Learn to navigate the hotel reception desk
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi everyone, this is Sadia coming to you from New York. |
| Keith: Hey, and I’m Keith. “How to Stay in Style While in America” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 9 , you learned about shopping at a convenience store. |
| Keith: And we talked about counters, such as, one bottle of water. |
| Sadia: We also talked about the phrase, “What is that?” |
| Keith: And with that phrase, “What is that?” we talked about demonstrative pronouns. |
| Sadia: Right, so this, that, these, and those. |
| Keith: In this lesson you’re going to learn how to check into a hotel and also how to make requests. |
| Sadia: This conversation takes place at a hotel front desk. |
| Keith: And the conversation is between the main character, Zo, and the front desk worker at a hotel. Alright, well let’s listen in to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Front Desk Worker: Welcome to the L Hotel! |
| Zo: Hello. I have a reservation. |
| Front: Desk Worker Your name, please. |
| Zo: Zo Viljoen. |
| Front Desk Worker: Spell it, please. |
| Zo: V-I-L-J-O-E-N. |
| Front Desk Worker: Ah, yes. Mr. Viljoen, you’re in room number 515. |
| Here's the key. |
| Zo: Is there Internet in the room? |
| Front Desk Worker: Yes, there’s complimentary wireless Internet. |
| Zo: And are there toiletries? |
| Front Desk Worker: Yes, sir. |
| Zo: Thank you. Oh, and a wake up call, please. |
| Front Desk Worker: Of course. What time? |
| Zo: 7 a.m., please. What time is breakfast? |
| Front desk From 6 am to 7:30 am on the first floor in the dining room. |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Front Desk Worker: Welcome to the L Hotel! |
| Zo: Hello. I have a reservation. |
| Front: Desk Worker Your name, please. |
| Zo: Zo Viljoen. |
| Front Desk Worker: Spell it, please. |
| Zo: V-I-L-J-O-E-N. |
| Front Desk Worker: Ah, yes. Mr. Viljoen, you’re in room number 515. |
| Here's the key. |
| Zo: Is there Internet in the room? |
| Front Desk Worker: Yes, there’s complimentary wireless Internet. |
| Zo: And are there toiletries? |
| Front Desk Worker: Yes, sir. |
| Zo: Thank you. Oh, and a wake up call, please. |
| Front Desk Worker: Of course. What time? |
| Zo: 7 a.m., please. What time is breakfast? |
| Front desk From 6 am to 7:30 am on the first floor in the dining room. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sadia: Zo has finally arrived in New York and, |
| after a "pit stop" or quick stop at a nearby convenience store, he finally gets to the hotel he'll be staying at. It seems like a pretty nice place; the |
| front desk worker is quite serious and answers all of |
| Zo's questions quickly but very professionally and very politely. So of course New York has kind of every sort of hotel you can imagine, right? |
| Keith: So you can pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars, or maybe even thousands and thousands of dollars. |
| Sadia: Yeah. |
| Keith: For a really, really stylish, really cool hotel room that’s located right in the middle of Manhattan where no detail is left unattended, and everything you want, they’ll give it to you, and they’ll smile and, you know, be on their knees and anything you want. |
| Sadia: Exactly. Very nice, or--the conjunction “or”-- you can pay under $50 for a bed in a hostel |
| room that you share with other young travelers who don’t have a lot of money to spend. There seems to be something for everyone, I think! I’m actually I'm really a huge fan of |
| hotels-- I love hotels. |
| Keith: Well, it’s probably because of the service, right? Are you going to like the hundreds and hundreds of dollars hotels? |
| Sadia: Maybe hundreds, but not hundreds and hundreds. |
| Keith: Just one hundred. |
| Sadia: That’s because I have a very kind boyfriend. But it’s not really the service I like. I’m a little neurotic. |
| Keith: What’s that mean? |
| Sadia: Which... |
| Keith: Neurotic? |
| Sadia: It means, kind of, very, a little too focused on small things, most of which don’t matter, in my case. So I like hotels because, you know, the bed I think is my favorite part because it’s all freshly made, the sheets are ironed sometimes. and it’s just perfection. |
| Keith: Usually in your home, are you concerned with that detail? Are you always thinking about, my bed, it has to be perfect. |
| Sadia: That’s the funny thing. Not really. I’m always on one side of the extreme, so either the bed is totally disheveled and looks crazy, like a mad person sleeps there, or it’s nice and.. |
| Keith: Super, super clean. |
| Sadia: Yeah, one or the other, never, never in between. |
| Keith: But hotels are, you’re always going to get the nice one. Unless you go to the really cheap place. |
| Sadia: Even the cheap places though, I feel like they kind of pay attention to the bed. |
| Keith: Probably better than me. OK, well let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Keith: The first word we shall see is... |
| Sadia: reservation [natural native speed] |
| Keith: an arrangement to have something (such as a hotel |
| room) held for one's use |
| Sadia: reservation [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: reservation [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| to spell [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to name the letters of a word in order |
| to spell [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| to spell [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: room [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a sectioned off part of the inside of a building |
| Sadia: room [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: room [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| key [natural native speed] |
| Keith: tool used to open a lock, usually on a door |
| key [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| key [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: Internet [natural native speed] |
| Keith: an electronic communication network |
| Sadia: Internet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: Internet [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| in [natural native speed] |
| Keith: shows inclusion, location or position |
| in [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| in [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: LAN cable [natural native speed] |
| Keith: local area network (LAN) cord used to connect to other |
| computers or the Internet |
| Sadia: LAN cable [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: LAN cable [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| towel [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a cloth used for wiping or drying |
| towel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| towel [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: wake-up call [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a telephone call intended to wake a sleeper; common at |
