Telephone English Learning how to communicate well on the telephone is one of the top priorities for many students

who need to use English at work. Learning the common phrases that are used on the telephone helps students know what to expect. However, what students often need most is practice, practice, and more practice. While helpful, practicing a role-play in the classroom is not always the best way to improve telephoning skills. Telephoning requires special skills as there are a number of difficulties that arise when telephoning that are specific to telephoning. The first and foremost difficulty is not being able to see the person you are communicating with. This lack of visual communication often makes students, who can communicate quite successfully in other situations, nervous and thereby hinders their communicative abilities. Add to this the typical hectic pace of business communication, and you have a particularly difficult situation. This feature includes a number of ingredients to improve telephoning skills. Included you will find specific telephoning phrases, telephoning techniques to improve confidence when telephoning and telephoning practice exercises for use with your colleagues or in the classroom. Exercises for Practicing Speaking on the Telephone The most important thing about practicing telephone conversations is that you shouldn't be able to see the person you are speaking to on the phone. You may ask, 'How can I do that if I am practicing with a friend or another classmate?' Here are a few suggestions for practicing phone calls without looking at your partner: If you are in the same room - Put your chairs back to back and practice speaking on the phone, you will only hear the other person's voice which will approximate a telephone situation. Use the telephone - This is pretty obvious, but really not used that often. Give your friend a call and practice various conversations (role plays). Use internal office phones at work - This is one of my favorites and great for business classes. If your class is on site (at the office) go to different offices and call one another practicing conversations. Another variation is for the students to go into another office and have the teacher telephone them pretending to be a native speaker in a hurry. It's then up to the students to make sure they have communicated what they need, or understood what the caller wants. This exercise is always a lot of fun - depending on how good your teacher is at acting! Tape yourself - If you are practicing alone, tape standard answers and then practice using the tape recorder stopping and starting to simulate a conversation. Real life situations - Businesses are always interested in telling you about their products. Find a product you are interested in and research it over the telephone. You can ... o call a store to find out the prices and specifications. o ring the company representative to find out details on how the product works. o telephone a consumer agency to find out if the product has any defects. o call customer service to find out about replacement parts, etc. Important Phrases There are a number of phrases and idioms that are only used when telephoning. Let's first take a look at an example dialogue: Here are the most common: Operator: Hello, Frank and Brothers, How can I help you? Peter: This is Peter Jackson. Can I have extension 3421? Operator: Certainly, hold on a minute, I'll put you through... Frank: Bob Peterson's office, Frank speaking. Peter: This is Peter Jackson calling, is Bob in? Frank: I'm afraid he's out at the moment. Can I take a message? Peter: Yes, Could you ask him to call me at . I need to talk to him about the Nuovo line, it's urgent. Frank: Could you repeat the number please? Peter: Yes, that's , and this is Peter Jackson. Frank: Thank you Mr Jackson, I'll make sure Bob gets this asap. Peter: Thanks, bye. Frank: Bye. As you can see, the language is rather informal and there are some important differences to everyday English. Look at the chart below for key language and phrases used in telephone English: Introducing yourself This is Ken. Ken speaking Asking who is on the telephone Excuse me, who is this? Telephone English Page 1

