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Travel English Expert Course Module 3: Arrival

Theme: Arrival

Topic: Immigration

Abdul: Come on let’s walk faster so we can get to the front of the immigration line!

Aisha: Okay, wait for me! You’ve got longer legs than me!

Abdul: Oh, I always forget how tiny my little sister is!

Aisha: Ha, ha!

Abdul: Okay, finally we made it!

Immigration Officer: Your passport please.

Abdul: Here are the passports for both my sister and I.

Immigration Officer: Thank you. Where did you fly from?

Abdul: We flew from Saudi Arabia. Jeddah to be exact.

Immigration Officer: What is the purpose of your visit? Are you here for business, pleasure, to

visit family?

Aisha: We’re here to study English.

Abdul: Yes, we’ll be studying English in Boston.

Immigration Officer: How long will you be in the United States?

Abdul: We’ll be studying from the end of August until the end of December.

Immigration Officer: Where will you be staying?

Aisha: In the resident housing on campus at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Immigration Officer: Have you ever been to Boston before?

Abdul: Yes, we came for a visit when we were young. Our parents took us to California to go

to Disney Land.

Aisha: It was so fun! We loved that trip. Mickey mouse was so cute!
Immigration Officer: Do you have anything with you that you need to declare?

Abdul: I’m sorry. I don’t understand.

Immigration Officer: Do you have anything you bought in the Duty Free shop?

Aisha: Oh yes. We bought some gifts for our family. We bought some perfume and chocolate.

Immigration Officer: Can you speak up please. I can’t hear you. How much money did you

spend?

Abdul: I have the receipt here. We spent $327.

Immigration Officer: Okay and do you have anything you hope to sell in the U.S.?

Aisha: No we don’t.

Abdul: No.

Immigration Officer: Do you have any food?

Abdul: No, just some chips that we bought at the convenience store.

Immigration Officer: Okay, now I need to scan your fingerprints. Please put your right index

finger on the scanner and wait until it beeps.

Abdul: Which one?

Immigration Officer: This one. (He shows him which finger). Okay. Good, now the left one.

Alright now it’s your sister’s turn.

(Aisha gets her fingers scanned).

Immigration Officer: Thank you! Have a good stay!

(He stamps their passports).

Aisha: Thanks!

Abdul: Thank you!

(Abdul and Aisha walk away to the baggage claim).

Aisha: Wow, that was confusing! Why do we have to declare stuff?

Abdul: They want to make sure we’re paying a tax on things that we bought duty free if it’s

more expensive than $800. Also, they want to know if we have any plant or animal products.

It’s a question of biosecurity.

Aisha: Oh okay. Wow, that sounds complicated.

Abdul: Let’s get our luggage at baggage claim and go to customs.

Aisha: Will they ask us the same questions again?

Abdul: They will ask some of the same questions. Sometimes they do random checks of the

luggage.

Conversation Check:

i. Come on: (phrasal verb) to tell someone to move or do something in an encouraging

way

ii. Declare: (verb) to state or share something in an official or public way

iii. Convenience: (adj.) a quality or situation that makes something easy or useful for

someone by reducing the amount of work or time required to do something

iv. Biosecurity: (noun) procedures intended to protect humans or animals against disease

or harmful biological agents

v. Random: (adj.) made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious

decision
Theme: Arrival

Topic: How to find your baggage carousel

Elizabeth: Okay, now that we made it through the immigration check, let’s go find our baggage

carousel.

Jose: We’ve got so many bags to pick up. Let’s go get one of those baggage trolleys.

Elizabeth: Okay, good idea! Do you see where to get them?

Jose: Yeah, over there! Follow me.

Elizabeth: Oh shoot! We have to have cash! It costs $2 per trolley.

Jose: Okay, let’s go find an ATM and get some money out.

Elizabeth: Here’s one.

(Elizabeth gets out $40 from the ATM).

Jose: Oh man! Now we have to get small change. The trolley machine only takes $1 or $5

dollar bills.

Elizabeth: This is so annoying! Ugh!

Jose: Calm down! We’ll just go over to that little coffee shop and buy something and get

change.

Elizabeth: Okay, good idea!

(At the coffee shop).

Jose: Good morning! I’d like a plain bagel with cream cheese please.

Coffee shop employee: Sure! Would you like it toasted?

Jose: Yes, please. Elizabeth do you want anything?

Elizabeth: Yes, get me an orange juice.

