The 50 essential words and short expressions
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hello | Greeting |
| 2 | Good morning | Morning greeting |
| 3 | Good evening | Evening greeting |
| 4 | Please | Polite request |
| 5 | Thank you | Expressing thanks |
| 6 | Excuse me | Getting attention politely |
| 7 | Yes | Agreement |
| 8 | No | Negative answer |
| 9 | I don’t understand | Asking for clarification |
| 10 | Please speak slowly | Requesting slower speech |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Could you repeat that? | Requesting repetition |
| 12 | Where is…? | Asking for a location |
| 13 | Here | This place |
| 14 | There | That place |
| 15 | Left | Direction to the left |
| 16 | Right | Direction to the right |
| 17 | Entrance | Way in |
| 18 | Exit | Way out |
| 19 | Bathroom | Toilet or washroom |
| 20 | Drinking water | Water intended for drinking |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Still water | Non-carbonated water |
| 22 | Sparkling water | Carbonated water |
| 23 | Menu | List of food and drinks |
| 24 | Bill | Amount to pay for a meal or service |
| 25 | How much is it? | Asking the price |
| 26 | Cash | Physical money |
| 27 | Card | Payment card |
| 28 | Change | Money returned after payment; context matters |
| 29 | Reservation | Booking |
| 30 | Room | Accommodation room |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Passport | Identity document for international travel |
| 32 | Airport | Place for aircraft arrivals and departures |
| 33 | Bus | Road passenger vehicle |
| 34 | Taxi | Hired passenger car |
| 35 | Terminal | Transport station or passenger building |
| 36 | Fare | Transport price |
| 37 | Return ticket | Ticket for travel there and back |
| 38 | Stop | Stopping place; also a command to halt |
| 39 | Market | Place with stalls or traders |
| 40 | Help | Assistance |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | I need help | Requesting assistance |
| 42 | Pharmacy | Place selling medicines |
| 43 | Jamaican dollars | Jamaica’s currency; confirm the unit in a quoted price |
| 44 | Jerk | Jamaican style of seasoning and cooking meat |
| 45 | Ackee and saltfish | Dish combining ackee with salted fish |
| 46 | Bammy | Cassava flatbread |
| 47 | Festival | In a food context, a fried dumpling or bread accompaniment |
| 48 | Patty | Filled savoury pastry |
| 49 | Rice and peas | Rice with legumes; ‘peas’ can mean beans in this dish |
| 50 | Takeaway | Food packed to be eaten elsewhere |
Choose a conversation to practise today
Start with arrival conversations, or jump to transport, payment and local menu words. English is the official language in both countries; this guide combines practical English with locally useful food and travel terms.
Arrival and listening · Directions and transport · Payment and ordering · Local vocabulary · Daily practice
Chapter contents
Chapters 1–5
Chapters 6–10
English is Jamaica’s official language, and Jamaican Patois is also part of everyday communication. The practical English expressions here help with bookings, directions and purchases. They are not a complete Patois lesson. If you hear an unfamiliar expression, ask what it means rather than assuming that a familiar-sounding word has exactly the meaning you expected.
Build confidence through one small task at a time. Greet a receptionist, explain your reservation, then listen for the next instruction. You can enjoy learning a local phrase when a speaker explains it, without imitating the speaker’s accent. Write the phrase beside its meaning and the situation where you heard it. Context is what makes a new expression usable.
Source: Visit Jamaica: language
Begin with Hello or Good morning, then give one clear request. Excuse me works when you need someone’s attention; Please belongs with the request and Thank you closes the exchange. In a hotel, saying ‘Hello, I have a reservation’ gives the receptionist something useful to respond to. Keep the name on your booking ready so the next step is easy.
Practise this as a small conversation rather than six isolated words. One person welcomes the visitor, the other asks for a room, and both change roles. Listen to the answer before asking another question. A friendly greeting creates space for clarification; it does not mean you have to understand every word immediately.
I don’t understand identifies the difficulty. Could you repeat that? asks for the same information again, while Please speak slowly asks for a different pace. Choose the request that matches your problem. If you recognised the place name but missed the time, ask specifically about the time instead of restarting the whole conversation.