Can I ask who is calling, please? Asking for Someone Can I have extension 321? (extensions are internal numbers at a company) Could I speak to...? (Can I - more informal / May I - more formal) Is Jack in? (informal idiom meaning: Is Jack in the office? Connecting Someone I'll put you through (put through - phrasal verb meaning 'connect') Can you hold the line? Can you hold on a moment? How to reply when someone is not available I'm afraid ... is not available at the moment The line is busy... (when the extension requested is being used) Mr Jackson isn't in... Mr Jackson is out at the moment... Taking a Message Could (Can, May) I take a message? Could (Can, May) I tell him who is calling? Would you like to leave a message? Leaving a Message Sometimes, there may not be anyone to answer the telephone and you will need to leave a message. Follow this outline to make sure that the person who should receive your message has all the information he/she needs. 1. Introduction - - - - Hello, this is Ken. OR Hello, My name is Ken Beare (more formal). 2. State the time of day and your reason for calling - - - - - It's ten in the morning. I'm phoning (calling, ringing) to find out if ... / to see if ... / to let you know that ... / to tell you that ... 3. Make a request - - - - Could you call (ring, telephone) me back? / Would you mind ... ? / 4. Leave your telephone number - - - - My number is .... / You can reach me at .... / Call me at ... 5. Finish - - - - Thanks a lot, bye. / I'll talk to you later, bye. Here's an example of message Telephone: (Ring... Ring... Ring...) Hello, this is Tom. I'm afraid I'm not in at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep..... (beep) Ken: Hello Tom, this is Ken. It's about noon and I'm calling to see if you would like to go to the Mets game on Friday. Could you call me back? You can reach me at 367-8925 until five this afternoon. I'll talk to you later, bye. As you can see, leaving a message is pretty simple. You only need to make sure that you have stated all the most important information: Your Name, The Time, The Reason for Calling, Your Telephone Number Tips for Getting People to Slow Down!! One of the biggest problems is speed. Native speakers, especially business people, tend to speak very quickly on the telephone. Here are some practical tips to get native speakers of English to slow down! Immediately ask the person to speak slowly. When taking note of a name or important information, repeat each piece of information as the person speaks. This is an especially effective tool. By repeating each important piece of information or each number or letter as the spell or give you a telephone number you automatically slow the speaker down. Do not say you have understood if you have not. Ask the person to repeat until you have understood. Remember that the other person needs to make himself/herself understood and it is in his/her interest to make sure that you have understood. If you ask a person to explain more than twice they will usually slow down. If the person does not slow down begin speaking your own language! A sentence or two of another language spoken quickly will remind the person that they are fortunate because THEY do not need to speak a different language to communicate. Used carefully, this exercise in humbling the other speaker can be very effective. Just be sure to use it with colleagues and not with a boss Role Playing Suggestions Here are some role plays for you to use in practicing your telephone English. Requesting Travel Information Student A: Choose a city in your country. You are going to travel to this city for a business meeting over the next weekend. Telephone a travel agency and reserve the following: Round-trip flight Hotel room for two nights Restaurant recommendation Prices and departure times Telephone English Page 2

Student B: You work in a travel agency. Listen to student A and offer him/her the following solutions: Round-trip flight: Air JW $450 Coach, $790 First Class Hotel room for two nights: Hotel City $120 a night in the downtown area, Hotel Relax $110 a night near the airport Restaurant Recommendation: Chez Marceau - downtown - average price $70 a person Product Information Student A: You need to purchase six new computers for your office. Call JA's Computer World and ask for the following information: Current special offers on computers Computer configuration (RAM, Hard Drive, CPU) Guaranty Possibility of discount for an order of six computers Student B: You work in at JA's Computer World answer student A's questions using the following information: Two special offers: Multimedia Monster - with latest Pentium CPU, 256 RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, Monitor included - $2,500 AND Office Taskmaster - cheaper CPU, 64 RAM, 10 GB Hard Drive, Monitor not included - $1,200 1 Year guaranty on all computers Discount of 5% for orders of more than five computers Leaving a Message Student A: You want to speak to Ms Braun about your account with her company, W&W. If Ms Braun isn't in the office, leave the following information: Your name Telephone number: 347-8910 (or use your own) Calling about changing conditions of your contract with W&W You can be reached until 5 o'clock at the above number. If Ms Braun calls after 5 o'clock, she should call 4582416 Student B: You are a receptionist at W&W. Student A would like to speak to Ms Braun, but she is out of the office. Take a message and make sure you get the following information: Name and telephone number - ask student A to spell the surname Message student A would like to leave for Ms Braun How late Ms Braun can call student A at the given telephone number Selling Your Product Student A: You are a salesperson for Red Inc. You are telephoning a client who you think might be interested in buying your new line of office supplies. Discuss the following information with your client: New line of office supplies including: copy-paper, pens, stationary, mouse-pads and white boards You know the customer hasn't ordered any new products during this past year Special discount of 15% for orders placed before next Monday Any order placed before Monday will not only receive the discount, but also have its company logo printed on the products at no extra charge Student B: You work in an office and receive a telephone call from your local office supplier. As a matter fact, you need some new office supplies so you are definitely interested in what the salesperson has to offer. Talk about the following: New pens, stationary and white boards Do they have any special offers You would like to place an order for 200 packages of copy paper immediately Teaching Telephone English Teaching telephone English can be frustrating as students really need to practice their skill as often as possible in order to improve their comprehension skills. Once they have learned the basic phrases used in telephoning, the main difficulty lies in communicating without visual contact. This lesson plan suggests a few ways to get students to practice their telephoning skills. Aim: Improving Telephoning Skills Activity: Role playing using office telephone lines Level: Intermediate to advanced Telephone English Page 3

