ASKING AND GIVING DIRECTION

There are some expressions to ask and give direction, check this out.

Language for asking directions
Excuse me. Can you tell me Excuse me, please. Could you tell me Do you know Excuse me, but I’m trying	the way to how to get to to find	the	(nearest)	post office bus stop toilet
		Covent Garden Trafalgar Square Bush House

	Language for giving directions
	Left go left to the left turn left it's on the left on your left (to describe the position of a particular place in relation to the person) take a left take the second (turning) on the left
	Right go right to the right turn right it's on the right on your right (to describe the position of a particular place in relation to the person) take a right take the second (turning) on the right
	Ahead go ahead go straight ahead go straight on
	cross the … down to … go over a … go around the corner go down … walk out … blocks be right in front of you it’s in front of … it’s just round the corner
By pass Fly over/over pass Buseline Medium Toll road One way street

Here are some conversations about asking and giving direction

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Questions and Responses
Excuse me. Can you tell me where South street is, please? Just take the second on the left and then ask again. Is it far? No, it’s only about five minutes’ walk Many thanks. Not at all.	Excuse me, please. Could you tell me the way to the station? Turn round and turn left at the traffic-lights. Will it take me long to get there? No, it’s no distance at all. Thank you. That’s OK.	Excuse me, but I’m trying to find the Town Hall. Take the third on the right and go straight on. Should I take a bus? No, you can walk it in under five minutes Thank you very much indeed That’s quite all right.	Excuse me, please. Could you tell me how to get to the town centre? First right, second, left. You can’t miss it. (it’s very easy to see) Is it too far to walk? No, it’s only a couple of hundred yards. Thank’s very much. It’s a pleasure.

Vocabulary

Bypass: main road that goes round a town instead of through it Flyover/over pass: bridge that carries one road over another Buseline: a road special for buses Medium: separating-road Toll road/turnpike: road which drivers have to pay to use One way street: in one direction only

Activity

Understand the directions and find which building on the map is the Post Office.

A: Hello, excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the nearest Post Office?

B: Erm, yea, sure – you go straight up this street. Take the second turn on the right. Keep

going along there, across one junction, and it’s right there on your left.

A: Thanks

B: Oh, no, hang on, wait a minute, there’s a closer one. Walk up this street, take the first left and there’s a Post Office on your right at the next junction, sorry, I forgot about that one.

A: Thanks again

Showing understanding When you're listening to someone explain something or tell you something, how can you show that person that you understand him or her? How can you indicate that you are following what is being said - or not following it? In this lesson, we look at different ways you can do this using body language, noises, words and intonation.       Showing understanding Understanding Not understanding Body language Nod your head Look confused - e.g. by frowning or squinting Noises Umm-hmm Uh-huh Er... Um... Words Right... OK... Hang on... Hold on... Run me through that again You've lost me Intonation Speak clearly and confidently Speak more slowly Conversation: Tim is a sound engineer who works for a company. And he’s talking about sound technology. Don’t try to understand what he’s saying, but try to understand Elena. What noise does she make? Tim: … pressure wave is leaving my mouth and it’s going to the microphone just over where you’re sitting… Elena: Umm-hmm. Tim: And what’s happening is there’s like a, sort of like a, drum skin… Tim: … so as I’m speaking to you, pressure – air pressure – is leaving my mouth… Elena: Right… Tim: And it’s going to your ear… Tim: It’s not an exact representation of what the analogue sound is actually doing… Elena: Right – OK! Tim: … making an electrical signal into an acoustic signal… Elena: Hang on. Run me through that again. Tim: Right, OK, a microphone is basically one way of turning… Elena: Er… you’ve lost me there… Vocabulary to follow someone / something here, to understand something or someone e.g. After a while, I stopped following the conversation. Sorry - I don't follow you. Can you explain it again? to nod to move your head up and down, usually in agreement to run somebody through something to explain something e.g. Can you quickly run me through the new guidelines? Hang on / Hold on Use this to ask someone to stop or pause e.g. Hold on - I don't think I follow you Can you just hang on a second? I need to get my coat... to be lost here, to no longer understand e.g. Aaagh! I'm totally lost! to lose someone here, to confuse someone or lead to them not understanding you e.g. Hang on - you've lost me!

Note:

v  Although all houses should have a street number, many are known only by a name. if you have difficulty in finding such a house, try asking the local shopkeepers or better still, the postman, if you are lucky enough to see him. If you know that someone lives in a certain road but you don’t know which number, ask at the public library or police station and they will check on the electoral roll. This is a road-by-road list of all the people entitled to vote.

v  Don’t forget to put “excuse me” to make the conversation heard more polite.

v  “just” is a sort of filler and a way of suggesting that what a person has to do isn’t difficult.

Activity

Vocabulary and intonation exercise

Look at the conversation below and try to work out what words go in the spaces. Choose one of the words in the options section, below.

After you've checked your choices, read the dialogue out loud. See if you can guess what

intonation William uses to show Andrea whether or not he understands.

William: Andrea, can you just show me how to set up a new template?

Andrea: Yeah - It's basically like setting up a new document, except when it asks you what kind of document you're setting up, you choose 'template'...

William: (1) __________...

Andrea: OK?

William: Erm...

Andrea: You know that box that pops up and asks you what kind of document you want to create...?

William: Sorry Andrea, (2) ___________ ...

Andrea: OK, go to 'new'

William: 'New', right, (3) ____________.

Andrea: Then you see that box at the bottom where it says 'document type'...?

William: Uh-huh...

Andrea: Scroll down and choose 'template'.

William: Umm-hmm.

Andrea: Then just hit 'OK'.

William: Right! OK, (4) ____________!

Options

(1) Wrong / Right

(2) I've lost you / you've lost me

(3) you've lost me again / OK

(4) run me through that again, Andrea / I understand Andrea! / thanks Andrea!