stranger in the dialogue, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding someone who will point you in the right direction. |
| Keith: Actually, in my experience, New Yorkers are very friendly in giving directions. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Sadia: stop [natural native speed] |
| Keith: place where a train or bus drops off and picks up |
| passengers |
| Sadia: stop [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: stop [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| straight [natural native speed] |
| Keith: in a straight manner; without bending or turning |
| straight [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| straight [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: to turn [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to rotate or revolve |
| Sadia: to turn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to turn [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: left [natural native speed] |
| Keith: left-hand side |
| Sadia: left [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: left [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: first [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the starting item or person in a line-up |
| Sadia: first [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: first [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: second [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the number 2 item or person in a line-up |
| Sadia: second [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: second [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: Well, you know what time it is. We’re going to take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrase we will look at is, "The next stop is...." |
| Keith: And this phrase is a very, very important phrase you should listen for if you’re riding a bus or train. |
| Sadia: The driver (or sometimes an announcer) will say, “The next stop is , and the name of stop.” The driver uses this phrase to say, “The next place I’ll let passengers off at will be at and the name of stop." |
| Keith: The phrase is used as a kind of warning to passengers—it’s an opportunity to prepare to get off the train or bus. Next is, “What stop is this?” |
| Sadia: This phrase means, “Where are we now?” Or, “Where is this place we have stopped at?” What's the next phrase? |
| Keith: It's, “What's the next stop?” |
| Sadia: Ask this question when you’d like to know where the bus will stop next. What's the next stop? |
| Keith: I’m not sure, but the next PHRASE [laughs], that’s “Where is the Metropolitan Museum of Art?” And the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a famous museum in New York, very, very big. |
| Sadia: After Zo gets off of the bus, he asks a stranger, “Where is the Metropolitan Museum of Art?” |
| Keith: And the phrase, “Where is the place?” this is used to ask directions to a place. |
| Sadia: The next phrase is, 1st light.The stranger in the dialogue tells Zo to “go straight and turn left at the 1st light.” The “1st light” means, “the first traffic light or the first traffic signal you come to.” |
| Keith: And this means that Zo should turn left at the first traffic light he arrives at. |
| Sadia: Which brings us to the next phrase, “at the light.” |
| Keith: “At the light” this means, “on the corner the traffic light is on.” |
| Sadia: What about, “On the right?” |
| Keith: The stranger says the museum will be “on the right.” This means, “on the right-hand side of the street.” |
| Sadia: How about, “2nd intersection.” An intersection is the place where two streets cross. |
| Keith: Right. And Zo will pass two points at which two streets cross; the intersection. The stranger says he should turn right at the second one. |
| Sadia: "turn right at the second intersection." |
| Keith: The next and final phrase we have is, a right at the intersection. |
| Sadia: “A right at the intersection” means, “turn right when you get to the place where two streets cross.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are Simple Imperatives and Ordinal Numbers. Our listeners know about imperatives-- so let's start with those. |
| Keith: You guys probably remember that imperatives are commands—or they’re instructions for the person you’re speaking to. You want them to do something. |
| Sadia: This dialogue features a few SIMPLE IMPERATIVES. When Zo gets off of the bus, he |
| asks a stranger where the Metropolitan Museum of Art is. |
| Keith: And of course, the kind stranger uses simple imperatives to give Zo detailed directions on how to get there. So the stranger tells Zo - GO straight, and TURN left at the light. |
| Sadia: Right and then he says - Then GO straight and TURN right at the second intersection. So GO straight and TURN right. |
| Keith: Yeah, those are the simple imperatives. You can make a SIMPLE IMPERATIVE by using |
| the simple present tense of a verb, and any other information you’d like to modify the verb. |
| Sadia: So Go + straight is the Simple present tense of "Go" + the direction, which in this case is straight. GO straight. |
| Keith: And Turn + left or right is the Simple present tense of "Turn" + the direction. |
| Sadia: Here's another example of a simple imperative - Run around the field ten times. |
| Keith: You sound like my high school coach. That's a lot. How about, Drink this glass of |
| water first. |
| Sadia: How about this one-- Take another piece of cake. |
| Keith: Simple imperatives are especially useful to know when you get—or give—directions. |
| Sadia: Good point. Simple imperatives are GREAT for giving or getting directions. |
| Keith: And you might hear or need to say something like, Make a left after you cross the bridge. |
| Sadia: Turn right at the third light. |
| Keith: Or maybe, Cross the intersection, and then make a left at the end of the street. |
| Sadia: SIMPLE IMPERATIVES - they're commands. |
| Keith: And you create them by using the simple present tense of a verb, plus a modifying phrase. |
| Sadia: Let's move on to ORDINAL NUMBERS. When objects are placed in order, we use ordinal numbers to refer to the positions of the objects. |
| Keith: So first, second, third-- |
| Sadia: Exactly. So uh, Let's just do some sample sentences - She was glad to be first in line. |
| Keith: He won second place in the marathon. |
| Sadia: She’s thinking of getting a fourth pet! |
| Keith: Well, the stranger in the dialogue uses ordinal numbers to give directions to Zo - He says,go straight, and turn left at the FIRST light. Light number one. |
| Sadia: And then, Go straight and turn right at the SECOND intersection. Directions that use ordinal numbers are usually good directions because they’re really precise! |
| Keith: Definitely, and when you ask someone for directions, you want them to use ordinal numbers! |
| Sadia: We should probably review the ordinal numbers from 1 to 10. |
| Keith: Alright. I'll start 1st. |
| Sadia: 2nd. |
| Keith: 3rd. |
| Sadia: 4th. |
| Keith: 5th. |
| Sadia: 6th. |
| Keith: 7th. |
| Sadia: 8th. |
| Keith: 9th. |
| Sadia: and 10th. For, uh, tips on how to count beyond 10, just look at the lesson notes! |
| Keith: So ordinal numbers-- they tell us the POSITION of things. |
| Sadia: Yeah, uh, you may have also noticed that there are some ordinal numbers used on the bus. |
| Keith: Oh, that's right-- One of the passengers on the bus says, “the next stop is 82nd Street.” |
| Sadia: You may know that most of the streets are labeled with ordinal numbers-- and they begin with the lower numbers in the southern part of Manhattan, and they increase as you go |
| north. |
| Keith: It may sound confusing, but no, it’s very, very simple. Don’t be scared. |
| Sadia: Just study your ordinal numbers! |
Outro |
| Keith: Alright, that just about does it. Bye-bye, everyone. |
| Sadia: Bye. Thanks for listening. |
Comments
HideHave you ever had to ask for directions in an English-speaking country?
