EngVid: Want to be more confident talking on the phone in English? In this lesson, I teach you common expressions you can use at the end of a phone call. You will learn how to leave and take messages. By learning these key expressions, you'll become more comfortable speaking on the phone in English. Best of all, you'll be able to practice having a conversation with me! Once you hang up though, take the quiz. https://www.engvid.com/telephone-english-how-to-take-or-give-a-message/ TRANSCRIPT
Hi, there. My name is Emma, and in today's video, we are going to learn some more telephone English. So if you haven't checked out my video on telephone English already, please do before you watch this video because this video is covering the end of a conversation. I've made one video that covers the beginning. So first, watch the beginning. And once you finish watching, come and watch this video. Okay. So let's get started. I have my telephone here. Let's finish this phone conversation.
So I want to ask you -- pick up your phone, everyone. "Would you like to leave a message? Okay. So repeat after me. "Would you like to leave a message?" Good. If someone asks you this on the phone, you can respond by saying, "Yes. Can you tell Emma that I called?" "Can you tell Peter that -- and you can say your name here -- that Henry called -- that Abigail called?" So your name goes here. The person you have the message for goes here. So this is the person that you have the message for. So if you were calling me, Emma, and you didn't get a hold of me, you want me to call you back. Maybe you talked to my mom, and my mom says, "Oh, would you like to leave a message?" You say, "Yes. Can you tell Emma that -- your name -- called?" Or, "Yes, can you tell Emma to call me tonight?" "Can you tell Emma to call me later?" Okay. So let's try this. I want you to say either this or this. All right? So everybody -- oops. Sorry. Pick up your phone. Pretend you're talking to me. "Would you like to leave a message?" Now, you say -- or --. Okay. Good. Well done. All right.
The next thing I want to do, if I'm calling someone and leaving a message, after I say my name and I say, "Can you tell So and So that Emma called", I want to leave a phone number. So I can say something like, "He/She can reach me at 555-5555." There might have been an extra five there. I don't know. This isn't my number, so don't try to call it. This is an example. "She can reach me at this number." Okay?
All right. So after you give your number, maybe the person isn't ready. Maybe they don't have a pen and paper, and they haven't written -- they can't write this down yet. So if they need a pen and paper, they'll say, "Hold on. Let me grab a pen and paper." Okay? So let's say this together to practice. "Hold on. Let me grab a pen and paper." Meaning, "Give me a moment. I want to write this down."
All right. So I'm now going to say this. I want you to say this. Just to practice. "Yes. Can you tell Frank that I called? Frank can reach me at 555-5555." Okay? Now, you say --. Good. With these expressions, it's very important to practice. And you'll feel more confident if you actually pretend to be on the phone. Don't ask me why, but when you practice to do these things, you actually will feel more confident when you do them.
Okay. So then, what would happen is if I didn't have a pen and paper at the beginning and I said, "Hold on. Let me grab a pen and paper", now, I have my pen and paper. I'm now ready to take the message. So I can say, "Okay. What's your number again?" So if the first time I didn't hear it, I wasn't prepared, I can say, "Okay. What's your number again?" So repeat after me. "Okay. What's your number again?" Great.
So now, we are going to finish the phone conversation. Okay. So the person who just wrote down your number and wrote down your name -- the person who took the message will now say, "Great! I'll let her/I'll let him/I'll let Emma/I'll let Peter know you called." Okay? That's one thing you can say. You can also say, "I'll pass on the message." "Okay. I'll pass on the message." So you have a choice between this or this. So let's try that. I want you to say this, okay? Great. Okay. Good.
So after this -- or actually, sometimes -- maybe you don't want to leave a message. Maybe you just want to try to call back later. Okay. So if somebody asks you, "Would you like to leave a message", and you don't want to leave a message, you can say, "No. That's okay. I'll try again later." Okay? So let me ask you if you'd like to leave a message, and you say this. "Would you like to leave a message?" Perfect. All right.
Practice speaking on the phone with me, Emma! Do you know how to speak on the phone? Do you feel nervous talking on the phone? In this survival English video, I teach you common expressions to use on a phone call. By learning these expressions, your telephone conversations will become clearer and you will understand more. You can practice these expressions by taking our quiz. https://www.engvid.com/speaking-english-how-to-answer-the-phone/
TRANSCRIPT
Hello. My name is Emma. And in today's lesson, we are going to be learning some important telephone expressions. Okay?
I know a lot of students get very scared when they have to talk on the phone, and it's understandable; it can be very scary when you can't see the person's face when you're talking to them. So one great idea if you're afraid of talking on the phone in English is to memorize key expressions that we use all the time. This way, it will improve your listening, you will know what people will probably say on the phone, and your speaking will improve too. All right?
Now, in this video, we're actually going to practice these expressions together. In my pocket, I have my cellphone. All right? So what is going to happen is I will teach you an expression, and then I will pretend to be on the phone, you can pretend to be on the phone too. I will say something, and you say the correct expression to me. All right? So, if you don't understand, that's okay - you will in a moment. Let's get started.
