Syllabus

Textbook: ‘Be My Guest’ – English for the Hotel Industry by

Francis O’Hara
Course: Elementary

UNIT 1: Introductions

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Alphabet

 Spelling

 Names

 Word stress.

Language Focus & Practice:

 Verb ‘to be’

 What’s his/her/your name/job?

 Where are you from?

 Countries and Nationalities

Personal Job File:

 Questions and answers

 Names, jobs and countries

Speaking Practice:

 Introductions: names, spelling, jobs, countries, nationalities.

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 UNIT 2: The Check-in

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Room bookings by e-mails

 Confirmation letters

Language Focus & Practice:

 Days, months, dates

 Language of confirmation letters

Personal Job File:

 Confirmation letter

 Check-in dialogue

Speaking Practice:

 Dealing with changes in bookings

 Checking-in

UNIT 3: The hotel bedroom

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Bedroom objects in standard and luxury rooms

Language Focus & Practice:

 There is/are

 Questions, affirmatives, negatives

 All, most, some, none

Personal Job File:

 Describing a standard and luxury hotel bedroom

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Speaking Practice:

 Describing differences in hotel bedrooms

 Designing a hotel bedroom

UNIT 4: Bathroom & Porter

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Range of bathroom objects

 Porter taking guests to the room

Language Focus & Practice:

 Prepositions of place

 Describing luggage

 Colour, size, shape

 Polite offers and questions

Personal Job File:

 Describing a hotel bathroom

 Dialogue between porter and guests

Speaking Practice:

 Designing a hotel bathroom

 Dialogue between porter and guests

UNIT 5: Services in the hotel

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Vocabulary of hotel services

 Opening and closing times of services

Language Focus & Practice:

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  Time

 Can, have, do, does

 Questions, affirmatives, negatives

Personal Job File:

 Questions and answers

 Services in the hotel

Speaking Practice:

 Giving opening and closing times of hotel services

 Discussion about most important services

Unit 6: Location of facilities

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Understanding requests for directions

 Giving directions inside and outside the hotel

Language Focus & Practice:

 To be, can, look

 Verbs of direction

 Turn left, turn right, etc.

 Prepositions of place

Personal Job File:

 Giving directions inside and outside the hotel

Speaking Practice:

 Explaining where services are

 Giving directions in and near the hote

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 UNIT 7: Room Services

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Taking room service orders

 Understanding availability and non-availability of different

services

Language Focus & Practice:

 Checking food orders

 Apologizing and giving reasons

 Past tense

Personal Job File:

 Dealing with room services in the hotel

Speaking Practice:

 Talking

 Checking and correcting room service orders

 Explaining availability and non-availability of services

UNIT 8: Problems & Solutions

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Understanding guests’ problems during their stay

 Understanding how things work

Language Focus & Practice:

 Future

 I’ll contact/send up, etc.

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  Verbs: turn on/off, open, close

Personal Job File:

 Dealing with problems and solutions in the hotel

 Writing instructions

Speaking Practice:

 Understanding guests’ problems during their stay and offering

solutions

UNIT 9: Taking bar orders

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Taking orders for drinks

 Dealing with payment

Language Focus & Practice:

 Welcoming

 Offering choices of drinks

 Serving drinks

 The bill

 Payment, tip

Personal Job File:

 Building conversations in the hotel bar

Speaking Practice:

 Taking bar orders

 Dealing with different types of payment

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 Unit 10: In the restaurant (I)

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Welcoming guests

 Taking orders for the starter, main course and drinks

Language Focus & Practice:

 Greetings and seating guests

 Aperitifs

 Taking orders and explaining dishes for the starter, main course
and drinks

Personal Job File:

 Describing and recommending dishes in the restaurant

Speaking Practice:

 Taking orders

 Recommending and explaining dishes

 Recommending specific wines

Unit 11: In the restaurant (II)

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Dealing with orders for desserts, cheeses and coffee

 Correcting mistakes on the bill

Language Focus & Practice:

 First conditional

 Recommending
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  Asking about the meal, the bill

Personal Job File:

 Describing popular desserts in the restaurant

 Dialogue about the meal

Speaking Practice:

 Describing desserts

 Taking orders

 Suggesting dishes

 Describing items on the menu

 Dealing with the bill

Unit 12: Places to visit

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Understanding requests for places to visit

 Brochure article about Rome

Language Focus & Practice:

 Verbs, including modals for recommending places to visit

 Comparatives and superlatives

Personal Job File:

 Describing and recommending places to visit in the region

Speaking Practice:

 Making suggestions about places to visit

 Describing tourist sights

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 Unit 13: Enquiries

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Understanding information on room dates

 Room types

 Conference equipment

 Numbers, currencies

Language Focus & Practice:

 Writing letters about room rates and conference facilities

 Answering enquiries

 Offering help

Personal Job File:

 Answering enquiry letters about rooms and conference facilities

Speaking Practice:

 Exchange of information on room rates and conference facilities

 Choosing essential items for conferences

Unit 14: Using the phone

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Responding to phone bookings

 Taking different types of phone messages

Language Focus & Practice:

 Dealing with booking problems, apologizing, offering

alternatives
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  Telephone language

 Verbs and phrases

Personal Job File:

 Beginning and ending phone conversations

 Taking a booking

 Taking phone messages

Speaking Practice:

 Dealing with phone and booking problems

 Apologizing

 Offering alternatives

 Dealing with phone messages

Unit 15: The check-out

Listening & Pronunciation:

 Understanding hotel bills in general and specific items on the

bill

 Numbers

Language Practice & Focus:

 Present Perfect and Past Simple

 Affirmatives, Negatives, Questions

Personal Job File:

 Questions and Answers

 The hotel bill

 Saying goodbye to guests

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Speaking Practice:

 Presenting the hotel bill

 Methods of payment

 Explaining specific items

 Tipping

 Saying goodbye

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