1 Answering the phone A
How do you answer the phone? Tick what you do.
1 greet the caller 2 say your name 3 say your company’s name
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4 say your department’s name 5 say your telephone number 6 offer to help the caller
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Listen to four people answering the phone. Tick what they do in each call … Call 1: The person… says her name ■ says her company’s name ■ offers help ■ Call 2: The person … greets the caller ■ says his name ■ says his number ■ Call 3: The person … greets the caller ■ says the name of her department ■ says her name ■ Call 4: The person … says her company’s name ■ says her number ■ offers help ■
Read the article. Are these statements true (T) or false (F)? 1 2 3 4
Many nationalities greet people differently on the phone than they do face-to-face. T / F The Spanish are impolite. T / F When an Italian meets you in the street he greets you with the words ‘I’m ready’. T / F At work, different nationalities use a similar approach to answering the phone. T / F
How many ways to say
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.’
Underline the correct phrases in italics in this conversation.
RECEPTION (1) Ready/Hello. Sales. (2) Can I help you?/What do you want? RAY Yes. (3) Give me/Can I speak to Vitale Marini, please? RECEPTION Certainly. One moment. VITALE RAY VITALE
Hello. (4) Thirty-three, ninety-two, seventeen./Three four nine, two one seven. Vitale Marini (5) speaking/talking. Hi Vitale. (6) I am/It’s Ray Graham here. Oh Ray. Nice to hear from you again. How are you?
Listen to the phone call and check your answers.
Listen and repeat these telephone numbers.
Note we say telephone numbers in groups of two or groups of three. For 0 say zero or oh. For 22 we can also say double two. 1 0708 567 8493 2 0770 336 3309 3 00 44 207 657 7467
4 00 39 050 364 478 5 010 350 114 5794
Write these phone numbers in the table and say them in English. your home number your work number your mobile your office extension a colleague’s number your manager’s number your country’s international dialling code
Read 1–3. What do you say?
1 Ask to speak to Vitale Marini. 2 Greet Vitale and say your name. 3 Say how you are.
Listen and respond. Compare your response with the example after the tone.