Outline: Review phrases used in telephoning. See Telephone English: Dialogue and Appropriate Vocabulary Ask each student to write out notes for a telephone conversation that they would typically have with a native speaker. Example: Order 500 Liters of Olive Oil - Delivery: Next Friday - Payment Method: Company Account - Address: Student's Company Address - Telephone/Fax: Student's Telephone/Fax, etc. Ask students to choose another student who should respond to the call for which he/she has written notes. This next step is the most important, and if possible goes a long way to improving students' skills. Use internal office phones at work - This is one of my favorites and great for business classes. Stress the fact that students need to understand and take note of everything crucial. If they do not understand they need to ask you to repeat, tell you to speak more slowly - anything that is needed to understand. For tips see: How to Telephone: Tips and Tricks to Make Sure a Native English Speaker Slows Down! Ask your students to go to a different office, make sure to get the extension for the office. Ask students to take notes on the call. Now, this is when your acting skills come in handy! Take the various notes, call the other extension and ask for the person suggested by the student who wrote the notes. You've made it to Hollywood now! Take a variety of roles and act them out on the phone. Really put your students through the paces. You can be angry, impatient, in a hurry, etc. Once you have repeated this exercise, get students to call each other in their own offices to repeat the exercise. Remember it is crucial to actually use the phone, as the difficulty lies in understanding English over the phone. If students need suggestions see: Role Plays: Role Play Dialogue Cues to Practice Telephoning with Friends Finally, if you don't have the opportunity of using different telephone lines put students' chairs back to back and practice speaking on the phone, students will only hear the other person's voice which will approximate a telephone situation. For more ways to practice telephoning see: Practical Exercises: Exercises to Improve Your Telephoning Skills English conversation Telephone ringing sound. Telephone Operator is answering the telephone. Telephone Operator: Ramas store. Good morning. Telephone caller: Is that Ramas store. Telephone Operator: Yes. Whom do you want to speak to? Telephone caller: May I speak to Miss Annie. Telephone Operator: In which department of marketing organization, does Miss Annie work. Telephone caller: Miss Annie is working In department of general sales. Telephone Operator Right, Ill connect you to department of general sales. Telephone Operator : Answering the telephone call from the department of general sales of Ramas stores) yes sir. Marketing Manager: Please get me Mr. Raman for Travel India Telephone Operator: Do you know the Telephone number or I should find telephone number sir? Marketing Manager: No. Please look up the phone numbers directory. Telephone Operator: Ill do that. Ill call you back later. There is another incoming telephone call. Telephone Operator: Ramas store. Good morning. Telephone Caller: What is your telephone number please? Telephone Operator: I am speaking from telephone Number 445689 Telephone Caller: Is it 454589? Telephone Operator: No. Sir, You have the wrong phone number. Telephone Caller: Sorry. But you are sure that you are not speaking fromAyurveda Drugs? Telephone Operator: I am sure Sir Telephone Operator Answering telephone call Telephone Operator: now calls up Mr. Raman at Travel India. She dials telephone number 619434. Travel India 619434 Telephone Operator from Ramas store: Is that Travel India? Travel India Yes. Telephone Operator from Ramas store May I speak to Mr. Raman. Mr.Kukreti from Ramas store would like to speak to him. Travel India: Just a minute please. Telephone English Page 4

