- •1. Look through the following text and be ready to discuss the key issues of it: Speaking on the phone
- •2. How well do you deal with the people on the phone? Answer the questions below for yourself, then compare your answers with your classmates:
- •3. Read and translate the text. Study the phrasal verbs in bold and give their Russian equivalents: Multi-word verbs
- •5. Do you remember how the alphabet letters should be pronounced? Study the alphabet chart and supply missing letters with the same sound as it:
- •6. Now practice pronouncing the following abbreviations. In each line, find the abbreviation that sounds different from the other three:
- •7. When spelling names or words over the telephone in English you may need the British telephone alphabet (list of easily distinguishable words, each representing a letter of the alphabet):
- •8. Spell the following names:
- •9. Practise spelling on the phone and phone number:
- •10. Exchange dictating phone numbers with your partner:
- •11. Study the following:
- •12. Fill in the blanks in the telephone talks using the phrases from the columns on the right:
- •Dialogue 2
- •Dialogue 3
- •Dialogue 4
- •Dialogue 5
- •13. Match the following sentences according to the meaning. In some cases there may be more than one match:
- •14. Work in pairs. A) Use the following flow chart to make dialogues that fit your own situations:
- •16. Practice making telephone talks. First, imagine and play the situation before, then the phone call according to the message:
- •17. Cultural issues. Look through the following text and be ready to discuss the key issues of it:
- •Bad line on behavior
- •22. Give Russian equivalents to the following phrases and put them under corresponding headings:
- •23. Give English equivalents for these telephone phrases:
- •24. Translate into English: Телефонный разговор
- •Телефонный этикет
- •25. Work in pairs. What would these people say in the following circumstances?
2. How well do you deal with the people on the phone? Answer the questions below for yourself, then compare your answers with your classmates:
How often do you …
Forget the caller’s name during a phone call?
Exchange a bit of small talk with the caller?
Have to ask to repeat the information?
Forget who you put on hold?
Take notes during the phone call?
Have trouble remembering the details of the call after you put down the receiver?
3. Read and translate the text. Study the phrasal verbs in bold and give their Russian equivalents: Multi-word verbs
One thing you can do to improve your telephone skills is to learn some of the multi-word verbs that are commonly used in telephone conversations. Most of them are featured in this unit. Hold on means “wait” – and hang on means “wait” too. Be careful not to confuse hang on with hang up! Hang up means “finish the call by breaking the connection” – in other words: “put the phone down”.
Another phrasal verb with the same meaning as hang up is ring off. The opposite of hang up / ring off is ring up – if you ring somebody up, you make a phone call. And if you pick up the phone, (or pick the phone up) you answer a call when the phone rings.
“Hang on a second...”
If you are talking to a receptionist, secretary or switchboard operator, they may ask you to hang on while they put you through – put through means to connect your call to another telephone. With this verb, the object (you, me, him, her etc.) goes in the middle of the verb: put you through.
But if you can't get through to (contact on the phone) the person you want to talk to, you might be able to leave a message asking them to call you back. Call back means to return a phone call – and if you use an object (you, me, him, her etc.), it goes in the middle of the verb: call you back.
4. Give the Russian equivalents:
hang up – … ring off – … ring up – … pick up – … hold on – … |
hang on – … put through – … get through to – … call back – … |
5. Do you remember how the alphabet letters should be pronounced? Study the alphabet chart and supply missing letters with the same sound as it:
-
O
R
Q
V
I
F
J
6. Now practice pronouncing the following abbreviations. In each line, find the abbreviation that sounds different from the other three:
-
1
COD
BOT
FOB
VIP
2
GDP
PST
GMT
GNP
3
MIT
NEC
NYC
FIT
4
VAT
CAP
BKG
PLC
5
EGM
CIF
DCF
PPS
6
MBA
FBI
RPI
MBO