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Happy New Year!

Often, at the beginning of the year, we set goals, we reflect on what we want to achieve in the coming year.

And for a lot of you, that means working on your English language skills.

And so, to help you do that, to jumpstart your January,

I’m offering discount codes to my online school and for my book.

So if you’re not familiar with it, my online school Rachel’s English academy,

is a place where you can really work on listening comprehension and pronunciation, accent reduction.

You’re breaking down every sound, you’re breaking down every concept in American English.

You’re learning about it, and you’re training it like crazy so that you get it into your body.

The book is everything I know about the best way to teach American English pronunciation.

It’s a great overview.

290 pages it’s written for students but it also works well for teachers.

It organizes many, many of my free you tube videos.

It also comes with downloadable audio and of course, there’s a lot of text and photos.

So the discount codes are: 5first.

That’s for 5 dollars off your first month of the academy if you sign up for a monthly subscription.

I’m also offering a discount code for the annual subscription, that’s something I’ve never done before,

but I’m offering $50 off your first year if you sign up for an annual subscription.

And that’s 50 annual.

And then I’ve never given a discount this deep on my book but I’m selling my book for a discount of just $15,

it’s usually $37, for just this first week of January.

So for that, the code is book15.

They all have F.

Five off, fifty, fifteen.

I’m going with alliteration in this video.

Fff.

So get yours and get studying.

The other thing I want to do with this video is ask you what are your goals for 2019?

How can I help you achieve them?

Let me know in the comments below videos you’d like to see or kinds of videos,

anything that’s confusing to you about American English pronunciation, or conversing with Americans

and I’m going to read every one of those comments,

and I’m going to use those as I’m brainstorming my 2019 videos.

Now I already have a couple things planned out.

I’m really excited about them.

Let me tell you one thing that I’m doing is a new YouTube learning initiative.

It’s a new platform they’re rolling out on YouTube that has more course-like structure to the videos.

And I’m doing one on interviewing for jobs in America.

It’s going to be really comprehensive and part of what we’re going to do with that is study how we talk about

ourselves, our work history, how we deal with conflict, all sorts of questions you might get asked in a job interview,

and those are going to be relevant for conversational English.

So the great thing about this video series, this course, is it’s not just relevant to those who are looking for a job but

it’s relevant to anybody who’s going to be conversing in American English

because often what we do in conversation is we say: what do you do? Or

we ask people questions about them, their work, about themselves.

So you’ll be learning the phrases that you might use to have those kinds of conversations.

I also want to let you know what’s coming up here in January. There are four more Tuesdays.

And I’m doing a series two on shoes and two on weather.

It’s a vocabulary video and then an idioms video.

So you’re going to be learning all sorts of new vocabulary words and also phrases,

idioms we use when talking about the weather, or idioms that have to do with shoes, like

‘big shoes to fill’ and this kind of thing.

These four videos are solid.

There’s a lot to learn.

So make sure you’re tuning in every Tuesday in January to catch those videos.

Don’t forget, every Tuesday in 2019, I make a new video I release it at around 10:00-10:30 on Tuesday morning,

Philadelphia time.

So come check it out and let’s do this together.

2019 is all about you improving your American English pronunciation and listening comprehension skills.

And to close this video, I’m going to go with another F.

Favorite, and I’m going to show you my favorite video of 2018, of last year just in case you missed it.

Why is this my favorite?

I don’t know. There were a lot of good ones.

I think I chose this because I had so much fun the weekend that I made this video.

So please check out this video that I made a weekend in New York City.

And I was hanging out with my husband and one of my very best friends, Renee,

and we went over some words that you might use with traveling.

Some vocabulary words for traveling, relating specifically to hotels.

That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English!

Today we’ll study some travel vocabulary phrases together as you come with me for a weekend

at the Standard hotel in New York City.

You’ll learn phrases and vocabulary that you might use at a hotel, like ‘amenities’ or ‘incidentals’.

We’ll order room service together and enjoy some amazing views.

First, let’s check in.

Hi! Um, I booked online.

Rachel Smith.

And then about an hour after I booked, I booked an upgrade.

I’m using the verb here to ‘book’.

I’m sure you’re very familiar with the noun version of this word, book,

but it’s also a verb which means to reserve something.

I booked a hotel room, you could also book a table at a restaurant.

This means you’ve made a reservation.

You could book a venue for your wedding, or a concert venue could book an act or band.

The bar around the corner booked my friend’s band for Friday.

Here, OO makes the UH as in PUSH vowel.

Book.

Uh.

Book.

So both the noun ‘book’ and the verb ‘book’ are pronounced exactly the same.

Hi! Um, I booked online.

