Receptionist
The Office
扩展学习音频 2
Marco: Hello English learners, welcome back to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.
Erica: And I'm Erica.
Marco: And today we're bringing you a lesson that was requested by one of our listeners.
Erica: Yes, that's right. We got a request for a dialogue about a receptionist. So a receptionist at an office or at a hotel.
Marco: So today's dialogue is simple but we're going to be looking at some really great phrases.
Erica: Yeah, phrases that will help you sound really, really professional and really fluent.
Marco: So we are at an office today and the receptionist is greeting somebody that has an appointment. All right, let's see what happens.
Receptionist: Good afternoon. May I help you?
前台：下午好。请问有什么可以帮您的？Josh: Yes, I'm here to see Joanna Stevens. I have an appointment at four.
乔什：你好，我是来找乔安娜·斯蒂芬斯（Joanna Stevens）的。我预约了四点。Receptionist: Certainly. May I take your name? I'll let her know you've arrived.
前台：好的。请问怎么称呼您？我去通知她您到了。Josh: Sure. It's Josh O'Neill.
乔什：好的。我叫乔什·奥尼尔（Josh O'Neill）。Receptionist: Miss Stevens will be with you momentarily. Can I offer you something to drink?
前台：斯蒂芬斯小姐马上就来。需要为您倒点喝的吗？Josh: Yes, coffee would be nice. Thank you.
乔什：好的，来杯咖啡就行。谢谢。Receptionist: Here you are. Miss Stevens is ready for you now. I'll show you to her office right this way. Just watch your step here.
前台：给您。斯蒂芬斯小姐现在可以见您了。我带您去她的办公室，请这边走。注意脚下。Josh: Oops!
乔什：哎呀！
Marco: Well that's pretty embarrassing, hey?
Erica: That was embarrassing. That's what happens to women when they wear high heels, see?
Marco: Actually that happened to me last weekend.
Erica: Really?
Marco: I fell down the stairs and my knees are quite blue.
Erica: Oh no, see? High heels are dangerous. I don't know why women wear them.
Marco: Well, I don't know, but that's not what we're here to discover.
Erica: Right.
Marco: Okay, so let's take a look at some of these great phrases in Fluency Builder.
Erica: I really liked how this receptionist used some excellent phrases to sound really professional. One thing she said was, "certainly".
Marco: Certainly.
Erica: Certainly.
Marco: So why did she say certainly?
Erica: Well this is a nice way to respond, to make the other person know that you understand what they said. So Josh O'Neill said, "Yes, I'm here to see Joanna Stevens. I have an appointment at four." "Certainly." So she is saying, I understand what you said.
Marco: Yes.
Erica: So she said, "May I take your name?"
Marco: May I take your name?
Erica: May I take your name?
Marco: So this is a nice way of saying, what is your name?
Erica: Yeah. So, now this is really important because if you said, "What is your name?" Is that correct?
Marco: It's correct, but it's not really very...
Erica: Exactly.
Marco: Or I would say polite to a certain extent.
Erica: Yes.
Marco: Okay. So "May I take your name?"
Erica: May I take your name?
Marco: So you use this phrase when you are going to write down the person's name.
Erica: Right. So if you meet somebody on the street or at a bar, you wouldn't say, "May I take your name?"
Marco: No.
Erica: Right. Unless you're going to write it down. So usually for an office setting where the receptionist has to write down the name.
Marco: Yes.
Erica: Alright, one more phrase. "Ms. Stevens will be with you momentarily."
Marco: Okay. So, "Ms. Stevens will be with you momentarily."
Erica: Will be with you momentarily.
Marco: Okay, so this is really polite.
Erica: Yes. Momentarily, what does that mean?
Marco: In a moment. Soon.
Erica: Soon. Again, she could have said, "Ms. Stevens will come out soon" or "Ms. Stevens will see you in a minute."
Marco: Yes.
Erica: But that's, again, it's not really that polite, right?
Marco: Yeah. So if you want to be formal, you can say, "Ms. Stevens will be with you momentarily."
Erica: Okay. That's a really nice phrase.
Marco: Alright, there's so much in this dialogue. So many great, wonderful, polite phrases. So why don't we listen to it one more time, but this time, slowed down.
