Customer: Excuse me, could I ask you a question?
Staff: Of course. What can I do for you?
Customer: Where can I find some butter?
Staff: The butter is over there, where it says dairy. It’s in aisle 3, on the left.
Customer: I see. Thanks for your help.

English Conversation/Dialogue

At a Supermarket

A flight attendant approaches Matt to offer him a drink.


Flight Attendant
Would you like something to drink? We have soda, coffee and tea as well as alcoholic beverages.


Matt
Sure, how much are the drinks?


Flight Attendant
Non-alcoholic beverages are free of charge. Alcoholic drinks are five dollars each.


Matt
Ok. I'd like to have a cup of coffee, please. Are meals going to be served on this flight?


Flight Attendant
Dinner will be served halfway through the flight. I will also bring you a snack with your beverage.


Matt
Can we choose what we will have for dinner?


Flight Attendant
Certainly. I will be bringing the menu for you to choose from. We have chicken, fish, and beef.


Matt
Is a vegetarian meal available?


Flight Attendant
Yes, but only if you have requested a special meal when you booked your flight. If not, I will try to find some extra servings of vegetables for you.


Matt
That would be great. Thank you very much.

Airline Food Services

Matt
Excuse me, could you help me find my seat?


Flight Attendant
Certainly. May I have your boarding pass?


Matt
Here it is.


Flight Attendant
Thank you! Let me see... Your seat number is 13D. It’s the aisle seat on the right side.


Matt
Thank you!

Someone is sitting in 13D.


Matt
Excuse me. I’m afraid you’re sitting in my seat.


Nicole
Oh, really?

Nicole looks at her boarding pass.


Nicole
Yes, you are right. I got the wrong seat. I'm so sorry!


Matt
No problem.

A flight attendant approaches Matt.


Flight Attendant
Would you like something to drink?


Matt
Yes, I’d like to have an orange juice.


Flight Attendant
Sure. Here it is.


Matt
Thank you. May I recline my seat?


Flight Attendant
Yes, of course.


Matt
And, can I have a blanket, please?


Flight Attendant
Sure, I will bring you one right away.


Matt
Thank you so much!


On an Airplane

Host: Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I’m joined today by Naseem, an IT consultant from 
Delhi and Deepa, an HR consultant from Bangore. Today we’ll be discussing the increase in the number of people moonlighting and what the future holds for companies and workers. So, Deepa, I’ll ask you first: What has created this problem?

Deepa: Well, as with many places around the world, during the pandemic, there was a big increase in the number of people working from home and also economic instability. So, at the same time, we had more people working without any supervision and people were more worried about being able to make a living. So, the increase in online moonlighting was a consequence of that situation really.

Naseem: That’s certainly what happened to me. At the time, you read about all of these companies that were *laying off * their staff and there wasn’t much you could do about it if it happened to you. So suddenly working for just one company seemed like a bad idea. I have a family to feed: three boys and a girl. I felt a lot of insecurity and was terrified of losing money, or maybe even worse, my house. So, I took two jobs.

Host: What effect did that have on you and your family?

Naseem: It gave us some comfort, financially, as I started making more money than I had before the pandemic. But I was also working very long hours each day. I saw the children every day of course, but I couldn’t spend any real time with them as I had to work from almost as soon as I got up, until late in the evening. My wife was working as well, so it was quite hard to manage everything. When the crisis was averted, we had gotten used to having the extra money, so although I cut back on my hours in both jobs, I still continued to work at both.

Host: Do you see anything wrong with doing what you are doing?

Naseem: Not at all. I’m a professional and I work hard at both jobs. My main job is in IT as you mentioned, but my second is in design. 