Rachel Smith.

And then about an hour after I booked, I booked an upgrade.

I used the term ‘upgrade’.

This means to improve on something.

To get a higher quality.

For example, if you’ve had your cell phone for a while, and it’s a bit slow, you might want to get an upgrade.

Here, I’m using it as a noun.

On a flight, you might be upgraded from an economy to a first class seat.

Here, I’m using it as a verb.

Upgrade.

In this case, I booked a hotel room, and then the system asked me if I wanted to upgrade.

The offer seemed like a good deal to me, so I did upgrade.

A paid a bit more money for a bigger, better room.

And then about an hour after I booked, I booked an upgrade.

Because it sounded very enticing, what was being offered.

Do you see how pregnant I am here?

I’m 8 months pregnant, and this was the last weekend that my doctor said I could travel away from home.

So we took Stoney to my in-laws, that is, David’s parents, and took this short trip.

In the US, you might hear people call this a babymoon.

That is, a relaxing trip you take before before it’s harder to travel because you have a baby.

This is related to the term ‘honeymoon’,

which is a trip you take alone with your partner right after you get married.

You booked for a water-view, de luxe king, correct?

Yes. South-facing.

Here, we’re using some terms that you might use when describing a room.

We booked a king, which means it has a king-sized bed in it.

King and California King are the two largest-sized beds.

She used the term water-view.

This simply means what you can see from your room.

You might have city-view, park-view, water-view, ocean-view, garden-view, street-view.

This hotel is close to the Hudson River.

I used the term ‘south-facing’.

This means when you’re in your room looking out the window, which direction are you looking?

I knew I wanted to be south-facing because just north of the hotel are some taller buildings.

I didn’t want to look directly at another building, so I upgraded to a south-facing room.

You might also see a room described as a corner room,

which of course means you’re on the corner of the building,

and you might get views in two different directions.

You booked for a water-view, de luxe king, correct?

Yes. South-facing.

If I could just see a form of ID and a credit card for the reservation.

Sure.

When checking into a hotel, there’s a good chance that they’ll ask for a form of ID, like she did.

That would be something official with your picture and name on it, like a driver’s license or passport.

ID is short for ‘identification.

They’ll also usually want a credit card from you so they can make charges to the room

if you damage or take anything.

If I could just see a form of ID and a credit card for the reservation.

Sure.

So I see that initially, you kind of deposit down for the room so we would just need the card for incidentals.

Okay, no problem.

Incidentals.

This is the word they use for anything in addition to the cost of the room.

For example, if you eat or drink from the mini-bar in your room,

they will keep track of that and charge it to your card after you leave.

So we would just need the card for incidentals. » Okay, no problem.

And it doesn’t…it’s not ready yet by chance, is it?

It is!

Oh, perfect!

She asks, “have you stayed here before?”

Oh, no. I’ve not. It’s been on my bucket list.

Bucket list.

Have you heard this term before?

It means something you want to do within your lifetime.

For example, visiting Paris is on my bucket list.

Oh, no. I’ve not. It’s been on my bucket list.

So I’m glad that it’s happening.

Yes.

This initial here, here, and a signature there. And if you can just add this gentleman’s name right there.

Sure.

There might be something you have to initial or sign when checking into a hotel.

Initial, of course, means you just put RS instead of your whole signature, Rachel Smith.

This initial here, here, and a signature there. And if you can just add this gentleman’s name right there.

Sure.

We finish checking in and head up to our room.

Room number 814, we have a card as a key.

Very dark elevator.

So this is why I don’t want to be north-facing.

It’s because then you’re just looking at a building.

North-facing, south-facing.

It can be very handy to know the details of the room you want when booking a hotel.

Let’s go find the room.

There’s the river.

And there’s the city.

And there’s The High Line.

How cool is that?

The Highline is a park in NYC that was built on top of an abandoned raised train line.

I’ll also talk about The Whitney, which is an art museum.

That’s The Whitney, right there.

Have you ever been to The Whitney, David? The new one?

Yeah.

And that’s the little rooftop spot there.

Maybe we’ll…maybe we should go. They have um,

pay-as-you-wish entrance on Friday evenings.

Alright, well, let’s settle in.

“Settle in” is a phrase that means to unpack, to get comfortable, to arrange your things in a new place.

After a big move, it can take some time to settle in.

Whenever we stay somewhere, even if it’s just for a night or two,

I like to spend some time settling in when we first arrive to make the stay more comfortable.

Alright, well, let’s settle in.

That night, our friend Renee dropped by and we ordered room service.

Generally you can reach the front desk by pressing 0.

The front desk is there in the lobby, where we checked in.

You call them with all your needs and questions.

