Having problems on the phone?

Try this quiz to test your vocabulary specific to the phone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/quiznet/newquiz65.shtml

and try these exercises as well:

Exercises for Practicing Speaking on the Telephone

Source: http://esl.about.com/library/speaking/bltelephone_exercises.htm

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 ...
  • call a store to find out the prices and specifications.
  • ring the company representative to find out details on how the product works.
  • telephone a consumer agency to find out if the product has any defects.
  • call customer service to find out about replacement parts, etc.

Have fun as you learn!

Good. I will try.

Thank you so much.

 

Tips for Getting People to Slow Down!!

Source: about.com

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 :-)!

hi,nice to meet  you here.Thank you very much for your tips about using english on the phone.it helps me a lot.

Have a good day.

best regards,

Sophia

Dear Sophia 320,

Nice to meet you too, Sophia.  Glad to help you and others who find these tips helpful.

macs2005

 Hi, I don't know why we are so conscious about all these things. this is not the end of the world . people live and survive without speaking english. there are many nations they just dont bother about this they can speak or not. French, germen China and many more . English is no big deal . You should own your own language. If you know english and can speak easily good enough. if not no problm. You will survive i assure you............. .

Well said, Rohma!  Thanks for dropping in! Perhaps, we should have an international languages corner instead?


macs2005

many thanks..i wil pratise your tips right now....have fun

hi ,macs2005,thank you for your sharing,very effective mothed. but can it be a good effective result ,if i am have no english surrounding? we are not speak it,escape in the phone,so i am worried whether the english is chin-lish when i sad it, (i am chinese),thank you all the same i f i can have a try,i will.

Quoting from [rerere]:




hi ,macs2005,thank you for your sharing,very effective mothed. but can it be a good effective result ,if i am have no english surrounding? we are not speak it,escape in the phone,so i am worried whether the english is chin-lish when i sad it, (i am chinese),thank you all the same i f i can have a try,i will.

Dar friend,

Remember to action, do not stay to think only. You will succed very soon.

Be confident and brave enough to step out first. Nothing harm to you even you make some mistakes , people will excuse you because you were not born as a English lady . Just like the foreigners who speak no good Chinese, will all laugh at them? Some, but not all....

If we are able  to talk proper English; we do not need to learn. learning has no shame.

Open yourself and be friend to all people who are good teachers.

We are behind you to support you!