Dialogue: At the reception desk

Receptionist: Good afternoon. Thank you for calling our company. My name is Zita. How may I direct your call?
Caller: I would like to talk to Mr Bartos, please.
Receptionist: Can I ask who’s calling?
Caller: This is Jurij Altukhov from the Moscow branch.
Receptionist: One moment, please. I’ll put you through to his assistant.

…

Receptionist: I’m afraid the extension is busy. Do you want to hold or would you like to call back later?
Caller: Just let him know that I called about the meeting on Friday.
Receptionist: Can I have your name again, please?
Caller: Jurij Altukhov .
Receptionist: A-L-T-U-C-H-O-V?
Caller: Almost. Change the C in the middle to K for Kilo.
Receptionist: Thank you sir, I’ll let Mr Bartos know to call you back about the Friday meeting. Is there anything else I can do for you?
Caller: No, thank you. Good-bye.
Receptionist: Thank you for calling, good-bye.

—————————————–

How may I direct your call? – Kit kapcsolhatok?
Can I ask who’s calling? – Ki keresi?
branch – fiókiroda
to put someone through – kapcsolni valakit
extension – mellék
busy – foglalt
to hold – tartani (vonalat)
to let someone know – valakinek megmondani valamit, tudtára adni
to call about something – valamivel kapcsolatban telefonálni
Can I have your name again, please? – Szabad még egyszer a nevét?
Is there anything else I can do for you? – Tehetek Önért még valamit?

———————–

IMPORTANT PHRASES

How can I help you?– Miben segíthetek?
I’d like to book tickets for … . – Szeretnék jegyeket foglalni a …-ra/-re.
The concert will take place … .  – A koncert …-ban/-ben kerül megrendezésre.
When does it start? – Mikor kezdődik?
Would you like seated or standing tickets? – Ülő vagy álló jegyet szeretne?
They are not suitable for … . – Nem megfelelő/alkalmas … számára.
It doesn’t matter. – Nem számít.
I’ll take it/them. – Elviszem (azt/azokat).
Here you go. – Tessék (itt van).

IMPORTANT WORDS

to book– (le)foglal
ticket –jegy
to take place – megrendezésre kerül
seated ticket – ülőhely
standing ticket – állóhely
seat – ülés
available – elérhető/megszerezhető/szabad
suitable – megfelelő/alkalmas
disabled people – mozgáskorlátozottak

The ‘Brummie’ accent is considered to be the ugliest accent in the British Isles, according to a new poll from YouGov. The UK and Ireland has a massive range of accents for such small islands – we have the same amount of dialects as the whole of North America- including Canada, Bermuda and Native American dialects.

The Brummie accent is the least attractive, followed by the Scouse (Liverpool) accent, then the Mancunian (Manchester). The top three most attractive accents are the Southern Irish, then Received Pronounciation (RP), then Welsh. Yorkshire comes in at fourth. RP is known as ‘BBC English’ and is the standard accent of the Southern areas of Britain.

Older people like West Country accents

Different age groups find different accents attractive. 63% of the over 60s find it attractive, compared to 22% of the 18-24 year olds. The youth just don’t like that West Country (South West England) voice.

Young people like Northern Irish accents

If you’re Northern Irish and into 18-24 year olds, you’re in luck. They’re the age group most likely to find your accent attractive (54%) compared to only 37% of over-60s.

We like our own accents

People in London don’t find the cockney accent too offensive, scoring it an attractiveness rating of -16, whereas the rest of the UK dislike it by -30. Scottish people also quite like Glaswegian accents, scoring it at net 7, but the British don’t like it, rating it -29.

www.mirror.co.uk

Where from?

answers: 1-d 2-e 3-a 4-b 5-c

Want to get hitched but don’t have a man? Head to Japan where a company sells ‘solo weddings’

Do you dream of having a white wedding, but despair at the lack of a man in your life to share the big day with? You’re not alone – a new trend is cropping up in the Far East for solo weddings. As women become financially independent, they are putting off settling down with partners until later on in life. But they still want the all-about-me no-expense-spared party that comes with getting hitched, without actually having to tie the knot.

Travel company Cera Travel in Kyoto, a city in southern Japan, has started a new service called ‘Solo Wedding.’ It lets single women enjoy all the fun and glamour of the day, including spending the honeymoon night in a fancy hotel. The two-day trip sees the clients get dress fittings, choose their own bouquets, get their hair and make-up done and even choose a man to accompany them for a photo shoot.

The service started in June and is aimed at single, working women who have decided to pursue careers instead of follow the traditional Japanese route of getting married. It is also being marketed at women who have been divorced but want to feel special again. So far ten women have taken up the offer, which costs around £1,700 ($2,750).

A spokesman for the company said: ‘It is a truly unique experience and one that we are very proud of. All the details are taken care of by wedding professionals and for those who don’t want a traditional white wedding dress we offer our Geisha service, which sees the brides going on an historical photo shoot dressed up as Geishas.’

Businesswoman Nagi Daisen, 43, said: ‘I’ve been in a relationship for years but we’ve never got round to actually getting married. So I decided to do this for myself and it was amazing fun. I always wanted to wear a wedding dress and to be pampered like this and now I have been. It was great.’

The honeymoon night does not include the model used for the photo shoot, although the company said the women mostly invited their boyfriends to join them in the honeymoon suite after the ‘wedding’ was over.

source: Daily Mail

True or false?

1. The new service is aimed at women whose boyfriend has refused to get married.

2. The brides get to pick the dress, the flowers and have their hair and make-up done.

3. The brides can choose between a white dress and a traditional Geisha outfit.

4. Japanese women traditionally pursue careers.

5. The trip includes a night at an elegant hotel with whoever the brides want to take along.

answers: 1-F 2-T 3-T 4-F 5-T

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

A £55 no-frills mobile phone for old people, with just eight pre-programmed numbers for friends and family, has been launched by charity Age UK. The credit card-sized ‘My Phone’ has been designed to make phone calls easy for people unfamiliar with modern technology or with bad eyesight.

Rather than press numbers to make a phone call, the owner simply presses a customised button with the name of a friend or family member on it. The phone can take up to eight numbers, which are pre-programmed into the phone by the manufacturer when it is ordered. The phones also have an ‘answer’ button and an ‘on/off’ switch.

The simple format means that an elderly person can contact loved ones at the touch of a button and without the need to go through a phonebook. The phones, which come in 11 different colours, arrive fully-charged and have a battery life of around five days. According to research by Age UK, seven in ten of those aged over 65 use a mobile phone. However this falls to just over half among those aged over 75.

Helena King, head of affinity at Age UK, said it is “not surprising” that some older people have limited experience of using mobile phones as most people over the age of 65 use a fixed landline as their main method of making and receiving phone calls. She said that the My Phone is “easy to use and means that people can contact their nearest and dearest at literally the touch of a button”.

source: Telegraph