Receptionist: Good afternoon. May I help you?
前台：下午好。请问有什么可以帮您的？Josh: Yes, I'm here to see Joanna Stevens. I have an appointment at four.
乔什：你好，我是来找乔安娜·斯蒂芬斯的。我预约了四点。Receptionist: Certainly. May I take your name? I'll let her know you've arrived.
前台：好的。请问怎么称呼您？我去通知她您到了。Josh: Sure. It's Josh O'Neill.
乔什：好的。我叫乔什·奥尼尔。Receptionist: Ms. Stevens will be with you momentarily. Can I offer you something to drink?
前台：斯蒂芬斯小姐马上就来。需要为您倒点喝的吗？Josh: Yes, coffee would be nice. Thank you.
乔什：好的，来杯咖啡就行。谢谢。Receptionist: Here you are. Ms. Stevens is ready for you now. I'll show you to her office. Right this way. Just watch your step here.
前台：给您。斯蒂芬斯小姐现在可以见您了。我带您去她的办公室，请这边走。注意脚下。
Marco: Okay, so it's pretty clear now, but there are still a couple of phrases that I would like to look at. So why don't we look at the last two sentences?
Erica: Okay. "Ms. Stevens is ready for you now."
Marco: Ms. Stevens is ready for you now.
Erica: Ms. Stevens is ready for you.
Marco: So when she says "ready for you", what does that mean?
Erica: Prepared to speak to you.
Marco: Okay. So instead of saying "Ms. Stevens is ready" or "Ms. Stevens can see you now", you use this great little phrase, "is ready for you".
Erica: Okay. And then she said "I'll show you to her office."
Marco: I'll show you to her office.
Erica: I'll show you to her office. This is a lovely way of saying "I will take you to the office."
Marco: "I will take you to the office." And she followed it by saying "right this way".
Erica: Right this way.
Marco: Right this way. So again, "walk this way".
Erica: Walk this way. "This way, please."
Marco: Yes. Right this way. It sounds really, really nice, really polite, really welcoming.
Erica: Right. And especially if you use it together, right? "I'll show you to her office, right this way, please."
Marco: Yes.
Erica: Okay. So it's a really great way of being polite to somebody at an office. Now the final useful phrase, "watch your step".
Marco: Watch your step.
Erica: Watch your step. So "watch your step", you see that everywhere in signs. Be careful.
Marco: Be careful where you step.
Erica: Yes. Be careful where you're walking.
Marco: Okay. So obviously she didn't watch her step and she fell.
Erica: She fell.
Marco: Okay. So really great phrases. Let's listen to this dialogue one last time.
Receptionist: Good afternoon. May I help you?
前台：下午好。请问有什么可以帮您的？Josh: Yes, I'm here to see Joanna Stevens. I have an appointment at four.
乔什：你好，我是来找乔安娜·斯蒂芬斯的。我预约了四点。Receptionist: Certainly. May I take your name? I'll let her know you've arrived.
前台：好的。请问怎么称呼您？我去通知她您到了。Josh: Sure. It's Josh O'Neill.
乔什：好的。我叫乔什·奥尼尔。Receptionist: Miss Stevens will be with you momentarily. Can I offer you something to drink?
前台：斯蒂芬斯小姐马上就来。需要为您倒点喝的吗？Josh: Yes, coffee would be nice. Thank you.
乔什：好的，来杯咖啡就行。谢谢。Receptionist: Here you are. Miss Stevens is ready for you now. I'll show you to her office right this way. Just watch your step here.
前台：给您。斯蒂芬斯小姐现在可以见您了。我带您去她的办公室，请这边走。注意脚下。Josh: Oops!
乔什：哎呀！
Marco: Alright so a really simple dialogue but with a lot of good phrases in there and it's also a good review for more advanced students, right?
Erica: Yeah. Remember like these phrases can really help you sound more professional, more welcoming, more polite basically.
Marco: Okay. So if you have any questions or doubts, please come to our website EnglishPod.com.
Erica: And Marco and I are always around to respond to your questions and comments.
Marco: Okay guys. So we'll see you there and until next time it's goodbye.
