5 min freeTravellingTravelling, rehearsed out loud
4
people run this conversation
5 min
The shortest conversation
Short conversations at a desk or a table, with a queue behind you and numbers you hear once: a gate, a time, a price, a turn to the left.
B1 · workingB2 · confidentC1 · advanced
Who you will be talking to
Travelling, with 3 of these 4.
In whichever order helps. The first 5 minutes with a free partner cost nothing, so you can talk to two of them before you choose.
5 min freeTravelling
5 min freeTravelling
5 min freeTravellingWhat actually happens
Five things people say before they start.
One of them is usually the real reason. What sits underneath it is what actually gets scored.
/01
“You nodded, and you are at the wrong gate.”
Numbers said once
Gate B32, boarding at 6:40, row 14. Airline and hotel staff say it once, fast, and move on. Asking for the one number you missed is the skill.
/02
“You found out at the gate what the desk had told you.”
The problem mentioned in passing
An overweight bag, a booking made for the wrong month, a special that ran out. It comes up in the middle of a sentence and it is the whole conversation.
/03
“You thanked them and opened the map anyway.”
Directions from memory
Left out of the door, down the hill, second right. Spoken directions are the everyday listening test that no map has replaced.
/04
“You ordered steak and it came well done.”
Getting what you meant
How do you want it cooked, soup or salad, still or sparkling. The questions after the order are where visitors nod and get something else.
Not the situation you need?
Bring the real thing: the job description, the date on the letter, the words the school used. Everyone who runs travelling will work from what you actually walked in with.
How a first conversation worksWhat it costs
One price a minute, whoever you talk to.
A harder conversation simply runs longer. The shortest way to rehearse travelling is 5 min.
You pay for the seconds you talk, and the minutes come off a balance you already hold. Nothing renews, and you are never sent a bill. Plans and refunds.
B1 · working
9 min
is how long a conversation at this difficulty runs
A hotel receptionist who is glad to help and gives directions once.
- Minutes of talking in total
- 54
- What that costs here
- $24
- The same minutes with a tutor
- $300
- You do not spend
- −$276
At $50 an hour, rounded up to the 60-minute booking nobody will sell you less than.
Your first 5 minutes
What 5 free minutes are for.
01
Start with the hotel
Fiona in Edinburgh or Lucas in Seville. The friendliest desk, and the directions are the real test.
The terms, in full
- Free
- 5 minutes
- No card asked for
02
Ask for one number
On purpose, once: which gate, what time. Then notice what a specific question gets you that a general one does not.
Paid for out of your free minutes
- Numbers said once
- The problem mentioned in passing
- Directions from memory
- Getting what you meant
Questions
What people ask before they start.
Nearby
What people open next.
The rest of Everyday life first, then everything else at the same difficulty.
All the situationsYour child's school
B2 · confidentC1 · advancedTen minutes with a teacher, and everything you did not ask is a year of their schooling.2 peoplefrom 8 minNeighbours
B1 · workingB2 · confidentWarm, talkative, and impossible to escape without saying something.2 peoplefrom 6 minAt the doctor's
B2 · confidentC1 · advancedDescribing a symptom to somebody with seven minutes and a queue, who needs it exactly.2 peoplefrom 6 min
B2 · confidentC1 · advancedTen minutes with a teacher, and everything you did not ask is a year of their schooling.2 peoplefrom 8 minNeighboursB1 · workingB2 · confidentWarm, talkative, and impossible to escape without saying something.2 peoplefrom 6 minAt the doctor'sB2 · confidentC1 · advancedDescribing a symptom to somebody with seven minutes and a queue, who needs it exactly.2 peoplefrom 6 min