Complaining and Giving Instruction

Apa itu complaining? Complaining itu bisa diartikan sebagai komplain, keluhan, atau protes mengenai sesuatu yang membuat kita tidak nyaman. Hal ini sering kira temui dimana-mana, terutama menyangkut tentang pelayanan.
Kalau misalnya, suatu hari kita lagi jalan-jalan di luar negeri nih, terus kita mau komplain tentang kamar hotel, tentunya kita harus menyampaikannya dalam bahasa internasional, yaitu Bahasa Inggris. Sehingga, perlu bagi kita belajar "sedikit" tentang jenis expression yang satu ini.
Berikut adalah beberapa contohnya, tinggal diisi titik-titiknya dengan apa yang mau dikomplain.

• Excuse me, there seems to be something wrong with…
• Excuse me, there appears to be something wrong…
• I wonder if you could help me…
• I’ve got a bit of a problem here, you see....
• Do you think you could……?
• I’m sorry to have to say this, but….
• Would you mind (doing)….?
• I wish you wouldn’t mind….
• I do wish you could….
• Wouldn’t it be a good idea to/ not to…
• I have a complaint to make....
• Sorry to bother you but...
• I'm sorry to say this but...
• I'm afraid I've got a complaint about...
• I'm afraid there is a slight problem with...
• Excuse me but there is a problem about...
• I want to complain about...
• I'm angry about... 

Lalu bagaimana kalau posisi kita adalah sebagai customer service atau manager? Maka kita harus meresponnya secara sopan dan jujur. Berikut contoh-contohnya :

Accepting a Complaint:

• I can’t tell you how sorry I am.
• Oh, I’m sorry about that.  
• I wish it never happened  
• Oh dear, I’m really sorry  
• I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize  
• I'm so sorry, but this will never occur / happen again.  
• I'm sorry, we promise never to do the same mistake again.  
• I'm really sorry; we'll do our utmost/best not to do the same mistake again.

Delaying a Complaint

• I suggest you leave it with us and we’ll see what can be done.
• I suggest you leave it with us and we’ll see what we can do.
• I’m afraid the manager/boss isn’t in at the moment. Could you call later?
• I’m afraid we can’t help you at the moment. Could you leave your contact phone number and address? We will contact you soon.

Rejecting a Complaint

• Well, I’m afraid there is nothing we can do about it actually.
• Well, I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do about it. 

Note : If you must reject a complaint, don't forget to express your apologize.

Subtopik yang kedua pada postingan kali ini adalah Giving Instruction.
Giving Instruction itu apa ya?
Kalau diterjemahkan sih, giving instruction = memberi intruksi. Berarti giving instruction adalah suatu ekspresi yang digunakan untuk memberikan instruksi atau petunjuk pada seseorang atau sekelompok orang.

Ada beberapa bentuk dari giving instruction, yaitu Command (perintah), Be+adjective form, dan Prohibition (larangan). Berikut beberapa contohnya :

1) Command :Use verb as commanding word in the form of infinitive without to :

Examples :

• Sit down  !
• Sweep the floor !
• Clean the whiteboard !

2) Use Be + Adjective or noun or adverb :
Examples :

• Be careful !
• Be quite!  
• Be on time !

3) Prohibition : Use the word Don’t + infinitive verb :
Examples :

• Don’t climb!
• Don’t do it !
• Don’t let them in… 

To make the instruction be politer, we can used please that put in front of sentences or back.

• Please, wake up. / Wake up, please. 
• Please, be quite. / Be quite, please. 
• Please, do your homework. / Do your homework, please.