Learn English - English in Three Minutes - Getting Contact Details

Welcome to EnglishClass101.com’s English in Three Minutes. The fastest, easiest, and

most fun way to learn English.

Hey everyone, I’m Alisha!

In this series, we’re going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions

in English. It’s really useful, and it only takes three minutes!

In this lesson, you’re going to learn some ways to get in touch with someone after you’ve

met them once already.

In a lot of textbooks, you’ve probably seen the question:

“What’s your phone number?”

“What’s your phone number?”

It’s a very useful question, but there are two problems with it.

First, it can sound a little too direct, especially when talking to members of the

opposite sex.

And second, people use the phone a lot less these days than they used to. Instead, they

might prefer to connect by email, or on a social network like Facebook.

To start, though, a simple variation on “What’s your phone number?” that sounds a little

less direct is:

“Could I get your number?”

“Could I get your number?”

We start the sentence with “Could...?”, which softens the request.

Next say, “I”,

then “get”,

and finally, “your number?” which is short for “your phone number”.

This question is slightly casual, but it can be used in almost any situation.

Recently, many people prefer to use email rather than the phone to communicate. Asking

someone for his or her email address is also a little less direct than asking for their

phone number.

“Could I get your email address?”

“Could I get your email address?”

We just took “Could I get your number?” and replaced “number” with “email address”.

It’s that simple.

“Could I get your email address?”

If someone asks you either of these questions, you can reply by saying:

“Sure, my phone number is...”

“Sure, my phone number is...”

or “Sure, my email address is...”

“Sure, my email address is...”

or “Sure, it’s...”

And then say your phone number or email address at the end.

By the way, if you’re having any trouble with numbers, check out EnglishClass101.com’s

core word lists for these and other key vocabulary words. Each word comes with a picture, audio

samples so you can perfect your pronunciation, and sample sentences and phrases so you can

master its use in a sentence.

Recently, many people use social networks like Facebook or Linkedin, or an online chatting

service like Skype, to communicate. People might ask you about these, especially if they

are younger.

If someone wants to connect with you through one of these services, they may simply ask:

“Are you on...?” followed by the name of the service.

“Are you on Facebook?”

“Are you on Facebook?”

“Are you on Linkedin?”

“Are you on Linkedin?”

“Are you on Skype?”

“Are you on Skype?”

To answer, you can simply say:

“Yes, I am.”

or “No, I’m not.”

If you respond with “Yes, I am”, the other person may ask how they can connect with you

on one of these services.

Of course, if you’re not on one of these services, they won’t be able to contact you.

If you still would like to stay in touch with the person, though, you can say,

“No, but my email address is...”

or “No, but my phone number is...”

And then say your email address or phone number.

By telling the other person a different way they can contact you, you’ll show them that

you want to hear from them.

Now it’s time for Alisha’s Advice!

If you ask someone for their phone number, their email address, or some other form of

contact information, they will usually give it to you if you’ve gotten to know them

a little beforehand. If you ask too early in the conversation, though, they may be hesitant

about sharing that information.

The key is to make sure you talk for some time before requesting this kind of personal information.

In this lesson we learned how to ask for a person’s contact information. But

what’s the best way to ask someone to meet you later?

Find out next time in the seventh English in 3 Minutes lesson! See you next time!