🌏 中文版
The travel scenario in my speaking practice area had nine sentences, all of them about what is nearby and how to get somewhere. For earlier batches I wrote the Chinese first and then checked a dictionary for the pattern. This time I went the other way: I read English teaching materials first to see what they teach for travel, then looked at what I was missing.
What I was trying to say
After reading seven sources, I counted about eleven functions that travel lessons teach. Compared with my original nine sentences:
| Function | How many of the seven sources teach it | Did I have it? |
|---|---|---|
| Airport check-in and baggage | 6 | No |
| Ordering in a restaurant | 4 | No |
| Hotel check-in and booking | 3 | No |
| Security, boarding, delays | 3 | No |
| Whether to collect bags on a transfer | 2 | No |
| Paying the bill | 2 | No |
| Dietary restrictions | 2 | No |
| Problems with a hotel room | 2 | No |
| Buses and fares | 2 | No |
| Lost baggage | 1 | No |
| Directions and what is nearby | 1 | All nine |
"How many teach it" is only a count within these seven. I found them by searching, not by systematic sampling, so this is not a claim about most teaching materials.
The seven sources are Premier Skills English from the British Council and the Premier League (lessons on restaurants, hotels, and transport), one airport episode of BBC Real Easy English, VOA Let's Learn English, Dialogs for Everyday Use from the U.S. Department of State, Macmillan's onestopenglish, Oxford Online English, and Espresso English. The last two are commercial teaching sites. Oxford Online English is a language school and is not connected to Oxford University Press.
What you can say in this situation
Each sentence is marked as quoted from a source or adapted from one.
1. Airport check-in and transfers
| What I want to say | What works in this situation | Relation to the source |
|---|---|---|
| 我有一件行李要託運。 | I have one bag to check in. | Adapted |
| 請給我靠走道的座位。 | An aisle seat, please. | Adapted |
| 我需要在曼谷領行李嗎？ | Do I have to pick up my bag in Bangkok? | Only the city changed |
| 這班飛機準時嗎？ | Is the flight on time? | Quoted |
Three sources teach the check-in exchange, but they teach the agent's side: How many bags will you be checking in? (Oxford Online English), Are you checking in any bags? and Would you like a window seat or an aisle seat? (onestopenglish), and How many bags can I check? (Espresso English). The first two cards are the traveler's replies, which I built from those questions.
The transfer question is the most practical one. In the Oxford Online English dialogue the traveler asks do I have to pick up my bag in Dubai? and the agent answers No, your baggage is checked through to Paris. Espresso English has Will my luggage go straight through, or do I need to pick it up in [Chicago]? Two sources teach this question, so when you hear checked through or go straight through, the bag goes all the way to your destination.
Is the flight on time? is quoted from Espresso English, which says the reply will be Yes or There's a 20-minute delay. That is the only source for this one.
2. Hotel check-in and asking for help
| What I want to say | What works in this situation | Relation to the source |
|---|---|---|
| 我有訂房，訂了三個晚上。 | I have a reservation for three nights. | Subject and number of nights changed |
| 不好意思，我房間的冷氣有問題。 | I'm afraid there's a problem with the air conditioning in my room. | The object changed |
| 附近有地方可以吃點東西嗎？ | Is there anywhere I could get a bite to eat? | Only we changed to I |
| 你們有到機場的接駁車嗎？ | Do you offer a shuttle service to the airport? | Added to the airport |
For checking in, the British Council role-play has We have a reservation for five nights (Premier Skills English: Hotels) and Oxford Online English has I have a reservation; the name's Sarah Banks (Hotel English). Both use have a reservation.
For a room problem, the British Council version is I'm really sorry but I'm afraid there is a problem with my TV, and Oxford Online English teaches There's an issue with the sink in the bathroom. Either pattern works, and I'm afraid softens the complaint.
A bite to eat is informal and means a quick, simple meal. It comes from the same British Council lesson: Is there anywhere we could get a bite to eat?
