How to Have Better Telephone Conversations in English | Go Natural English

Stephanie?

Hi.

Oh my gosh!

You're right here!

Hey.

You guys, I have a special guest, my colleague

and friend--

Here I am.

--Stephanie.

She's an amazing English as a Second Language teacher.

Oh, thank you.

We taught together, and that was a while ago.

But now she's here for Go Natural English

to help you with your English.

She has over 10 years of experience in teaching English,

and I do, too.

So we have 20 years together.

She has her masters degree in teaching English as a Second

Language, and I do, too.

So two masters-- actually, three masters together.

I have another one.

You have another one in African Studies.

Yeah.

So she knows a lot.

And she's going to share her expertise with us.

Thank you.

Yes!

Yes.

It's exciting.

So I get a lot of questions from the Go Natural English

learners about how to improve their telephone conversations.

Yeah.

So we're going to quickly share some tips with you, right?

We're going to share some tips?

Yeah.

OK, cool.

About how to have better telephone conversations--

It's hard to talk on the phone, in any language.

It is.

And not just-- we're not going to talk about talking

with your friends.

We're going to talk about customer service,

because this is the worst.

It's so hard.

I remember when I was living in Japan,

I had to have some customer service

conversations in Japanese.

Wow.

It was so hard because they would

ask me a lot of questions.

They would speak to me in a really polite way,

and honestly, I wasn't used to that.

It sounds funny, but you know, there's

a casual way of speaking with your friends

versus a polite business way.

So I couldn't really--

And lots of new vocabulary.

Lots of new vocabulary.

Yeah.

It's hard to understand.

So we're going to give you some strategies to hack your English

customer service conversations.

Yes, talking on the phone.

Awesome.

So just before I share those-- or we share those-- with you,

I want to tell you that you can get a free sample course

at gonaturalenglish.com/7steps.

And I teach you seven steps that you

need in order to improve your fluency in English.

Yeah.

So I hope you check that out--

Check it out.

--right after this episode.

It's awesome.

So, how can we have our telephone conversations?

Let's say we're calling-- what's something

we need to do if we move to a new country?

We need to get internet.

Totally!

Yes, that's the first thing.

We have to get the internet set up.

Yes.

So OK, we're calling an internet company-- wait.

Wait.

Before we call the internet company--

Yeah, don't call first.

Wait.

The first thing you should do is get online

and do some research.

So online from somewhere else, maybe from your phone.

Maybe you already have internet, or go to your friend's house

or at school of at your work.

Cafe, something like that.

Cafe.

There's free internet all over the place now.

Right.

So do some research.

Internet companies have packages.

So they'll try to sell you--

So many.

Yeah, they'll try to sell you a package deal that's probably

more than you want to spend.

So just be aware of the different names

of the packages, like sometimes they

have funny names like firecracker deal!

What the heck is that?

You're like, what?

And if you look at the words first and write them down,

you'll be aware of what they're talking about.

Exactly.

And they'll try to sell you, like, cable TV and phone

and, I don't know, like a big package for--

And you probably don't want all that stuff.

You probably just want internet.

Be aware of the amount that you want to pay

and have that number in your mind.

Practice the number so that you can say the numbers very

clearly, you know, 39.95.

Yeah.

Right?

I want to pay 39.95.

Yeah.

So do your research.

That's such a good idea.

You can go to the company's website

or even, before you know what company,

you might research different offers.

If there's more than one company,

you can research what's available.

And also, ask a local.

Oh my gosh, yes.

Ask a local.

Ask someone who lives there or who

has lived there longer than you, even if they're not local.

Maybe they're international.

But they have the experience already.

Learn from someone else's experience.

This is what I did in Brazil.

I didn't know how to set up my internet.

And a local-- well actually, not a local,

a friend from England who'd been there for a long time--

said, OK.

This is the store you want to go to.

And this was a clothing store.

But in the back of it, they had the internet provider.

That's so funny.

That's so Brazil.

Yeah, it was-- yeah, I never would have gone--

So you needed that local knowledge.

Yes.

And I think in every country it's a little different.

Maybe in every state in the US it's a little different.

Oh, yeah.

Totally different.

So try to get help from someone--

your coworker, your friend, your classmate, the internet.

Get some advice.

So do your research.

And then prepare.

You're probably going to have to know how to say

some things like your name--

Spell your name.

Spell your name.

So know how to say all the letters individually.

Your address, your phone number, and then the

plan that you want, and I think that's about it.

Yeah, and just practice, also, some of those

phrases that you will use all the time on the phone.

You know what I mean?

So they'll say something like, hello.

This is Comcast.

Can I help you?

And then--

Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.

When does a company ever answer the phone with a real person?

There's usually a recording.

Oh, that's so true!

It's a recording.

So here's a secret to-- if you press zero,

sometimes you'll get a real person.

Yeah.

Or, if you say representative, you'll get a real person.

Yep.

Speak with a representative.

Yes.

They'll ask you, what do you want to do today?

Just say, speak with a representative

so you can get a real person.

Yeah, otherwise they make you, like, be on the phone

forever with a robot.

Yeah.

Oh, and so see if, when you're online,

see if you can maybe order internet service online--

Oh, that's a good idea.

Nowadays you can do a lot of stuff online.

--and try to avoid getting on the phone.

I mean, we want you to practice your English

and speak with people in English.

But it's really a headache.

It is.

But it's a good skill to have, though.

I mean, even like calling a doctor's office,

there's that customer service, you know,

finding an apartment-- I mean, you

do have to talk on the phone.

You have to talk on the phone.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But practice, you know, and take our advice

about reaching out to a local.

Prepare and get help.

Yes, prepare.

Yeah, cool.

Awesome advice.

Yeah.

So remember now, after this episode,

you're going to go to gonaturalenglish.com/7steps.

That's the number seven, S-T-E-P-S,

to learn about how to become fluent in English.

Yeah.

So we'll see you there.

All right.

Bye bye.

Bye.