Speaking on the phone in another language

Rrrrrring ring!

Speaking in general in another language is not easy if you haven´t gotten much practice. Now imagine speaking on the phone...

And on top of insecurity we often have some common technical problems, like bad connection, noise in the background or we might be talking to a person who doesn´t speak very clearly. 

I remember when I moved to California in 2004 and I had to talk to people on the phone. I spoke English fluently and had no problems with the language.. Or so I thought! I quickly realized that it´s one thing talking face to face with a person but when it comes to talking to someone on the phone I was a bit lost at the beginning! It almost seems like people speak even faster for some reason when they´re on the phone. Actually I can imagine why because I myself don´t like this kind of communication. I prefer talking to people face to face because I like to see how they´re feeling and it´s a fact that people can´t hide their emotions when you can see their face. It took me a few times on the phone to get used to this. I even got nervous the first time I ordered a pizza because the lady on the phone asked me millions of questions that I had never been asked before in English and I couldn´t understand some of them and on top of all that I really don´t like having to say "What" or "Could you repeat that please" a thousand times.. 

But that´s how you learn.. You can ask the person to speak more slowly, to repeat his/her question, to spell for you ("a" as in "apple")and most importantly, don´t say you´ve understood something if you haven´t! This can create a huge misunderstanding! 

I have a class with two wonderful students who suffered two long classes with me training them how to leave and receive messages. 

We created a script and I recorded them calling each other from two separate rooms. 

It wasn´t easy at first but with practice they started looking like professional secretaries. 

The conversation takes place between a secretary who works for Krubb Interior Designs and a Mrs. Griswold looking for a Mrs. Jenkins. 

Secretary: Good morning. Krubb Interior Designs. Can I help you?

Mrs. Griswold: Yes. This is Tanya Griswold. I´m calling for Mrs. Jenkins. 

Secretary: Mrs. Jenkins is away from her desk at the moment. 

Mrs. Griswold: Could I leave a message for her?

Secretary: Sure.

Mrs. Griswold: This is Tanya Griswold. I would like to talk to her about the opening of the new store at Rio Mar. 

Secretary: I´m sorry. Could you speak more slowly, please?

Mrs. Griswold: Yes sure. This is Tanya Griswold. I would like to talk to her about the opening of the new store at Rio Mar.

Secretary: I´m sorry. Could you please spell your name?

Mrs. Griswold: Sure. That´s "T" as in "teacher". "a" as in "apple, "n" as in "November", "i" as in "India", and "a" as in "apple". 

Secretary: Ok. Does she have your number?

Mrs. Griswold: No. It´s 017-3672190

Secretary: I´m sorry, could you repeat that, please?

Mrs. Griswold: Sure. That´s 017-3672190.

Secretary: Ok, I´ll let her know.

Mrs. Griswold: Thank you. 

Secretary: You´re welcome. 

Mrs. Griswold: Bye-bye. 

Useful telephone vocabulary and phrases in English.

Making contact: 

Hello / Good morning / Good afternoon ...

This is John Brown speaking.

Could I speak to ......... please?

I'd like to speak to ..... .....

Giving more information:

I'm calling from Tokyo / Paris / New York / Sydney ...

I'm calling on behalf of Mr. Moore ...

Taking a call: 

Mr. Moore speaking.

Can I help you?

Asking for a name/information:

Who's calling please?

Who's speaking?

Where are you calling from?

Are you sure you have the right number / name?

Asking the caller to wait:

Hold the line please.

Could you hold on please?

Just a moment please.

Connecting:

Thank you for holding.

The line's free now ... I'll put you through.

I'll connect you now / I'm connecting you now.

Giving negative information: 

I'm afraid the line's engaged. Could you call back later?

I'm afraid he's in a meeting at the moment.

I'm sorry. He's out of the office today. /

He isn't in at the moment.

I'm afraid we don't have a Mr./Mrs./Ms/Miss. ... here

I'm sorry. There's nobody here by that name.

Sorry. I think you've dialled the wrong number./

I'm afraid you've got the wrong number.

Telephone problems: 

The line is very bad ... Could you speak up please?

Could you repeat that please?

I'm afraid I can't hear you.

