Free English Lessons

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – Listening Lesson (A1)

Listen to a conversation at a tourist office, where a man is asking for information. This free English lesson from Oxford Online English will help you to ask questions (and understand the answers) when you ask for information. This lesson is for beginners.

Listen to the dialogue at normal speed here:

or listen to a slower version here:

You can also listen to the dialogue one line at a time:

Woman: Good morning.
Man: Hello.
Woman: What can I do for you?1
Man: I’d like some information about Moreton Art Gallery, please.
Woman: Moreton Art Gallery? Certainly. It’s definitely worth a visit.2
Man: OK, great.3
Woman: What would you like to know?
Man: Is it open every day?
Woman: Umm… let me check. It’s open every day… except Tuesday.
Man: Closed on Tuesdays. OK, no problem. What time does it open?
Woman: During the week the opening hours are 10am until 4.30pm.
Man: From 10am until 4.30pm. Right.
Woman: … and on Saturday and Sunday it closes a bit later, at 6pm.
Man: OK, thanks.3 Oh, just a minute. How much does it cost?
Woman: It’s £5.50 for adults and £2.00 for children under 16.
Man: Right. Sorry. Just one more question. Does the gallery have guided tours4?
Woman: Yes, it does. There are free guided tours, but only at the weekend.
Man: OK, wonderful.3 I think that’s everything. Thanks very much for all your help.
Woman: You’re welcome.5

The exercises below will help you understand some of the language in the dialogue. Read these notes about some of the phrases that the speakers use.

1. “What can I do for you?” means the same thing as “Can I help you?”
2. “It’s definitely worth a visit” means “It’s a good idea to visit.”
3. When someone gives you the information that you have asked for, you can say things like “OK, great”, “OK, thanks” or “OK, wonderful”.
4. If a person gives you a guided tour, they show you a place and tell you important information about it.
5. “You’re welcome” is a polite thing to say when someone says “thanks”.

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – exercise 1
Comprehension: understanding details

Answer four questions about the information that the woman gives to the man.

Write one letter – a, b, c or d – in each answer space.

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – exercise 2
Listening skill: listening for specific words

If you visit a tourist office, you will probably ask a lot of questions, and the member of staff will ask some too.

Look at four questions from the dialogue and decide which speaker asks them.

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – exercise 3
Vocabulary: answering questions

If a tourist asks you a question, do you know how to answer?

Match the four questions from the previous exercise with the answers from the dialogue.

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – exercise 4
Listening skill: dictation

Writing the exact words that you hear is an excellent way to practise your listening. It helps your ear recognise the sounds of English.

Listen to four sentences from the dialogue and write one word in each gap.

Asking for Information at a Tourist Office – exercise 5
Listening skill: hearing weak forms

In exercise 4, you wrote some of the key words in the sentence. Some other words are more difficult to hear because they are not stressed. This means they may be pronounced as weak forms – with the vowel /ə/ made with the lips almost closed and the tongue right in the middle of the mouth.

Listen to the same four sentences again and this time write one unstressed word in each gap. Then practise repeating the sentences with the same pronunciation as the speaker.

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