Working at the front desk
Today I had a two-hour shift at the front desk in the library. I was a little nervous because I was still not confident about my spoken English. I was also afraid that I would misconstrue someone's questions, especially during the phone call, I usually hear less clearly than it is when face to face. It was a little lucky that I didn't get a phone call this afternoon!
Some people asked me where the printer was. I tried to point the location more clearly, but I was kind of in a jam because some sentences in my mind were Chinese and I couldn't translate them into English very fast! I was about to say: "There are two places you can print, one is in the middle of the hall, another is at the end of the hall. But you only can use those window computers to print in the middle printers, and you want to print at the end of the hall, you have to use the Apple computers. One tricky thing is, if you want the color printing, you have to use the Apple computers, which have two systems, and you must use the windows system in it to do the color printing!" It's really difficult for me to express, does it sound weird? If so, can somebody help me to figure out a more natural way? Many thanks!
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Corrections · 6
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Working at the front desk
Today I had a two-hour shift at the front desk in the library. I was a little nervous because I am still not confident about my spoken English. I was also afraid that I would misconstrue someone's questions, especially during a phone call, I usually hear less clearly than it is when face to face. I was a little lucky that I didn't get a phone call this afternoon!Some people asked me where the printer was. I tried to point the location more clearly, but I was kind of in a jam because some sentences in my mind were Chinese and I couldn't translate them into English very fast! I was about to say: "There are two places you can print, one is in the middle of the hall, another is at the end of the hall. But you only can use those window computers to print in the middle printers, and if you want to print at the end of the hall, you have to use the Apple computers. One tricky thing is, if you want the color printing, you have to use the Apple computers, which have two systems, and you must use the windows system in it to do the color printing!" It's really difficult for me to express that. Does it sound weird? If so, can somebody help me to figure out a more natural way? Many thanks!
Your explanation about the printers does not sound weird at all!
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I was also afraid that I would misconstrue someone's questions, especially during the phone call, I usually hear less clearly than it is when face to face. It was a little lucky that I didn't get a phone call this afternoon!
Some people asked me where the printer was. I tried to point the location more clearly, but I was kind of in a jam because some sentences in my mind were Chinese and I couldn't translate them into English very fast!
I have same feeling like you.
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Thank you very much, Sheila and Johnny!
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yep..
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You might start by asking whether they intend to do color printing.
If the answer is yes, you can direct them to the Apple computers. Then you explain that they have to use the Windows system, and that the print job will be sent to the printer at the end of the hall.
If the answer is no, then you can give them the choice of computers to use, and explain which printer each computer sends its jobs to.
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