Make An Appointment: Practise Speaking on the Phone!

Well hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish

and if you're ready to practise your speaking skills with me

this is the place to be.

You and I are going to practise a type of conversation that is

sometimes unavoidable in any language

and it's one that can definitely be a little bit intimidating

if you are doing this conversation

in your second language.

A phone call.

We're so used to texting

and using apps and things like that.

When you do have to pick up the phone it can be super awkward

if you don't know what to say.

In this lesson, we're going to practise making

and rescheduling an appointment over the phone

and this is such an important skill.

We're going to learn some of the really useful, common phrases

and the expressions that you need to make this type of

phone call successfully.

If making phone calls in English is part of your job

then this lesson is going to be super helpful for you.

But also if you live in an English-speaking country

or maybe you're travelling

and you need to communicate over the phone in English

it's also going to be super helpful for you

because you can use the language from this lesson when you're

making or rescheduling any kind of appointment.

Are you ready to practise speaking with me on the phone?

Let's go!

Finding someone genuine and reliable to practise

speaking English with regularly

is really hard.

If you don't want to pay someone by the hour

and you don't have time to

wade through random strangers on the internet

then come and check out Hey Lady!

Hey Lady! is an online community created

just for women.

It's a safe and supportive space

where you can meet friendly speaking partners easily

and practise having real conversations about

interesting topics in English.

As long as your English level is intermediate or above

then your English is good enough to join the community.

We offer a 10-day free trial so that you can experience it

for yourself and see what you think!

The link is down in the description below

so that you can start your free trial today.

Answering the phone can be a little bit intimidating

because you can't really prepare for it.

It sort of surprises you, right?

You don't know who

or what is waiting for you on the other end of the line.

So what you and I are about to do is practise speaking

on the phone with a medical receptionist

to reschedule a doctor's appointment that we made

and this is how it's gonna work.

The first time we do it, I'll be the receptionist so I'll be

a little bit more professional and formal

but I'm gonna call you and you'll answer the phone

but then

we're gonna switch places and you are going to call me.

After that, you can listen to me do the

whole conversation together

and watch the flow and the back and forth of the dialogue.

Hi Alex, this is Emma calling from Dr Williams' office.

Oh good, I'm glad I caught you.

I'm afraid Dr Williams is sick today.

I'm calling to reschedule your appointment.

He won't be seeing patients until next week I'm afraid.

No problem.

Let me just see who's available.

Dr Jones.

Sure! I've got one at 3:45 this afternoon

or 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Excellent!

So just to confirm

your appointment is today at 3:45pm with Dr Jones.

No problem, see you this afternoon. Bye.

So I'm curious.

Did you hear any

new, exciting words or phrases in that dialogue?

Drop them down in the comments if you did.

I didn't want to take up too much time in this lesson today

so I added some of the definitions and explanations

about those phrases over on the mmmEnglish website.

So if you're curious in exploring them a little bit further

definitely go and check it out if you're interested.

The link to the mmmEnglish website

is down in the description below.

But right now

let's switch places.

This time you're going to call me

and we're going to reschedule that appointment.

Hello, Alex speaking.

Oh hi Emma,

I was just getting ready to leave for my appointment.

Oh, that's a shame.

When will he be back?

It's actually quite urgent.

I don't think I can wait that long.

Would it be possible to book an appointment

with a different doctor?

I've seen Dr Jones before,

are there any appointments with her?

I'll take this afternoon, please.

I'll see you this afternoon.

Thank you for fitting me in.

Bye.

And now

listen to the whole conversation in complete flow with me

doing both parts.

Ready?

Hello, Alex speaking.

Hi Alex, this is Emma calling from Dr Williams' office.

Oh hi Emma,

I was just getting ready to leave for my appointment.

Oh good, I'm glad I caught you.

I'm afraid Dr Williams is sick today.

I'm calling to reschedule your appointment.

Oh, that's a shame.

When will he be back?

It's actually quite urgent.

He won't be seeing patients until next week, I'm afraid.

I don't think I can wait that long.

Would it be possible to book an appointment

with a different doctor?

No problem. Let me just see who's available.

I've seen Dr Jones before. Are there any appointments with her?

Dr Jones.

Sure, I've got one at 3:45pm this afternoon.

or 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.

I'll take this afternoon, please.

Excellent. So just to confirm, your appointment is today at

3:45pm with Dr Jones.

I'll see you this afternoon.

Thank you for fitting me in.

No problem. See you this afternoon. Bye!

Bye.

So there you have it, I hope that this lesson

was really useful and that it helped you to feel more confident

about picking up the phone and making an appointment

in English.

I've got a few lessons that are similar to this one where we get

to practise a speaking dialogue together

so if you'd like to keep practising your speaking

and your conversation skills with me

then come and check it out over here!