Sorry. I didn't catch that. Could you say it again please?

Leaving / Taking a message:

Can I leave / take a message?

Would you like to leave a message?

Could you give him/her a message?

Could you ask him/her to call me back?

Could you tell him/her that I called?

Could you give me your name please?

Could you spell that please?

What's your number please?

I hope you learned something from this blog! Feel free to print these tips out in case you need to take a call and speak in English!  Have a nice weekend!

To be or not to be...

I have always applauded the benefits of learning a second language, but when a colleague brought up the success of an activity she tried in class of changing a student`s Portuguese name to an English name, and how it allowed them to exercise the language in a new and fun way, it struck a sensitive chord. It stems from being an immigrant and having an unusual name, and dealing with the bullying and chiding over the years, the notion of changing a name in order to assimilate to a culture and society seems almost insulting. When the idea was brought up, I admit that it seemed peculiar to me since changing someone`s name might provide more confusion than stimulus to use the language, but there is some interesting scientific and surprisingly psychological explanations behind the experiment.

When one uses another language, that is not their own, there is an involuntary and subconscious shift in perspective. Evidence and analysis suggest that different languages push speakers to think differently. It is an exciting notion; the idea that one’s very self could be broadened by the mastery of two or more languages. In obvious ways (exposure to new friends, literature and so forth), the self really is broadened. Yet it is different to claim—as many people do—to have a different personality when using a different language. 

My initial research into the idea led me to the findings of an American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf, who maintained that each language encodes a worldview that significantly influences its speakers. The theory took shape in the form of “Whorfianism”. Naturally, there are its skeptics, but there are still good reasons to believe language shapes thought.

This influence is not necessarily linked to the vocabulary or grammar of a second language. Significantly, most people are not symmetrically bilingual. Many have learnt one language at home from parents, and another later in life, usually at school. Therefore, bilinguals usually have different strengths and weaknesses in their different languages—and they are not always best in their first language. 

For example, when tested in a foreign language, people are less likely to fall into a cognitive trap (answering a test question with an apparently obvious but wrong answer) than when tested in their native language. In part, this is because working in a second language slows down your thinking. It’s no wonder then that people feel different when speaking them, and therefore no surprise that they feel looser, more spontaneous, perhaps more assertive or funnier or blunter, in the language they were raised from childhood.

This made me rethink my stance about the exercise – could Americanizing names in fact allow students to be freer in the classroom and get over their insecurities of sounding less smart. Perhaps. After all, learning a second language is a daunting endeavor, especially for adult learners, and this insecurity could present a major roadblock for them to develop the language. So maybe changing your name could put you in a frame of mind to make mistakes and learn from them, and since I may no longer be Jair, and now Joey – I can get away with “Hey,how you doin’?”, something that maybe as Jair, I couldn’t.

A final text to interpret

Even though techniques and approaches to reading in English are not exactly new to me as a teacher, something quite new started a bit more than 3 months ago.

Our company was hired for a three-month course to enable 9 participants to read in English. The mixed abilities in this group was the first challenge. Whereas some of the students had some good language backgrounds, others were true beginners.

The texts we interpreted were the next challenge. Normally, we deal with texts that are normally adapted to the students’ levels, and when we use authentic texts, we normally do so with more advanced students. Of course, there are the cases when we use authentic texts with beginners, but we grade the tasks in order to make working on it possible.

However, with these students the goals were quite different. They needed to read and understand texts in English in order to make decisions related to their work.

So we started classes, and bit by bit I saw their confidence growing. A lot of function words we learnt, and a lot of discussion about a text’s main idea, and inferring meaning, and guessing from the context, and using images, and building up a quite large glossary, and learning verbs, and reading for specific information, and using cognates, and being careful with false cognates, and paying attention to suffixes and prefixes, and learning linking words, and using punctuation to better interpret texts, and noticing specific features of different text genres, and 60 hours later, we have come to the end of the course.

Then on the day of the test, first they tell me that the text I had chosen was too difficult, and that the questions were too tricky. Nevertheless, right after, when I started correcting the answers, I noticed with immense pleasure that the results were actually much better than the previous ones. And that’s the best feedback a teacher can get at the end of the course, isn’t it? Because one thing is an easy test with obvious good results. But it’s a different matter when it is appropriately difficult and still the good results come.