Telephone Operator from Ramas Store (Ringing Mr.Kukreti) Your call to Mr. Raman of Travel India, Sir. Travel India (Ringing the internal telephone of Mr. Raman) Sir; there is a call from Mr.Kukreti of Ramas store for you. Mr. Raman All right. Please put him on. (Click on the phone) Hello Answering the Telephone Mr.Kukreti Answering the telephone ,Hello Mr. Raman Kukreti from Ramas store. How are you? Mr. Raman well, thank you. What can I do for you Mr.Kukreti? Mr.Kukreti I want an cheap first class ticket to Bangalore and return Mr. Raman When do you want to travel By air India flight Mr.Kukreti On Friday, 23rd by the evening flight if that is possible. Mr. Raman Right. Ill check on that and give you a telephone call. Should I send airline ticket to your office? Mr.Kukreti Yes, that will be nice. Incidentally, please bill the cost of the tickets to Ramas store. Mr. Raman Ill do that. Thank you. Good bye. Air travel ticket The telephone board has two outside telephone lines. A sales girl is used to making long distance calls. Salesgirl (Tapping the phone) please connect me to telephone 351476. Telephone Operator Whose telephone number is that, Madam? Salesgirl Friend, dont be so sticky. This is a personal call Telephone Operator Ill put it through, but dont take too long over it. Here is your phone number ringing now. Salesgirl Hello? Please call Sujata from upstairs. There is a long wait. Rama Store near the Rice Market Sujata Hello. Is that Bela? Bela Yes. How was the bonus party? Sujata All right. Bela Then? Sujata Then what? Ill tell you about bonus party when we train to travel in the evening. What are you doing? Bela Nothing much. What is home information? Sujata Im getting so bored sitting at home. Telephone Operator (Interrupting the conversation). Please try to finish. I have lots of official calls to make. Bela All right. Tell me about the movie trailer you saw day before yesterday? Sujata I didnt enjoy it at all. Bela Why? The movie was a bad print ?. Sujata No, My mother was in a bad mood, because one of the potatoes turned out to be rotten? Bela What have potatoes got to do with the movie? Sujata Nothing. But my mother was in bad mood over the potatoes. Telephone Operator Please finish. I am disconnecting now. An outside call comes in. Answering the telephone. Telephone Operator Good morning, Ramas store Telephone Caller What is the matter with your telephone Ive been calling your number for the last half an hour and it has been engaged all the time! Telephone Operator Sorry Sir. The number may have been busy. May I help you, Sir? Telephone Caller Well, hurry up and get me Mr.Kukreti. Telephone Operator Im sorry sir, he has just gone out. Telephone Caller Yes, please tell him that there are no seats available on the Friday evening flight to Bangalore. We have booked him provisionally for Saturday morning. Please request him to confirm this new schedule. Telephone Operator Are you Mr. Raman from Travel India? Right Sir. Ill convey your message to Mr.Kukreti as soon as he comes in. Telephone Caller Thank you. Telephone Operator You are welcome sir.

Telephone Conversations Having telephone conversations in a second language can be very stressful. If you dont know what to say, it is very common to feel nervous in any conversation. This is true even when speaking in your native tongue. One of the main reasons people get nervous is because they arent prepared and know they might make mistakes during the conversation. To improve confidence on the phone you must learn what to say. The first thing you should do to improve your Telephone English Page 5