Room service is for the restaurant in the hotel that can make and bring food to your room.

Hi! Is this where I call to place a room service order?

Thank you.

It was the front desk, not room service.

Thank you for calling room service. How can I help you?

Hi! I’m in room 814.

And I’d like to order two orders of fries and does that come with ketchup?

Yeah! » Okay.

And also, two orders of a good pickle.

Okay.

Do you want anything to drink with that?

Um, anyone thirsty?

No. I think we’re good.

If you ask someone if they want something, or offer them something, and they say “I’m good” or “we’re good”,

that’s like saying “no thank you.”

That person does not want it.

Anyone thirsty?

No. I think we’re good.

They told me it would be a 30-minute wait.

Okay, I am 8 months pregnant, if that helps boost me forward.

Okay, not a problem.

Okay, I’m just kidding. Thank you!

Bye!

I mean I’m not kidding. I am 8 months pregnant, if that makes a difference.

Luckily, the food came quickly.

Wow. That’s a lot of fries. » That is a lot of fries.

Ooh. I didn’t expect them to be so little.

I think we could’ve gotten by with one order.

Nope.

No?

No. I’m so glad we have two.

Mini mayonaise.

All the best to go with the mini ketchup.

Mini ketchup.

And then 2 good pickles.

Okay, what did you think of yours?

I give it an 8 out of 10.

I think I’m going to give it a 6 or 7 out of 10.

Oh, so low.

Do you do this too?

We rated how much we liked the pickle on a scale of 1-10.

1 is always the lowest, and 10 the highest, the very best of the best.

So I didn’t love the pickle.

Still, there’s something very luxurious about eating French fries in your hotel room at 10:30 at night.

Many hotels have an ice machine.

This one was labeled an ice dispenser.

So almost every hotel room in America has an ice bucket that you can take to the machine to fill up.

This one also had tongs to serve ice into glasses.

David and I had such a relaxing stay here enjoying slow days.

Before we leave, let’s go over a few more words and phrases that might be useful to you as you travel,

as you stay in hotels.

First, when you check into a hotel,

you will find the front desk in the lobby,

and you can probably find a luggage cart there to help you get all your luggage to your room.

The opposite of checking in is checking out.

Check out, of course, is when you leave the hotel room and you give back your key.

Two phrasal verbs for your travel vocabulary: check in, check out.

Here, I called the front desk to ask what time check out was.

I also had to report an issue about the room.

Hi Freddie! I am wondering what time check out is tomorrow morning?

It is 12 pm.

Okay, perfect.

Uh, my other question is I’m in room 814 and the drain to the bathtub doesn’t seem to close all the way.

That’s great! We’re actually going to head out in a minute. Is it okay if we’re not here?

Okay, thank you so much.

I used the phrasal verb ‘head out’.

This means to leave.

We were just getting ready to leave our room for a walk.

Head out.

That’s great! We’re actually going to head out in a minute. Is it okay if we’re not here?

Okay, thank you so much.

We don’t even need to try to get a late check out ‘cause check out’s noon.

It’s perfect.

This particular hotel does have a mini bar.

So that is place where they’re going to have some food and snacks for you.

They have some glasses for us, nice.

And there’s also a refrigerator.

Mini-bar usually refers to refrigerator.

refrigerator.

And this one is fully stocked so that means it came with all sorts of goodies ready for us.

Now, usually, if you eat or drink what comes here in hotel, it’s quite expensive.

Much more expensive that just running out and buying it yourself.

Another neat thing that this particular hotel room has is a shower bathroom.

So it’s this whole room, floor, ceiling, it doesn’t matter if they get the whole thing wet, a big bath tub,

and then there are some slats that look out into the room so you can still see the view

as you take your shower.

This hotel room also has a safe.

Many, many hotel rooms do so you can put passports or money, valuables, whatever, in this safe when you leave.

One thing that people are often interested in when choosing a hotel is the list of amenities.

Amenities would be things like a gym or a pool or room service.

Other things that you get in addition to your room or special things that you might get in your room.

Many hotels come with a little card like this.

This one says ‘Privacy Please’ and you hang this on your door knob to let them know:

I don’t want anyone to come in and work on my room.

Or on the other side: I do want someone to come in, change out my towels for clean towels, maybe vacuum.

So this card says “Privacy Please” but you might also see “Do Not Disturb”.

Thank you guys for traveling with me to New York city this weekend.

I also have a video that I made on travel phrases that you may use when checking in at an airport.

Be sure to check that out.

Are there other travel vocabularies or phrases videos that you’d like to see?

Please let me know in the comments below.

Big thanks to David and Renee for being in this video with me.

That’s it guys and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.