Learn how to ask for basic office rules and procedures
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Asking for Information About American Office Procedures. Becky here. |
| John: Hi, I'm John. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for basic office rules. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| John: It's between Mark Coles and a receptionist. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mark Coles: Where should I send the invoice? |
| Receptionist: Please send it to the accounting office. |
| Mark Coles: When will I get the bank transfer? |
| Receptionist: I'm not sure, but the accounting staff can give you all the information. |
| Mark Coles: Thank you, I'll ask them about all the details. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Mark Coles: Where should I send the invoice? |
| Receptionist: Please send it to the accounting office. |
| Mark Coles: When will I get the bank transfer? |
| Receptionist: I'm not sure, but the accounting staff can give you all the information. |
| Mark Coles: Thank you, I'll ask them about all the details. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Mark asked about some important information there. |
| John: Yes, knowing how to get paid is vital. |
| Becky: Maybe the most important! Since he needs to send an invoice, I guess he isn’t working directly for the company. |
| John: No, it sounds like he’s a “freelancer.” |
| Becky: Let’s talk more about that. |
| John: A freelancer is someone who is self-employed and not employed by a company. They may get a short-term contract to do work for a company, but they are not a full-time employee. |
| Becky: In 2016, 35% of the US workforce were freelancers, and this number is rapidly rising. |
| John: Being a freelancer means flexibility, as you can pick your own working hours and set your own prices, but it also means that there is not a steady income coming in. |
| Becky: What’s the average profile for a freelancer? |
| John: Usually it’s a young person, between 18 to 24. |
| Becky: I see, it seems like with the rise of companies like Uber, and the development of new technologies, it’s easier than ever for people to become freelancers and find work. |
| John: Here is a useful sample sentence - “My work as a freelancer keeps me busy.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: invoice [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bill, document stating amount of money needed to pay for certain goods and services |
| John: invoice [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: invoice [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: accounting [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the department responsible for calculating invoices and wages |
| John: accounting [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: accounting [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Then, we have... |
| John: bank [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a business that offers financial services, such as loans and accounts |
| John: bank [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: bank [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: transfer [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the act of moving something from one place to another |
| John: transfer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: transfer [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next up is... |
| John: staff [natural native speed] |
| Becky: all the people employed by a particular organization |
| John: staff [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: staff [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, there’s... |
| John: information [natural native speed] |
| Becky: facts and knowledge of a situation or thing |
| John: information [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: information [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly... |
| John: details [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the individual parts and features of something - the minor information |
| John: details [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: details [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: accounting office |
| Becky: "Accounting" is a noun that refers to the skill or act of keeping financial records for a person or company. "Office" means a place where administrative tasks are completed. |
| John: So all together, the phrase refers to the accounting department in a company. It doesn't matter if all of the employees are in the same physical office or not. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “He's transferring to the accounting office.” |
| Becky: You can also talk about other departments in a business in this way, such as "marketing office," "sales office," and "HR office." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: bank transfer |
| Becky: "Bank" is a noun and it refers to an organization where people can save money, apply for loans, send money to other people, and do other financial transactions. "Transfer" is a noun which means the act of moving something from one place to another. |
| John: All together, the phrase means “sending money via a bank.” Here is a sample sentence “It will take three days for the bank transfer to clear.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for basic office rules. |
| John: When you start working in a new office, you will be given training to help with your new job and no matter how long or detailed the training is, it’s unlikely that it will cover every question you have. |
| Becky: To help make some questions, let’s see some common nouns that you will find in the office. |
| John: A very common one is “printer,” or “Xerox machine.” |
| Becky: This refers to the machine that prints documents using ink and paper |
| John: Usually on the first day, you are introduced to certain places, such as the “cafeteria.” |
| Becky: The cafeteria is the area in a company or school that serves food. |
| John: The “break area” is where you can eat or rest. |
| Becky: There, we can usually find the “water cooler,” a machine that dispenses drinking water. |
| John: Listeners be sure to check out the lesson notes to see more words. |
| Becky: In the last lesson, we learned about the WH question words - “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” “who,” and “how.” We can use these question words to form questions about the office, too. |
| John: Right. Other sentence patterns that will be of use include “Can I” or “May I,” and “Is there” or “Are there?” |
| Becky: Let’s give some examples. |
| John: For example you may want to ask “How do I use the Xerox machine?” or “When is the cafeteria open?” |
| Becky: Also “Is there a smoking area?” or “Can I use the refrigerator?” Okay, now let’s see how to answer these questions. |
| John: That basically depends on how the question is phrased. Some questions need just simple “yes” or “no” answers, but some need longer answers. |
| Becky: Which are the questions we can answer with “yes” or “no”? |
| John: The questions beginning with “Can I…?” or “Is there…?” |
| Becky: Some other questions might be able to be answered just with “it is/she is/he is.” |
| John: Right, these questions for example include “Who…?” or “When…?” |
| Becky: Questions that begin with “why” and “how” need longer answers. |
| John: You can actually also use just “Let me show you” if someone asks you how to do something. |
| Becky: So, if someone asks you “How do I use the Xerox machine?” what can you say? |
| John: You can simply say “Let me show you.” You can use the same answer also if someone asks you where something is. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| John: See you! |
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