🎙️Airport Travel In English| Real English Conversations Podcast For Global Professionals

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Airport Travel In English"

Real English Conversations Podcast – Real English for Global Professionals
Host: Curtis Davies (with Amy)
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Episode Theme: Navigating Airport Travel and Language Barriers as a Global Professional

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, hosts Amy and Curtis respond to a listener request from Elfredo, a Venezuelan pilot living in Argentina. They discuss real-world stories of traveling through airports in foreign countries, sharing how language barriers impact important travel moments. The episode culminates with practical English tips on how to talk about time zones—a common challenge for global professionals. The tone is conversational, supportive, and encouraging, with lots of personal anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Inspiration and Episode Motivation

• Amy introduces the episode by referencing a listener's request (Elfredo) to discuss experiences traveling through airports and handling these situations in another language.
  • [01:12] Amy: "We're going to be talking about some of the different experiences we've had while traveling through various airports... we're going to give you some ways to talk about different time zones."

2. Hosts’ Travel Background and Language Skills

• Both Amy and Curtis share their extensive travel history: Hawaii, California, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia.
• They candidly discuss their initial struggles with basic language knowledge when traveling:
  • [03:24] Amy: "The last times that we've traveled, we've really had a fairly limited level of the language."
  • [03:37] Curtis: "It was pretty basic and I was basic. Basic."

3. Navigating Airport Confusion in Panama

Story 1:

• Scenario: Finding the correct terminal for a domestic connecting flight in Panama City, with limited Spanish proficiency.
• They were incorrectly told they needed to transfer to another airport, but Amy’s intuition and persistence led them to keep asking until they found accurate directions.
  • [06:18] Amy: "Luckily I don't trust what people tell me the first time when I know that it's probably wrong."
• The experience created significant anxiety due to the communication barrier under time pressure.
  • [07:45] Curtis: "It gives you a little bit of anxiety when you can't communicate what you need and you know you have another plane to catch."

4. Early Morning Airport Stress in Ecuador

Story 2:

• Arrived at the Quito airport for an early international flight; confusion as the check-in counters weren't open yet.
• Issues with a flight changed two weeks prior complicated check-in; language barrier made the issue more difficult.
  • [09:23] Amy: "The lady, the first lady, she didn't speak English none and she was trying to explain to us what we needed..."
• Needed to interact with an unhelpful staff member; managed thanks to basic Spanish.
• Security checkpoint incident: Amy forgets phone and belt, leads to a comedic but stressful moment with airport staff.
  • [12:32] Amy: "I had to communicate what I forgot in the security area in Spanish."
  • [13:26] Amy: "He asked me if it was a light black cell phone or a dark black cell phone… Black is black!"

5. Non-Airport Experience: The Surfboard Rental

Story 3:

• Amy recounts renting a surfboard in a small Ecuadorian town, initially relieved to find someone who spoke English for the initial transaction.
• Returns to negotiate the retrieval of the surfboard; must now communicate in Spanish with the owner’s wife, who doesn’t understand her at all.
  • [16:59] Amy: "This was the only experience that I have ever had when I was trying to communicate in a foreign language...and the person just did not get it."
• This failed interaction highlights a key language learning insight: sometimes, it’s not the speaker’s fault, but the listener’s willingness or patience.
  • [18:44] Amy: "You can't force someone to try to understand you… you should never let that affect your confidence, ever."
  • [19:34] Curtis: "Everything worked out."

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On language and confidence:
  • [18:52] Amy: "It doesn't mean you're bad. Like, you're trying, man... And if they're not trying to understand you, that's their problem. And you should never let that affect your confidence, ever."
• On miscommunication humor:
  • [13:26] Amy: "...he asked me if it was a light black cell phone or a dark black cell phone. And of course, there's no such thing. Black is black."
• On persevering during travel mishaps:
  • [06:18] Amy: "Luckily I don't trust what people tell me the first time when I know that it's probably wrong."

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English Tip Segment: Expressing Time Zones

[20:01–22:55]

• Amy and Curtis explain how to discuss time zone differences when arranging travel or meetings.
• Key phrases:
  • "We're three hours behind Toronto."
  • "Toronto is three hours ahead."
  • "Most of the people that I talk to are two hours ahead of me."
• Practical application for professionals:
  • "If the place that you're flying to… is ahead of yours, you say you're five hours ahead. If it's the other way, we're three hours behind Toronto, for example."
  • Useful for scheduling international meetings and travel.