Jose: And, an orange juice also.

Coffee shop employee: Okay, is that all?

Jose: I think that’s it.

Coffee shop employee: Alright. $8 dollars and 23 cents.

Elizabeth: Whoa! Airports are so expensive!

Jose: Yup.

Elizabeth: Well, at least we’ve got change now for our luggage trolley.

Jose: Let’s go get it!

(At the luggage trolley machine, Elizabeth puts money in and get the trolley out).

Elizabeth: Okay, so now we have to find our baggage claim carousel.

Jose: Let’s look on the monitors. What’s our flight number again?

Elizabeth: Air France Flight 342.

Jose: Looks like it’s Carousel #3.

Elizabeth: Let’s keep on walking. It’s a ways down there.

Jose: So, are you going to give in to my request that we go visit my family in New York before

we go sightseeing. I mean they might be offended if they find out we’re going to have fun

without visiting them first.

Elizabeth: Okay, okay! It’s just that your Mom can be so overbearing sometimes. It’s like I’m

never good enough for her or her son.

Jose: I know and I’m sorry! She’s always been protective of me. She just wants the best for

me.

Elizabeth: Well, it’s seems like she thinks I’m not the best for you!

Jose: But, I do! That’s all that matters!

Elizabeth: Let’s talk about this later. Let’s get our luggage now.

Jose: Okay, fine. You stay here with the trolley and I’ll be right back.

Conversation check:

i. Baggage carousel: (noun) the place where you find your checked bags on the

conveyor belt
ii. Calm down: (phrasal verb) to make yourself more relaxed

iii. Keep on: (phrasal verb) to continue to do something

iv. Give in: (phrasal verb) reluctantly stop fighting or arguing

v. Plea: (noun) a request made in an urgent and emotional manner

vi. Overbearing: (adj.) unpleasantly or arrogantly domineering

Theme: Arrival

Topic: Customs check

Ingrid: Alright! We’ve finally got our bags from the baggage claim. Let’s go through the

Customs check.

Evaldo: Oh my God! Look at the line!

Ingrid: Oh geez, we’re going to be here for awhile.

Evaldo: Well, let’s talk about what you plan to do about your lost keys?

Ingrid: Oh no! I totally forgot about that! I can’t believe I lost my house keys on our trip to

Mexico. What was I thinking? I should have kept them in the safe in the hotel room.

Evaldo: And we looked so hard everywhere to find them! They must have fallen out of your

purse when we were out dancing on Friday night. I was so tired of looking for them on

Saturday. We finally just had to give up.

Ingrid: I know. I bet someone grabbed them and put them somewhere.

Evaldo: Well, do you have any friends or neighbors who have an extra set?

Ingrid: No. I never had anyone close enough to me that I could trust them.

Evaldo: So, then, you’ll have to call a locksmith to come out to your house to make a new one

for you.

Ingrid: Yeah! What a pain in the butt!

Evaldo: Sorry! I know it’s not easy to have to deal with this now after our long trip home.

Ingrid: And we’ve still got to get through this line and through customs.

(About 20 minutes later).

Evaldo: It’s your turn!

Customs Officer: Do you have anything to declare?

Ingrid: I have some gifts that I bought for my friends.

Customs Officer: What kind of gifts?

Ingrid: I bought some art and clothes.

Customs Officer: Anything totaling over $800?

Ingrid: No, it was about $200.

Customs Officer: Do you have any food?

Ingrid: No, I don’t.

Customs Officer: Please open your bags ma’am so we can have a look.

Ingrid: Okay.

(Ingrid opens her bags and the officer checks them).

Customs Officer: Okay, it looks good.

Ingrid: Alright, so I’m good to go?

Customs Officer: Yup. Have a good trip.

(Ingrid and Eva meet after they both get through customs).

Evaldo: Hey there! I saw he opened up your bags. That was weird. Didn’t he trust you or

something?

Ingrid: No, I don’t think it was that. I think they just do random searches of bags.

Evaldo: Yeah, that’s true.

Ingrid: Okay. Let’s go find the ground transportation signs so we can get a taxi and get home!

Evaldo: Sounds like a plan!

Conversation Check:

i. Oh geez: (filler) an expression to mean surprise, anger, frustration, etc.

ii. Give up: (phrasal verb) stop trying

iii. Bet: (verb) to guess or assume that something happened

iv. Set: (noun) a duplicate copy of the key

v. Locksmith: (noun) a professional key maker

vi. Pain in the butt: (slang) when something is really annoying or difficult
Topic: Arrival

Theme: A lost bag

Gary: That trip was so awesome!