telephone communication ability is to start out small by learning simple vocabulary and phrases. Start by knowing different greetings. It is so easy when learning English to try to do too much too soon and then get frustrated with not being able to speak as you had imagined. You have to start small, gradually developing skills and slowly working up to something more difficult. Relax and enjoy yourself as well. Everyone knows learning a language can be frustrating! Dont worry if you make mistakes. Native speakers of English understand that you wont say everything the exact same way that they would. You shouldnt feel that you cant make any mistakes, no one expects you to be perfect. In the following examples on English telephone conversations, we will give many examples of sentences and phrases you should know. From the start until the end of a telephone conversation we will go over everything all the way from greetings to goodbyes. Here are a few sets of Telephone Conversations. Read the conversations in each set so that you will become familiar with the typical words frequently used in telephone conversations. Only over the period of time and after more practice hours, you could master how to converse in telephone. You might have had many such telephone conversations either in your social life or in your business life. Share your blissful moments with us. You will be duly acknowledged. Meena and Mohan Mohan : Hello. Meena : Hello, Micro Computer centre. Mohan : Can I get Miss Deepa, please? Meena : Please hold on. Let me see whether she has come. Mohan : Hello, Deepa hasn't arrived. May I know who's calling? Meena : I'm Mohan, Deepa's brother. Mohan : Any message for Deepa? Meena : No thanks. I'll call again in the afternoon. Mohan : I'll tell Deepa that you've called and will call again. May I hang up? Meena : OK. Thanks. Susee, Mani and Kumar Susee : Hello! Is it Kumar's house? Mani : Yes. May I know who's on the other end? Susee : My name is Susee. I'm Kumar's friend. Can I speak to Kumar? Mani : Yes. Please hold on. Mani : Hello Kumar! What were you doing there? Kumar : I was watching T.V. Why did you call me? Mani : Your friend Susee is on the line. Kumar : Right. Let her be online for some time. I will be there in a minute. Mani : Hello Susee! Kumar is coming. Please be online for some time. Susee : OK. That is fine. I will be her waiting for Kumar. Kumar : Hai Susee! How are you? What is the matter? Susee : I am sorry to disturb you on Sunday. Could you come over here to meet our boss? Kumar : OK. I will be in our office in few minutes. Hema, Manu and Ananthi Hema : Hello! Hema speaking. Will you please call Ananthi? Manu : Sure. Please hold on. Ananthi : Hello! Ananthi is on the line here. Hema : Hello Ananthi. I'm Hema. Am I disturbing you in the morning hours? Ananthi : No. You carry on sister. Hema : Are you going to the office alone? Ananthi : Yes. Should I come that way? Hema : Is it inconvenient for you? Ananthi : Be ready at 9 o'clock. It would be more convenient if you can come up to the bus stop and wait there. Hema : Well. I'll be at the bus stop at sharp nine. May I hang up? Ananthi : Right. Gopi and Manager Gopi : Hello, is this not Veena Enterprises? Manager : Yes. Gopi : Has Gopalakrishnan come? Manager : He has been on leave for two days. Gopi : I see. Do you have his mobile number with you? Manager : I do have it. But he has instructed not to give it to anyone. Gopi : Then I shouldn't ask you. You give my mobile number to Gopalakrishnan. Manager : Please tell me your phone number. Gopi : Here it is. Ask him to contact me urgently. Manager : I'll tell him. Anything else? Gopi : No. Thanks. Telephone English Page 6

Seeni and Karan Karan : Hello Seeni How are you? Seeni : Fine. And you? Karan : Fine too. Thank you. Seeni : Hmmm you called me in the night time. Karan : What do you mean? Seeni : Our Rusheed has come from the gulf. Karan : Is it? When? Seeni : He has just arrived this morning. Karan : Then wheres she? Seeni : He's here. You come here. We'll have a get together. Karan : In the wink of an eye, I'll be there. May I hang up? Seeni : Then we'll meet in person. Bye. Pooja and Receptionist Pooja : Hello! I'm Pooja. Can I get Mr. David? Receptionist : David in which section? Pooja : Mmm Maintenance. Receptionist : He has already left. Pooja : I see. Won't he come back today? Receptionist : He has gone to have lunch. So he'll definitely come back. Pooja : Then I'll call again after one hour. Receptionist : If you've any message for him, I'll give it. By the way, what's your name? Pooja : I'm Pooja. I'll call him after an hour. May I hang up? Receptionist : Yes Madam. Rahul and Nancy Rahul : Hello! Who is this? Nancy : Sir I am Nancy. Rahul : I received missed calls from your number. Nancy : Who are you? Rahul : I am Rahul. Nancy : What are you doing? Rahul : I am preparing for IAS exam. Nancy : I tried for the other number but it came to you. Rahul : All are saying like this. Nancy : I am not such a person as you think. Rahul : What are you madam? Nancy : I am a medical college student. Rahul : Then you are not madam. A Miss. Nancy : Yes. I am Miss. Rahul : For what have you given missed calls? Nancy : I have already told. You know. Rahul : What did you tell? Nancy : I have done it by mistake. Rahul : Then it is a wrong call. Nancy : Of course you are right. Rahul : You are talking nicely. Nancy : Thank you very much. Rahul : Where are you speaking from? Nancy : I am speaking from... Rahul : Don't say from America. Nancy : I don't tell lies. Rahul : Then tell me. Nancy : I am from Trichy. Rahul : Hereafter I won't receive missed calls. Nancy : No. Let us be friends here after. Telephone Conversations in English Having a telephone conversation in a second language can be very stressful. If you dont know what to say, it is very common to feel nervous in any conversation. This is true even when speaking in your native tongue. One of the main reasons people get nervous is because they arent prepared and know they might make mistakes during the conversation. To improve confidence on the phone you must learn what to say. The first thing you should do to improve your telephone communication ability is to start out small by learning simple vocabulary and phrases. It is very common for learners of a language to jump right into a conversation without

