Learn how to book a taxi
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Describing Where You Are in English. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this final lesson of the series, you’ll learn how to use the word “by” to describe location. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Kellie: The speakers are strangers.. |
| David: So they will use formal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Katrina: Hi, I'd like to book a taxi for as soon as possible, please? |
| Taxi office staff: For how many people? |
| Katrina: Two people, please. |
| Taxi office staff: Where do you need picking up from? |
| Katrina: We're at Adam's Restaurant in the High Street. We want to go to the other side of town. |
| Taxi office staff: I have one car in your area. It'll be available in about ten minutes. |
| Katrina: Okay, that's fine. We don't mind a little wait. We will wait by the restaurant entrance. |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Katrina: Hi, I'd like to book a taxi for as soon as possible, please? |
| Taxi office staff: For how many people? |
| Katrina: Two people, please. |
| Taxi office staff: Where do you need picking up from? |
| Katrina: We're at Adam's Restaurant in the High Street. We want to go to the other side of town. |
| Taxi office staff: I have one car in your area. It'll be available in about ten minutes. |
| Katrina: Okay, that's fine. We don't mind a little wait. We will wait by the restaurant entrance. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Katrina wants to get away from the restaurant as soon as possible, it seems. |
| Kellie: I don’t blame her after that bad food! Taxis are a good way to get around. |
| David: Are they reasonably priced though? |
| Kellie: Most taxis have a meter, so you can see the charge going up as you drive around. Taxi drivers in London have to take a test to prove that they know the city well enough before they can get a licence. |
| David: Wow, so they’re pretty reliable then. |
| Kellie: They’re a good option. The UK is a pretty small country though, so most travelling is done by car. For longer distances there is a good motorway system that covers the routes between most major cities. |
| David: There are trains for long distances too. |
| Kellie: There are, but they can be expensive. You can also fly between some cities. |
| David: They must be short flights! What about shorter distances? Like within the same city? |
| Kellie: Other than taxis, there are also many buses. They can be late a lot though, due to traffic. |
| David: There are many ways to get around! I suppose it depends on your location as to what method is best. |
| Kellie: I think so, yes. |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: to book [natural native speed] |
| David: to make a reservation |
| Kellie: to book[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to book [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: taxi [natural native speed] |
| David: a car that can be hired to drive you somewhere for a fee |
| Kellie: taxi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: taxi [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: possible [natural native speed] |
| David: can exist, can happen |
| Kellie: possible[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: possible [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: other [natural native speed] |
| David: different or distinct from something already identified |
| Kellie: other[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: other [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: side [natural native speed] |
| David: either of the two lateral parts of a thing (as in left side, right side) |
| Kellie: side[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: side [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: wait [natural native speed] |
| David: the act of waiting, of having a delay |
| Kellie: wait[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: wait [natural native speed] |
| David: And last.. |
| Kellie: entrance [natural native speed] |
| David: doorway, opening |
| Kellie: entrance[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: entrance [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: as soon as possible |
| David: meaning "to do something at the earliest possible opportunity" |
| David: “Possible” means that something can happen. |
| Kellie: And “as soon as” means that something should happen immediately after a condition is filled. So together, they mean, basically, do it now. |
| David: Now? |
| Kellie: Well, maybe not now-now, but at the earliest time that you can. |
| David: It’s a very common phrase. |
| Kellie: Yeah, you’ll often hear it shortened to “A.S.A.P” or said as “asap” |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. I want to go home as soon as possible. |
| David: ..which means "I want to go home as soon as I can". Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: other side of town |
| David: meaning “a part of town far away from the part you are currently in" |
| David: “Other” means something distinct and different from the object identified; in this case that is the current part of town. |
| Kellie: Right. In this case “side” means part of the town. So “the other side of town” means a part of town that isn’t here. |
| David: It sounds pretty vague. |
| Kellie: It is! It doesn’t refer to a specific street or district, it just means far away within the same town. |
| David: It’s highlighting the difference. |
| Kellie: Right. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: For example, you can say… “We don't see each other much as he lives on the other side of town.” |
| David: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the word “by” to describe location. But first we will review countable and uncountable nouns. |
| David: We spoke about countable and uncountable nouns briefly in a previous lesson, but let’s look at them in a bit more depth. |
| Kellie: We said before that nouns can be either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are ones that can be divided into individual units and made plural by adding an “s”. They are simple, common objects such as “apple”, “dog”, “car”, “toy”, or “watch” for example. |
| David: Uncountable nouns are nouns that can’t be counted and separated. They’re often more abstract concepts or liquids, like “water”, “time”, “electricity” or “news”. |
| Kellie: Because the nouns are different, we need to use different words to count them. |
| David: What words can we use for countable nouns? |
| Kellie: The most common ones are “a lot of,” “a few,” “some,” “any,” “all”, and “few.” |
| David: For example, “I have a lot of apples,” “I have some apples,” “I have a few apples.” |
| Kellie: Right. The common words for uncountable nouns are “much,” “a lot of,” “a little,” “some,” “any,” “all” and “little”. |
| David:For example “I have much news,” “I have a little news,” and “I have little news.” |
| Kellie: You need to remember which words can be used with which nouns. Also, which category each noun fits into. |
| David: I noticed that some words work for both. |
| Kellie: Yes. “A lot of”, “any” and “all” work for both, so if in doubt, use those! |
| David: We’ve also talked about prepositions before, but let’s now look at the preposition “by”. |
| Kellie: Like a lot of prepositions, “by” can be used in different ways. It can be used for position, to say that something is “beside” something else. |
| David: Like Katrina says in the dialogue “We will wait by the restaurant entrance.” |
| Kellie: Exactly. If it is used with a verb of motion, like “walk”, “run” or “drive”, then it shows movement past the place. |
| David: For example, “He just ran by the hotel”. |
| Kellie: It means the same as “he just ran past the hotel”. We can use it with personal pronouns to say that something is near and in a handy position if needed. |
| David: If we have called a taxi, we can use “by to describe where we are.” |
| Kellie: Yeah. “I’m waiting by the library” or “I’ll be by the car park.” |
| David: Are there any other uses? |
| Kellie: There is one more. If used with a time, it means “no later than.” |
| David: For example, “Be home by midnight.” |
| Kellie: Right. Don’t be out later than midnight or you’ll be in trouble! |
| David: I’m always home on time! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson and for this series. |
| Kellie: We hope you’ve enjoyed it and found it useful. Be sure to check the lesson notes for more information and examples. |
| David: And leave us a message at EnglishClass101.com if you have any questions or comments. In the meantime, thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you in another series. Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye, everyone! |
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