nyuukanryou wo haratte, onseigaido de gakugeiin no kaisetu wo kikimasita.

払って is the て-form of 払う.

In this sentence, the て-form connects actions in sequence:

• 入館料を払って
• 音声ガイドで学芸員の解説を聞きました

So it means something like:

• I paid the admission fee, and then listened to the curator's explanation through the audio guide.

Only the final verb, 聞きました, carries the tense and politeness for the whole sentence. This is very common in Japanese.

Here it mainly shows that one action happened before the next one:

• paying the admission fee
• then listening to the explanation

So in English, it could be translated as:

• and
• after
• having paid

The Japanese て-form is flexible. It often links actions without stating the relationship as explicitly as English does.

入館料 means admission fee or entrance fee.

It is made of:

• 入館 = entering a building/facility, especially a museum, gallery, etc.
• 料 = fee, charge

So 入館料を払って means paying the entrance/admission fee.

The particle を marks the direct object of a verb.

Here:

• 入館料を払って = pay the admission fee

The thing being paid is 入館料, so it takes を.

This is the same pattern as:

• お金を払う = pay money
• 代金を払う = pay the charge

Because 解説 is also the direct object of a verb:

• 学芸員の解説を聞きました = listened to the curator's explanation

So this sentence has two different verbs and each one has its own object:

• 入館料を払って
• 解説を聞きました

That is why you see を twice.

Here で means by means of, using, or through.

So:

• 音声ガイドで聞きました = listened through/using an audio guide

It tells you the method or medium.

Other examples of this kind of で:

• バスで行く = go by bus
• 日本語で話す = speak in Japanese
• スマホで調べる = look it up on a smartphone

In this sentence, 音声ガイドで tells you how the explanation was heard.

Because の links nouns, and here it means something like:

• the curator's explanation
• an explanation by the curator

So:

• 学芸員 = curator / museum staff specialist
• 解説 = explanation / commentary
• 学芸員の解説 = the curator's explanation

You are not doing something to the curator, so を would not fit.

And に would suggest a different structure, like explaining something to the curator or receiving something from the curator in a more verbal-event structure. But here the sentence is simply treating 学芸員の解説 as one noun phrase: the curator's commentary.

学芸員 usually means curator or a museum professional responsible for exhibits, research, education, and collection management.

In museum contexts, it is a standard word. A native English speaker might think of curator first, though depending on context it can also feel a bit broader than that.

So 学芸員の解説 is naturally understood as:

• commentary by a curator
• an explanation provided by museum staff in that role

Japanese has more than one way to write きく.

• 聞く = hear, listen, ask
• 聴く = listen attentively, especially to music or audio

In everyday writing, 聞く is much more common and standard. Even when the meaning is clearly listen to, people often still write 聞く.

So 解説を聞きました is perfectly normal.

Yes, but that is normal in Japanese.

Japanese often omits the subject when it is obvious from context. So a full English translation might include I, but the Japanese does not need to say it.

Depending on context, the subject could be:

• I
• we
• he/she
• another understood person

In most textbook-style examples, learners naturally read it as I.

In Japanese, when verbs are connected, the final verb usually carries the main tense and politeness.

So:

• 払って = connecting form
• 聞きました = polite past

This makes the whole sentence sound polite and past-tense.

A very literal structural reading would be:

• Having paid the admission fee, I listened to the curator's explanation through the audio guide.

Japanese word order is flexible compared to English, as long as the particles make the relationships clear.

This sentence is natural as written, but some parts could move around. For example:

• 入館料を払って、学芸員の解説を音声ガイドで聞きました。

This also sounds natural.

The important thing is that the particles keep the roles clear:

• を marks objects
• で marks means/method
• の links nouns

That said, the original order is easy to follow and sounds perfectly normal.

No. Standard Japanese is normally written without spaces between words.

This sentence would usually appear as:

入館料を払って、音声ガイドで学芸員の解説を聞きました。

The spaces in your version are just there to help learners see the word boundaries more easily.

The comma helps separate the two linked actions and makes the sentence easier to read.

• 入館料を払って、
• 音声ガイドで学芸員の解説を聞きました。

It is not absolutely required, but it is natural and helpful. It gives a small pause, similar to how English might use a comma after an introductory action like After paying the admission fee, ...