10.2 Arranging and Booking a Meeting Room
1. Pre-listening
Combine the words to form a correct collocation relevant to meeting arrangement. Collocation refers to a group of two or more words that usually go together.
2. Listening
How to Ask for Availability
One important question when setting up a meeting is to ask for participants’ availability. The common question to ask for availability is: អ្នកទំនេរទេ? “Are you available?” If they are unsure when they will be available, they will use the words ប្រហែល, which mean “about” or “around.”
Examples
A: ស្អែកអ្នកទំនេរទេ? “Are you available tomorrow?”
B: បាទ ប្រហែលនៅម៉ោង ១០ព្រឹក។ “Yes, I am, around 10 am.”
In the following conversation, Nita has to arrange a business meeting but wants to check with her boss first. Listen to the conversation and answer the following questions. Transcript of the conversation.
Arranging a Business Meeting © Vathanak Sok, 2025, CC BY-NC 4.0
ចុះ…? “How About…?”
There are many uses for this word, but one is to put it at the beginning of a sentence, which means “how about?” or “what about?” It is used when the speaker wants to propose a new option or idea. This phrase is used in both formal and informal situations. To make the question more polite, the question យ៉ាងម៉េចដែរ? is added at the end of the sentence.
Examples
A: ចុះម៉ោង៤រសៀល? “How about Friday afternoon at 4 pm?”
B: ចុះម៉ោង៤រសៀល យ៉ាងម៉េចដែរ? “How about Friday afternoon at 4 pm?”
The conversation previously heard is too short. Help extend the conversation using the expressions/statements provided, then practice the conversation with your partner.
3. Post-listening
How to Ask for Instructions
A common question word to use is យ៉ាងម៉េច which means “how.” To ask for instructions, you can use the phrases, ដើម្បីកក់បន្ទប់ប្រជុំ ខ្ញុំធ្វើយ៉ាងម៉េច?, which both mean “What is the step/procedure?” The question usually starts with ដើម្បី, meaning “in order to,” followed by យ៉ាងម៉េច “how” or អ្វីខ្លះ? “what steps?”
Examples
- ដើម្បីកក់បន្ទប់ប្រជុំ ខ្ញុំត្រូវធ្វើយ៉ាងម៉េច? “What are the steps in booking a meeting room?”
Now Nita needs some help to book a meeting room. So she asks Pisey, her co-worker, about the procedure for booking a meeting room. Listen to the conversation and answer the following questions. Transcript of the conversation.
Booking a Meeting Room © Vathanak Sok, 2025, CC BY-NC 4.0
After listening, rearrange the sentences to describe the steps/procedures Nita should follow to book a meeting room.
