Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 362, Getting In-Flight Service.
This is English as a Second Language.
Podcast episode 362 wwweslpodcom wwweslpodcom.
We'll see you next time and try to get some service or some help from the people who work on the airplane.
Let's get started.
I pushed the call button to get the attention of the flight attendant.
Yes, what can I do for you?
It's very cold in the cabin.
Is it possible to get a blanket?
We're out of blankets, but here's a pillow.
Okay, thanks.
I was asleep during the meal service.
Could I get a meal?
We don't have any more of the baked chicken.
We only have the bean salad left.
Oh, okay.
I'll take that.
Could I also get a drink?
What would you like?
What do you have?
The complimentary drinks are listed in our in-flight magazine.
Beer, wine, and other cocktails are $4.
I'll have a diet soda.
We're out of diet soda.
How about just some water?
What's that?
That's turbulence.
Make sure your seatbelt is fastened.
Could I get an air sickness bag, please?
I'm sorry, but we're out of those, too.
We're on an airplane in this episode.
HAL begins by pushing the call button to get the attention of the flight attendant.
The call button is a small button that you push when you need help or need service.
You need someone to help you.
This is especially true on an airplane.
The call button is usually above your head and you click on it and the flight attendant is supposed to see it and then come to help you.
The flight attendant used to be called the stewardess for a woman and steward for a man is the person who works on the airplane and brings food and drinks and perhaps blankets and pillows to the people who are on the airplane sitting in the seats.
They are also the people responsible for helping you if there's an emergency on the airplane.
The flight attendant comes and says yes.
What can I do for you?
How can I help you?
Hal says it's very cold in the cabin.
The cabin is the part of the airplane where the passengers are seated.
The front of the airplane where the pilots are the people who are operating the plane is called the cockpit cabin.
The main part of the airplane where everyone sits is called the cabin.
Hal says it's very cold in the cabin.
Is it possible to get a blanket?
A piece of thick cloth that you put on you to keep yourself warm?
The flight attendant says we're out of blankets, but here's a pillow, a bag that is soft, that you can put your head on.
Of course, if you are cold, having a pillow doesn't really help.
Hal then says, okay, thanks.
I was asleep.
I was sleeping during the meal service.
The meal service is the time in your airline flight when they serve you food and something to drink.
This used to be free on most airlines in the United States.
Now many times you have to pay for any food that you want.
So he missed the meal service and he wants to get a meal.
He wants to get some food.
The flight attendant says, "...we don't have any more of the baked chicken."
We only have the bean salad left.
Bean, B-E-A-N, is a pod or a seed that is cooked and eaten.
For example, in Mexico they have a lot of black beans.
That's a common food.
Bean has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations of how we use that word.
Hal says, okay, I'll take that, meaning I'll have the bean salad, please.
Could I also get a drink?
The flight attendant says, what would you like?
Hal says, what do you have?
Notice when we say that quickly, it sounds like, what do you have?
But slowly, what do you have?
The flight attendant says, the complimentary drinks are listed in our in-flight magazine.
If something is complementary, we mean it's free.
There's no additional cost.
It's included in your price.
In-flight magazines are magazines that are produced by the airline, by the company that owns the airplane.
And given to passengers for free.
They usually have articles inside of them and information about the airplane.
The complimentary drinks, the free drinks, are listed in our in-flight magazine, she says.
Beer, wine, and other cocktails are $4.00.
A cocktail is an alcoholic drink usually made by mixing two or more liquids together, either soda and alcohol or different kinds of alcohol.
We used to call the women who would work in the bars and give you your drinks cocktail waitresses.
Hal says, The flight attendant says, we're out of diet soda.
To be out of something means to no longer have something because you've used it or you've sold it, so there's nothing left.
If you, for example, drink all of the milk you have in your refrigerator, you could say we're out of milk.
We need to go buy some more.
Well, on this airplane, like many of the airplanes I have been on recently, they are out of many things.
They are out of diet soda, diet soda pop like Coke or Pepsi.
Hal says, how about just some water?
Meaning that all I want now is water.
Then he asks, what's that?
Something is happening on the plane.
The flight attendant says, that's turbulence.
Turbulence.
T-U-R-B-U-L-E-N-C-E are strong movements that you feel on a plane, usually because of wind.
The plane will move back and forth or go up and down quickly.
This happens very commonly on airplane flights.
The flight attendant says, make sure your seat belt is fastened.
Your seat belt is is something that goes usually around your waist and your shoulder.
That keeps you in your seat in case there's an accident.
You have seatbelts in your car, sometimes on a train, and always on a plane.
They are things that go around your waist and chest, shoulder and chest to keep you in your seat in case there's an accident.
The flight attendant says to make sure your seatbelt is fastened.
You'll hear that expression a lot on an airplane.
Make sure your seatbelt is fastened.
To be fastened means to be connected.
In this case, it means that you are wearing your seatbelt, and We use that expression where even though it really just means you are behind your seatbelt your seatbelt is over you and protecting you.
So fastening the seatbelt means putting it on so that it is working correctly.
Hal says, could I get an air sickness bag, please?
Air sickness is what happens when people are on an airplane and you have a lot of turbulence.
Sometimes it causes problems with your stomach.
And sometimes you need to get rid of what's in your stomach, even if you don't want to.
An air sickness bag then, is a paper bag that you find usually in the seat in front of you, in the pocket on the back of the seat in front of you, that you can use in case you're going to be sick.
But of course on this airplane, the flight attendant tells Hal they're out of air sickness bags.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I push the call button to get the attention of the flight attendant.
Yes?
What can I do for you?
It's very cold in the cabin.
Is it possible to get a blanket?
We're out of blankets, but here's a pillow.
Okay, thanks.
I was asleep during the meal service.
Could I get a meal?
We don't have any more of the baked chicken.
We only have the bean salad left.
Oh, okay.
I'll take that.
Could I also get a drink?
What would you like?
What do you have?
The complimentary drinks are listed in Art in Flight magazine.
Beer, wine, and other cocktails are $4.
I'll have a diet soda.
We're out of diet soda.
How about just some water?
What's that?
That's turbulence.
Make sure your seatbelt is fastened.
Could I get an air sickness bag, please?
I'm sorry, but we're out of those, too.
The script for this episode was written by the co-pilot of ESL Podcast, 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 Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
