Learn how to give and receive directions indoors
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Jonathan: Are you Directionally Challenged in the US? I’m Jonathan. |
| Dede: And I’m Dede! We have another exciting lesson for you. |
| Jonathan: In this lesson, we’ll learn about prepositions and how to give and receive indoor directions, from a conversation between Sheila and Mark in their office, |
| Dede: Sheila doesn’t know where the bathrooms are and is asking Mark for help. |
| Jonathan: Sheila and Mark are in a work situation, so Sheila is speaking politely with Mark. However, it’s not overly formal and Mark speaks to Sheila quite casually because she is the intern. |
| Dede: All right, are you ready? |
| Jonathan: Let's listen to the conversation! |
| DIALOGUE |
| SHEILA: Hi Mark, I was looking for the restroom but I got lost. Could you point me in the right direction? |
| MARK: Oh sure, no problem. To get to the restrooms you have to go down the hallway to the left and take the escalator up to the third floor. They're the first door on the right. |
| SHEILA: Is that by the vending machines? |
| MARK: No, you take a right out from the escalator and then go past the cafeteria on the right. The vending machines are on the left, so go the other way. |
| SHEILA: Ah, thanks, I think I understand now. Can I get you anything while I'm up there? |
| MARK: Actually, that would be great. Can you pick up a coffee for me. (loud) Anyone else want a coffee? The intern's going on a run! (various voices pipe up). OK, so that's 4 black coffees and one with cream and sugar. |
| SHEILA: Uhhh… OK… Anything else? |
| MARK: Oh yeah, a dozen doughnuts. Here's a couple of extra bucks so you can pick up something for yourself. |
| SHEILA: Um, okay. |
| MARK: Oh, and please don't forget to wash your hands. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dede: Sheila’s going to have a hard time carrying all that coffee back to the office! |
| Jonathan: Haha, well it's usually the responsibility of the intern or most junior member of the office to get coffee and snacks for everyone else. |
| Dede: That’s not fair! The interns have their own work to do! |
| Jonathan: True, but this comes from the idea that the intern’s time is not as valuable as other staff members even if the intern is hard-working and diligent. |
| Dede: I’m not sure how I feel about that… |
| Jonathan: I don’t think it’s too bad – it's almost a tradition within an office and almost everyone there did the same when they were juniors or interns. |
| Dede: I guess so… it still seems a bit unfair though… And I’m never going to get you coffee. |
| Jonathan: (laughs) Fair enough. Shall we move on to the vocab? |
| Dede: Sure! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jonathan: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Jonathan: restroom [natural native speed] |
| Dede: bathroom, toilet |
| Jonathan: restroom [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: restroom [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: buck [natural native speed] |
| Dede: slang for dollar |
| Jonathan: buck [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: buck [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: hallway [natural native speed] |
| Dede: corridor, hall, long connecting room |
| Jonathan: hallway [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: hallway [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: escalator [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a motorized staircase to get between different floors |
| Jonathan: escalator [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: escalator [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: vending machine [natural native speed] |
| Dede: an electronic automatic selling machine, usually for drinks or snacks |
| Jonathan: vending machine [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: vending machine [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: to pick up [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to get or to buy |
| Jonathan: pick up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to pick up [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: to go on a run [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to go on a trip to get a specific item |
| Jonathan: go on a run [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: go on a run [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: direction [natural native speed] |
| Dede: the way to go |
| Jonathan: direction [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: direction [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: black [natural native speed] |
| Dede: for coffee, without cream or sugar |
| Jonathan: black [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: black [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: dozen [natural native speed] |
| Dede: twelve of an item |
| Jonathan: dozen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: dozen [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Jonathan: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dede: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Jonathan: direction, which means “way to go” |
| Dede: In the dialogue, we heard: “Could you point me in the right direction?” |
| Jonathan: Sheila says this when she is asking Mark to tell her the correct way to go to the restroom. We can also use it when we just want general directions to somewhere. The next phrase is… |
| Dede: to go on a run |
| Jonathan: How was it used in the dialogue? |
| Dede: Mark announces to the office: “The intern's going on a run!” |
| Jonathan: Mark says this but he doesn’t actually mean that Sheila is going running. “To go on a run” is a phrasal verb that is used informally to mean that one person is going to go buy or pick up things for several people like we talked about. When someone is “going on a run” though, they aren’t buying it by themselves- they will get paid back by everyone who made an “order” with them. Usually we use this term for food or drink like “going on a pizza run” or “making a beer run”. |
| Dede: Yeah, remember that I will never make a run for you. |
| Jonathan: (laughs) I understand, ready for the last one? |
| Dede: Yup, it’s: buck |
| Jonathan: This is slang for “dollar”. So, 50 bucks would be 50 dollars. |
| Dede: Right! In the dialogue, Mark told Shiela: “Here's a couple of extra bucks so you can pick up something for yourself.” |
| Jonathan: See, it really isn’t so bad for Sheila to make a coffee run for everyone else, she gets a free drink out of it! |
| Dede: I guess so. I guess Mark appreciates Sheila’s efforts and is giving her some money to buy something for herself… |
| Jonathan: Yep! OK Then, I think we’re ready for our lesson focus. |
| Dede: Sure! Let’s go. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dede: The focus of this lesson is prepositions and words for giving and receiving directions indoors. |
| Jonathan: That’s right. In this lesson, we’ll be looking at a few ways that indoor directions are different than outdoor directions |
| Dede: Mark says “To get to the restrooms you have to go down the hallway to the left and take the escalator up to the third floor.” |
| Jonathan: Exactly. Here he uses a kind of tricky phrase – he says to go down the hallways but then go up the escalator… Why do you think that is? |
| Dede: Well… Maybe because they are on Capitol Hill? |
| Jonathan: Haha, it’s not a hill inside though! Actually, we can say go “down” or go “up” a hallway or corridor. It means the same thing! |
| Dede: English is weird… |
| Jonathan: Haha, that’s true. Can you give our listeners some other words we can use for indoor directions? |
| Dede: Well, I guess, upstairs and downstairs… |
| Jonathan: Perfect! Anything else? |
| Dede: Uhh, take the elevator... |
| Jonathan: Great, where to? |
| Dede: I guess… the third floor? Or the basement. |
| Jonathan: Sure! |
| Dede: Ah, and we can talk about doors, like “it’s the second door on the left." |
| Jonathan: Right! Let’s listen to some examples of these words. Let’s say we are in a department store, where do you want to go? |
| Dede: The Jewelry Department! |
| Jonathan: Alright, our listeners at home might want to try and draw a map of these directions. |
| Dede: Good idea! |
| Jonathan: Ready? |
| Dede: Let’s go! |
| Jonathan: OK. So start in the lobby on the first floor. Then we’ll go down the hallway 5 doors until you get to the elevators. |
| Dede: Okay... |
| Jonathan: Then take the elevators to the 3rd floor. Turn to the right go about 100 meters. |
| Dede: Sure. |
| Jonathan: There’ll be an escalator there, take it to the fourth floor, then turn right. You’re there! |
| Dede: Yay! |
| Jonathan: Were you able to follow my directions? |
| Dede: Try listening to Jonathan’s directions until you can understand every line. |
| Jonathan: Good idea! |
| Dede: So what are you buying me at the jewelry department? |
| Jonathan: I’ll buy you jewelry when you go on a coffee run for me! |
| Dede: Haha, ok! I will. |
Outro |
| Jonathan: Well, that’s all the time we have for this lesson! |
| Dede: As always, thanks for listening! See you in the next lesson! |
| Jonathan: Bye everyone! |
Comments
Hide