So we finished the course, and I’m happy to have had a chance to put a lot of theory into practice. And I’m thrilled to see that in only three months, these students’ abilities to read and interpret texts in English have clearly improved. Many thanks for the highly devoted, participative and clever students from RHP.

Should you change your name to an English name?

I decided to mix things up a little bit in my class and change my student´s names from their given Brazilian names to English names. This is an idea I got from an ex-colleague of mine, Chelsea Burton, who used to teach English here in Recife.
The idea is that you can chose any name you like and make it your own. Some of my students chose to make their Brazilian name English, like Ana Paula is now Ann, and Ana Julia is now Jules.
The response has been quite amusing and it has brought some very nice and fun moment to our class.

First of all the process of choosing the name gives them the liberty of becoming whoever they want to be.
One example: One of my students, Jair, chose the name "Joey", and everybody knows Joey from the popular TV-show "Friends". So I told him he´d have to say to the ladies "How you doin´" and he loved it. However, given the fact that he works as a waiter at a restaurant I´m not sure his boss would be very happy with that!

Another thing I´ve noticed is that they feel more at ease speaking English because they are not really themselves anymore, but they´ve become the person associated to the name.

One of my groups, an Intermediate level here at CEO, even took this "game" a step further. They decided to come up with a background story to their names and the results are just hilarous!

I´ll give you a few examples:

My student Rodrigo chose the name "Brian" and apparently he´s a farmer from Ohio who loves to sing at Karaoke bars. He even sang a little for us in class so it has been decided that for our next event here at C.E.O (Secret Santa Christmas party) he´s going to be the first one to sing... Right Brian?! :)
Then there is Priscila, who chose the name "Mary", and she lives in Miami and works as a life guard (not a bad occupation there!)
Sergio, a.k.a, "John" is from Boston (he actually lived there for 2 years so no wonder he chose Boston!) is a professional baseball player. I´m pretty sure that´s his real dream occupation!

I have another group, which is made up of staff working in our tower (Janete Costa) and some towers around us. They work in various fields but all of them have one thing in common; They receive foreigners who expect them to speak some English so they really need to learn some survivor English to make their jobs easier.
I see my students from this group every day and I always ask them "How are you" and offer them a "Good morning/afternoon" when I pass by them. They do look a bit scared when they see me coming but this "master plan" of mine has actually worked. They are calling each other by their English names and subconsciously they think "How do I respond to her questions" when they see me coming. At first I got thumbs up when I asked them how they were doing, but today something really nice happened. One of the secretaries offered me a "Good afternoon" and responded "O.K." when I asked her how she was. That was such a good feeling because I can see that they feel more confident already and they don´t look as scared when they see me!


This is why role play and simulation in class are so important. You become someone else and you feel more at ease making mistakes and speaking. After all, making mistakes is the best way to learn! At least that´s how I learned to speak Portuguese!

I´ll leave you with this quote I really like and I hope you have a really good weekend!

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S. What name would you chose??

Can I get an Abraço?

At the risk of following in the sentimental waxing of a certain dear colleague, I too must concede to his lead. This time in the subject of borrowing from other languages, and adopting into our own, and how as teachers we see this the most – thanks to our students. In fact we don`t need to go too far to see examples of English words incorporated into common usage in Portuguese. 

My biggest pet peeve is ``O Shopping…``, or how about, ``land kids``, but then there are others appropriated correctly like ``baby`` or ``toy``. My point is that borrowing words from another language is natural, and normal and a direct result of globalization, and dare I say a movement towards a universal language. English I suppose comes closest since most countries, about 70 out of 196, speak it in the world, but English too has been guilty of borrowing and not returning. It`s actually interesting how languages are cool like that – that they can borrow from one another and not return, and that`s ok. Nice.

The subject of borrowing in language recently came up among a group of students – we were discussing closings to emails, or to borrow from the French le denouement. One of them showed me his sample email which he ended with ``hugs,…``, instead of the customary``Abraços,…``. I guess he must have read my face a bit and asked if it was correct. I said of course it was, but it then became a point of cultural difference and debate. 