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knowing any basics. Start by knowing different greetings. Then gradually work up to full simple conversations, then more and more difficult ones. It is so easy when learning English to try to do too much too soon and then get frustrated with not being able to speak as you had imagined. It is the same with learning anything. It would be great if you could buy a guitar and then immediately play your favorite song. Unfortunately, this isnt the case (for most of us anyway). You have to start small, gradually developing skills and slowly working up to something more difficult. Relax and enjoy yourself as well. Everyone knows learning a language can be frustrating! Dont worry if you make mistakes. Native speakers of English understand that you wont say everything the exact same way that they would. You shouldnt feel that you cant make any mistakes, no one expects you to be perfect. In the upcoming articles on English telephone conversations, we will give many examples of sentences and phrases you should know. From the start until the end of a telephone conversation we will go over everything all the way from greetings to goodbyes. Sydney: Did you call Ben last night? John: Yes. I tried to get a hold of him last night, but it was so difficult to get through. Sydney: That's strange. Maybe he was on the Net. John: That's probably it! No wonder the line was busy all the time! Maybe he ought to get another line. Sydney: Or he should get call-waiting. Lucy: Dale: Lucy: Dale: What's wrong with your phone, Dale? I tried to call you all night last night. I'm sorry. No one was able to get through yesterday. My telephone was disconnected by the phone company. What happened? Didn't you pay the bill? Well...er...I forgot.

Sandy: Why didn't you call me yesterday? Thomas: I tried to get a hold of you, but I couldn't get through. Sandy: What time did you call? Thomas: I tried all morning. Sandy: Then I can't understand why you couldn't get through. Thomas: I kept getting a busy signal. Sandy: Hmmmm..... Howard: I can hardly hear you, Nick! Nick: Oh, we seem to have a bad connection on this phone. Howard: Could you speak up, please? Nick: I'm talking as loud as I can. Howard: I'm going to hang up and call again. Nick: All right! John: Hello, may I speak to Mr. Brown? Secretary: He just left. John: When do you expect him back? Secretary: I'm sorry, but he's gone for the day. Would you care to leave a message? John: Could you tell him that John Smith called and have him call me back tomorrow? Secretary: Sure. May I have your phone number? John: I think he has my number. Secretary: Thank you, Mr. Smith. I'll tell him you called. John: Thanks. Joe: Hello, May I speak to Mr. Brown? Secretary: I'm sorry. He's out to lunch. Would you like to leave a message? Joe: What time do you expect him back? Secretary: Mr. Smith should be back in half an hour. Joe: Thank you. I'll try back later. ose: Pamela, can you come to a meeting on Friday? Pamela: I'm not sure. Let me check my schedule. When are you having it? Jose: We're planning on having it around noon. Pamela: Let me get back to you in a few minutes. Jose: Sure. If I'm not in, could you leave a message on my answering machine? Pamela: Sure thing. Timothy: Stanley: Timothy: Stanley: Operator: Stanley, there's a Mr. Miller on the phone who wants to talk to you. I'm busy at the moment. Can you ask him to hold? Tell him I'll talk with him in a few seconds. Sure. He's on Line 2. Thanks, Timothy. Pacific Bell. May I help you? Page 8

