Topic 3: Asking For Services - English Notes Form II
ASKING FOR SERVICES
Asking for information can be as simple as asking for the time, or as complicated as asking for details about a complicated process.
In both cases, it's important to use the appropriate form for the situation.
For example, when asking for information from a friend, use a more informal or colloquial form.
When asking a colleague, use a slightly more formal form, and when asking for information from a stranger, use an appropriately formal construction.
Asking for service | Responses |
v Could you help me? v Would you please help me to …? v Would you mind helping me …? v Do you mind opening the window? v Please open the window. v Can you help me to …? | · Certainly. · Of course. · Never mind. · Alright. · No problem. · I’m sorry, I’m busy. |
Giving services | Responses |
v Can I help you? v May I help you? v What can I do for you? | · Yes, please. · Don’t bother. · Thanks’. I appreciate it. |
ASKING FOR SERVICESListen and practice the conversation with your partner!
Aisyah : Could you help me?
Maryam: Certainly. What can I do for you?
Aisyah : Can you take my dictionary over there?
Maryam: Of course. Here you are.
Aisyah : Thanks’
Maryam: Don’t mention it.
Answer the following question briefly!
What does Aisyah want Maryam to do?
Is Maryam willing to help Aisyah?
How does Aisyah ask service to Maryam?
How does Maryam respon Aisyah’s Asking?
How does Maryam give service to aisyah?
ASKING FOR SERVICESListen and practice the conversation with your partner!
Aqil : Can I help you?
Mrs. Ida : Thank you, I really appreciate it.
It’s very hot here. Would you please turn on the air conditioner?
Aqil : I’m very sorry, ma’am. The air conditioner is out of order.
How about turning on the fan?
Mrs. Ida : It’s OK. Could you do that?
Aqil : Never mind.
Write whether the following sentences are ‘true’ or ‘false’!
(…) Mrs. Ida feels that the room is hot.
(…) Aqil asks help to Mrs. Ida.
(…) The air conditioner is broken.
(…) The fan is out of order.
(…) Aqil is willing to turn on the fan.
ASKING FOR SERVICESTalking about shopping
Mussa: Can I help you / what can I do for you?
Ali: Yes please, how much is the flower
Mussa : Two hundred shillings
Ali : Can I have it?
Mussa : There your are
Ali : Thank you
Mussa : You are welcome
Imagine you are in the hotel. How would you order some food?
And drinks?Write a short conservation between you and the waiter
Waiter Excuse me sir, can I help you?
Customer: Yes please, how much is a cup of tea?
Waiter: There you are
Customer: May I have some food too?
Waiter: What kind of food you need?
ASKING FOR SERVICESTALKING ABOUT RESERVATION
Booking tickets
You want to travel to Mwanza by train, write a dialogue between you and booking office attendant.
Attendant: Can I help you?
Customer: Yes please, I want a ticket in first class
Attendant: It is 20,000/=Tshs
Customer: I have 19,000/= Tshs
Attendant: OK
Customer; Here is your money
- → Making telephone calls
Language use
Using the phone
In today’s world, most people use the telephone for quick answer the questions.
Look at the following telephone conversation and answer the questions:
a) Which conversations are personal?
b) Which one are business?
c) Which callers did not speak to the people they wanted to talk with?
d) What happened in phone call No.3?
ASKING FOR SERVICESACTIVITIES AND GAMES TO FACILITATE A LESSON
ACTIVITY 1: BRAINSTORMING ON THE TOPIC: Shopping Centres and Products Found in These Centres
Most students have no idea when it comes to using English language during shopping. Because of this, here the teacher need to guide students to brainstorm on the meaning of shopping and mention
(i) places where different things are bought and sold and
(ii) the items/products bought and sold in these particular places.
By definition, a shop is a business building in which goods and services are offered, bought or sold to customers for money or other goods.
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers/shopkeepers with the intent to purchase a suitable selection of them.
Knowing the names of shopping places and items or products in English language is one way to full understanding of the language of shopping.
Shopping centres:
Obviously, students are expected to mention groceries, shops, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, and hotels as places where items are bought and sold.
Items/Products:
Also a teacher should guide them to discuss the items which are bought and sold there such as foods, wares, home utensils, clothes, cars, furniture, and the like.