3. Ordering and paying
| What I want to say | What works in this situation | Relation to the source |
|---|---|---|
| 我要雞肉。 | I'll have the chicken. | Quoted |
| 好，那我改點牛肉。 | Okay, I'll have the beef then. | Quoted |
| 這個有附什麼？ | What does it come with? | Quoted |
| 這道菜裡面有奶製品嗎？ | Does it have any dairy products in it? | Quoted |
| 我們平分帳單好嗎？ | Shall we split the bill? | Quoted |
| 服務費有包含在裡面嗎？ | Is service included? | Quoted |
I'll have has the strongest support in this batch. Three sources use it to order: I'll have the chicken in Espresso English, I'll have the shrimp in VOA Lesson 23 (What Do You Want?), and I'll have tomato soup, roast beef, mashed potatoes and peas in the State Department dialogues (Dialogs for Everyday Use). The British Council role-play uses I'm going to have the moules frites instead (Premier Skills English: Restaurants).
The VOA lesson also shows what happens when something is sold out. The worker says We're out of chicken, and the customer says Oh, you're out of shrimp. Okay, I'll have the beef then. The final then means "in that case".
The ingredients question comes from the British Council role-play, where a vegan customer asks Is it vegan? Does it have any dairy products in it? Swap dairy products for whatever you avoid.
Shall we split the bill? is from the same lesson, and the reply there is No, don't worry. I'll get this. My treat. The Oxford Online English dialogue has shall we split it? and is service included? (Paying a Restaurant Bill).
What does it come with? is from the Oxford Online English ordering dialogue, where the waiter answers You get chips and a salad (Ordering in a Restaurant).
4. Asking the way and the fare
| What I want to say | What works in this situation | Relation to the source |
|---|---|---|
| 請問車站往哪個方向？ | Could you tell me which way the station is? | The place changed |
| 車資需要剛好的零錢嗎？ | Do I need the exact fare? | My own sentence |
The State Department dialogue for asking directions is Excuse me. Could you tell me which way Dobson's bookstore is? Note the word order in the clause: the station is, not is the station. That material was written in 1972, and I read a reposted copy rather than the official PDF.
The British Council transport lesson has a role-play about paying cash on a bus: the driver said they only accept the exact fare if you pay in cash. They don't give any change (Premier Skills English: Transport). I built the question from exact fare.
Can I also say it this way?
| English | Who you say it to and when | Still the same meaning? |
|---|---|---|
| Do I have to pick up my bag in Bangkok? | Asking the agent before a transfer | Main version |
| Will my luggage go straight through? | Same situation | Yes, another way to ask (Espresso English) |
| I have a reservation for three nights. | Checking in, giving the nights first | Main version |
| I have a reservation. The name's Vincent. | Checking in, giving your name first | Yes (the Oxford Online English version) |
| I'm afraid there's a problem with the air conditioning. | Reporting a problem politely | Main version |
| There's an issue with the air conditioning. | Same situation | Yes, without the softener |
| I'll have the chicken. | Ordering | Main version |
| I'm going to have the chicken. | Same situation | Yes (the British Council version) |
| Shall we split the bill? | Suggesting you share it | Main version |
| I'll get this. | Saying you will pay | Different: you pay for everything |
Say it again with different content
Read the Chinese, say it yourself, then check the reference.
- 我沒有行李要託運。
- I don't have any bags to check in.
- 我需要在首爾領行李嗎？
- Do I have to pick up my bag in Seoul?
- 不好意思，我房間的蓮蓬頭有問題。
- I'm afraid there's a problem with the shower in my room.
- 好，那我改點魚。
- Okay, I'll have the fish then.
- 這道菜裡面有花生嗎？
- Does it have any peanuts in it?
- 請問碼頭往哪個方向？
- Could you tell me which way the pier is?
A short dialogue
This is a practice example I wrote, not a dialogue from the materials.
A: Good evening. Are you ready to order?
B: Yes. What does the curry come with?
