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Podcast number 520 Getting Directions and Parking Instructions.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 520.
© transcript Emily Beynon.
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This podcast is a dialogue between a receptionist, somebody who answers the phone at a business, and Asha.
It's about giving someone directions how to arrive at a certain place, as well as instructions on parking.
Let's get started.
So the meeting is set for 2 o'clock on Thursday.
Do you know how to get to our offices?
No, I don't.
Could you give me directions?
Certainly.
We're located on Main Street.
The cross street is Udall.
If you're taking the freeway, the best exit to take is Udall East.
Once you're on Udall, head east for about two miles, and when you reach the bend, veer right.
If you veer left, you'll run into a dead end.
After you veer right, you'll be on Monroe Avenue, and it's a one-way street.
Our building is on the right hand side past the light.
If you pass Elm Street, you've gone too far.
Okay, I think I've got all that.
Is there parking available?
Unfortunately, there's only street parking.
There is valet parking for the building next door, but they charge $12 and we don't validate.
There are meters on the street and on the side streets, but you may need to circle the block a few times to find an available meter.
All right, and thanks for the information.
I guess I need to leave early to have plenty of time to find the building and to find parking.
Thanks for the heads up.
Our dialogue begins with the receptionist, the person who answers the telephone at a business.
Saying to Asha.
The meeting is set for 2 o'clock on Thursday.
To say it is set for means it is planned for 2 o'clock.
Do you know how to get to our offices?
Asha says, no, I don't.
Could you give me directions?
Can you give me instructions on how to get there?
Directions can mean instructions on how to do something.
But when we're talking about location, it's instructions on how to arrive at a certain place.
Asha doesn't know how to get to the building, so she asks for directions.
The receptionist says certainly, meaning yes, of course.
We're located on Main Street.
The cross street is Udall.
A cross street is the closest street that intersects with the street that your home or office is on.
So if you have your offices on Main Street and the street that runs perpendicular, that crosses that street that is closest to you is Udall, that would be the cross street.
Udall is the cross street.
If you're taking the freeway, the best exit is to take Udall East.
An exit on a freeway is where the cars can get off of the freeway.
It's sometimes called the off-ramp.
The on-ramp is how you get onto the freeway.
So the nearest or best exit is Udall East.
Once you're on Udall, head east for about two miles.
Head here is used as a verb, to head somewhere.
To head somewhere means to go in a particular direction.
To travel in a specific direction, usually north south, east or west.
So the receptionist tells her to head east.
That means drive toward the east on Udall for about two miles.
And when you reach the bend, veer right.
Bend, B-E-N-D, here means a curve in the road.
When you have a road that suddenly starts to go in a different direction.
That's called a bend.
Not necessarily 90 degrees.
In fact, a bend is usually less than 90 degrees.
The word bend has a couple of different meanings in English however, so take a look at the learning guide for some more explanations.
So the receptionist tells her that when she reaches the bend, she should veer, V-E-E-R, right.
To veer means to change directions without stopping, usually to go either right or left on the main road.
So in this case, the road has a bend in it, but it may also have a continuation.
It may be continuing going straight and then part of the road really another road goes off in another direction.
So he's telling her to veer right. go toward the right when she reaches the bend, not left.
If she veers left, if she goes left in the opposite direction, she'll run into a dead end.
To run into something means to encounter something, to arrive somewhere where you weren't expecting, something that you didn't expect perhaps, or something that is a negative influence or an obstacle, something that prevents you from doing what you want to do.
In this case, you'll run into a dead end.
A dead end is a street that ends with no connecting streets, so you would have to turn around and go out.
So the receptionist continues.
After you veer right, you'll be on Monroe Avenue and it's a one-way street.
A one-way street is a street where cars can only move in one direction, not in two directions like most streets.
He says, our building is on the right-hand side past the light.
Past means beyond.
The light here means the traffic light.
The traffic light is the box that has three lights red, yellow and green at least in the United States.
Red means stop, green means go, yellow means caution.
Usually between the red and the green, when the light is changing, we would say.
