How to Order Coffee in English at a Local Coffee Shop Like a Native

Hey it's Anne Marie with Speak Confident English and welcome to this week's

Confident English lesson where I want to share with you exactly how to go into a

coffee shop in an English-speaking country and order a coffee. I know that

that seems really simple but the truth is if you've traveled to an

English-speaking country or if you've moved to somewhere like the United

States or Canada, Australia then you know that even those very simple things like

ordering a coffee can be really challenging and stressful or difficult

it seems so simple but it can be really scary. You don't know what's going on

there's a lot of movement, a lot of talk, you don't know what people are saying

what are they asking you and of course you want to sound perfectly natural when

you order in English or when you respond to a question. So today I want to help

you do that.

In this lesson I want to share with you everything that you can expect when you

walk into a coffee shop from what you'll hear when you first enter the door to

what you want to say when you leave but before I go into all of that detail

there's one thing I want to make very clear. When you go to a coffee shop and

you order just a simple coffee you will not get this—I've lived in several

countries in Europe and traveled all over the world and I know most of the

time when you order a coffee you get something that's really tiny like this

but if you're in an English-speaking country you go to a Starbucks or a local

coffee shop and you order a simple coffee, you're going to get this. There's

a huge difference in what people expect and what happens in a coffee shop in an

English-speaking country so let's start at the beginning. There are two things

that might happen when you walk into a coffee shop: number one its 7:15 in the

morning and everyone else had the same idea.

Everyone's at the coffee shop and there's a really long line which means

you'll simply get in line and wait for your turn to order coffee but maybe it's

2:30 in the afternoon, you got super lucky and no one else is there so you

can walk right up to the counter to order what you want. What you'll probably

notice is somewhere on the wall they will have a huge list of all the

different coffee and tea drinks they have available: iced lattes, cold brews

specialty drinks, matcha lattes, so many different options and it can be a little

bit overwhelming so if you're in line there's a couple of things I recommend

maybe you know right away what you want which is awesome but if you think oh my

gosh I have no idea and I'm not ready one

very polite thing that you can do if you have people behind you is simply say to

the person behind you sorry I'm not ready

yet you go ahead of me or sorry I haven't

decided yet you go ahead all you're doing is letting the people behind you

know you still haven't made a choice which is kind of normal and they can

simply go in front of you and get their order taken. We do this all the time at

any restaurant or coffee shop where we just don't know what we want yet and you

can use that same language if you walk into a coffee shop and no one else is

there. The barista is just waiting for you to order. Again you can simply say

I'm not ready yet sorry or I need an extra moment to decide feel free to help

someone else if they come in behind me. Once you've had some time to review all

those coffee options and it's your turn to order you will probably hear

something like hey what can I get for you today or what can I make for you?

What would you like today? There might even be a little bit of small talk at

the beginning for example, hey how's it going or hey how's your day starting?

What can I get for you? The polite thing for you to do is number one respond with

a greeting so if they say hi or hello how's it going you can say the same. You

would simply start your order by saying hey how's it going or how's your day

going and then you can continue with your order and here are some common

phrases that we use in English to order. I'd like... for example I'd like a coffee

please or could I have... could I have a latte

please? Can I get... can I get a coffee? If you've

had a hard time deciding you might say mmm I think I'll get a mocha latte

please. When you make that order you can be as

specific as you want. In coffee shops in the United States we have different

kinds of milk with different levels of fat, we have soy milk, and almond milk if

you don't want it dairy and there are different flavors that people get in

coffees as well—perhaps you want vanilla flavored or hazelnut flavored coffee and

when you order you can all of that for example you might say

I'd like a soy milk latte or I want a low-fat cappuccino please.

I'd like a low-fat vanilla latte, which would mean low-fat milk with vanilla

syrup in your latte. Once you make your order there are a few questions you'll

probably hear. The first one might be do you want anything else with that? In

other words do you want something to eat, maybe you'd like a muffin or a slice of

coffee cake. Do you want a coffee for another person or do you want us to do

anything special add something to your coffee? So you might respond with yeah I

think I'd like to add a blueberry muffin or yes I'd like a piece of cake with

that please or no that's it thank you. Then the next question will probably be

is that for here to go? Is that for here or to go? In other words are you going to

stay in the coffee shop to drink your coffee or will you take it with you and

leave right away? If you're going to stay you're probably going to end up with

some sort of coffee mug or cup like this but if you want it to go you'll end up

with a paper cup that you can carry with you so when you hear that question is it

for here or to go simply let them know by saying it's for

here please or I'd like it to go please. And then finally when your order is

finished you'll probably hear can I get your name please? The reason they're

asking this question is once you pay for your coffee you'll move out of the line

wait for them to make your coffee and then they'll call out your name to let

you know when your order is ready. And once you receive your coffee the best

thing that you can do is simply say thanks so much, have a great day. And that

is what you can expect to hear in a coffee shop and how you should respond

when you want to order a coffee in English. Now I know that that list of

coffee options is really overwhelming so if you want to do a little research and

be prepared before you go to the coffee shop, in the online lesson I've given you

a huge list common coffee options and I've given you

a description so that you know what they are as well as all the different extra

options. For example different kinds of milk and flavors, if you want something

like that. I've also included two dialogues using the language that we

talked about in the lesson today so that you can get a better feeling for what to

expect. Once you've reviewed all that language in the online lesson and those

two sample dialogues, I have a couple of challenge questions for you.

Number one I'm super curious what is your drink of choice. Do you have a

favorite coffee drink or maybe you prefer tea? Whatever it is, I'd love to

know so tell me in the comments at the end of the lesson what your drink of

choice is. My second question is I'd love to know what differences you've noticed

when going to a coffee shop in an English-speaking country and visiting a

cafe or coffee shop where you're from. Share with me the differences that

you've noticed or your experience in the comments section at the bottom of the

lesson. It's the best place to share with me, get feedback and learn from others

in the Confident English Community. Now before I finish today's lesson, because I

asked you to share your drink of choice with me I thought I would tell you mine.

If you've been following me for a while then you know I definitely have a coffee

habit. I love my coffee in the morning. I can't function without my first cup of

coffee, in fact I often joked to my husband that my favorite moment of every

day is that first sip of coffee in the morning. Now for me, I do go with the

typical American coffee. I have my huge mug and I fill it about to here with hot

milk every morning and then I like a really strong coffee, not that typical

watered-down American stuff. I like a really strong dark coffee and when I

have that in the morning I know everything is going to be okay. So now go

to the online lesson review the language that we have

talked about and share with me in the comments at the bottom of the lesson.

Have a fantastic week and I'll see you next Wednesday for your Confident

English Lesson.