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  • Vanessa: ... Excuse me. Do  

  • you know where room 302 is? Did you just freeze  in fear because you weren't sure what to say?  

  • Never fear. Today, I'm here to  help you. Let's talk about it

  • Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.comAnd today you are going to learn how to really ask  

  • and give directions in English. Now, probably  a long time ago in your first English classes,  

  • you learned turn right, go straight. But the  reality is nowadays we all use a GPS when we're  

  • navigating around a new city. So this isn't really  the most useful way to learn directions, but we do  

  • still ask for directions in different placesFor example, if you get a job at a new office,  

  • you might need to ask, "Oh, excuse me, where's  the printer paper." Or if you're going to a zoo,  

  • you might say, "Hey, excuse me, can you point  me in the direction of the elephants?" We still  

  • ask for directions and you need to be able to ask  politely and answer correctly as well. So that's  

  • what you're going to learn in today's lesson. And like always, I have created a free  

  • PDF worksheet to help you remember all of  today's questions, answers, phrases, ideas,  

  • and you can answer Vanessa's challenge question  at the bottom of the PDF worksheet. You can click  

  • on the link in the description to download that  free PDF worksheet today. Let's get started by  

  • asking some common questions for directions. The  first set are very direct, but we can always add,  

  • excuse me, to the beginning to be a little more  polite. Excuse me. My ticket says platform six.  

  • Where is that? What a lovely direct questionExcuse me. I'm a new employee. Where do I go?  

  • This is a lovely question. Where do I go? If  you get invited to someone's house and then you  

  • realize you don't know where it is, you can say,  "I realize I haven't been to your house before.  

  • How do I get there?" How do I get there?  

  • Or in the office, you might ask, "Excuse  me, where's the paper for the copy machine."  

  • Where's the paper for the copy machine? BeautifulLet's go on to some more polite questions that are  

  • slightly longer, but you can do it. Excuse  me. Can you tell me how to get to platform  

  • six? Can you tell me how to get to platform sixExcuse me, where can I find the toilet paper?  

  • Excuse me, where can I find the toilet paperIf it's the year 2020, the answer is nowhere.  

  • Excuse me. I'm looking for Dr. Smith's officeExcuse me. I'm trying to find Dr. Smith's office.  

  • Now, this looks like a statement, but really  when you are approaching someone else, it is  

  • perceived as a question. So if you came up to  me and said, excuse me, I'm looking for Dr.  

  • Smith's office. I would know, oh, you're lost. You can't find his office. And I might say,  

  • all right, it's right over there. Excuse me, can  you help me find my classroom? I'm lost. Can you  

  • help me find my classroom? And our last question  is a little bit long, but it's quite common.  

  • Excuse me, can you point me in the direction  of the exit? Can you point me in the direction  

  • of the exit? So here, you're not asking  them to go there with you and to show you  

  • exactly where it is, you just want them to pointHey, it's generally over that way. Can you point  

  • me in the direction of the exit? You might even  ask this at the grocery store too if you don't  

  • want the employee to have to stop what they're  doing and then go all the way with you to show  

  • you where the breakfast cereal is. You might  just say, excuse me, can you point me in the  

  • direction of the breakfast cereal? This is a great question to ask.  

  • Now that we've talked about some common questions  for asking for directions, let's talk about giving  

  • directions, giving an answer. Now, these  might be things that you need to understand  

  • because someone will tell them to you and you  need to remember them so you can find your way,  

  • or someone might be asking you, "Hey, how doget there?" And you need to know how to respond.  

  • We're going to be taking a look at a couple common  situations where we still ask for directions. The  

  • first one is inside a building, specifically inschool. What if someone asked you this question

  • Dan: "Excuse me, where's room 302.  

  • Excuse me, where's room 302? Vanessa

  • Would you know how to respond to that? Well, let  me give you an example. Go up to the third floor  

  • through the double doors and down the hall and  it will be on the right. Here, we use a lot of  

  • prepositions. Go up to the third floor through  the double doors, down the hall. This is a fixed  

  • expression that we often, use down the hall. It's  not exactly going downhill, but it doesn't matter,  

  • down the hall and it will be on the rightor maybe it will be on the left. Great. The  

  • next place where we often ask for directions is  in a grocery store. What if someone asked you  

  • this question? Would you know what to say? Dan

  • Excuse me, where can I find the organic breakfast  cereal? Excuse me? Where can I find the organic  

  • breakfast cereal? Vanessa

  • Well, if you work at that grocery store, you  could say the organic breakfast cereal is over  

  • on aisle three, near the canned  fruit, on the top shelf. Here,  

  • again, we are using wonderful prepositions  in context. It's over on aisle three,  

  • near the canned fruit, on the top shelf. If you'd  like to learn more grocery store vocabulary,  

  • you can check out this video I made where  I walked around an American grocery store  

  • and talked about everything that I saw and  tried to give you a lot of common vocabulary,  

  • phrases, cultural tips, and everything that you  need to know about in American grocery store

  • Let's go to our next scenario. Let's imagine that  you're visiting a new city and you're staying with  

  • a host and you'd like to ask the host some  advice, what if you asked this question

  • Dan: Can you help me find a good coffee shop?  

  • Can you help me find a good coffee shop? Vanessa

  • Well, first of all, great questionCongratulations on asking a good question.  