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Important Timestamps

• 01:12: Episode topic introduction
• 02:29–03:41: Hosts' language background and early travel experiences
• 04:31–07:45: Panama City: The incorrect directions and airport terminal confusion
• 07:48–11:47: Quito, Ecuador: Early morning airport check-in stress, language difficulty, and security mishap
• 13:26: Humorous cell phone description moment
• 14:35–19:35: Surfboard rental communication and the impact on confidence
• 20:01–22:55: Real English tip: How to talk about time zones

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Takeaways for the Listener

• Navigating airports in another language brings both challenges and humorous moments.
• Perseverance, checking information with multiple sources, and preparing relevant vocabulary are essential.
• Negative experiences with communication should not undermine your confidence; sometimes, it's the listener’s willingness that matters.
• Understanding and expressing time zone differences is a key skill for global professionals.
• The hosts’ genuine, supportive tone offers motivation and practical advice for English learners facing similar situations.

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Resources Mentioned

• Website: realenglishconversations.com
  • Free transcripts and practice exercises
  • Premium membership offers more materials and speaking exercises

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This episode is an excellent resource for intermediate to advanced English learners, especially global professionals seeking practical communication strategies, confidence-building stories, and real-world English language tips.

Transcript

[Amy]

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[Amy]

Hey, this is Amy from Real English Conversations, and today we're going to be talking about some of the different experiences we've had while traveling through various airports. And for the Real English tips, we're going to give you some ways to talk about different time zones.

[Curtis]

Welcome to realenglishconversations.com the podcast where you

[Amy]

can study the art of real English conversation while listening to fun and interesting topics. Hey guys, this is Amy and Curtis and today we're going to do a conversation that one of our listeners actually suggested to us. So who was that?

[Curtis]

That was Elfredo and he's living in Venezuela.

[Amy]

No, he's from Venezuela.

[Curtis]

Oh, okay. Where's he living?

[Amy]

He is living in Argentina and working as a pilot.

[Curtis]

Oh, that's a cool job.

[Amy]

So what did he ask us to talk about?

[Curtis]

Well, because he is a pilot, he asked us to talk about some of our experiences in airports and specifically doing

[Amy]

it in another language.

[Curtis]

Yeah, this can be tricky at times.

[Amy]

Yeah. So if you guys have been listening to the podcast for a while, you're gonna know that we've done quite a bit of traveling. I mean, where have we been? We've been to. We went to Hawaii.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

We've been to California.

[Curtis]

We've been to Costa Rica.

[Amy]

Yeah, Costa Rica. Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador. And upcoming we have a trip planned to Ecuador again and to Colombia. And this next vacation is going to be three months. And I think we might be able to this time when we go to the airports, we might actually have an experience to do the whole process of the customs and like checking in with the customs agent and getting your passport stamped and stuff. I think we might be able to do it completely in Spanish this time.

[Curtis]

Yeah, I'm feeling a little more confident, that's for sure.

[Amy]

Yeah. So the last times that we've traveled, we've really had a fairly limited level of the language.

[Curtis]

Yes.

[Amy]

You know, because I know when we came back from Ecuador, after. We came back after I had been there for six weeks, I was still just a beginner. Looking back now, I thought I was better then than I was, but looking back now, I can see I was.

[Curtis]

It was pretty basic and I was basic. Basic.

[Amy]

You were like a newbie. Like you knew words, you didn't know grammar, how to put anything together. Okay, so we have a couple of stories. We'll talk about two that are related to airport travel specifically.

[Curtis]

Yes.

[Amy]

And the third one is still. I mean, it's when you need to communicate certain and specific information, but it's actually related to a surfboard rental.

[Curtis]

Okay.

[Amy]

So. But we kind of thought it was on the same note because you're having to communicate something in a non native language with whatever words you have.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

So what was the first experience that we had where we had to find out certain information and the person that we were talking to didn't know English?

[Curtis]

We experienced this in Panama.

[Amy]

Panama City.

[Curtis]

Panama City. And we were flying to a different part of Panama.

[Amy]

Yeah. So we came in on an international flight and we had landed and there is about, I think an hour and a half layover in between our flights. And we had to find the. I guess the domestic flight connection.

[Curtis]

Yes.

