Learn how to navigate passport control
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Intro |
|---|
| Imagine you've just landed after a long flight to America and you're almost free! But first, you need to go through passport control. What will they ask you? How should you respond? |
| Hi. Alisha here. |
| Navigating passport control isn't as hard as you might think! In this lesson, you'll learn how. |
| Gustavo has just arrived in New York. He's in line at passport control. |
| Let's watch! |
| Dialogue |
| Customs Agent: Next. |
| Customs Agent: Passport, please. |
| Gustavo: Hello. Here you are. |
| Customs Agent: How long will you be staying? |
| Gustavo: For six weeks. |
| Customs Agent: And where will you be staying? |
| Gustavo: At the Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Customs Agent: What’s the purpose of your visit? |
| Gustavo: I'm here on business. |
| Customs Agent: Okay. Thank you. Welcome to the United States. |
| Now with subtitles! |
| Customs Agent: Next. |
| Customs Agent: Passport, please. |
| Gustavo: Hello. Here you are. |
| Customs Agent: How long will you be staying? |
| Gustavo: For six weeks. |
| Customs Agent: And where will you be staying? |
| Gustavo: At the Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Customs Agent: What’s the purpose of your visit? |
| Gustavo: I'm here on business. |
| Customs Agent: Okay. Thank you. Welcome to the United States. |
| Vocab |
| Here are the key words from the scene. |
| Brandon: passport (slow) passport |
| Brandon: please (slow) please |
| Brandon: Hello (slow) Hello |
| Brandon: business (slow) business |
| Brandon: okay (slow) okay |
| Brandon: thank you (slow) thank you |
| Phrase and Usage |
| Alisha: In the scene, what did Gustavo say when he gave his passport to the immigration officer? |
| GUSTAVO Here you are. |
| Alisha: This short sentence helps indicate that someone is giving something to someone in response to a request. First is the word |
| Brandon: here |
| Alisha: Next is the word |
| Brandon: you |
| Alisha: And last is the word |
| Brandon: are |
| Alisha: Together it's |
| Brandon: Here you are. |
| Alisha: Try saying this as Gustavo hands his passport over to the immigration officer. (freeze action, cue for viewer to speak) |
| Brandon: Here you are. |
| Alisha: At the end of the scene, how does the immigration officer welcome Gustavo? |
| Brandon: Welcome to the United States. |
| Alisha: This is a polite, and sometimes friendly, way to indicate to someone that you're glad to have them to a home, place of work, or another place somehow belonging to you. It starts with the core phrase |
| Brandon: welcome to |
| Alisha: and then finishes with the location. In this case, |
| Brandon: The United States. |
| Alisha: Try saying this after the immigration officer speaks. (freeze action, cue for viewer to speak) |
| Brandon: Welcome to the United States. |
| Focus |
| Alisha: Do you remember the first question the immigration officer asked after Gustavo gave him his passport? |
| IMMIGRATION OFFICER How long will you be staying? |
| Alisha: Immigration officers ask this question to find out about the length of a visitor's stay. They want to know if a visitor plans to stay for 2 weeks, for example, or 1 month. First is the phrase |
| Brandon: How long |
| Alisha: Next is the word |
| Brandon: will |
| Alisha: After this is the word |
| Brandon: you |
| Alisha: and last is the phrase |
| Brandon: be staying. |
| Alisha: Gustavo responds with a length of time. |
| Brandon: For six weeks. |
| Alisha: First is the word |
| Brandon: for |
| Alisha: Next is the number |
| Brandon: six |
| Alisha: And last is the word |
| Brandon: weeks. |
| Alisha: Together it's |
| Brandon: For six weeks. |
| Alisha: The sentence structure to answer the question, how long will you be staying is: For + number of days or weeks. Imagine you're going to stay for two weeks. Answer the question |
| Brandon: How long will you be staying? {PAUSE} |
| Brandon: For two weeks. |
| Alisha: Do you remember the second question the immigration officer asked Gustavo in the scene? |
| Immigration Officer: Where will you be staying? |
| Alisha: This question is identical to the first question, except instead of saying |
| Brandon: How long |
| Alisha: The immigration officer asked |
| Brandon: where |
| Alisha: The immigration officer is asking to find out which hotel or address a visitor will be staying at. Again, it's |
| Brandon: Where will you be staying? |
| Alisha: In response, Gustavo gives the name of his hotel. |
| GUSTAVO At the Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Alisha: First is the word |
| Brandon: At |
| Alisha: And after this is the name of the hotel. |
| Brandon: The Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Alisha: Together it's |
| Brandon: At the Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Alisha: The sentence structure to answer the question |
| Brandon: Where will you be staying |
| Alisha: is at + your hotel name. Imagine you'll be staying at the Plaza Hotel. Answer the question |
| Brandon: Where will you be staying? {PAUSE} |
| Brandon: At the Plaza Hotel. |
| Alisha: Do you remember the third question the immigration officer asked in the scene? |
| IMMIGRATION OFFICER What's the purpose of your visit? |
| Alisha: The immigration officer asks this to understand why Gustavo is visiting. First is a contraction of "what" and "is" |
| Brandon: What's |
| Alisha: Next is the word |
| Brandon: the |
| Alisha: After this is the word |
| Brandon: purpose |
| Alisha: Next is the word |
| Brandon: of |
| Alisha: Following this is the word |
| Brandon: your |
| Alisha: and last is the word |
| Brandon: visit |
| Alisha: Together it's |
