Transcription
Do you want to get some coffee? Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome to Smashing English.
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Ordering coffee is something millions of people do every single day, but doing it in English, if English isn't your first language, can be difficult. So, my husband Bez and I went into five different coffee shops, and you'll never guess what we ordered—coffee! But we were secretly wearing a microphone, so I'm going to give you the real audio from these interactions so you can hear what it really sounds like when native speakers order coffee in an English-speaking country. So, let's go!
Okay, let's look at Coffee Shop Number One. Now, obviously, I couldn't film what happened in there—it's just audio—but Bez and I are going to recreate what happened for you. So, let's take a listen to the audio from Coffee Shop Number One.
"Hi, uh, um, could I get a medium, um, decaf Americano? Any milk?"
"Oat milk."
"You do oat milk?"
"Oat milk, yeah."
"Perfect, thank you very much."
"In or takeaway?"
"Uh, takeaway, please."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, could I also get a chocolate twist?"
"Is that—"
"Yeah, and then a, um, oh, I don't know, a blueberry muffin, please."
"You want the twist as it is or warmed up?"
"As it is, please. That'll be fine, thank you."
"£8.20, please."
"Thank you."
"Anything else?"
"No, I'll be fine, thanks."
"Cheers."
"Do you want to tell me where to stop on the milk?"
"That's great. Perfect, thank you."
"Amazing. Thank you, have a nice day!"
"Bye!"
How was that? Was that surprising? Did people say things you weren't expecting? Let's go through the most interesting and important parts of that interaction.
Firstly, the barista said, "Say, hello, what can I get for you?" This is a super common phrase you will hear in a coffee shop, a restaurant, any place where you're ordering drinks or food: "Hello, what can I get for you?" So, be ready to hear that question. When they ask, "What can I get for you?" that's the time to place your order.
Then, in response to this, I said, "Could I get a—" I said, "Hello." So, it's always nice to reply to a "Hi" or a "Hello" with a "Hello" as well. So, "Hello, what can I get for you?" "Hi, could I get a medium decaf Americano?" "Could" is slightly more polite than "Can," so instead of saying "Can I get," sometimes you might want to say "Could I get." However, in coffee shops and fast-paced environments, "Can" is not impolite. You will hear in the later audios, sometimes we do say "Can I get," because a coffee shop doesn't feel very formal. It doesn't feel like a sit-down restaurant with knives and forks. It's quite fast-paced, so you can choose: you can say "Could I get" or "Can I get."
Then, I said a phrase that you are going to hear a lot in this video because, for some reason, we say it a lot: "Do you do." "Do you do oat milk?" "Do you do iced coffee?" "Do you do decaf?" "Do you do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." So, if you want to know if they provide a certain type of drink or a certain type of food, you can ask, "Do you do?"
Listening to these audios back, I didn't realize how often I say "Perfect." I say it all the time. I'm like, "Perfect, thank you, perfect, thank you, perfect, thank you." So, if you want to say this, you can. I don't know why I say it so often; I think it's just me confirming, "Yeah, that's good, that's what I want, that's how I like it, thank you, perfect." I don't know why I say it so often, but I do.
Then, the barista says a question that you will hear a lot: "Are we sitting in or takeaway today?" Now, that's how she says it. She says, "Are we sitting in or takeaway today?" Now, grammatically, that doesn't sound correct because you would want to mirror the "in"—"Are we sitting in or taking away today?" But we don't often say "takeaway" as anything other than "takeaway." So, you might hear this question phrased like this, or you might hear "eating in or takeaway?" "Eating in" or "sitting in" is the same thing. So, are you going to eat it inside the cafe, or are you taking it away? So, "eating in or takeaway," "eating in or sitting in." She says, "Are we sitting in or takeaway?" Sometimes, the communal "we" is used even though she doesn't mean "me and you." It's just a weird little thing that we do, maybe to include people. So, you might hear her saying, "Are we sitting in or taking away today?" She doesn't mean "me and you;" she's just trying to be inclusive.
She then says, "Anything else?" You will hear this a lot if you go into a cafe or a restaurant. "Anything else?" It just means, "Are you done with your order? Is there anything else you want to order?"
