It seems to me that Ball Prefunction is used for gathering before dancing. It could also be used for chatting and drinking between sessions of dancing.

I have to really stress that if you are translating for a hotel or conference center, BALLROOM is definitely not a DANCING ROOM. I have worked in Hyatt before and then when I was a consultant, I used to give seminars and trainings in hotels and conference centers.A BALLROOM is usually one of the biggest room they have, sometimes with a capacity of 300 - 1000 pax. A hotel/conference center will have break-out rooms, meeting suites, conference rooms, halls, ballrooms, etc.

Ballroom (4 sections): They have 4 clients, each with about 100 - 200 pax. So, the hotel/conference center will use partitions to split up the ballroom into 4 smaller rooms. Let's say Yongmei's getting married and he's inviting 1245 pax, then the partitions will be removed to make it into a whole BALLROOM again to accomodate the number.

Okie, prefunction --> before I start my seminar, my participants arrive early for registration or to have their coffee and tea. Then, during teabreak, they might also go to this area for the refreshments. As such, you would probably have to come out with a good/creative name for this prefunction room/area. Can we call it a 预会厅????

Are you sure it is an area 区域, it can be a room too. But actually.... no customer would pay extra for a room just for prefunction so I guess it should be only an area too.

Pre-function area是设置在主厅如ballroom外的一块儿空间，它比通常的走廊要大，摆些桌椅沙发供人临时使用，根据其相对于主厅的位置可以叫前厅/侧厅，或者副厅。

参见下列网页中的平面图及Pre-Fucntion Feyer

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Note added at 19 hrs 2 mins (2003-12-14 21:11:50 GMT)
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它的主要功能是供人休息、交谈，有时用于会议的登记及一般服务。