このビジネス英語ポッドキャストのレッスンでは, we will focus on phrases and vocabulary – both for checking in and for enquiring about hotel services whilst checking in.
Arriving at a hotel after a long, hard day of travel, you need to do one last thing before you can take a hot shower and relax in front of the TV – you need to check in. That means registering for the room by filling out any necessary forms and giving the hotel your credit card number.
Checking in to hotels is another important part of travel, whether it’s for business or for pleasure. This episode follows on fromBEP 79 旅行: Reserving a Hotel Room, in which Sarah Johnson called to reserve a room at the Majestic Hotel in New York. Sarah has now arrived, and she is ready to begin her stay.
リスニングで, ポール, at reception, helps Sarah register for the room. Pay attention to the language Sarah uses.
リスニングの質問
1) When she reserved the room, Sarah asked for a dinner reservation. What is the name of the hotel’s restaurant? Which floor is it on? 2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center? 3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?
Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.
It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel – we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. もちろん, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations – conferences, レストラン, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.
That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode – making reservations. 途中で, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.
リスニングで, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, トニー, picks up the phone. あなたが聞くように, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.
リスニングの質問
1) What kind of room does Sarah want? 2) What extra request does Sarah have? 3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. それは何ですか?
They say there’s one rule of conversation that you should always follow in business – don’t talk about politics, sex or religion. 実は, しかし, it seems like 90% of casual conversations are about just those things – politics, sex and religion. それでこのエピソードでは, we’ll be focusing on one of these topics – politics. We’ll be learning some language that will help you cope with this difficult topic.
There’s a trick to talking about politics in business. In international business culture, it’s usually better not to express strong opinions. The focus is generally on the exchange of information rather than on debate, because the main goal is to maintain harmonious relations. しばしば, we state our opinions non-committally. That means we don’t commit ourselves to an opinion – 言い換えると, we don’t voice a strong view one way or the other. 代わりに, we prefer to be vague, or ambiguous. This strategy helps avoid conflict.
So in this podcast, in addition to covering some general phrases and vocabulary for discussing politics, we’ll be studying how to soften your questions and be non-committal when necessary.
We’ll be listening to Ricardo and Lars, old colleagues who have met each other again at an international conference. They’re talking about the political situations in their home countries, Brazil and Denmark.
リスニングの質問
1) Ricardo says he has heard that the Danish government is pretty far “正しい”, あれは, conservative. But Lars seems to think that this has a good side. それは何ですか? 2) Lars mentions that Brazil has won its bid to host the World Cup. Ricardo says that Brazil has a lot of work to do in which areas? 3) Lars talks about a certain kind of problem that has “cropped up”, あれは, appeared or occurred during Brazilian President Lula’s presidency. それは何ですか?