Then, she asked me an interesting question, and I think if an English learner heard this question, it might confuse them a little bit. So, she says, "Do you want the twist—my chocolate twist—do you want the twist as it is or warmed up?" "As it is" means just like how it is right now. I'm not going to change anything. Do you want me to just pick it up and give it to you as it is? So, "Do you want the twist as it is or warmed up?" "Do you want it warmed up?" So, do you want me to heat it up for you? So, you might get this when you order like a pastry or a croissant, pain au chocolat. They might say, "Want it as it is or warmed up?" Or they might not give the option of "as it is;" they might just say, "Do you want it heated up, or do you want it warmed up?" So, just be ready for that conversation if you are ordering something that could be eaten cold but could also be eaten warm.
Then, it's time to pay. So, she says, "£8.20 then, please." And that "then"—you're going to hear it quite a bit in this video. So, they normally ask for the money and then just put the word "then" on the end. So, they'll say, "£10 then, please," or "$8 then, please," or "£3.20 then, please." And then, she starts pouring my milk into the mug, and she says, "Do you want to tell me when to stop on the milk?" "Tell me when to stop." Some people also say, "Tell me when." They don't even say, "Tell me when to stop." They go, "Tell me when," and then you have to say, "Stop." And then I leave with a "Thank you, and have a nice day, bye!" It's always nice to end with a little "Have a nice day." I think that's nice.
Okay, moving on to Coffee Shop Number Two. Let's see what we can learn here. So, Bez went into a coffee shop, and he ordered. Let's listen to what happened.
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Here is the transcript with corrected capitalization and punctuation:
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"Go. I, uh, did you take away coffees?"
"We do."
"Brilliant. She'll do that for you. Thank you very much."
"Hey, can I get a takeaway black coffee, please? No milk, no sugar, or anything like that. Just—"
"Thank you very much. £2.75."
"I've got cash. Thank you very much."
"Thank you. Have you been busy today?"
"Busy today? Good. Don't want to be overrun. Whenever we come in here, it's really busy, so that's good."
"Yeah, it's still... yeah, it's ten past one."
"Yeah. Nice, nice and steady today. Not too—"
"There you go."
"Brilliant. Thank you very much."
"Thank you. Have a good rest of your day."
"Thank you."
Thank you. So, first thing again, he says, "Do you do takeaway coffee?" If you want to know if you can take your coffee away, all you need to ask is, "Do you do takeaway coffee?" Or you can even just say, "Do you do takeaway?" You don't even need to say "coffee."
Now Bez goes for, "Can I get..." Again, it's fine, it's polite, it's not impolite at all because it doesn't feel like a formal environment. So he says, "Can I get a black coffee, please?"
When she asks for the money, she does the same thing—she says, "That is £2.75." Then, £2.75. Then there's that again.
Then Bez asks the classic small talk question you can ask somebody if they are serving you or you are in a coffee shop, a restaurant, or if you're in a taxi: "Have you been busy today?" Sometimes shortened to "Been busy today?" So, if you feel like there's a bit of an awkward silence—maybe you're getting your hair cut, you're having your nails done, you're waiting for your coffee—if you want to make some small talk, you can say, "Have you been busy today?"
She doesn't hear him, so she says, "Pardon," which is what we can say if you don't hear someone: "Pardon?" And then he repeats himself.
Then she says, "It's been steady." That's quite a nice word. If something's been steady, it's been the same kind of busy but the same, not really changing throughout the day. So, it's been steady; it hasn't gone wild, it's been steady, it's been reliable, it's been the same.
And Bez, when he leaves, says, "Have a good rest of your day." That's a different way of saying, "Have a nice day." Have a good rest of your day.
Okay, Coffee Shop Number Three. Let's see what was said in here:
"Hi."
"Yeah?"
"Do you do iced coffees?"
"Yeah, we do iced coffees."
"Could you do—it's a bit of a weird order—could you do a decaf iced latte with oat milk?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, amazing. Great. One of those, please. Thank you."
*Music*
"Do you just take cash?"
"Do you want any syrup?"
"Uh, no, I'll be fine. Thank you. Cheers."
"Thanks. Perfect. That looks great. Thank you. Have a good day. Bye."
