Sentences

The Apple 1997 Ads

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Natural usage

I always encourage people to prepare as much as you can even if only one day is left, let alone most people have at least several weeks before their on-site interviews.

If the probability of a flamingo being present is higher, we decide this image contains an instance of a flamingo. If it is the other way around, we decide there is no flamingo

Talk about jobs

I work for XX company.

I work in + field. (I work in finance. I work in digital marketing. I work in HR department of a financial firm.)

I run my own business, so I work for myself.

I work for an international company which does market research for other companies.

I’m a freelancer (meaning I work independently for different people and companies)

I’m between jobs at the moment (meaning I left one job and haven’t found another job yet)

I’m a nurse. I have to look after patients, give them medicine and make sure they’re comfortable. I’m reponsible for about 20-30 patients. Most of my time is spent talking to them and checking everything is OK.

I have to design websites to the client’s specifications. I’m responsible for the whole design process, so I have to take client’s ideas and turn them into a finished product. Most of my time is spent experimenting with different designs and ideas and seeing what design looks good. Because attention to the detail is important in this kind of job.

The positive adjectives for describing your feeling about job:

The negative adjectives for describing your feeling about job:

I’m a pharmacist. I started my own small pharmacy. So I’m also a business owner. I have to work as a pharmacist, of course, giving advice to patients and making sure they have the right medicine. However, I’m also reponsible for the pharmacy, so I have to manage my staff, do the accounts, and so on. It’s stimulating work because I have to do many different things every day, so I never get bored.

I’m a writer. I work in online education. I work for a big publishing company, which produces different educational materials which are used all around the world. I have to write lesson plans and materials for teachers to use in the classroom. I spend most of my time to think how I can make different things fit together into a lesson. It’s a very challenging work and it can be exhausting. But it’s also very creative and satifying, because I know people all around the world are using lessons which I wrote.

Talk about money

You go to hoilday again? How can you afford it? I can barely pay my rent each month.

How do you stick to it?

spend money <-> save money <-> waste money. They waste a lot of money on things they don’t need.

Big spender <-> frugal. (Both are neutral words, no positive or negative meaning) Are you a big spender? or more frugal?

save money for sth <-> save money to do sth. I’m saving up for a holiday next year.

make a budget. Cut back on sth. Splash out. Treat yourself.

My friends live in London and earn a decent money. But they don’t have much leftover at the end of month. Mostly, they just getting by.

You can say you make a good money or make a decent money, if your salary is above average. (You are well-off)

If you only make just enough to cover your costs, you can say you just getting by. (You have enough money to live but not much more) For example, I don’t earn a lot but I get by.

If someone even cannot make enough money to cover the basic expenses like rent, food and transport, they are struggling (you can also say make ends meet). I can barely make ends meet. He’s struggling to make ends meet. I don’t know how make ends meet if we had another child.

take out a loan. Mortgage. repay a loan. He cannot keep up the interest.

in debt: you owe money.

It will take us another ten years to pay off our mortgage.

The interest on our car loan is ridiculously high.

I never borrow money, I don’t like being in debt.

Buy sth on credit.

max out a credit card means that you borrow maximum money from the credit card.

If you cannot pay off your debt, you may declare bankruptcy (your debts will be cancelled but you will lose anything you have which is worth money)

You can invest something like shares=stocks/bonds/funds.

The shares will take off and I will double or even triple my money.

If shares go up very fast, you can say take off. If it goes down very fast, you can say crash. For example, they lost a lot of money when the stock market crashed in 2008.

You may lose everything and get wiped out.