The notion of closing with hugs for a North American man would probably seem odd, and something he would avoid writing but would naturally think it. I am not sure why that is the case, probably some deep-rooted homophobic notion forbidding verbal or written communication of the like. North American men would freely hug other men, but would not say or write for that matter ``hugs`` as a closing to an email. 

Personally I have been an intentional culprit for the longest time ending all my English emails to guy friends with ``abraços,``, borrowing not only the Portuguese word but also the jeito Brasileiro – that warmth and tenderness even among men. Something to me that is so dear and special about the language that it beckons borrowing. So I applauded my student and group and encouraged them to cling onto that custom and end their English emails with ``abraços'' - Always nice receiving a hug at the end of an email. 

Priorities in learning a language

I’ve met several students who really wanted to learn English in the quickest possible way. Many decided to take many hours of study every week and/or buy a self-study grammar and go over it surprisingly fast.

I'm not saying that you shouldn’t do many hours a week. If you have the availability and are willing to invest, I’d say go for it. Not saying to avoid buying grammar books either. Not at all, I find them very useful, in fact.

But think with me. Why do languages exist? For communication, right? So, do you think you will learn a language if you don’t use it for its purpose. You might, but I’d say the process could be rather long and unpleasant.

Then I’ll give some examples of extraordinary people who speak English as a second language without ever setting foot in a language school. And I will not be mentioning those whose parents spoke English at home or who studied in bilingual schools.

The first one is the wife of a friend of mine. He’s American, she’s Braziliam, and they met playing online games. She says that at first she was a bit self-conscious about playing online with other people because the language barrier was a big problem. But eventually she tried groups in which she could type to other members. This gave her enough time to put everything on Google Translator before submitting her lines. English then became a natural necessity, she knew she had to make it to the groups in which she would have to speak and listen to her co-gamers. She gave it a shot, and felt the pain of not understanding a thing. Speeding things up, she now speaks perfect English, and many take her for a native.

The second person I’ll mention is a former student of mine. When he came to take his placement test, I put him at an advanced level. I was quite surprised when he told me that he had learnt English through programming computer softwares and watching TV. The association of sounds and spelling complemented each other as good sources of language.

I can even mention myself. I did attend a language school, and for a very long time (8 to 9 years, I’d say). But I can’t remember doing my homework or studying that much. In fact, my interest was to get the pronunciation right so that I could sing some songs while playing the guitar. Getting to understand what I was saying was the next natural need.

So what do all these examples have in common? All these people, including myself, had an objective that was more important than the language itself. The need was to use and communicate in English. To one, communicating in an online game was a priority, whereas to the second, software programming language came before English. To me, music came first, and English was the way to get there.

So, if you want to learn fast, here’s my suggestion: think about something you love. Your favourite free time activity might do the job. If its the cinema, maybe start reading or trying to write reviews. If its music, why not learning how to play an instrument? How about Reading? And what about, technology, painting or Cooking? (yes, cooking! What about trying some international recipes?)

Happy Proclamação da República

Happy Proclamação da República (Nacional) guys!

Today is a holiday and that' s always nice, isn' t it?
People here in Recife often travel to some beaches nearby or to Gravata for this weekend. Others decide to stay in Recife and go to the beach here or do something else nice.
I started wondering about holidays people celebrate in other countries and then I wanted to know about the weird and the strange holidays.

Here is what I found:


November, 2013-2014 Bizarre and Unique Holidays

International Drum Month
National Model Railroad Month
National Novel Writing Month
Peanut Butter Lovers Month
Real Jewelry Month
National Sleep Comfort Month

What... A National Peanut butter month???

Here is a text I found when I Googled "Peanut Butter Lovers Month": November is Peanut Butter Lovers Month, time to celebrate our favorite food! Americans will celebrate by eating more than 65 million pounds of peanut butter during the month of November.

Southern Peanut Growers, representing southeastern peanut farmers, started the celebration as Peanut Butter Lovers Day on November 4, 1990. November 4 marks the anniversary of the first patent for peanut butter, applied for by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg on November 4, 1895. It grew to a month-long celebration in 1995 when peanut butter celebrated its 100th birthday!

- See more here 

I'm pretty sure that "Real Jewelry Month" would make me go broke!


