This lesson is suitable for intermediate-level learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Different phrases to use when you are getting around on public transport:
- I need to hop on this train to get to the shops.
- The trains seem to be disrupted with all the construction happening.
- Get on the replacement bus which stops at all stations.
- The other train line has been delayed for at least 30 mins.
- Keep your ear to the ground because they keep changing services.
- You need to pay attention to the announcements.
Colloquial expressions:
Making life difficult means something is causing a lot of problems, stress and inconvenience.
I don’t follow means you don’t understand something.
Vocabulary:
Disrupted means something is not running the way they usually do. For example, when train services are disrupted they run at times that are different from their normal timetable.
Replacement bus is a bus that replaces another form of transport. For example, if trains cannot run for some reason, there will often be a replacement bus service instead.
Delayed means something will arrive later than expected because something has made it late.
To pay attention is to listen or look very carefully at or for something.
An announcement is information provided to make sure that people know something. For example, announcements are broadcast to let people know which trains are arriving in a station or if they will be late.
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways throughout Australia.
Hello everyone!! It’s Gloria again. I have to share, it was such a hassle coming into work today! I usually take public transport to work, mainly trains.
However, there's been a lot of bus replacements happening lately for my trainline because there are so many building projects to do with the new metro system across different parts of the city.
Have you noticed there’s been a lot of public transport changes recently? In Sydney, for example, they’ve just opened new metro lines, and in Queensland they are testing public transport fares for only 50 cents wherever you go, and in Melbourne there have been so many bus replacements for weeks now.
A bus replacement, in case you haven’t had one recently, is when the train company provides a bus rather than a train because the trains can’t run for some reason, like if they are doing work on the trainline.
And I don’t know why, for some reason, people love coming up to me and ask directions to different places, does it happen to you too? Well, whether they do or they don’t, the phrases we are practising here today will be very useful when you or somebody else is confused about train platforms or bus schedules.
This time Claire is having some problems, and she is looking for a friendly face to help her… that’s Allan! Let’s hear their conversation.
Claire
Excuse me! Can I just ask you a really quick question?
Allan
Yeah sure. What’s up?
Claire
I need to hop on this train to get to the shops, but they seem to be disrupted with all the construction happening today.
Allan
Well… yeah disruptions on certain lines are making life difficult... You can catch an express to Parliament station instead and then walk from there or get on the replacement bus which stops at all stations.
Claire
Hmmm… I don’t follow. Are you saying it would be best to take the bus?
Allan
Yeahhh… The bus might be the better option... but keep your ear to the ground because they keep changing the services around. You need to pay attention to the announcements.
Claire
Alright, cheers. This is such a nightmare but thanks for your help. Have a lovely day!!
Allan
Cheers, you too, safe travels!
Hmmm… I wonder if Claire will get to where she needs to go. Well, we can’t help her with the bus situation but we can go through this conversation in detail. Shall we start?
‘What’s up’ is a friendly way of greeting someone and asking how they are and what is happening. In this case it’s an informal way of saying ‘what is the problem and how can I help’
Claire replied,
I need to hop on this train to get to the shops, but they seem to be disrupted with all the construction happening today.
For the phrase 'Hop on’, it means jumping on to the vehicle. You can use this for many types of transport. For example, you can ‘hop on’ to a bus or a tram too.
If trains are ‘disrupted’ then they are not running the way they usually do, in this case, because of the constructions.
Guess what kind of trains can be disrupted too? Train of thoughts!! It is a series of thoughts or ideas that are connected to each other. These trains of thought can be disrupted, for example if somebody asks you a question while you are trying to think about what you need to buy at the shops.
Either way, disruptions make life difficult, which means something causes a lot of problems, stress and inconvenience.
Then Allan had some suggestions for Claire,
Well… You can catch an express to Parliament station instead and then walk from there or get on the replacement bus which stops at all stations.
Express buses are buses which don’t stop at all the stops on a journey so that they are usually quicker, while other buses might stop at a lot of stations and so are rather slow, So, don’t get on the wrong bus!
Claire then said something that is really useful for us learners.
Hmmm… I don’t follow. Are you saying it would be best to take the bus?
‘I don’t follow.’ This is a great phrase you can use if you don’t understand something. As language learners we might need to use it a lot! And the best thing about this phrase is that hopefully the person you are talking to will try and explain in a simpler way. Which Allan did when he said:
Yeahhh… The bus might be the better option... but keep your ear to the ground because they keep changing the services around.
Allan doesn’t mean you all need to lie down and put one side of your face on the floor. To put your ear to the ground means to pay careful attention to what is happening around you and to what people are saying. In this case, it’s the announcements about which train lines are not running.
Claire is obviously having a bit of trouble dealing with the disrupted train services. I can sympathise. To be fair, sometimes train schedules can be really confusing. Especially when services are delayed. If something is delayed then it will arrive later than expected because something has made it late – like building works, for example.
When Claire said,
This is such a nightmare!
A ‘nightmare’ is a bad dream, but here it simply means that Claire is having an extremely unpleasant experience.
I mean it would really be a nightmare if she wanted to go shopping but the train was so delayed that by the time she arrived at the shops they were already closed.
A big thank you to our educational consultant, Professor Lynda Yates, and our guest Laurence Hewson.
Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire. Micky Grossman did the sound design.