Now, if you remember, in the first coffee shop, the server said, "Hi, what can I get for you?" That was the way of starting the service—"What can I get for you?" In the second coffee shop, the server just said, "Hi." So, you might be waiting there and the server just goes, "Hi," and then you start your order. In this coffee shop, she says, "Hi, are you okay?" "Hi, are you okay?" So, sometimes that's how you start your order. You're waiting in line, and the person's behind the till, and they say, "Hi, you okay?" And that just means, "Come order. I'm ready for you now. Come give me your order."
Again, I say, "Do you do iced coffees?" "Do you do iced coffees?" Because I don't know—they might turn around and say, "Oh no, sorry, we don't do iced coffees, we just do normal regular coffees."
And when I'm giving my order, I say, "It's a bit of a weird order," because I know my order is quite specific, and I always feel a bit embarrassed going, "Hello, can I have a decaf iced Americano with oat milk?" Like, it's a bit specific, so I just like to clarify, you know? I just like to say, "I know it's a bit of a weird order," just to cover myself. So, if you have a very specific order, if you're very particular with your coffee, you can say that if you want: "It's a bit of a weird order, but can I get a blah blah blah blah blah?"
Then the server asks for money because that's how it works—you have to pay to get your coffee. So, she asks for money, but she doesn't say, "£3.25," she does it a little bit differently. She says, "Right, that is £3.25." "That is £3.25." You might also hear a server saying, "That will be..." So, "Right, that will be £1.50." So, listen out for "That is..." or "That will be..."
This next question is very important to learn, especially in 2024 where lots of establishments don't take cash. You say, "Do you take cash?" That's it, four words—learn that question. In some places, it might be the other way around. Let's say you go to a market, and it's quite a small market, and there's a little lady selling bread—you might think, "Oh, I don't know if she takes card," so you might have to ask her, "Do you take card?" or "Can I pay by card?" That's another way you can do it.
Then she asks if I want any syrups, and again, I do my double "Thanks," my very polite double "Thanks." I say, "No, I'll be fine, thanks, cheers." Again, it's like a vocal habit.
When she hands me the coffee, she says, "There you go." That's super common—you'll hear that all the time when they hand you your order: "There you go," or "There we go," sometimes as well. "There we go." And again, when I'm leaving, I say, "Have a good day, bye," just because it's nice.
Okay, moving on to Coffee Shop Number Four. It's Bez's turn.
"All right, do you do takeaway coffee? Can I get just a black Americano, please?"
"Yeah. Large or small?"
"Uh, well, how large is the large one?"
"It's too large."
"Um, yeah, that's fine. Yeah, can I have a large one? Uh, do you have any other kind of, what do you call them, like any shots of anything or any syrups?"
"Yeah, today I've got hazelnut, hazelnut chocolate, chocolate, chai, caramel..."
"Oh, can I have the caramel one, please? Thank you very much."
"Never been in here before—it's nice. It's nice, innit?"
"I've never been here before."
"Yeah, it's nice."
"Brilliant, thank you very much."
"Okay, thank you. Lovely. Oh, and a biscuit as well—that's lovely. Your ticket is £3.80."
"Brilliant, thank you very much."
"Lovely, thank you. Thank you, have a nice day."
"And you, thank you very much."
Now, again, this server didn't say, "How can I help?" or "What can I get for you?" She just said, "Hi there." Just "Hi," starting the conversation so you can make your order.
She says, "Hi there," and Bez replies with, "You all right?" That is a super common greeting, especially in Britain. Instead of saying "Hello," we'll go, "You all right?" "You all right?" Now, he's not expecting the server to reply and say, "Yeah, I'm good, thank you," he's just saying it as a hello, as a greeting. So, she says, "Hi there," and he says, "You all right?" and then he goes straight into his order.
Then he orders and he says, "Can I get just a black Americano, please?" So, you can use "just" if what you're ordering is pretty simple and basic. So, he literally wants a black coffee, that's it. So, if you're ordering something quite basic, you can say "just." So, "Uh, can I get just a cup of tea, please?"
Then she asks a pretty simple question: "Large or small?" And Bez replies with, "How large is a large one?" He's clarifying because just "large or small" doesn't give you a whole lot of information. So, you can clarify with questions—don't feel that you have to, because you're doing it in English, you have to be perfect with everything. You can ask if you're not sure.