I also stumbled upon these Daily Holidays. I found them quite amusing as well!

November, 2013 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:

Deviled Egg Day
Sandwich Day
Gunpowder Day
Saxophone Day
Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
Cook Something Bold Day

I love the idea of cooking something bold one day!

One is not enough!

I recently read an article on the Forbes site discussing the expansion of the English language to more and more places in the world in face of China`s growing economic might and the prospect that perhaps Mandarin and not English could emerge as the dominant language of global commerce.  I won`t summarize the article since I feel it`s worth a read, and where the accredited author sites various references of English continuing to be the dominant language of communication for the foreseeable future.  She eludes to an underlying pitfall by many native speakers, not to speak a second or third language.

I echo her sentiments for a stronger desire by individuals to speak a second or third language, especially amongst natives.  As a Canadian, a bilingual country, I`m removed from this pitfall, which has befallen my American neighbours to the south.  Only an astonishingly low 10 percent of them speak a second language.  Now I am not absolving Canadians or British or Australians, as some of them too fall into this category, and like many Americans, miss that cross -cultural awareness exercise, which occurs when one learns a second language. 

This of course has come back to haunt Americans through their often controversial foreign policy and their reputation outside of their borders.  I mean come on, most claim to be Canadian when they are travelling – some my friends.  Regardless, this is not about coming down on Yanks – I love most of them, ok a few – more than 10.  Anyway, the finger should be pointed at all who speak only one language.  Yes only one, because one is not nearly enough, especially in the world we live in now. 

Now I am not saying that English should be the premiere language, it is in fact the default language but acquiring a skill set in another should be something we all should seek out.  I always wondered how Brasil has maintained its Portuguese inspite being surrounded by Spanish speaking countries or why they never chose to be bilingual, and adopt Spanish?  I am sure some of you will weigh in on this query, and I hope so. 

I believe that it’s a necessity especially now when the world is getting smaller and more people are living on it that learning a second language whether it be English, Mandarin, (Julius) or Sinhalese it’s the cross-cultural exercise that every human needs to indulge in at some point in their lives.  Seeking new ways to communicate must be a social responsibility as individuals of a world in the 21^st Century.

So, congratulations to my dear students who have taken those first steps towards greater cultural awareness through language – Parabens!

Clieque aqui para link do artigo no Forbes…

 

It's not my fault!

Many years ago, I interviewed a rather interesting candidate. Very interesting, actually. And for very simple reasons.

He was applying for a sales position at a sports store, and I happened to take part in the selection process. We were used to receiving many candidates with prior experience and no current job, and we obviously asked him the reason for leaving his/her past job.

Answers varied enormously, but I can remember some popular ones:

·         The department was cutting expenses and some employees were fired;

·         The manager didn’t really like me;

·         It was a temporary job;

What do all these answers have in common? It was never the candidate’s fault.

Then this one candidate told me something like this: “I wasn’t really producing much. It was not my favourite job, so I guess I didn’t put enough effort into it. They noticed it, and they fired me”.

He really caught my attention and he got the job, and the decision of hiring him was based on his honest response.

The result? Not much. He wasn’t the best salesperson we had, nor the best employee. He was ok. He wasn’t fired, but not long after he quit this job. His salary wasn’t really attractive based on his numbers.

I think he probably didn’t really like the job once again. He was probably looking for some interesting job where he could invest his attention in. Or maybe he was the kind of a person who doesn’t really like any kind of jobs. I don’t know.

What I do know is that I’d probably hire him again. This time I’d probably ask him what kind of job would please him before making the decision, though.

But the point is that this kind of self-awareness and attitude to take responsibility for what happens in one’s life is quite rare, in my opinion. It’s always so much easier to put the blame on the boss when you get fired, on the salesperson when you buy something you don’t really want, or on your partner when things start to go wrong. It is also easier to blame your teacher when you don’t learn.

The reason why I’m writing this post is to highlight how important self-awareness is for a learner.  Knowing what works best for you, what interests you, what to do to learn quicker, what to change when something is not working.