Hello Marcel,
Thank you for sharing your experiences in France! It's wonderful to hear how you were able to navigate and communicate with the locals there. I'm sure your English skills will serve you just as well when you travel to London. 😄
I have a few minor suggestions to help improve your English:
1. "I went to France and was surprised by how many French could give directions in English." - It would be more appropriate to say "how many French people could give directions in English." The reason is that 'French' is an adjective and we typically use 'people' after it to refer to individuals from France.
2. "It was amazing to see how good is their pronunciation and intonation." - The correct sentence structure should be "It was amazing to see how good their pronunciation and intonation were." In English, the subject usually comes before the verb.
3. "I met some French who didn’t speak English" - Similarly, it should be "I met some French people who didn’t speak English."
4. "I hope that when I travel to London I’ll use what I learned here, and they’ll understand what I ask." - A more natural way to say this could be "I hope that when I travel to London, I'll be able to use what I've learned here and people will understand me."
I hope these suggestions are helpful. Keep up the great work, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!
Thank you!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hey!
A few years ago I went to France and was surprised by how many French could give directions in English. It was amazing to see how good is their pronunciation and intonation. I met some French who didn't speak English, but their French explanations of giving directions were very intuitive, and I managed to get it. I hope that when I travel to London I'll use what I learned here, and they'll understand what I ask.😇
Thank you for the lesson. I loved it!
Sincerely,
Hello Viet,
Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your new English language skills.
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have here or direct to your teacher in the ‘MyTeacher’ feature.
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Go straight and Turn on / Turn left at the Light / at the Intersection.
Where is METROPOLITAN MUSEUM !
What is the next stop ?
When will we arrive ?
What time is the BUS/TRAIN/PLANE to N.Y. ?
Hello Himansu,
Thanks for taking the time to write to us.
I guess you can always use Google maps! I hope you enjoying using the app in English. 😄
Regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Can't we use google map?
Hello kirver Rodriguez,
Thank you very much for your cute emoji message!😇
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
We wish you good luck with your language studies.
Kind regards,
Levente
Team EnglishClass101.com
😄
Hello Joo,
Thank you for posting! We hope you're enjoying your studies with us.
Feel free to shoot through any questions you have throughout your studies.
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Good Lesson
Hello jong an,
Thank you for posting.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Lena
Team EnglishClass101.com
The next stop’s 89th Street.
B: Excuse me, what stop’s this?
C: This is 89th Street.
B: What's the next stop?
C: 82nd Street.
B: Thank you.
C: You're welcome.
Hello Gary,
Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself!
Thanks for sharing that.
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have throughout your studies.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Sometimes, I go to the information centre and, ask for a map. At other times, I might walk along the pavement until I can see the place that I am looking for.
Hello Flora,
Thanks for the great question. The expression 'make a... turn' is more of an American English term. It means the same thing as 'take a .... turn.'
I hope this is helpful to you.
Cheers,
Eva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello teacher in this sentence: "Cross the intersection, and then make a left at the end of the street." Why do we use make a left instead turn on left. It's the first time I saw that expression.
Thanks.
Hi Maxi,
"Get off of the train" is commonly used in spoken American English. Although "get off the train" is more grammatically correct, "get off of" is probably more common in the US. If you said "get off of the train" in a conversation, nobody would think that you were incorrect.
Thanks for your question! :smile:
Kellie
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello teacher:
one question:"The phrase is used as a kind of warning to passengers-it's an opportunity to prepare to
get off of the train or bus",In this sentence, why using the get off of the train instead of using get off the train or bus?
"Get off the train" or "get off of the train" which is correct ?
thanks
HI Haitham,
"speeding along" usually happens when you are driving along in a car. In the sentence, the person is driving very fast while looking through the mentioned guidebook.
"but you barely manage to make it off the train" means that you almost don't get out of the train before the doors close and have just made it off the train in time.
"sensing your utter confusion" means that you are aware of (sensing).
"sensing" comes from the senses, meaning that if you use your senses you are aware of something or know about it. "utter confusion" means that the person does not understand what is going on and is confused.
Thanks again for your questions and good luck!
Kind regards,
Gabriella
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello ,
Could you please help me i have question ,"speeding along and looking through your New York guidebook."
speeding along what is this mean ,another question "but you barely manage to make it off the train" could you please explain this sentence, and finally "sensing your utter confusion" barely i can understand this ,
I know it's a lot question Excuse me,
Thanks a lot .