| Brandon: What's the purpose of your visit? |
| Alisha: In response, Gustavo answers |
| GUSTAVO I'm here on business. |
| Alisha: This starts with the core phrase |
| Brandon: I'm here on |
| Alisha: First is a contraction of "I" and "am" |
| Brandon: I'm |
| Alisha: Next is the word |
| Brandon: Here |
| Alisha: And after this is the word |
| Brandon: "On" |
| Alisha: Together it's |
| Brandon: I'm here on |
| Alisha: Following this core phrase is the word |
| Brandon: Business |
| Alisha: All together it's |
| Brandon: I'm here on business. |
| Alisha: This means that Gustavo is in the country to do business, and not just to sightsee. Alternatively he could have said |
| Brandon: I'm here for pleasure. |
| Alisha: This is the same pattern as the first response. The only difference is that |
| Brandon: on business |
| Alisha: Has been taken out and |
| Brandon: for pleasure |
| Alisha: is used instead. Again, that's |
| Brandon: I'm here for pleasure. |
| Alisha: Now you try! Imagine your trip is for sightseeing. Answer the question. |
| Brandon: What's the purpose of your visit? {PAUSE} |
| Brandon: I'm here for pleasure. |
| Alisha: Now, imagine you are visiting the U.S. on business. Answer the question. |
| Brandon: What's the purpose of your visit? |
| Brandon: I'm here on business. |
| Practice |
| Alisha: You've arrived to the United States and you'll need to go through passport control. Ready? Here we go. |
| Alisha: The immigration officer asks you to show her your passport. What do you say when you give your passport to her? |
| (5 second pause) |
| Brandon: Here you are |
| Alisha: How do you answer the question, how long will you stay? |
| (5 second pause) |
| Brandon: For [E: the number of days or weeks] |
| Gustavo For six weeks. |
| Alisha: How do you answer the question, where will you stay? |
| (5 second pause) |
| Brandon: At [E: your hotel name] |
| Gustavo At the Four Seasons Hotel. |
| Alisha You are on business in New York. How do you answer the question, what's the purpose of your stay? |
| (5 second pause) |
| Gustavo I'm here on business. |
| Alisha Great job! You're ready to go through passport control! Keep up the good work and remember to practice! |
Outro |
| Well done! |
| Now, watch the scene one more time. After that, |
| practice with us in the comments until you're ready to go! |
| Bye. |
268 Comments
HideWhy do you study English?
Hello Thora,
Wow!! 👋 Thank you so much your kind feedback. ❤️️
We have so many lessons and a lot of support for you here during your studies and are constantly updating the lessons on our site so please stay tuned! 👍
Feel free to ask us any questions that come up.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
I want to communicate with my colleagues more efficiently and naturally. As my work nature, we have many locals and expats colleagues. Though I can write the reports, emails in English, I always face difficulties in the meeting, the presentation and even in daily work life. Whenever I sit the English test, the B1 or B2 level ever shows me, but I know myself I'm not in that level. So, I decided to learn from the absolute beginner. This learning webpage is the best for me to learn for the self learners. I love Alisha, her teaching method is awesome. I think there are many talent teachers here like her. I really love the EnglishClass101. Thank you so much.
Hello again Álvaro,
Thanks for taking the time to post and share. 👍
We wish you all the success in your studies and thank you again.
Regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Currently, I'm studing English to improve my speaking skills for a better communication with my friends from the United States. I have a degree on English translation but I mostly focused on writing. It's always good to listen to a native speaker and learn new words and phrases!
Hello Krista,
Would you like to practice more? 😄
Upgrade to ‘Premium Plus’ and get personal instructions from one of our English teachers through our ‘MyTeacher’ feature!
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
So that I can understand the words.
Next
Passport, please.
Hi, here you are.
How long will be staying?
for 2 weeks.
And where will you be staying?
At my brother's.
What's the purpose of you visiting?
I'm here to celebrate my cosines birthday and go to the balloon festival.
Okay, Thank you, Welcome to United States.
Hello Tiago,
Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your new English language skills.
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have here or direct to your teacher in the ‘MyTeacher’ feature.
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
I'm study English for read more books, watch some movies and travel to countries who speak English.
Hello Alina,
Thanks for taking the time to post. 👍
It wouldn't be grammatically correct to say "That's not good that I said" or "That's not good what I said." The word "what" has many different meanings and uses. The word "that" is a determiner used at the beginning of a sentence.
If you would like further assistance, I suggest upgrading to our ‘Premium Plus’ membership to get personal instructions from one of our English teachers through our ‘MyTeacher’ feature! (Link: www.englishclass101.com/myteacher)
Kindly,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Good👍
I enjoy that❤️️. I want to ask. That's not good that I said. And that's not good what I said. What is difference in these two sentences? Some use instead of what and that -such as which or....,How different?? Can you tell your explanation and with example sentences? And after write( that/what )the verb say is past tense or present tense? If there any mistakes that I wrote please teach me back.