Now, when somebody calls you... "Ring, ring, ring, ring" First thing you say is: "Hello?" As in a question. "Hello?" All right? And then what happens?
The person who's calling asks a question. They can do this in different ways. I've listed four different ways, the most common. Sometimes they'll say: "Is __________ there, please?" "Is Emma there, please?", "Is Daniella there, please?" "Is Yvonne there, please?"
Okay? A very common way. And notice: "please", very important to be polite.
You can also say: "This is __________" - Emma - "calling for _________."
Whoever you're calling. So, if I'm calling you, I might say: "Oh, hello. This is Emma calling for Daniel", "This is Emma calling for Joseph.", "This is Emma calling for Pete." Okay? So this is a common expression, especially if you're at work, this is the one we would use a lot at work. This one is a little more informal; you'd probably use this one more if you're calling your friends or calling someone in not a business situation.
This is also another informal one: "Is __________ in?"
So all of these blanks are the name of the person who the caller wants to speak to. "Is Emma in?", "Is John in?", "Is Mary in?" Okay. So, again: "Hello. Is Mary in?" Informal.
Last one: "May I please speak to __________?" Emma. "May I please speak to Mary?", "May I please speak to the doctor?" All right? This one is more formal. So we have sort of formal/informal, formal, informal, and last one, formal.
All right, so let's get your phone out. All right? Whether you have a real cellphone or your hand, and let's practice a statement. So you're going to be calling me. You're going to use one of these expressions. Pick whichever one you want and practice it. All right? Let's get started.
"Ring, ring, ring, ring." "Hello?"
Perfect. All right? So you can watch this video again and again; practice, practice, practice until you have it memorized, until it is easy for you.
All right, now how do I respond or how..? How does the person you're calling respond?
If you say: "Is Emma there, please?" I would say: "Speaking." Which means: "Yes, it's me, it's Emma." I wouldn't say that, I would just say: "Speaking."
Or I could say: "__________ speaking. How can I help you?" [SM1]"Emma speaking.", "Emma speaking. How can I help you?"
"This is __________." [SM2]"This is Emma." Or: "This is he.", "This is she."
All right? So again, these represents the... The name of the person. This... These blanks are names. All right?
So let's try one. I want you to pick any of these. All right? Now, I'm sorry - there are so many of you, I probably will not pick your name when I ask this question. So today, I am going to call you all "Bob". I'm sorry if that's a problem, but today, you are Bob. All right? So I want you to either say: "Speaking.", "Bob speaking.", "This is Bob." Just for practice. All right. So get your phone ready.
"Ring, ring, ring, ring"
So you say: "Hello?"
And I say: "Is Bob there, please?"
What do you say?
Good, very good.
All right, so let's learn some more expressions.
Okay, great. So we've gone through the first part of a phone call. -
"Hello, is Emma there, please?" -"Speaking."
All right? Now what? What if someone calls you and you pick up, but they're not looking for you; they're looking for your brother, they're looking for your mother, they're looking for someone else - what do you say?
This is the last Civics lesson of the school 2019-2020 school year.
We will learn three important life and work skills:
How to answer a phone call
How to write a phone message
How to order office supplies
These papers will help you learn about phone calls, messages, and office supplies.
After you studies these papers, we will have a simple oral and written test:
A. Teacher ________ will make a video call to you at a scheduled time.
Answer the phone and talk to the teacher.
B. Teacher ________ will read this message to you:
This is a Civics test for school.
We use it to show that you learn English.
We do not share your work outside the school.
Do your own work.
Do not get help or use a translator.
Do not copy another person's work.
Good luck!
C. You will get a blank telephone message form in the email.
No printer? Write the notes using the Telephone Message format with labels.
The Teacher will ask you to write a phone message.
Write the message on a paper and show message to the Teacher.
The Teacher will take a picture of your paper.
D. In your group Zoom class, you will write 4 sentences about ordering office supplies.
After you write your sentences, show the sentences to the Teacher.
This is the last Civics lesson of the school 2019-2020 school year.
We will learn three important life and work skills:
How to answer a phone call
How to write a phone message
How to order office supplies
These papers will help you learn about phone calls, messages, and office supplies.
After you studies these papers, we will have a simple oral and written test:
A. Teacher ________ will make a video call to you at a scheduled time.
Answer the phone and talk to the teacher.
B. Teacher ________ will read this message to you:
This is a Civics test for school.
We use it to show that you learn English.
We do not share your work outside the school.
Do your own work.
Do not get help or use a translator.
Do not copy another person's work.
Good luck!
C. You will get a blank telephone message form in the email.
No printer? Write the notes using the Telephone Message format with labels.
The Teacher will ask you to write a phone message.
Write the message on a paper and show message to the Teacher.
The Teacher will take a picture of your paper.
D. In your group Zoom class, you will write 4 sentences about ordering office supplies.
After you write your sentences, show the sentences to the Teacher.