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Dave: Operator: Dave: Opeator: Dave: Sean: Customer Sean: Customer Sean: Customer Sean: Customer Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer Jefferey: Customer

Yes. I'd like to set up a telephone service, please. Do you presently have service? No. This is new. All right. I'll connect you with our customer service department. Please hold. Thanks. I'd like to have a phone installed, please. Service: May I have your name and address, please? Sure. My name is Sean Kobluk. K-O-B-L-U-K. My address is 1600 Iowa Avenue, Apartment 16. Service: May I have you date of birth and your social security number, please? Sure. My date of birth is June 11, 1980. My Social Security Number is 554-66-9980. Service: Thank you very much. The earliest day for connection is this Friday. Is that OK? That's fine. Thanks. Service: Thank you very much, Mr. Kobluk. Have a nice day! Service: Service: Service: Service: Service: Service: Service: Service: Pacific Bell. May I help you? I'd like to have my phone disconnected. May I ask why? Well, I'm graduated and am moving to California for a new job there. Congratulations! Thanks. Hear the dialogue sentence by sentence. All right. May I have your phone number, please? Sure. My phone number is 377-765-8769. And the name on the account, please? My name is Jefferey Schaefer. For security purposes, Mr. Schaefer, may I have your date of birth, please? It's June 5, 1978. Thank you. Now, when would you like it to be disconnected? Tomorrow by 5:00 PM. Sure. The telephone will be disconnected at 5:00 PM tomorrow.

Elephone English - Important Phrases There are a number of phrases and idioms that are only used when telephoning. Let's first take a look at an example dialogue: Here are the most common: Operator: Hello, Frank and Brothers, How can I help you? Peter: This is Peter Jackson. Can I have extension 3421? Operator: Certainly, hold on a minute, I'll put you through... Frank: Bob Peterson's office, Frank speaking. Peter: This is Peter Jackson calling, is Bob in? Frank: I'm afraid he's out at the moment. Can I take a message? Peter: Yes, Could you ask him to call me at . I need to talk to him about the Nuovo line, it's urgent. Frank: Could you repeat the number please? Peter: Yes, that's , and this is Peter Jackson. Frank: Thank you Mr Jackson, I'll make sure Bob gets this asap. Peter: Thanks, bye. Frank: Bye. As you can see, the language is rather informal and there are some important differences to everyday English. Look at the chart below for key language and phrases used in telephone English: Introducing yourself This is Ken. Ken speaking Asking who is on the telephone Excuse me, who is this? Can I ask who is calling, please? Asking for Someone Can I have extension 321? (extensions are internal numbers at a company) Could I speak to...? (Can I - more informal / May I - more formal) Is Jack in? (informal idiom meaning: Is Jack in the office? Connecting Someone I'll put you through (put through - phrasal verb meaning 'connect') Can you hold the line? Can you hold on a moment? How to reply when someone is not available I'm afraid ... is not available at the moment The line is busy... (when the extension requested is being used) Mr Jackson isn't in... Mr Jackson is out at the moment... Telephone English Page 9

Taking a Message Could (Can, May) I take a message? Could (Can, May) I tell him who is calling? Would you like to leave a message? Tips for Getting People to Slow Down!! One of the biggest problems is speed. Native speakers, especially business people, tend to speak very quickly on the telephone. Here are some practical tips to get native speakers of English to slow down! Immediately ask the person to speak slowly. When taking note of a name or important information, repeat each piece of information as the person speaks. This is an especially effective tool. By repeating each important piece of information or each number or letter as the spell or give you a telephone number you automatically slow the speaker down. Do not say you have understood if you have not. Ask the person to repeat until you have understood. Remember that the other person needs to make himself/herself understood and it is in his/her interest to make sure that you have understood. If you ask a person to explain more than twice they will usually slow down. If the person does not slow down begin speaking your own language! A sentence or two of another language spoken quickly will remind the person that they are fortunate because THEY do not need to speak a different language to communicate. Used carefully, this exercise in humbling the other speaker can be very effective. Just be sure to use it with colleagues and not with a boss :-)!

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