How to order coffee

Types of coffee:

  1. Espresso: a small amount very strong coffee. This small amount is called shot.
  2. Americano = espresso + hot water
  3. Cappuccino = espresso + steamed milk + foamed milk on top
  4. Latte = espresso + lots of steamed milk
  5. Mocha = espresso + hot chocolate + steamed milk (sometime with cream on top)
  6. Black coffee = without milk

Types of milk:

  1. Low fat
  2. fat free
  3. soy

Coffee extras:

  1. caramel syrup
  2. chocolate syrup
  3. vanilla syrup
  4. cream
  5. extra shots of espresso

Choose your size:

  1. small
  2. medium
  3. large
  4. extra large

The sample sentences for ordering coffee like: Small cappucino with caramel syrup. Medium mocha without cream. Large iced latte with low-fat milk. Medium iced americano with fat-free milk.

The barista will say something like: May I take your order? What would you like? What can I get you? What will you have? Is that for here or to take away? (在店里喝还是带走)

You can make your order like: I would like medium hot mocha with low-fat milk to go. (to go means you will take the coffee away)

The barista may ask you if you would like something more like: Will that be all? Is that everything? Would you like anything else?

The barista will tell you total cost like: Your total is …? That comes to …? That will be …?

Hotel

I’d like to make a reservation for the 3rd of November for three nights.

Types of room:

  1. single room
  2. double room (one big beds)
  3. twin room (two seperate beds)
  4. triple room
  5. family room
  6. suite (like an apartment with dinning room, kitchen and one or more bedrooms)

Is there any way you can offer a discount?

I think there is a problem in name spelling. I do apologize. (apologize -> noun. apology)

Hotel Facilities.

Ask wake-up call: I would like a wake-up call tomorrow, if possible

Ask airport shuttle: Do you offer any airport shuttle? Do you offer dry-cleaning service?

Concierge service

I wanted to ask is it possible to check out one hour late?

How to express anger without being rude?

I have to say this is totally unacceptable.

This sort of thing should not happen.

There is dust everywhere and I found the hair in the pillow which definitely isn’t mine. I have to say this is unacceptable. If I’m paying this much money, the least I should be able to expect is cleaning bedding.

The total seems higher than I expected. What are these addtional charges?

This payment is for the water and snacks you had from the minibar and looks like this is a phone call that was made from united states.

Thank you for staying with us.

Phone English

How to make a informal phone call

Some useful phases:

How to make a formal phone call

Some useful phases:

A phone call with some problems

Some useful phases:

When you call someone who is not there

Some useful phases:

Vacation

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks. Mostly, we went hiking in the hill and mountains nearby. We also just hung out in the village, playing cards and eating.

hang out: you spend time to relax without any particular goal

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days. We did some sightseeing in Bangkok: The Great Palace, Wat Pho and so on. Then we hit on the beaches in Krabi for some sun, swimming and cocktails.

We hit the bars. We hit the clubs. Using hit to decribe you go somewhere for party and have a good time.

Mostly, we went to restaurants and cafes and sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could fit in our stomaches.

We went on a walking tour. (Pay for a guider. Often, tours are in a big group. 旅游团)

We stayed in a very picturesque, sleepy village surrounded by some dramatic mountain scenery.

(Picturesque means beautiful like a painting. Sleepy means quite and peaceful. Dramatic: very impressive and beautiful.)

Bangkok is a very cosmopolitan place but it could be a little overwhelming beacasue there was so much going on. Then we went to Krabi, which has some stunning beaches.

(Cosmopolitan: some places have many different people and cultures)

Rome is a fascinating place but it’s quite touisty. The best thing was the food, which was out of the world.

(Touisty: over developed for tourism and lost some original atmosphere. Out of this world: really good and enjoy it very much)

It’s fascinating place, I wish it had been less crowded, though.

The long sentence examples:

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days. We did some sightseeing in Bangkok: The Grand Palace, Wat Pho and so on. Then we hit the beaches in Krabi for some sun, swimming and cocktails. Bangkok is a very cosmopolitan place but it could be a little overwhelming because there was so much going on. Krabi has some stunning beaches, and I loved it there, because it was like nowhere I had ever been before. On the other hand, I wasn’t keen on Bangkok. It’s cool place but it’s a bit touristy and noisy for my tastes.

Sentences - Canyu Le