[Amy]

So a domestic flight is a flight within the country. And anyway, I asked the. I don't know who it was. You know those people that are kind of at the. They're near the area where you get your tickets and boarding passes and they're kind of at the end to help you. Let's talk groceries, specifically your groceries. With Instacart, you want your groceries just the way you like them, right? Well, the Instacart app lets you do just that. They have a new preference picker that lets you pick how ripe or unripe you want your bananas. Shoppers can see your preferences up front, helping guide their choices. Instacart get groceries just how you like. They're like an assistant to guide you around or give you information. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, I asked one of those people, you know, how do you. Or where is the flight connection? We're going to Boca Toro. Where, where do we go to get that flight? And you know, he looked at me and he said, oh no, you need to be at the other airport. It's a 35 minute taxi ride from here.

[Curtis]

And we had to catch the plane

[Amy]

in an hour and a half.

[Curtis]

In an hour and a half. And there was no way.

[Amy]

And luckily I don't trust what people tell me the first time when I know that it's probably wrong.

[Curtis]

Your gut instinct was no, I knew

[Amy]

our airplane was flying out of the Panama International Airport.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And that. That's it. I knew it was there. It wasn't. I knew about the other airport that he was talking about and I knew on our ticket that that wasn't the one that I had booked.

[Curtis]

And this was very limited Spanish, very, very limited.

[Amy]

Because this is prior to our Ecuador trip. So this is about three years ago that we did this one. And anyway, so I asked another person and I asked another person and finally we got the answer. And where was the terminal?

[Curtis]

The terminal was like a. Was outside and we had to walk to it.

[Amy]

Yeah. And it was a crazy climate difference because the air in Panama City is super hot, very humid, moist air.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And the little waiting room was like an ice box,

[Curtis]

one extreme to the other.

[Amy]

Yeah, it was interesting. But anyway, we got where we needed to go and everything was fine. But in this case, we had to use our limited Spanish to try to make a very important connection and we didn't really have very much time. So it was, it gives you a little bit of anxiety when you can't

[Curtis]

communicate what you need and you know you have another plane to catch.

[Amy]

Yeah. And what happened with the second one? I think it was in Quito in Ecuador.

[Curtis]

Yeah. And it was really, really early in the morning.

[Amy]

Oh yeah. Because they make you show up three hours early for a international flight connection. But it wasn't even. The check in area wasn't even open.

[Curtis]

No. There was nobody around. We were like, are we in the right area?

[Amy]

Oh, yeah. And again, I forgot about that. But we had to ask around in Spanish and try to make sure that that was the area that we were supposed to be.

[Curtis]

And then some of the employees showed up, a few more people started to line up the in the queue line. And yeah, we were just standing there waiting to get to the counter. And we got to the counter and there was a problem.

[Amy]

Yeah. And I think I Know what the problem was? The problem was that we had changed our flights two weeks ago and we were supposed to originally leave Ecuador and fly to Peru for two weeks. But we changed our mind because, because we were having such a good time on the coast in Ecuador, we decided to stay longer. So somewhere in that process, when we went to go get our boarding passes, we needed to do some sort of extra step, some sort of registration. I don't know what it was.

[Curtis]

Yeah, maybe we had to sign a different piece of paper or I don't know.

[Amy]

But I remember the lady, the first lady, she didn't speak English none and she was trying to explain to us what we needed and she had to actually get another attendant that spoke a bit of English to explain what we needed to do.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And I don't think that I would have like, if I didn't know any Spanish, I don't know what I would have done in that situation, you know. And anyway, so we had to go over to the other lady and what was that like?

[Curtis]

It was a very bad experience. She didn't want to be at work that day. She was in a bad mood.

[Amy]

That was the first Ecuadorian that we met that wasn't happy.

[Curtis]

That was the only Ecuadorian that we met that wasn't happy.

[Amy]

And yeah, we were like the Latin American people when, when they're referring to North Americans that don't speak Spanish, they call them gringos. So we're a couple of gringos and we show up and, you know, we need help with something and I don't even know what I needed help with. You know, I handed her this piece of paper, tried to answer her questions

[Curtis]

and to, you know, we're all sleepy headed because it's early in the morning.

[Amy]

We only had three hours of sleep or something. It was crazy. And anyway, we got through that process. I don't know how, but we got through that and we went through the check in area and because I was so tired I forgot to take off my belt and I had my, my cell phone tucked in, in my pocket.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And of course when I went through the, the metal detector.

[Curtis]

Yeah, yeah, had to.

[Amy]

The alarm went off.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And I had to, oh shoot, I forgot my belt. And here's my, here's my cell phone. And the guy put it through a separate bin but behind other people's bins that they have like the bins for the security screening. And anyway, so we, you know, went through. Okay, I passed the test, no metal, you know, and we put on our, our shoes and Our. Put our, our laptop back in the backpack.