Lynn: I agree! What a perfect vacation.

Gary: I wish we could go to Hawaii every year.

Lynn: Me too, but it’s so expensive. There’s no way we could afford it.

Gary: Well, maybe we just have to work harder at figuring out how to save money.

Lynn: We still have to pay back the loan we took out to buy your new car first.

Gary: I know! Don’t worry, we’ll get it done.

Lynn: Okay, so we need to get to baggage claim and then go find our car in the long-term

parking lot.

Gary: Here’s our carousel. You stay here while I go get the bags. How many did we have

again?

Lynn: We had 3 checked bags. Do you remember what they each look like?

Gary: Yes, one blue and two black.

Lynn: Yup! I tied them with green ribbons on the handle so you could easily spot them.

Gary: Okay, good thinking!

Lynn: Thanks!

(Gary goes over to the carousel and picks up 2 of the bags and waits for a long time until the

conveyor belt stops moving).

Gary: So I’ve got the two black bags. But the blue one never showed up!

Lynn: What? That’s so weird!

Gary: Well, let’s go over to that baggage claim office and file a report.

Lynn: Okay. I have a picture of all the bags on my smartphone.

Gary: Oh, really? That was pretty smart of you!

Lynn: Yeah, it was a tip a friend of mine told me about.

(Gary and Lynn sit in front of the Lost Baggage Claim Officer’s desk).

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: How can I help you?

Gary: One of our checked bags never arrived.

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Okay, do you have your boarding passes and your luggage

stickers?

Lynn: Yes, I’ve got them here in my purse.

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Please fill out this lost luggage form.

Gary: Okay, do you have a pen?

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Here you go! Please describe your piece of luggage in detail.

Lynn: Oh that should be easy. I’ve got the picture right here.

Gary: My wife is so smart!

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Yes, that was a good idea! I wish all travelers would do that.

(Gary finishes filling out the form and hands it to the officer).

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Okay, thank you. We are so sorry for the inconvenience that this

has caused you. More than likely, the bag is not completely lost. It’s just missing and will show

up by this evening or tomorrow. However, sometimes bags do get lost forever.

Lynn: What should we do if that happens?

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: We have a special claim for that situation. But, for now, we will

assume it’s just missing and we will deliver your bag to you when it arrives.

Gary: Okay, great! So, who should I call if I don’t hear from you by tonight?

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Here’s our phone number. We are open until 10pm. But, as the

other flights arrive, we will be looking for your bag and we will call you as soon as we find it.

Lynn: Thank you so much!

Gary: Yes, thank you!

Lost Baggage Claim Officer: Sure, no problem!

Lynn: Okay, well, let’s get our other bags and go to the parking lot to get our car.

Gary: Sounds good! I’m exhausted.

Conversation check:

i. Figure out: (phrasal verb) to understand or find the answer

ii. Pay back: (phrasal verb) to repay money that is owed to someone

iii. Spot: (verb) to find something or see it out of a crowd

iv. Show up: (phrasal verb) to arrive or appear

v. Tip: (noun) a small but useful piece of practical advice

Topic: Arrival

Theme: Exchanging money

Juana: So, we made it to the US!

Miguel: Yeah! Now we need to get our money exchanged to US dollars.

Juana: How many pesos did you bring?

Miguel: I brought about 3,000 pesos. How about you?

Juana: I have around 5,000.

Miguel: Whoa! You brought a lot.

Juana: Okay, well that should be enough to get us to the hotel and then we can eat out for

dinner. I’m starved!

Miguel: Where is the place to exchange currency?

Juana: Oh I heard there’s one near baggage claim. Let’s go there!

Miguel: Good idea since we need to get our bags too.

(They go to baggage claim and get their bags and then go to currency exchange kiosk).

Juana: Hi there! We need to exchange our pesos into dollars.

Currency Exchange Employee: Okay let me count your pesos.

Miguel: Here is mine.

Currency Exchange Employee: You have 1,923 pesos here. So, 1 Mexican peso equals .053

US dollars. That means you get $102.20. But you have to pay $15 dollars for our fees.

Miguel: What? That’s so expensive!

