M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco. 
E: And I’m Erica. 
M: And today we’re gonna be taking you to the airport. 
E: That’s right. We’re gonna listen as a man, um, checks in at the airport and, uh, deals 
with his luggage. 
M: That’s right. So, we’re gonna be looking at a lot of great stuff that can help you the next 
time you are at the airport at the checking counter. So, why don’t we take a look at one 
word that we’re gonna preview today in “vocabulary preview”? 
Voice: Vocabulary preview. 
E: We’re gonna hear this guy say “I’d like to check three pieces”. 
M: He’s gonna check three pieces of what? 
E: Pieces of luggage. 
M: So, when we talk about luggage we can say pieces of luggage. 
E: That’s right. Luggage is a non-count noun. So, you can’t say one luggage, two 
luggages, three luggages - that’s wrong. 
M: Right, so, we use… 
E: Pieces of luggage. 
M: Okay. So, three pieces of luggage. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Very good. Let’s listen to our dialogue for the first time. We’re gonna see what happens 
with this guy at the airport and with his pieces of luggage. 
A: Next please! Hello sir, may I see your passport
please?
B: Yes, here you go.
A: Will you be checking any bags.
B: Yes, I’d like to check three pieces.
A: I’m sorry, sir. Airline policy allows only two pieces
of checked luggage, at twenty kilograms each,
plus one piece of carry-on luggage. I will have
to charge you extra for the additional suitcase.
B: What? Why! I am taking an intercontinental flight!
I’m flying sixteen thousand kms! How am I sup-
posed to only take two, twenty kilo bags? That’s
absurd!
A: I am sorry, sir, there’s nothing I can do. You
cannot board the flight with that large bag either.
Carry-on bags must fit in the over-head compart-
ment or under your seat. That bag is clearly too
big.
B: Now I see. You charge next to nothing for an in-
ternational ticket, but when it comes to charging
for any other small thing, you charge an arm and
a leg! So tell me, miss, how much will I have to
pay for all of this.
A: Let’s see... six hundred and twenty-five US dol-
lars.
B: That’s more than my round-trip ticket!
E: Alright, well, that’s a l… whole lot of money, isn’t it? 
M: Well, I think it’s a very common situation. I’m sure many of our listeners can relate to 
this situation. 
E: Overweight charges are pretty expensive wh… 
M: Very high. 
E: I know from personal experience. But that’s not what we wanna talk about. Now we 
wanna talk about some really useful vocabulary in “language takeaway”. 
Voice: Language takeaway. 
M: Alright, on language takeaway today we have five words. So, why don’t we start with the 
first one? 
E: So, the woman asked: “will you be checking any begs today?” 
M: Will you be checking any bags today? 
E: To check bags. 
M: Right, so, the verb to check. 
E: It means to, uh, to give your bags to the airline, to register them. 
M: Okay, so, that’s what happens with your luggage. You check them, so, basically, they 
become responsible for your bags. 
E: Right. It reminds me of checking in to a hotel. 
M: Right, very similar. 
E: Uhu. 
M: When you go to a hotel you register at the hotel, you check in. In this case you just 
check your luggage. 
E: You don’t check in you luggage. 
M: Right. 
E: Okay, so, check luggage. 
M: So, he wanted to check three pieces of luggage and he also had carry-on luggage. 
E: Carry-on luggage. 
M: Carry-on. 
E: So, carry-on luggage; it’s pretty simple. 
M: That’s right, you carry it on yourself. 
E: Exactly, you carry it on to the plane. Now, we… 
M: Okay. 
E: We can talk about carry-on luggage, right? 
M: Uhu. 
E: Or a carry-on bag. 
M: Right, or a carry-on suitcase. 
E: Uhu. 
M: A very small suitcase that can fit under your seat. 
E: Exactly. Alright, so, carry-on luggage. Now, he was traveling on an intercontinental 
flight. 
M: Intercontinental. 
E: Intercontinental. 
M: We have two words there – inter… 
E: Between. 
M: Between, right? And continental… 
E: So, this sounds like continent. 
M: Okay, so, he’s traveling maybe form Asia… 
E: Uhu. 