Keep a written destination or booking beside you. Pointing to it can help both speakers establish what the conversation is about. Repeat the detail you understood and let the other person correct it. For learners who already know English, this is a listening exercise: familiar vocabulary can still sound different in a new accent.
Where is…? becomes useful when you add a specific place: the entrance, bathroom, bus stop or market. Here and There often come with a gesture, so look at what the speaker points to. Left and Right describe the next turn, but they do not identify how far you should walk. Ask for another landmark if you need it.
A practical rehearsal is to describe a short route across a room or along a familiar street. Give one instruction, let your partner repeat it, then give the next. At a visitor site, confirm that the entrance is the correct one for your ticket or activity. Exit means the way out; it does not tell you whether you can re-enter.
Bus, Taxi, Terminal, Fare and Return ticket describe different parts of a journey. Start with the destination, then ask where to board and what the fare covers. A terminal can contain more than one service. A return ticket should be checked for its return arrangements rather than treated as a promise that any later departure will accept it.
Write the place name exactly as it appears on your booking or map. Before setting off, confirm the stop where you should leave the vehicle and the point where you will meet your return service. Practise saying the destination and asking the price as separate questions. Getting an answer to one does not automatically settle the other.
How much is it? opens the price conversation, while Cash and Card describe how you intend to pay. Ask what is included and which currency the amount uses. A dollar symbol on its own may not answer that question. Confirm the total for your own order or journey, especially when several people or items are involved.
Change is the amount returned after a cash payment, but the English word also has other meanings. Use the surrounding sentence to interpret it. Keep the bill or written total visible while checking the amount. A useful learning exercise is to give a partner a pretend menu and practise asking for the total, choosing a payment method and checking the change.
Drinking water describes water intended for consumption; Still water and Sparkling water distinguish whether it is carbonated. A menu can show a drink name without telling you its size, sweetness or ingredients. Ask the question that matters to your order and listen for a specific answer. If you have an allergy, explain it directly rather than relying on a dish name.
Read one menu item at a time. Decide whether you want to know what it contains, how it is prepared or what accompanies it, then ask that question. A food vocabulary list is a starting point for conversation, not a complete recipe. Before paying, ask for the Bill and compare it with what your group ordered.
Jerk names a Jamaican seasoning and cooking style; it is not the name of one single animal or cut of meat. Ackee and saltfish identifies a dish built around ackee and salted fish. These menu words help you recognise what is being offered. Ask what the particular order includes and how it is served.
Practise ‘What comes with the jerk chicken?’ and ‘What is in this dish?’ as two different questions. The first asks about accompaniments, the second about ingredients. If a dietary need affects your choice, describe it plainly and ask for a clear answer. A short menu definition can guide a conversation, but the person preparing your meal supplies the details of that meal.
Source: Visit Jamaica: cuisine
Festival has an ordinary English meaning connected with celebrations, but on a Jamaican menu it can name a fried food accompaniment. Bammy is cassava flatbread, while Patty refers to a filled savoury pastry. The menu setting tells you which meaning of festival is intended; the filling of a patty still needs to be read or asked about.
Point to the item and ask whether it is a side dish or a separate order. For a patty, ask which fillings are available before choosing. If the answer is quick, use Could you repeat that? and repeat the filling you want. Learning these distinctions prevents you from treating three different food names as interchangeable and makes your order easier for the server to confirm.
Source: Visit Jamaica: food
Rice and peas is a Jamaican dish name in which ‘peas’ can refer to beans. Takeaway describes food packed for eating elsewhere. Reading a familiar English word literally can therefore miss the menu meaning, while forgetting to say takeaway can leave the serving arrangement unclear. Ask what accompanies the rice and peas and explain where you intend to eat.
Finish an order with the quantity and the serving arrangement. Ask for the bill, check the total and say whether you will pay by cash or card. Later, review one word whose meaning depended on context and one question that helped you understand an answer. This is useful English practice even for a confident speaker: good travel communication joins vocabulary with careful listening.
Source: Visit Jamaica: cuisine