What are the most essential English phrases for travelers?

It's a quarter past two. So, 2:15.

两点一刻。就是2:15。

It closes at half past five — 5:30. But the last entry is at a quarter to five, so 4:45. You still have plenty of time.

五点半关门——5:30。但最后入场是差一刻到五点，就是4:45。你还有很多时间。

💡 英文时间表达：past 用于前半小时（quarter past, half past），to 用于后半小时（quarter to, ten to）。美式英语也常用 after 代替 past。

Today is March 12th. In American format, that's 3/12. If you're European, it's 12/3.

今天是3月12日。美式写法是 3/12。欧洲写法是 12/3。

💡 日期格式：美国用 月/日/年（3/12/2026），英国和大多数国家用 日/月/年（12/3/2026）。容易搞混！

The parade is this Saturday, March 15th. It starts at 10 AM and runs for about two and a half hours. You should get there by 9:30 to get a good spot.

游行在这周六，3月15日。上午10点开始，持续大约两个半小时。你最好9:30之前到，找个好位置。

They're saying high of 68 Fahrenheit — that's about 20 Celsius. Partly cloudy. Perfect for the parade!

预报说最高68华氏度——大概20摄氏度。局部多云。很适合看游行！

💡 温度换算：°F = °C × 9/5 + 32。常用参考：0°C=32°F, 20°C=68°F, 30°C=86°F, 37°C=98.6°F。

Sure. It's (212) 555-0147. That's area code two-one-two, five-five-five, zero-one-four-seven.

好的。(212) 555-0147。区号 two-one-two，five-five-five，zero-one-four-seven。

💡 美国电话号码的念法因人而异：有人逐个念(five-five-five)，有人组合念(triple five, double-oh)。0 经常读作 oh 而不是 zero。

Entrees range from $18 to $35. With an appetizer and drink, you're looking at about $45 to $60 per person. Don't forget to tip — 18 to 20 percent is standard.

主菜从18美元到35美元不等。加上前菜和饮料，每人大约45到60美元。别忘了小费——18%到20%是标准。

Your math is good! A quick tip — to calculate 20%, just move the decimal point one place left to get 10%, then double it. So $100 is $10 times two, which is $20 tip.

算术不错！一个小技巧——算20%的时候，先把小数点左移一位得到10%，然后翻倍。比如100美元，10美元乘以二，就是20美元小费。

Last I checked, one US dollar is about 7.2 Chinese yuan. So your $120 dinner would be around 864 yuan. Not cheap! But this is New York.

上次看是1美元大约兑7.2人民币。所以120美元的晚餐大概是864人民币。不便宜！但这是纽约嘛。

Ha! The password is GrandHotel2026, all one word. Capital G, capital H, then the numbers two-zero-two-six. No spaces.

哈！密码是 GrandHotel2026，连在一起写。大写G，大写H，然后数字 two-zero-two-six。没有空格。