M: To… North America. 
E: Okay, intercontinental. 
M: He’s trying to board this intercontinental flight. 
E: So, to board a flight. 
M: Board a plane. 
E: Board a train. 
M: Alright, so, basically it means to… 
E: To get on. 
M: To get on. 
E: To get on a vehicle. 
M: Okay, so, I can say board the ship. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Board the car. 
E: No. 
M: No? 
E: No, but board the… board the train. 
M: Board the train. 
E: Board the bus. All aboard! 
M: That’s right. That’s why in movies you see that somebody will yell “all aboard”. 
E: Yeah. 
M: In the train station, right? 
E: Exactly. 
M: All aboard! Okay, so, board a vehicle. And our last phrase for today – overhead 
compartment. [NOTE: you can also say overhead bin] 
E: Overhead compartment. 
M: Overhead compartment. 
E: Alright, let’s break this phrase down. Um, overhead… 
M: So, that’s on top of your head, right? 
E: Exactly, yeah. 
M: Above you. 
E: Yeah, and the compartment is, um, a place where you can put something and store it. 
[NOTE: you can also say “to stow your luggage in the overhead compartment” instead of 
“to put”] 
M: Uhu. 
E: Kind of like a box. 
M: Right. 
E: Yeah. 
M: So, you have an overhead compartment that… big box where you put your bags and 
your purse or whatever on an airplane. 
E: Uhu.  
M: Very similar of two… for example, an overhead projector. 
E: Right, so, that’s the machine that, uh, puts an image or a picture on a wall like 
sometimes you see them in meetings. 
M: Right, so, because the image is over your head… 
E: Yeah. 
M: And it’s big, it’s called an overhead projector. 
E: Okay, so, some great language. Why don’t we hear it again in context by listening to the 
dialogue for the second time? 
A: Next please! Hello sir, may I see your passport
please?
B: Yes, here you go.
A: Will you be checking any bags.
B: Yes, I’d like to check three pieces.
A: I’m sorry, sir. Airline policy allows only two pieces
of checked luggage, at twenty kilograms each,
plus one piece of carry-on luggage. I will have
to charge you extra for the additional suitcase.
B: What? Why! I am taking an intercontinental flight!
I’m flying sixteen thousand kms! How am I sup-
posed to only take two, twenty kilo bags? That’s
absurd!
A: I am sorry, sir, there’s nothing I can do. You
cannot board the flight with that large bag either.
Carry-on bags must fit in the over-head compart-
ment or under your seat. That bag is clearly too
big.
B: Now I see. You charge next to nothing for an in-
ternational ticket, but when it comes to charging
for any other small thing, you charge an arm and
a leg! So tell me, miss, how much will I have to
pay for all of this.
A: Let’s see... six hundred and twenty-five US dol-
lars.
B: That’s more than my round-trip ticket!
M: Alright, so, I think it’s a little bit more clear now. And with this it’s time for us to take a 
look at some great phrases in “putting in together”. 
Voice: Putting it together. 
E: So, this guy was pretty angry about, uh, this airline policy and he said “how am I 
supposed to…” 
M: How am I supposed to. 
E: How am I supposed to. 
M: Okay, so, before we get into explaining this, why don’t we listen to a couple of 
examples? So, we can try and understand what it means? 
Voice: Example one. 
A: How am I supposed to fit the dog in the car? There’re ten people in there already. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: How’s she supposed to get to work if her car is in the shop? 
Voice: Example three. 
C: How’re we supposed to know the answer to that? It’s impossible! 
E: Okay, so, I… can understand that it means “how can I do this?” 
M: Right. How do you expect me to do this? 
E: How is this possible for me to do this? 
M: Very good. 
E: It’s a phrase you use when you’re frustrated, right? 
M: Yeah, exactly, you’re maybe a little bit frustrated or you’re maybe nervous of… of 
something that you can’t do or don’t know how. 
E: Yeah, this phrase… it’s not impolite, but it sort of gives the idea that you’re challenging 
the other person a little bit. 
M: Maybe, yeah. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Okay. So, a good phrase that you can use on… in different situations and you can try 
and mix it up with different verbs, right? 
