Making and receiving telephone calls can
be difficult in English. Here we take you through the first stages of
a phone call and give you a range of expressions to use in different
situations.
Spellingا
لتهجي
If you need to spell your name, or take
the name of your caller, the biggest problem is often saying vowel sounds:
'a' is pronounced as in 'may'
'e' is pronounced as in 'email' or 'he'
'i' is pronounced as in 'I' or 'eye"
'o' is pronounced as in 'no'
'u' is pronounced as 'you'
Saying consonants
'g' is pronounced like the 'j' in 'jeans'
'j' is pronounced as in 'DJ' or 'Jane'
'w' is pronounced 'double you'
'x' is pronounced 'ex'
'y' is pronounced 'why'
'z' is pronounced 'zed' (rhymes with 'bed' in British English), or
'zee' (rhymes with 'sea' in American English).
Tip: Until you feel confident that
you are using the correct pronunciation, keep a note of how you say
these letters by your telephone.
Giving
numbers
اعطاء
الأرقام
Here's a phone number:
0171 222 3344
And here's how to say it:
"Oh-one-seven-one, triple two, double three, double four".
OR
"Zero-one-seven-one, triple two, double three, double four".
Pausing
التوقف
بين
الأرقام
When you say a seven digit number,
separate the number into two blocks of three and four, pausing after
each block.
Each digit is spoken separately, unless
it's a double or triple. If the second part of the number was, for
example, '5555', you'll probably find it easier to say 'double five -
double five'.
Saying
email addresses
كيف
تذكر
للآخرين
عنوان
بريدك
الإلكتروني
@ is pronounced 'at'
For instance, caimin@clara.net is "caimin, at, clara, dot,
net".
/ is "forward slash".
- is called a "hyphen" or a
"dash".
_ is an "underscore".
Example
telephone dialogues
أمثلة
لبعض
الحوارات
الهاتفية
These dialogues give you examples of the
language you will hear or want to use on the phone.
Getting through
You: "Can I speak to (Mr Maynard),
please?" or "Is (Mr Maynard) there, please?"
Receptionist: "May I ask who's
calling?" or "Could I have your name, please?"
You: "Yes, this is Paddy McIvor speaking".
Many British people don't identify
themselves when they make or receive a phone call. Even at home, they
normally pick up the phone and say "Hello". But they won't
be offended if you ask for their name.
