Telephoning (tasks)

Lesson 1

Task 1. Read the article. Are these statements true or false?

1. Many nationalities greet people differently on the phone than they do face-to-face.
2. The Spanish are impolite.
3. When the Italian meets you in the street he greets you with the words ‘I’m ready”.
4. At work, different nationalities use a similar approach in answering the phone.

How many ways to say hello?

When two people meet in Tokyo they say konnichiha which means hello. But if they answer the phone, they say moshi moshi. Japan isn’t the only country to have its own special ‘telephone language’. The Spanish say hola for hello but on the phone they answer dígame. Literally translated dígame means ‘tell me’ – but this sounds very rude in English. Similarly, if a caller heard the words: I’m ready in London or New York, they’d think this was very strange. They’d ask ‘ready for what?’ But in Italy the word pronto! means exactly this.

The rules for answering the phone in the international workplace seem to be more universal. Phone a business number and the receptionist is likely to say the name of the company and answer more politely or formally. For example, in English you make the polite offer of help with How can I help you? But even this isn’t quite as polite as the very formal Norwegian response: vær so god literally meaning ‘be so good.’

 

Task 2. a) Listen to two phone conversations and complete the table

call	Where is the person the caller wants?	Country of meeting	Number of the caller
1
2

b) Listen to the two calls again and write a message for each of them: 

 

1. Phone message Caller:________________ Message:______________ _____________________ ______________________

2. Phone message Message for:______________ Call from: _______________ Message: ________________ _________________________

Useful phrases for telephone conversation:

Outgoing call	Incoming call
1. Announcing identity
·      Hello, this is Barbara Ling. ·      My name is Daniel Wong. ·      Good morning. It’s Rebecca Park here.	·      Hello. David Jackson speaking. ·      Supersport company. Can I help you? ·      Who’s calling?
2. Asking if someone is in
·      Can I speak to Mr Lee, please? ·      Is Laura there/in? ·      Could you put me through to Maria, please? ·      Can I speak to someone in Marketing, please?	·      Hold the line, please. ·      Hold on, please. I’ll see. ·      Yes, I’ll just get her. ·      I’ll just transfer you (put you through, connect you to). ·      Just a moment. ·      I’m afraid she isn’t in at the moment. ·      Sorry, He’s just gone out. Would you like to call back later? ·      She’s away for a few days. Would you like to leave a message?
When will the person wanted to be in?
·      When will she be back? ·      Can I call her? ·      Could you ask her to call me back? ·      Can I speak to somebody else? ·      Can I leave a message? (Can you take a message?)	·      She should be back by 4 o’clock.
Give a reason for calling
·      I’m calling to … ·      I’m phoning in connection with…	·
Asking for repetition and clarification
· Please speak more slowly. · Can you repeat that? · Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Can you say repeat that? · Can you spell? · Let me spell it. It’s W-A-Y-N-E. Got that?
Calling off
·      Thanks very much. Good bye. ·      Ok. Bye.	·      Thanks for calling.. Bye.

Task 3. Choose the best responses.

1. I’d like to speak to Ms Chan, please. ·      Yes. ·      I’m afraid she’s not here at the moment. ·      Well. You can’t.	4. Could you speak to Marta Owen, please? ·      Who’s calling? ·      Who are you? ·      What’s your name?
2. Can I speak to Mr Ramirez, please? ·      Hold on, please. ·      Don’t go away. ·      All right.	5. Can you call back later? ·      Yes, call me. ·      Yes, please do. ·      Of course call, yes.
3. Who’s speaking? ·      I’m called Pierre Marcel. ·      My name’s Pierre Marcel. ·      Pierre Marcel is speaking.	6. When will she be back? ·      One hour. ·      After one hour. ·      In an hour’s time.

Task 4. Requesting information

e.g. You don’t know a caller’s name. (give)

Could you give me your name, please?

Make questions using could, would in a similar way.

1.     You aren’t sure exactly what the caller is phoning about. (tell)

2.     You want to know the caller’s telephone number. (give)

3.     You don’t know how to spell the caller’s name. (spell)

4.     You didn’t hear the caller’s address clearly. (repeat)

5.     You want to find out when the caller will be in the office tomorrow. (tell)

6.     You aren’t sure about the delivery date of your order. (confirm)

 

Lesson 2

VOCABULARY

Ex.1 Match the sentences 1-9 with the responses a-i.

Could I speak to Diana Wong, please? Can I take a message? I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong number. Can she call you back? Could you spell that, please? Would you like to hold the line? When are you expecting her back? Who’s calling? I’m sorry, the line is busy.

a.       G-I-N-S. b.      My name is Phillip Nevill. c.       Yes, I’m here all day. d.      About 4 o’clock. e.       No thanks. I’ll call back. f.       Speaking. g.      Yes please. Tell her Tom called. h.      That’s OK. I’ll hold. i.        Oh, no. Sorry.

Ex. 2 Give English equivalents

1.      поднять трубку ____________________________

2.      ответить / поднять трубку ________________________

3.      сделать звонок по телефону ______________________

4.      набрать номер____________________

5.      позвонить кому-то по телефону____________________

6.      перезвонить____________________

7.      говорить по телефону_______________

8.      говорить с кем-то по телефону________________

9.      ждать, не вешать трубку_________________

10.  соединить_____________________

11.  повесить трубку______________________

12.  линия занята / телефон занят_____________________

13.  не отвечает______________

Ex. 3 Complete the sentences with prepositions

1.      Who would you like to speak ___?	back
2.      I’ll put you _______	up
3.      Can you call ______ later?	to
4.      Please, stop speaking ______ the phone, hung ______!	through
5.      When pronouncing telephone number, you should call ___ each figure separately.	on (×2) out
6.      Hold ____ the line please.

LISTENING

Ex. 1 Jordi Marrero wants to visit Diana Wong in Hong Kong. He telephones her four times. Listen to the four conversations. What is the problem each time?

Dialogue 1 ______________________________

Dialogue 2 ______________________________

Dialogue 3 ______________________________

Dialogue 4 ______________________________

Listen again and answer the following questions:

1.      Who does Diana work for?

2.      What is her mobile number?

3.      Which department is she in?

4.      When is she going to come back to the office?

5.      When does Jordi want to meet?

6.      What is her direct line?

SPEAKING

Work in pairs. Make up 3 dialogues using these prompts.

Dialogue 1		Dialogue 2		Dialogue 3
Answer the phone for Patrizia Lopez.		Answer the phone for Patrizia Lopez.		Answer the phone for Patrizia Lopez.
Ask to speak to Patricia.		Ask to speak to Patricia.		Ask to speak to Patricia.
Ask who is calling		Ask the caller to wait. Say that the line is busy. Ask the caller if he/she wants to wait		Ask the caller to wait. Apologize and say that she is not there. Say why.
Give your name		Agree to wait.		Ask about her return.
Offer to transfer the call.		Say that the line is still busy. Ask the caller if he/she would like Patricia to ring her back.		Say when. Offer to take a message.
Say thank you		Say no and ask for Patricia’s mobile number.		Agree and leave a message / phone number.
Patricia answers.		Give her mobile number to the caller.		Repeat the message / number back to the caller.
Carry on the conversation.		Say thank you and end the call.		Say the message is correct. End the call.

WRITING

Diana Wong receives a lot of messages. Listen to her voice mail and write as much information as you can for each message. Use the message pads below.

1. (sample)

 

To: _____________

From: ____________

Date: _____________

Message: ______________________________________________________________________________