The students should mention many local and common places and the items because they are the first things they can remember before going further to more abstract items.
The common items for the local areas where students live can be: toothbrush, soap, sugar, flour, bubble gum, toothpaste, and the like.
ASKING FOR SERVICESACTIVITY 2: READING A DIALOGUE ON SHOPPING
Before reading a dialogue on buying and selling, teacher and students brainstorm on the useful expressions used.
The teacher to guide students to understand the expressions they will commonly find and use when reading and practicing the language of shopping. Some of these expressions are:
Do you sell sugar here?
Yes, I do.
Can I get a discount for this?
I’m sorry the price for this item is fixed.
How much does this cost?
How many kilos do you want?
Most of these expressions are expressed in dialogues because shopping language always involves two or more than two people who talk in turns.
The students should also be guided to discuss the items or vocabularies that are often applied such as:
Paper, bargain, supermarket, eggplant, increase in, cauliflower, price, suitcase, mutton, shopkeeper, customer, cooking pots, discount.
After discussing the correct sentence patterns and the vocabularies to be used when talking about shopping, now students should be guided to read aloud the dialogue on shopping, then they can answer several comprehension questions below:
ASKING FOR SERVICESDIALOGUE ON SHOPPING:
CUSTOMER: Good morning Mr. Kopa?
SHOPKEEPER: I am fine. How about you?
CUSTOMER: I am fine. Do you have rice?
SHOPKEEPER: Yes. How many kilos do you want?
CUSTOMER: Five kilos. How much does these costs?
SHOPKEEPER: It’s 10,000 shillings.
CUSTOMER: And do you have sugar here?
SHOPKEEPER: Yes, I have.
CUSTOMER: How much per kilo?
SHOPKEEPER: It’s 2,500 shillings per kilo.
CUSTOMER: Sorry, can I get a discount for this?
SHOPKEEPER: I am sorry, the price for sugar is fixed.
CUSTOMER: OK. Give me 2 kilos. How much do they cost together?
SHOPKEEPER: It’s 15,000 shillings. Here they are.
CUSTOMER: Thanks.
ASKING FOR SERVICESCOMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Note: A teacher should form the comprehension questions to check if students understand the interactions between shopkeeper and the customer.
It is a good idea if students are asked these questions. For example, some comprehension questions can be as follows:
(1) What is the name of shopkeeper?
(2) How many kilos of rice does a customer want?
(3) What product does a customer want a discount for?
(4) Which item has a fixed price?
ACTIVITY 3: ROLE-PLAYING AND WRITING
A teacher will organize students in pairs or groups to play roles as shopkeepers and customers respectively. The students may not act perfectly or follow what teacher has taught, but putting them in pairs a good practice to begin with.
A teacher can allow them to write their dialogues on the paper before they practice. If teacher has seen they have understood well the lesson, he/she can allow them to interact orally without having their dialogues written on the paper.
After role-playing activity, students in pairs or groups can also write their full dialogues in text, and then they submit them to the teacher.
After marking or going through their works, a teacher choose the best works and display them in the class boards or somewhere for the other students to see for their own time.
ASKING FOR SERVICESACTIVITY 4: PLANNING A VISIT TO THE NEARBY SHOPPING CENTRES – Even at the School Shop!
This visit will increase students’ awareness on the shopping centres, items/products and the language of shopping as well.
After having role-played and written about shopping, the students are brought to real life situations now.
In this case, students will actively interact with the items which are locally found and the teacher will guide them to understand the vocabularies of some of the items they don’t know.
Visits are very important and they bring students to the live and real life situations.
After the visit or visits, students can ask the teacher on various things for the clarification. If they have nothing to ask and they have understood the lesson, the teacher will continue with the next lesson in the next period.
CONNECTION: Beyond the Sub Topic.
This sub topic is the topic that guides students to approximately express themselves when talking about shopping.
The conversations on shopping are practiced through dialogues and in pairs for students to understand them.
ASKING FOR SERVICESNOTE
This sub topic is well taught with the application of various dialogues and speaking in pairs.
Speaking and listening are the only activities that can help students to master the skills on proper shopping language.
The students should be taught this sub topic interactively because these are the practices they are involved every day.