| hotels |
| Sadia: wake-up call [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: wake-up call [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| A.M. [natural native speed] |
| Keith: short for ante meridian, or before noon; morning time |
| A.M. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| A.M. [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: time [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a moment, hour, day or year |
| Sadia: time [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: time [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: breakfast [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the first meal of the day; the morning meal |
| Sadia: breakfast [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: breakfast [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: OK, well, let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “I have....” |
| Keith: The verb "to have" indicates possession. |
| Sadia: Zo "has" a reservation-- he says, "I have a |
| reservation." Which means what? |
| Keith: It means he made arrangements to stay at the hotel in |
| advance. So he called before and he said, “Can I have a room?” Use "have" when you want to show that you possess or own something. For example, "I have three |
| brothers." |
| Sadia: "I have many friends," or "I have no time." So “have” shows possession. |
| Keith: Or if you don’t have something. |
| Sadia: “I don’t have many friends” or “I don’t have time.” |
| Keith: Our next phrase is, “Your name, please.” After Zo tells the front desk worker-- or, receptionist-- that he has a reservation, the worker says, "Name, please." |
| Sadia: That’s short for, "Tell me your name, "please." If you recall, this sentence, “Name, please,” uses an IMPLIED VERB-- the verb TELL isn't stated, but SUGGESTED. |
| Keith: What’s next? |
| Sadia: Next is, “Spell it, please.” |
| Keith: After Zo gives his name, the front desk worker says, "Spell it, please." This is short for, "Spell your name, please." |
| Sadia: The worker probably has to enter Zo's name into the hotel computer and she wants to be sure she's spelling it correctly so the reservation is fast and it’s efficient. So she says, |
| Keith:“Spell it, please.” The next phrase is, “in the room” |
| Sadia: Zo asks if there's Internet "in the room." |
| Keith: And what that means is he wants to know if he can connect to the Internet within the walls of the room he has been assigned, or he wants to be sure that he doesn't have to leave his room to get on the Internet. |
| Sadia: So he asks, "Is there Internet in the room?" The next phrase is, “7 am, please.” Zo would like his wake-up call at 7 in the morning, So he uses the shortened phrase, "7 am, please." This is another business transaction or communication that is expected to go smoothly |
| and to go quickly. So just as in the other dialogues, there are a lot of short phrases in this |
| conversation! |
| Keith: Just like with the customs official, and there is no time for politeness or nice conversation! |
| Sadia: No time at all. They have to go fast, so everything is shortened. The next phrase is, “Of course.” |
| Keith: This is a useful phrase that means, "naturally," or "without question." |
| Sadia: Exactly. So when Zo requests a wake-up call, the front desk worker says, "Of course." |
| Keith: And the worker is used to filling requests for wake-up calls and Zo will receive his wake-up call without question-- |
| Sadia: Right. There is no doubt that he will receive a wake-up call. "Of course." The last phrase we'll look at is, “What time is breakfast?” |
| Keith: Zo asks when breakfast will be served by saying, "What time is breakfast?" This phrase is easily adaptable to other situations. |
| Sadia: You're right-- it is pretty useful. To use this phrase, simply say, "What time is, and the event?" So I could say,"What time is dinner?" |
| Keith: Or "What time is the party?" |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are simple interrogative sentences using "is or are there..." |
| Keith: and (more) Prepositions! |
| Sadia: But first, let's look at SIMPLE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES using IS THERE and ARE THERE. |
| Keith: OK. |
| Sadia: As Zo is confirming, making sure that he has a reservation, as he’s doing that with the front desk worker, he wants to know if he can get onto the Internet from his room. He makes an interrogative sentence and says, "Is there Internet in the room?" |
| Keith: Zo also asks if there are toiletries (and toiletries means toothpaste, soap, shampoo, things you use in the bathroom) by asking, "Are there toiletries?" |
| Sadia: So, interrogative sentences are questions. |
| Keith: That’s right. And as you can see, "is there?" That’s used for SINGULAR nouns, that means one noun, and "are there?" that’s for PLURAL nouns. So some examples would be IS THERE a show tonight? Or even, IS THERE anything I can do? |
| Sadia: Right or, IS THERE something wrong? IS THERE another chair? And don't forget-- "Are there" is for PLURAL NOUNS. So, ARE THERE any tables left? Or, uh, ARE THERE more people coming? |
| Keith: ARE THERE good restaurants in that neighborhood? ARE THERE many more Gengo English lessons? Let’s move on. What’s next? |
| Sadia: Next is PREPOSITIONS! Again! |
| Keith: Well, we've talked about prepositions in previous lessons, in older lessons but you can never review them too much! |
| Sadia: If you remember, prepositions words that link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. |
| Keith: In this dialogue, there's, "Welcome to The L Hotel!" |
| Sadia: “Welcome to the L Hotel.” It links “welcome” with “the hotel.” And-- a sentence we just covered, "Is there Internet in the room?" |
| Keith: "Is there Internet in the room?" And also there's, "From 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.” |
| Sadia: “6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.” So prepositions, they’re everywhere! |
| Keith: They are! |
| Sadia: And remember - prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. |
| Keith: And some examples ARE in, on, at, to, from, and also with, |
| Sadia: Right. And how about against, on, under, throughout-- "The boy pressed his face AGAINST the glass of the candy store window." Or uh, "The files are ON my desk." |
| Keith: "The dog is sleeping UNDER the bed." |
| Sadia: "Don't talk DURING class" |
| Keith: Review past lessons to brush up on the prepositions. |
| Sadia: Of course, and you know we'll be revisiting them again. |
| Keith: Yeah, both are very important. |
| Sadia: Yes they are. |
Outro |
| Keith: OK, well, Thanks for listening. |
| Sadia: Bye-bye. Thanks for listening. |
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