Learn how to reserve a table in a restaurant
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Making a Dinner Reservation in English. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to reserve a table in a restaurant. The conversation takes place over the phone. |
| Kellie: The speakers are strangers. |
| David: So they will use formal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Waiter: Adam's restaurant, how may I help you? |
| Katrina: Hello, I'd like to reserve a table for tomorrow night please? |
| Waiter: Certainly. For what time? |
| Katrina: About 7pm, if possible. |
| Waiter: How many people are in your party? |
| Katrina: There are four of us. One person is vegan though. |
| Waiter: That won't be a problem as we have many vegan dishes available. So that's a table for four at 7pm. May I take your name please? |
| Katrina: It's Katrina. Thank you for your help! |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Waiter: Adam's restaurant, how may I help you? |
| Katrina: Hello, I'd like to reserve a table for tomorrow night please? |
| Waiter: Certainly. For what time? |
| Katrina: About 7pm, if possible. |
| Waiter: How many people are in your party? |
| Katrina: There are four of us. One person is vegan though. |
| Waiter: That won't be a problem as we have many vegan dishes available. So that's a table for 4 at 7pm. May I take your name please? |
| Katrina: It's Katrina. Thank you for your help! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Katrina made a restaurant reservation. To be honest, I think that food in the UK has a bad reputation internationally. |
| Kellie: Yeah, I think it’s seen as being bland and tasteless. |
| David: Is that true though? |
| Kellie: British food isn’t as highly seasoned or spiced as food in other countries, but I don’t think that it’s bland. |
| David: What type of food is eaten in the UK? |
| Kellie: A lot of food is quite heavy and hearty, with lots of meat and vegetables. It’s good for colder weather. |
| David: Oh, like the traditional Sunday roast? |
| Kellie: Yeah. That’s roast meat, like beef or lamb, lots of vegetables and a family gathering. There’s also savoury pies. |
| David: Steak and kidney is popular too. |
| Kellie: It is. But British food is also expanding to include food from other cultures. Indian curry is probably the most popular dish in the UK. |
| David: What other types of international cuisine can you find in the UK? |
| Kellie: In the larger cities you can find anything! Italian, Thai, Japanese, Spanish, Mexican…. you name it! |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: many [natural native speed] |
| David: consisting of a large amount |
| Kellie: many[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: many [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: party [natural native speed] |
| David: a group of people |
| Kellie: party[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: party [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: person [natural native speed] |
| David: a human being |
| Kellie: person[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: person [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: vegan [natural native speed] |
| David: a person who eats nothing that comes from an animal |
| Kellie: vegan[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: vegan [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: problem [natural native speed] |
| David: an obstacle, a source of distress, a negative issue |
| Kellie: problem[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: problem [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: dish [natural native speed] |
| David: a particular meal or item of food |
| Kellie: dish[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: dish [natural native speed] |
| David: And last.. |
| Kellie: available [natural native speed] |
| David: not busy, easy to get or use |
| Kellie: available[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: available [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: table for four |
| David: meaning "a table in a restaurant that can seat four customers”. We learned in the vocabulary of Lesson 17 that “table” can specifically refer to a place where we sit in a restaurant and have food served to us. |
| Kellie: Right. By adding “for four”, we are asking for a table that seats four people. |
| David: So we can change the number. For example, “Table for two”, “table for one”, or “table for 45”. |
| Kellie: That last one is a bit extreme! We can also use “table by” to talk about the location of the table. |
| David: Oh, like “table by the window” if the restaurant is in a place with nice scenery. |
| Kellie: Yep. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. Do you have a table for four available? |
| David: ..which means "Is there a table that will seat four people available?" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: party |
| David: meaning "a group of people" |
| David: We spoke about parties before in previous lessons. |
| Kellie: Yes, but that was a different type of party. That was the type of social gathering where people get together to celebrate something. This is different. |
| David: What is this party? |
| Kellie: It means a group of people gathered for a particular purpose. If you make a reservation at a restaurant or hotel, they might not ask “for how many people”, but instead ask “how many are in your party?” |
| David: Okay. I also hear it in politics a lot. The Conservative Party and the Labour Party for example. |
| Kellie: Yeah, we call them political parties, not political groups. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. We're travelling in a party of five. |
| David: .. which means "We’re travelling in a group of five people." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to reserve a table in a restaurant. |
| David: We discussed the phrase “table for four” earlier. Now, let’s take a closer look at the preposition “for”. |
| Kellie: We’ve spoken about prepositions before and learned that they are a class of words that are used to modify nouns, verbs and adjectives. |
| David: There are many ways that we can use “for”. |
| Kellie: We can use it to describe what something is used for. |
| David: Like “This knife is used for steak.” |
| Kellie: Yes. That means that the knife being spoken about is a steak knife. You might hear that in a restaurant! Also “He reserved a table for my birthday.” |
| David: Ah, as it was your birthday, he reserved the table. |
| Kellie: Yes. The table is for birthday celebrations. |
| David: What are the other uses? |
| Kellie: There is also “because of”. For example, “I am working hard for him.” |
| David: Meaning “Because of him, I am working hard.” He is the reason why you’re working hard. |
| Kellie: Right. You can put “for” at the start of the sentence too. “For this reason, I was late.” |
| David: Any more uses? |
| Kellie: It can also be used for time. “We were at the restaurant for three hours.” |
| David:Or “The race lasted for five minutes.” |
| Kellie: We can combine a couple of uses of the word “for” to book a table in a restaurant. For example, “I would like to book a table for three people for seven o’clock.” |
| David: That uses “for” two times. |
| Kellie: Yes. The first time, we’re saying that the table will be used by three people, and the second time, we are talking about the time it will be used. |
| David: So it’s a handy word to remember when booking a restaurant. |
| Kellie: That’s right. In the dialogue, the waiter said “May I take your name please?” “May” is a modal verb that can be used in many ways, just like “for” can be. Here, the waiter is asking for permission to take the coat. |
| David: How else can it be used? |
| Kellie: It can be used for possibility. For example, “It may rain tomorrow.” |
| David: “It may not rain tomorrow” |
| Kellie: Well, one of us will be right! It can also be used for suggestions. |
| David: More specifically, polite suggestion. |
| Kellie: Yes. It’s not a very forceful suggestion because it’s polite. You may want to remember that. |
| David: “You may want to…” that’s a common phrase. |
| Kellie: It’s a good to make polite suggestions. |
| David: I don’t know… We may want to listen to this lesson again! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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