[Curtis]

Yeah. Repacked everything up.

[Amy]

Yeah. And off we went. And just after I left the security area that you can't return back into.

[Curtis]

Yeah, we were going through. It was like a duty free kind of area or something there just past security.

[Amy]

Yeah, yeah, duty free where they sell alcohol that's tax free or perfumes and electronics and things like that.

[Curtis]

Every airport has it.

[Amy]

Yeah. And I went, oh no, I forgot my cell phone. Where's my cell phone? And of course I'm panicking because, you know, my cell phone has all my contacts on it and yeah, you know, it's expensive. Cell phones are expensive. And so anyway, I found the first security guy, or I think he was maybe a janitor or something that like. Like that.

[Curtis]

Oh, yeah.

[Amy]

And I had to communicate what I forgot in the security area in Spanish.

[Curtis]

In Spanish.

[Amy]

And he took us back through and it got us to the security area again.

[Curtis]

Yeah, the. The security agents were. They were funny.

[Amy]

Yeah, they were actually joking.

[Curtis]

Prank on me.

[Amy]

They knew what I was looking for. They knew my phone and they were asking me to describe it. So. So anyway, I was like, well, it's a black phone. You know, I'm using very, very simple words. That's all I knew. And the guy asked me, and I think he was just doing it just to get that confused look on my face of like, what, what did you just ask me? But he asked me if it was a light black cell phone or a dark black cell phone.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And of course, there's no such thing. Black is black.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And yeah, it was, it was funny. But then he laughed and. Yeah, he just laughed at me and handed it back to me.

[Curtis]

So what is your non airport experience?

[Amy]

Oh, okay. So what happened with our, our last vacation? We were in a fairly small town on the coast in Ecuador and I remember there were only three people that spoke, well, varying levels of English. Most of them, it was like, I can count to 10 or say prices in English. Yeah, that was two of them. And the third one was actually a Chinese guy that was down there and he had learned Spanish and he knew English. Luckily, this Chinese guy, when I first made the deal with him to rent a surfboard, he knew English. And I was able to communicate it because I kind of went into the situation unplanned.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

Like somebody had said, I think you can rent a surfboard at this Internet cafe. And you know, I hadn't looked up any words to do with renting or talking about transportation, trying to get it delivered. So I had no idea how to express these ideas. I was really, really happy when I went in. And it was the first and only time I asked anybody on the trip if they spoke English.

[Curtis]

Oh, yeah.

[Amy]

And he did. And it was like, oh, good, perfect. And the thing that was complicated about it was that I actually needed the surfboard rental for about three weeks. And our accommodation was about three or four kilometers from the town.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And I needed to have it delivered and picked up when I was finished with the surfboard. And I think because it was a long term rental and it was kind of the slow season, he decided that it would be okay. And he would rent me the surfboard.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And deliver it to the location. And that was fine. Of course, that was in English, so that was fun. And then when I went back at the end of the time where I was finished using the surfboard and I was trying to arrange for it to

[Curtis]

be picked up and brought back to

[Amy]

be returned because I had no way of getting this surfboard back to rental place.

[Curtis]

And we weren't gonna, you know, walk down the street. It's a little too far.

[Amy]

And it was a big surfboard. It wasn't like a little four or five foot surfboard. It was a long board. So, you know, it'd be hard to get like. I don't even think we could. Could get it on the bus.

[Curtis]

No.

[Amy]

You know, so anyway, we went back and I think it was his wife or something.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And. And I had prepared this time for the conversation. I learned the words I needed. I even wrote out a little explanation just in case she couldn't understand my horrible Spanish accent.

[Curtis]

Yeah. I think you even rehearsed it with me a few times.

[Amy]

Oh, totally. I was prepared for this conversation. And I went into the surf shop or the Internet cafe slash surfboard rental place.

[Curtis]

And

[Amy]

the lady, I was talking to her and she had this look on her face like I was talking German or something.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And this was the only experience that I have ever had when I was trying to communicate in a foreign language.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And the person just did not get it. They could not understand me. Maybe they were bad with understanding foreign accents in that language. I don't really know. But it was, it was pretty frustrating. It was hard.

[Curtis]

Yeah. It was really surprising to me and

[Amy]

really awkward because I was like, I don't know what to do here. Okay, well, I'm gonna leave and hopefully when I come back someone else is working that understands, you know, broken Spanish. And anyway, so this experience, it actually gave me a really interesting Sensation. Because when I left, of course, when you're trying to communicate and someone can't understand you, it kind of affects your confidence a little bit.

