Lesson 9 – Polite Complaints

🎙️ Podcast Script – Read4More AcademyIntro 🎶 Light background music fades in 🎶 “Hello everyone, and welcome to Read4More Academy! This is your host [Name], and today’s episode is part of our series called Real Life Roleplays. These lessons help you practice the English you really need in everyday situations—whether you’re traveling, working, or just trying to get by in English-speaking places.In today’s episode, we’ll focus on a skill that is useful for all of us: making polite complaints. The British are famed for their politeness, but they also know how to be polite and firm. That’s exactly what we’re going to practice.”Transition to Roleplay 🎶 Music fades out 🎶 “Imagine this. You’ve just arrived at a hotel after a long trip. You open the door, put your bag down, and you’re desperate for a hot shower. But the water’s cold. What do you do?Do you shout at the receptionist? Probably not. Instead, you need to complain politely, but firmly, so that the problem is solved.”Roleplay 1: Hotel Reception 👤 Guest: ‘I’ve just checked into my room. It’s a lovely room, but the problem is that the shower doesn’t appear to be working.’ 👤 Receptionist: ‘I’m very sorry. I’ll send someone to have a look right away.’“Notice how the guest gave a little background first, and then softened the problem with the phrase doesn’t appear to be working. This makes the complaint sound less aggressive, but still clear.”Roleplay 2: Missing Items 👤 Guest: ‘I’ve just come back from dinner, but there don’t appear to be any slippers in my room. Could someone have a look?’ 👤 Receptionist: ‘Of course, I’ll send them up immediately.’“Again, the guest used softening language—don’t appear to be—and added a polite request: Could someone have a look? This is a good way to stay professional and effective.”Connection to Previous Lessons “Now, let’s connect this to what we’ve learned in earlier lessons. Remember our lesson on conditionals? You could say:If the TV didn’t work, I would ask for another room.If the wi-fi stopped working, I might go to a café instead.And think back to our phrasal verbs. We can also use them here:I couldn’t put up with cold water for more than one day.Sometimes hotels try to get away with poor service, but polite complaints help us stop that.If the air conditioning broke down, what would you do?These phrases recycle old vocabulary while giving you new, practical language.”Roleplay 3: Room Service Delay 👤 Guest: ‘Hi, I ordered a cherry pie from room service about half an hour ago, and I just wanted to check—has it been delayed?’ 👤 Receptionist: ‘I’ll check with the kitchen right away, thank you for your patience.’“Here, the guest gave background, explained the problem politely, and asked for help without being rude.”Wrap-Up 🎶 Soft outro music starts 🎶 “So today, we practiced how to complain in English—politely, but firmly. We learned useful phrases like: There seems to be a problem…, I can’t seem to…, and Could someone have a look? We also reviewed our conditionals and phrasal verbs to make our English richer and more natural.Your challenge: imagine one problem in a hotel or restaurant, and record yourself making a polite complaint using one softening phrase and one conditional sentence. Send it to us for feedback!That’s it for today’s Real Life Roleplay. Thanks for listening, and remember: at Read4More Academy, we help you read, speak, and live more in English. See you next time!”🎶 Outro fades out 🎶