Learn how to make a business phone call
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maryssa: Making a Business Phone Call. Maryssa Here. |
| Aurore: Bonjour, I'm Aurore. |
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you’ll learn some expressions and phrases that are useful on the phone. The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Aurore: It's between Naïma and a secretary. |
| Maryssa: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal French. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Naïma: Allo, Naïma du département informatique. Je souhaiterais parler au directeur adjoint de votre entreprise s'il vous plaît. |
| secretary: Bonjour. Est-il au courant de votre appel ? |
| Naïma: Non je ne pense pas. |
| secretary: Quelle est la raison de votre appel dans ce cas ? |
| Naïma: Le devis que j'ai reçu ne correspond pas à ce que nous avions convenu. |
| secretary: Je vois. Je vous demande un instant je vais essayer de vous mettre en ligne avec lui. |
| Naïma: Merci beaucoup ! |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Naïma: Allo, Naïma du département informatique. Je souhaiterais parler au directeur adjoint de votre entreprise s'il vous plaît. |
| secretary: Bonjour. Est-il au courant de votre appel ? |
| Naïma: Non je ne pense pas. |
| secretary: Quelle est la raison de votre appel dans ce cas ? |
| Naïma: Le devis que j'ai reçu ne correspond pas à ce que nous avions convenu. |
| secretary: Je vois. Je vous demande un instant je vais essayer de vous mettre en ligne avec lui. |
| Naïma: Merci beaucoup ! |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Naïma: Good morning, I'm Naïma from the IT department. I would like to speak to the vice director of your company, please. |
| secretary: Good morning. Does he know about your phone call? |
| Naïma: No, I don't think so. |
| secretary: Could you tell me the reason for your call in that case? |
| Naïma: The quote I received is not what we agreed upon. |
| secretary: I see. Hold on, I'll put you through to him. |
| Naïma: Thank you so much! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maryssa: In the conversation, Naïma called to question a quote. |
| Aurore: I don’t blame her. |
| Maryssa: If you’re expecting an amount and then get something different, it’s worth a call. |
| Aurore: I agree. Hopefully she can get it sorted out. |
| Maryssa: When you’re making a phone call in France, do the phone numbers follow any specific pattern? |
| Aurore: If you’re making a local phone call, you should use the prefix "01." |
| Maryssa: What about mobile phones? |
| Aurore: They’re "06" or "07." |
| Maryssa: What about calls to different regions in France? |
| Aurore: They change and need to be included. For example, Lyons is "04." |
| Maryssa: And international calls? |
| Aurore: First you need "00," followed by that country’s code. |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maryssa: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Aurore: directeur adjoint [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "vice director" |
| Aurore: directeur adjoint [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: directeur adjoint [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: parler [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to speak, to talk" |
| Aurore: parler [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: parler [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: être au courant [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to be informed" |
| Aurore: être au courant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: être au courant [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: appel [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "call" |
| Aurore: appel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: appel [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: devis [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "quote" |
| Aurore: devis [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: devis [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: voir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to see" |
| Aurore: voir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: voir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: mettre en ligne (au téléphone) [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to put someone through" |
| Aurore: mettre en ligne (au téléphone) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: mettre en ligne (au téléphone) [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: And lastly... |
| Aurore: essayer [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to try" |
| Aurore: essayer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: essayer [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maryssa: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Aurore: être au courant |
| Maryssa: meaning "to be informed." |
| Maryssa: This is a verbal phrase. |
| Aurore: Be careful with the word courant. |
| Maryssa: It can also mean "ordinary" and "power supply." |
| Aurore: au means "at the," and is the contraction of à and le. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Aurore: Sure. For example, you can say... Es-tu au courant du changement de direction? |
| Maryssa: … which means "Do you know about the change of direction?" |
| Maryssa: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Aurore: Je vois. |
| Maryssa: meaning "I see." |
| Maryssa: This is a typical colloquial expression. |
| Aurore: It’s a figurative expression. |
| Maryssa: It implies that you understand. How can you use this? |
| Aurore: If you don’t know what to say after someone says something, you can say je vois! |
| Maryssa: It’ll make you sound like a native speaker. |
| Aurore: It’s very natural. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Aurore: Sure. For example, you can say... Je vois ce que tu veux dire. |
| Maryssa: ... which means "I see what you mean." |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you'll learn about expressions and phrases that are useful on the phone. If you’re going to call someone, you should begin by introducing yourself. |
| Aurore: The other person might know it’s you, but in business it’s still polite to say your name. |
| Maryssa: You can start with a simple greeting. |
| Aurore: Like bonjour. |
| Maryssa: "Good morning." Then you say your name. Let’s hear some examples. |
| Aurore: Bonjour, je m’appelle John Baker |
| Maryssa: "Hello, my name is John Baker." |
| Aurore: Bonjour, c’est John Baker |
| Maryssa: "Hello, this is John Baker." You can also add the name of the company you work for. |
| Aurore: Bonjour, je m’appelle John Baker et je travaille pour ABC Company |
| Maryssa: "Hello, my name is John Baker and I’m working for the ABC Company." |
| Aurore: Bonjour, c’est John Baker d’ABC Company |
| Maryssa: "Hello, this is John Baker from the ABC Company." After introducing yourself, you should say who you want to speak to if you’re not speaking to them already. For example: |
| Aurore: Puis-je parler à Alice Smith, s’il vous plaît ? |
| Maryssa: "May I speak to Alice Smith, please?" |
| Aurore: Pourrais-je parler à Alice Smith, s’il vous plaît ? |
| Maryssa: "Can I speak to Alice Smith, please?" |
| Aurore: Est-ce que Alice Smith est disponible ? |
| Maryssa: "Is Alice Smith available?" You might have to be put on hold while the person you’re speaking to connects you. Here are some of the phrases you might hear. |
| Aurore: Puis-je vous mettre en attente, s'il vous plaît ? |
| Maryssa: "Can you hold the line, please?" |
| Aurore: Est-il possible de vous mettre en attente pendant que je vérifie ? |
| Maryssa: "Is it okay if I put you on hold while I check?" |
| Aurore: Patientez pendant que je transfère l’appel. |
| Maryssa: "Please hold the line while I transfer you." |
Outro |
| Maryssa: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Aurore: A la prochaine! |
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