Currency Exchange Employee: Yes, that’s true. Sorry about that, but it’s the price you pay for

convenience. If you have a credit or debit card, I would suggest just using those instead of

cash. Your bank will charge you much less than a currency exchange kiosk. Also, if you find a

bank here in NY, they will give you a better fee rate than I will.
Juana: Oh man! We should have thought about that before we brought our pesos with us. I

only put the amount in the bank to pay for the hotel because I thought I would need cash to pay

for everything else.

Currency Exchange Employee: Nowadays in the U.S. you can use your credit or debit card

almost everywhere you go. The only place I would say that you might need cash is at a small

street vendor. Like if you want to buy a hot dog on the street. Or maybe you need coins for the

parking meter or something like that. Also, people like to have cash to give servers or food

employees tips if they have a jar at the counter. But if you go to a regular sit-down restaurant,

you can add the tip on at the end when you sign the bank card receipt.

Miguel: So how about I just exchange my pesos now so we have some cash, and then Juana,

you can keep yours and wait and see if we need to exchange it. Or we can ask the hotel where

a good local bank is.

Juana: Okay, that’s a good idea! And I’ll pay you back for the cash you spend before then.

Miguel: Sounds like a good deal.

Currency Exchange Employee: Okay, so here is your $87.20.

(She hands the money to Miguel).

Miguel: Thank you!

Currency Exchange Employee: Have a good trip and be safe!

Juana: Thanks!

Miguel: Thanks!

Juana: Okay, let’s get to the ground transportation area and find a taxi.

Miguel: Maybe we should skip the taxi and take the subway.

Juana: Yeah, that’s a good idea. We could probably save a lot of money that way.

Conversation Check:

i. Made it: (verb) to arrive somewhere

ii. Starved: (slang) an exaggeration of being really hungry

iii. Street vendor: (noun) someone who sells something in a small cart on the sidewalk

iv. Tips in a jar: (noun) extra money given to food service employees in a small glass

container that is in front of the cash register

v. Skip: (verb) to not do something and do something else instead

Arrival Quiz

i. In the “Immigration” conversation, do Aisha and Abdul have anything to state or

share with the Immigration Officer?

1. No, they only went shopping.

2. Aisha has something to declare, but not Abdul.

3. Yes, they bought some gifts.

4. They want to declare the $327 they have.

ii. In the “Immigration” conversation, why does the Immigration Officer ask them

about any food that they bought?

1. They might have plants or meat that could harm the U.S.

2. They might have too many different kinds of fruit.

3. They might want to sell them in the U.S.

4. They might give some to their friends and family.

iii. In the “How to find your baggage carousel” conversation, why does Jose tell

Elizabeth to relax?

1. She got angry at the high cost of food in the airport

2. She doesn’t like his mother

3. She is upset about the hassle to get a baggage trolley

4. She is so tired from the trip

iv. In the “How to find your baggage carousel” conversation, what does Jose request

that he and Elizabeth do before their fun begins on this trip?

1. To go see Jose’s family

2. To go to the baggage claim

3. To get a bagel with cream cheese

 4. To eat out as much as possible

v. In the “Customs” conversation, what does Ingrid think happened to her keys?

1. She thinks someone gave them to someone else

2. She danced too late at night

3. She thinks someone took them

4. She needs to get a Locksmith

vi. In the “Customs” conversation, why does the Customs Officer check Ingrid’s

bag?

1. He suspects she’s lying to him

2. He needs to see the food she’s carrying

3. He does this every so often

4. He doesn’t like her

vii. In the “Lost luggage” conversation, what will happen to their luggage if it shows

up?

1. The airline will bring it to their house

2. The airline will call them to come pick it up

3. The airport will work until 10pm

4. The airport workers will look for it

viii. In the “Lost luggage” conversation, what is the small piece of advice that Lynn got

from a friend?

1. To bring only your most important things in your carry-on

2. To take a photo of all your bags

3. To not check on any bags

 4. To fill out the lost baggage claim form

ix. In the “Exchanging money” conversation, why is it better to use your bank card

than get money exchanged at a place in the airport?

1. To get a better average

2. To use it more in the U.S.

3. To find a local bank

4. To get less fees

x. In the “Exchanging money” conversation, when do you need to have cash in the

U.S.?

1. When you eat out at a fancy restaurant

2. When you park your car on the street

3. When you buy clothes

4. When you take a taxi

Arrival Quiz Answers:

i. C

ii. A

iii. C

iv. A

v. C

vi. C

vii. A

viii. B

ix. D

x. B