E: Right. 
M: Alright. Now, let’s take a look at our next phrase: “I’m sorry, sir, there’s nothing I can 
do”. 
E: There’s nothing I can do. 
M: There’s nothing I can do. 
E: There’s nothing I can do. 
M: So, basically, the woman can’t help the man even though he’s insisting and he’s 
pushing that he wants another solution. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Right? So, finally, she says “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do”. 
E: So, we use this phrase, um, when someone’s pushing you too much, right?  
M: Right, and you would use it only in that situation… 
E: Yeah. 
M: Towards them, because it is a little bit… 
E: It… it’s strong. 
M: It’s not impolite, but it’s just… you’re saying “you know what? I’m sorry, there’s… th… I 
can’t do anything about it”. Now, let’s move on to our third phrase: “You charge next to 
nothing”. 
E: Next to nothing. 
M: Next to nothing. 
E: Next to nothing. 
M: Alright, so, we’re talking about charging, we’re talking about money. Why don’t we listen 
to some examples of what this next to nothing phrase means? 
Voice: Example one. 
A: Do you like my new house? It was so cheap that it almost cost next to nothing. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: Let’s go to Thailand; tickets costs next to nothing right now. 
Voice: Example three. 
C: The real estate agent charged me next to nothing for his commission, so I got a really 
good deal.  
E: So, when something costs next to nothing it’s really cheap, right? 
M: It’s really cheap. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Or you consider it to be cheap. 
E: Uhu. 
M: And now, for our last phrase, it’s the complete opposite of next to nothing. 
E: Right, charge an arm and a leg. 
M: An arm and a leg. 
E: An arm and a leg. 
M: Alright, so, this means it’s really expensive. 
E: It’s so expensive it’s like giving your arm and your leg. 
M: Right, to pay for it. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Very good, so, next to nothing – really cheap; an arm and a leg – really expensive. 
E: Can we look at the use here? Um, alright, so, in the dialogue we heard “you charge an 
arm and a leg”, but we can also say “it costs an arm and a leg”. 
M: Right, because we are referring to money. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Right? 
E: Alright, so, some great phrases here. Now, I think it’s time we listen to our dialogue one 
more time. 
A: Next please! Hello sir, may I see your passport
please?
B: Yes, here you go.
A: Will you be checking any bags.
B: Yes, I’d like to check three pieces.
A: I’m sorry, sir. Airline policy allows only two pieces
of checked luggage, at twenty kilograms each,
plus one piece of carry-on luggage. I will have
to charge you extra for the additional suitcase.
B: What? Why! I am taking an intercontinental flight!
I’m flying sixteen thousand kms! How am I sup-
posed to only take two, twenty kilo bags? That’s
absurd!
A: I am sorry, sir, there’s nothing I can do. You
cannot board the flight with that large bag either.
Carry-on bags must fit in the over-head compart-
ment or under your seat. That bag is clearly too
big.
B: Now I see. You charge next to nothing for an in-
ternational ticket, but when it comes to charging
for any other small thing, you charge an arm and
a leg! So tell me, miss, how much will I have to
pay for all of this.
A: Let’s see... six hundred and twenty-five US dol-
lars.
B: That’s more than my round-trip ticket!
M: Okay, so, airline policies, luggage - it’s always a problem, right? Most of the time you 
always end up paying overweight, when you travel. 
E: Yeah, um, I know that this happened to me once and it was really expensive. 
M: Really? What happened? 
E: I was flying on an intercontinental flight from…  
M: Uhu. 
E: From India back to Europe and, um, I had too many extra begs, but I really need it to 
bring them and so, it cost me six thousand dollars! 
M: Six thousand dollars. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Wow! 
E: So, my credit card was pretty maxed out after that. 
M: Hehe. That’s incredible. 
E: Yeah. 
M: Well, I’m sure many of our users probably suffered similar experiences like this, so, 
please come to our website and share it with us at englishpod.com. 
E: That’s right. Marco and I are always around to answer your questions, so, please check 
us out and thanks for downloading you guys. Until next time… Good bye! 
M: Bye!