  • The next thing is you would need to understand  the answer and someone might say to you, "Head  

  • down the street." Oh, does this sound familiarIt sounds similar to down the hall. It's a very  

  • similar expression. Head down the streetcouple blocks. You can't miss it. Oh, I hate  

  • it when people say that because usually you miss  it. But this is a common verb, to head somewhere.  

  • It means you and your head are going in that  direction. Head down the street a couple blocks

  • This is usually for kind of defined streetsbut you know what, we use this generally too.  

  • Maybe you pass one street or two streets or three  streets. This is a couple blocks. This is a very  

  • American term. Head down the street, a couple  blocks. You can't miss it. Let's take a look  

  • at our next situation, which is in the zoo. We  recently went to the zoo and our kids were asking  

  • us nonstop the whole time. "Where's this? How can  we see this? When are we going to see this?" So  

  • if you find yourself at a zoo, you  might be asking a question like this

  • Dan: Can you  

  • point me in the direction of the elephants? Can  you point me in the direction of the elephants

  • Vanessa: And I can answer you by saying,  

  • "To get to the elephants. You need to go through  the primate exhibit, turn left at the reptile  

  • house, and loop around the safari exhibit."  Oh, we've got lovely prepositions. Through the  

  • primate house. So you got to open the doors, go  through the primate house, and then you need to  

  • turn left at the reptile house and loop aroundSo this is imagining that there is probably  

  • like a sidewalk that goes around the safariLoop around the safari, and then over there,  

  • that's where you're going to see the elephants. Next, let's look at asking for directions  

  • in a park. What if I asked you this questionWould you know how to respond to me

  • Dan: Do you know where the park bathroom is?  

  • Do you know where the park bathroom is? Vanessa

  • All right. It might be an urgent situation. So  you need to know exactly how to give the right  

  • directions. You might say you need to follow the  path around the park, past the splash pad and the  

  • bathrooms are right next to the merry-go-roundThis is a common expression we often use:  

  • Right next to. We're not talking about right  and left, we're talking about immediately  

  • next to the merry-go-round. So when someone  says I'm right next to my car, it doesn't  

  • mean they're on the right side of their car, it  just means they're immediately beside their car

  • So we could say, you need to follow the path  around, go past the splash pad. We often use  

  • this expression. You're going to need to pass  some things. Go past the splash pad and the  

  • bathrooms are right next to the merry-go-roundGood luck. Let's take a look at the next scenario,  

  • which is at a concert or a sporting event or  at a theater where you have a ticket that has  

  • a specific seat saved for you but the area is  just too big, you can't find it. So you need  

  • to ask someone for directions. You might  ask a really polite question like this

  • Dan: Excuse me, could you help me find my seat?  

  • Excuse me, could you help me find my seat? Vanessa

  • The person who's working there might sayoh right, let me take a look at your ticket.  

  • Your ticket says, okay, you are in section 105,  row 12, seats J and K. So to get to section 105,  

  • you need to go up the ramp to 105, then go  up the stairs to row 12 and then go about  

  • midway across the row and you'll find seatsand K. Whew. This is going to be tough to find.  

  • We have some great expressions: up the ramp, up  the stairs, and midway over. Midway over means  

  • about in the middle of the row, you're going  to find seats J and K, and that will be where  

  • you need to go. Let's take a look at our last  situation where you might ask for directions. And  

  • that is on transportation. I know I have been lost  countless times on transportation and have needed  

  • to ask for directions just because, especially  when you're in a new place, transportation can be  

  • confusing. So, you might need to askvery polite question. Something like this

  • Dan: Excuse me, can you help me find where to go?  

  • Excuse me, can you help me find where to go? Vanessa

  • Let's imagine you're at a busy train  station, but you are completely lost.  

  • So you ask someone for directions and they  say to you, oh, it looks like on your ticket,  

  • you need to go to platform six. Okay, go down the  stairs, turn to the left, and follow the signs  

  • for platform six. This is a common phrase that  we often use. Look for the signs for platform  

  • six or follow the signs for platform six. You  might even use this while you're driving. Follow  

  • the signs for New York City. You can't miss itFollow the signs for platform six. Then look for  

  • train 34, look for train 34. This is giving youspecific piece of instructions, not just look for  

  • the signs, but look for train 34 and that will  be exactly where you need to go. Whew. That was  

  • a lot of directions. I hope if you felt lostnow, you feel like you have found your way

  • Well, I have a quick question for you, in  the comments, can you give me directions to  

  • your favorite cafe? Can you use some of today's  expressions to give me directions so that I can  

  • find it because I really need a nice cup of teaWell, like always, you can download today's free  

  • PDF worksheet. There is a link in the description  with all of today's directional questions  

  • and how to give directions. You can print  it out. You could even put it in your bag  

  • so that next time you travel, you will be  absolutely prepared and you will know the  

  • right phrases to use and you won't get lost. There is a link in the description so you can  

  • download the free PDF worksheet today. Wellthank you so much for learning English with me,  

  • and I'll see you again next Friday for a new  lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. The next  

  • step is to download the free PDF worksheet for  this lesson. With this free PDF, you will master  

  • today's lesson and never forget what you have  learned. You can be a confident English speaker.  

  • Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.

Vanessa: ... Excuse me. Do  

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