[Curtis]

It does.

[Amy]

You're like, oh, am I that bad?

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

Is my accent that bad?

[Curtis]

Am I pronouncing something or everything really, really poorly or.

[Amy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I realized after that, no, this, this isn't the case. And I have come across this a few different times through language partners that I've been practicing with, and they have said similar things to me. Like one of my Colombian friends, he said that when he was in the United States and he was trying to communicate, people would just not give him the time of day. And I told him it's not that his English is bad, it's that those people are not. They're not trying.

[Curtis]

No.

[Amy]

And you can't force someone to try to understand you. They either want to or they don't.

[Curtis]

Yeah. It's a choice.

[Amy]

It doesn't mean you're bad. Like, you're trying, man. You don't know their language like a native. You can't help it. You're trying. You're doing the best you can. And if they're not trying to understand you, that's their problem. And you should never let that affect your confidence, ever.

[Curtis]

No, not at all.

[Amy]

People that genuinely want to help will help, and, you know, that was the most important thing. So, anyway, I ended up the next day, we came back and we talked to the son in law and he called his dad and his dad knew about me and he knew where I was staying and everything was fine. We managed to get the surfboard picked up and delivered and I paid them for the rental and everything.

[Curtis]

Everything worked out.

[Amy]

And everything worked out. So those are some of the situations that we've faced based in our travels in a foreign language. I mean, there's been many more stories, usually on the bus, but in respect to airport travel and important situations where you needed to communicate.

[Curtis]

Yeah. And facing some language barriers. And we've got the real English tip coming up.

[Amy]

Yeah, real English conversational tip. All right, so for today's English tip, we are going to just talk about time zones and how to. Especially when you're doing airport travel and you're crossing time zones.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

You need to talk about what the time is, where you're going, or what it was or will be.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

And it's a little bit confusing. So we just wanted to give you some examples about how you can express this exactly like you should in English. So, Curtis, if. If we Were flying to Toronto from Kelowna.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

This is four provinces away from where we are and there's three different time zones. Yeah. Okay, so because where we are, we would say we're behind Toronto time.

[Curtis]

Yes. Toronto is three hours ahead.

[Amy]

Okay. So if we left here at 4:00 in the afternoon and our flight is three hours.

[Curtis]

Yes.

[Amy]

And Toronto's three hours ahead.

[Curtis]

Yeah.

[Amy]

What time will we arrive?

[Curtis]

That would be 10:00 clock at night.

[Amy]

Yeah, you're right. I had to think about it.

[Curtis]

My math is good today, I guess.

[Amy]

Yeah, sometimes it's not. That's why I was thinking about it. Okay, so for example, when I'm trying to coordinate times with different people for language lessons, or if I want to talk to one of my friends on Skype for practice myself, I have to always talk about time zones because they usually live in a different time zone than me. So most of the people that I talk to are two hours ahead of me.

[Curtis]

Okay, Right.

[Amy]

So when they say, what time is it there? I tell them the time and then I say I'm two hours behind. Yeah, so. So that's pretty much what we do. If the place that. If. Yeah, the place that you're flying to or the person is in a different country and their time is ahead of yours, you say your blank hours ahead of me, you're five hours ahead, you're 10 hours ahead, whatever it is. And if it's the other way, you know, like us here out in the west of Canada, we're always behind everyone. Like we're three hours behind Toronto, for example. So anyway, that's how you can talk about different time zones and the normal way that people express that concept. Yeah.

[Curtis]

So, yeah, if you guys haven't been to our website yet, I encourage you to come to realenglishconversations.com and sign up as a free member. We have access to three of our most popular conversations with transcripts, and you can download the slower versions of the audio. And yeah, lots of good free resources there for you to check out.

[Amy]

Kind of gives you a sample of what you're gonna get as a premium membership. Yeah, the. The free members stuff has most of the features. Of course, as a premium member, you get access to the speaking exercises, the phrasal verb course, and so much more. Just more of everything. We've got a whole bunch of stuff in the member section, the premium member section. So we'll see you there. If you're enjoying this podcast, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a comment for us. We'd love to hear your support or feedback. Come to our [e-mail] to get access to a transcription of this audio that explains some of the vocabulary we have used in this lesson, a full transcription and some exercises to help you practice what you've learned. See you guys next time.