There are all kinds of teachers, schools and methodologies out there. At least one might work for you, and even if you think it doesn’t, you can still find creative ways to make it effective. I’m not trying to take the responsibility away from the teacher. I’d be out of business if I convinced people of that. But being collaboratively responsible for your learning will definitely take you further. So in my opinion, self-evaluation is a good start.

Saturday for Fun

I saw this video on a famous comedy TV show this week and I wanted to share it with you guys.

Jimmy Kimmel is the host of this TV show and this is the 3rd year in a row he plays this prank on kids.
He lets parents tell their children that they ate all their Halloween candy... Imagine! How sad would you get if you´d just spend all your night walking from door to door and asking "Trick or Treat" to strangers, humiliating yourself in a ridiculous outfit haha

I thought this kid at 2:00 was the funniest one in the video.. He looks really buffed (muscular) but I don´t think he´s older than 8!?




Have a fantastic weekend guys!

Kristin

Present Perfect rap!

I know that learning Present Perfect can be a bit of a headache..
Learning all those past participle verbs (been, seen,driven, eaten, etc.) can be hard but there are ways to make it easier on you.

You could for example choose the verbs that are similar and learn them first.
They might have the same ending or they might sound the same.

Here are some examples:


Come - came - come
Become - became - become

Teach - taught - taught
Bring - brought - brought
Think - Thought - Thought

Ring - rang - rung
Sing - Sang - Sung
Swim - Swam - Swum

Take - Took - Taken
Shake - Shook - Shaken


I found a video on Youtube of this teacher, who likes to call himself "MC Mr. StickStuckStuck!", and I've seen it help my students understand a little better how Present Perfect works.

See if this video can help you!




Some students love grammar (as I do!) so here are some exercises on Present Perfect from English Page - a really nice webpage that shows both tutorials and has many helpful exercises to practice grammar.

Present Perfect tutorial

Exercises: Simple past vs. Present Perfect


Enjoy and have a nice day!
Kristin

A very specific kind of shower

We’ve had a group of students since August that fit into a special category. These students quickly became our friends. Every teacher knows that tension that naturally comes before starting a new group. Sometimes this feeling goes on for a few classes, until teacher and students finally bond. With this group, this anxiety lasted for about 5 minutes. The ice was immediately broken due to their sense of humour added to great doses of eagerness.

I caught myself covering a range of vocabulary that I never thought I would teach before our classes. One example is ‘shit shower’ (apologies!). It came up in class #1, if I’m not wrong, when I said I really liked the tie one of my students was wearing. Immediately the term was on the table and they were all trying to explain what the expression meant.

My first understanding of the term was a rather superficial one: (;)  ‘shit shower’ means complimenting someone. Last night I realized there was much more to it than I had actually realized.

We were at Underground Pub and the term came up. Kristín, who’s also a teacher here at C.E.O., was indeed puzzled when the unexpected collocation came up. I then asked a student, the creator of the term, to explain in his own words what it meant.

He explained that lawyers live in an extremely competitive world, full of dispute for prestige, status and results. Quite a stressful life, as one can imagine. "In this kind of atmosphere", he continued, "it is very natural to hear some unpleasant comments: people pointing out that your tie knot is a bit too much to the left, or that your trousers are a bit tight because you might have gained some weight." I must agree when he says that there’s nothing positive about such comments.

Then something started in his group of co-workers. During a tough job, for example, they noticed that words of support really helped them give that extra push. Something like ‘you’re a great criminal lawyer and you know it’ was something really good to hear at 2am when you’re trying to find a solution to a conundrum in a client’s case.

So the group of lawyers got into the habit of saying nice things to each other. The interesting part is that they’re not lies, not at all. ‘A  ‘shit shower’ is just a verbal representation of the truth’, quoting my wise student. Why shouldn’t you tell someone he looks terrific that day if you really think he does?

These guys are great lawyers. They work for one of the biggest and most respected law firms in town, and they found a way of helping and supporting one another by expressing positive impressions they had. Needless to say their friendship has thus become stronger, and how thier productivity has been positively influenced.

As for me, once again I confirm that us teacher get so much in return, that I’m not sure who learns more, us or our students. Because of them, I’ll really try to fit more positive comments in my routine.

And for this specific group of students, my ‘shit shower’ of the day: It is indeed a pleasure to be your teacher and your friend.