So when someone says it's past the light, they mean you have to go past the traffic light and it is beyond it.
It is farther than that.
He says if you pass Elm Street, if you go past Elm Street, you've gone too far.
Asha says, okay, I think I've got all that.
I think I understand all of that.
The receptionist says, unfortunately, there's only street parking.
Street parking is when you have to park on the street, not in a parking lot or in a parking garage.
He says there is valet parking for the building next door.
Valet parking is when you have somebody who parks your car for you.
So you drive up to the front of the building, you get out, you give your keys to someone who we call a valet, and that person drives your car and parks it somewhere else, so you don't have to park it.
This is very popular here in Los Angeles.
There are lots of restaurants that have valet parking.
In fact, there's even a grocery store here that has valet parking.
Of course, valet parking isn't free normally, and you have to pay extra money.
In this case, the valet parking charge is 12, which is not unusual if it were a business, like a business, building.
The receptionist says that we don't validate.
Often when you go to a business that has valet parking you don't have to pay because the business will say that you are there for money, their purposes, and therefore they will pay your parking.
So you bring in your parking ticket, little piece of paper they give you with the time that you entered and they'll put a little stamp on it.
They'll put a mark on the ticket to show that they will pay for it.
That's to validate.
But unfortunately the receptionist says they don't validate for the valet parking for the building next door, the building next to theirs.
The receptionist says there are meters on the street and on the side streets.
A meter is a machine that you put money into, usually coins, to buy a certain amount of time so you can park there.
So parking meters are... are very common, especially in busy places.
You have to pay usually a dollar, maybe two dollars an hour to park in a particular place.
Parking meters are usually on the street, but you can also find some public parking meters in parking lots in separate areas, just for parking cars.
The receptionist says that there are meters on the street the street where the building is located and on the side streets.
A side street is a street that is connected to a main or larger street.
So you may have a big street, and then you have small streets that are near it.
Those smaller streets are called side streets.
Often side streets are places where houses are located, but not always.
The receptionist says that you may need to circle the block a few times to find an available meter.
To circle something means to go around something.
To circle the block means to go around the streets that are surrounding a certain building.
You have to turn right and then go down the street and then turn right again and go down that street and then turn right again, go down that street and turn right again and go down that street.
You're circling the block.
The block is the space that is like a square.
The streets go on all four sides.
Asha says, alright and thanks for the information.
I guess I need to leave early to have plenty of time, to have enough time to find the building and to find parking.
The receptionist says, I tell everybody to count on getting lost.
To count on is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to assume or believe that something will happen, to depend on or rely on something.
Count has several different meanings in English however, so take a look at our learning guide for some more explanations of that word.
The receptionist says that he tells everybody to count on getting lost, meaning you're probably going to get lost.
So you should give yourself extra time.
You should also count on having to hunt for parking.
To hunt means to search or to look for, in this case.
To hunt for parking means to have to look for a place to park your car because people It's so crowded in that area.
Asha says thanks for the heads up, meaning thanks for the warning.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
So the meeting is set for two o'clock on Thursday.
Do you know how to get to our offices?
No, I don't.
Could you give me directions?
Certainly.
We're located on Main Street.
The cross street is Udall.
If you're taking the freeway, the best exit to take is Udall East.
Once you're on Udall, head east for about two miles, and when you reach the bend, veer right.
If you veer left, you'll run into a dead end.
After you veer right, you'll be on Monroe Avenue, and it's a one-way street.
Our building is on the right-hand side, past the light.
If you pass Elm Street, you've gone too far.
Okay, I think I've got all that.
Is there parking available?
Unfortunately, there's only street parking.
There is valet parking for the building next door, but they charge $12 and we don't validate.
There are meters on the street and on the side streets, but you may need to circle the block a few times to find an available meter.
All right, and thanks for the information.
I guess I need to leave early to have plenty of time to find the building and to find parking.
I tell everybody to count on getting lost and having to hunt for parking.
Thanks for the heads up.
You can always count on good quality scripts when they're written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