Now, the next thing is really interesting. So, I keep saying to you, "Do you do...?" That's a question we can use in a coffee shop: "Do you do takeaway coffee? Do you do iced coffee?" However, in this one, I don't know if you noticed, Bez says, "Do you have any syrups?" I think he was asking for like little shots of flavor. He says, "Do you have...?" Now, that's because syrups aren't something that they make in front of you. So, if it's just something that is there and they can just go, "Oh, it's here," you can say, "Do you have...?" So, "Do you have any syrups? Do you have any...?" When it's something that they are going to make for you, then you can say, "Do you do...?" So, "Do you do iced coffee?" So, that is something that they would have to make, it's not something they just pick up and go, "It's there." So, it's a slight difference. So, if it's something they're going to make, "Do you do...?" If it's something they're not going to make, "Do you have...?"
And you'll notice all through these audios, we keep saying positive adjectives like "brilliant," "amazing," "perfect." I think it must be a British thing, maybe. I think it's to fill the silence and to confirm you're happy with the service that they're providing. So, when she puts the coffee down in front of you, you might just want to say, "Brilliant," like "That looks great, that's what I was hoping for, brilliant, I'm happy." It's a way of, yeah, conveying that you're happy with the service you're getting.
Then towards the end, she uses a really common phrasal verb. So, she's pouring a bit more milk into his mug because maybe the milk isn't quite reaching the top, so she says, "I'll just top that up for you." So, topping up means making it reach the top. So, let's say you're drinking a beer, and you are halfway through your beer, you might say, "Ah, I'm just going to go top this up." So, you go to the fridge and you get another beer and you fill it to the top. So, topping up means making it reach the top again. So, "I'll just top that up for you."
Now, the way she asks for the money is quite unusual. I think I've only ever heard it once. So, she says, "Your ticket's £2.80." She says, "Right, your ticket's £2.80." I think this is quite old-fashioned—I don't hear this a lot. I think by "ticket" she means like your receipt, the amount of money that you owe. "Your ticket's £2.50." So, if you hear that—I don't think you will—but it just means that's how much you owe.
Then as he's leaving, the server says, "Have a nice day," and Bez says, "And you." So, if someone wishes you a nice day or they say, "Have a good day," "Enjoy the rest of your day," "Have a lovely weekend," you can just say, "And you."
Now, before we move on to the last coffee shop, I think it's interesting to note that all of these coffee shops were in villages. So, they're in quite quiet villages where there's a bit more time to talk, and people are a bit more chatty. This last coffee shop is in the middle of a city, so you'll notice there's a lot less chit-chat. It's a lot more fast-paced. Um, you'll see. You'll see.
Let's listen to Coffee Shop Number Five.
"Hi, do you have green tea?"
"Do you have green tea?"
"Can I just get a green tea, please? Thank you."
"Size?"
"Uh, medium, please. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you."
"Yes, that's mine. Thank you."
And this service starts with the classic, "Hi, can I help?" You will hear that all the time in shops, in coffee shops, in restaurants.
Now, again, in this one, I say, "Do you have green tea?" because I know that the green tea is just going to be a tea bag—they're probably not going to have to work very hard to make it. So, I just ask, "Do you have green tea? Do you have the tea bags?" instead of "Do you do green tea?"
Then again, he says, "Pardon?" because he doesn't hear me. So, I repeat myself, and then I say, "Just a green tea," because I want to tell him that's it—just a green tea, it's a very simple, basic order. So, I used that word "just."
Now, at this coffee shop, they only accepted card, and I knew that because there was a sign that said "Only card, we don't accept cash." So, what he did then is he just got the card machine and it went "beep," and then he said, "When you're ready." And that's him saying, "Yep, the machine's ready, so when you're ready, tap. Pay for it when you're ready. The machine's ready."
And there you have it. I hope that was useful for you. Obviously, I didn't speak about every little thing in those interactions, but listen back, listen a couple of times, and see how many different things you can identify in those interactions.
Thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, please give it a like. If you would like an English lesson with me or Bez, the link for that is down below. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments down below. Oh, our Instagram is here if you want to follow our Instagram. Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you next time. Tata!
*Music*