A: It comes with rice.
B: Does it have any dairy products in it?
A: Yes, it has cream. And I'm sorry, we're out of the chicken tonight.
B: Okay, I'll have the fish then.
Without looking at the English, how would you say it?
Rate yourself on whether you got the meaning across, not on matching the words exactly.
| Situation in Chinese | Reference | Reminder |
|---|---|---|
| 報到櫃檯：我有一件行李要託運。 | I have one bag to check in. | check in can take a bag |
| 選座位：請給我靠走道的座位。 | An aisle seat, please. | the seat plus please |
| 轉機：我需要在曼谷領行李嗎？ | Do I have to pick up my bag in Bangkok? | the reply may be checked through |
| 確認班機：這班飛機準時嗎？ | Is the flight on time? | on time |
| 入住：我有訂房，訂了三個晚上。 | I have a reservation for three nights. | have a reservation |
| 反映問題：我房間的冷氣有問題。 | I'm afraid there's a problem with the air conditioning in my room. | I'm afraid softens it |
| 問櫃檯：附近有地方可以吃點東西嗎？ | Is there anywhere I could get a bite to eat? | a bite to eat |
| 問櫃檯：你們有到機場的接駁車嗎？ | Do you offer a shuttle service to the airport? | shuttle |
| 點餐：我要雞肉。 | I'll have the chicken. | I'll have |
| 賣完了：好，那我改點牛肉。 | Okay, I'll have the beef then. | then at the end |
| 問配菜：這個有附什麼？ | What does it come with? | come with |
| 問成分：這道菜裡面有奶製品嗎？ | Does it have any dairy products in it? | in it at the end |
| 付帳：我們平分帳單好嗎？ | Shall we split the bill? | split the bill |
| 看帳單：服務費有包含在裡面嗎？ | Is service included? | included |
| 問路：請問車站往哪個方向？ | Could you tell me which way the station is? | the station is word order |
| 搭公車：車資需要剛好的零錢嗎？ | Do I need the exact fare? | exact fare |
Still to verify
- How to ask about checking or carrying climbing gear: teaching materials do not cover it. I only read the first ten rows of the TSA sporting equipment table and have not reached climbing gear.
- "Not spicy", "to go", and "can I leave my bags here": I did not find these in the materials I read.
- "A table for two": I only saw it in sentence lists on commercial sites, so I did not use it.
- Whether Is service included? applies outside the UK: the material does not say. The note on the card is my own addition.
- Which version is more common: that needs a corpus query, which I did not run.
Overall
The main difference from earlier batches is the level of support. Nine of the sixteen are quoted from a source or change one word. I'll have the… appears in three sources, and have a reservation, split the bill, and the transfer baggage question each appear in two. The ones worth practicing first are the six restaurant sentences and the transfer question, because every trip uses them.
The limits: I found the seven sources by searching, and they lean toward British institutions. Three sentences have only one source, and it is a commercial teaching site. For most pages I read the relevant section, not the whole site. There was no native-speaker testing and no frequency comparison.
References
- British Council × Premier League: Travel & Tourism: Restaurants: ingredients, ordering, splitting the bill
- British Council × Premier League: Travel & Tourism: Hotels: checking in, a bite to eat, room problems
- British Council × Premier League: Travel & Tourism: Transport: bus fares and change
- VOA Let's Learn English Lesson 23: What Do You Want?: I'll have, switching when something is sold out
- U.S. Department of State: Dialogs for Everyday Use: short dialogues for ordering and directions
- onestopenglish (Macmillan): check-in lesson plan: the agent's questions
- Oxford Online English: Checking In At The Airport: check-in and transfer baggage
- Oxford Online English: Hotel English: checking in, shuttle, room problems
- Oxford Online English: Ordering in a Restaurant: What does it come with?
- Oxford Online English: Paying a Restaurant Bill: splitting the bill, service charge
- Espresso English: Airport English: whether the flight is on time, bags going straight through, ordering on the plane
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