How to Take a Phone Message in English

There are a lot of books about telephone English.  A lot of class time is spent on the topic as well.  The standard telephone English lesson says that you should take a message like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I take a message?”

Or something like that.  But the danger of offering to take a message is that the caller might give you a difficult message!  Like this:

“Yes, thank you very much, could you please tell Mr. Smith that something came up and I’ll be unable to attend the meeting on next Tuesday.  Is there any way we could maybe push it back to the 18’th or some other time after that?  I’ll be available if it’s BEFORE 2 o’clock.  Unfortunately I’ll be busy after 2, so it’s better if we plan for earlier.  Thank you.”

Could you catch all of that over the telephone at native speed?  As you can see, sometimes taking a message is the wrong thing to do.  Instead, just offer to have Mr. Smith call them back, like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I have him call you back?”

This way, all you have to do is get their name and number, and you’re done!

Improve your English Listening Skills with Dictation

How to improve your listening:

DICTATION 

(But You're Probably Doing it Wrong)

Dictation is a pretty well known and effective technique.  BUT many people don't get the most out of it.  Basically dictation is when you listen to something and then write it down.  If you follow these steps, however, you're guaranteed to improve a bit more quickly.

Steps to practice dictation effectively:

1. Play 1 sentence from your CD or MP3.

One sentence only.  A lot of people try to do too much.  It's better to focus and get this one thing right.

2. Write that 1 sentence down.

Even if you didn't catch every word, you'll probably get a few of the content words. 

3. Check your what you've written; correct it, and try to guess what the missing words might be.

Most people don't do this extra step.  But it's useful to see how well you can understand what a real, complete, correct sentence should look like.  Give it a try.

4. Listen to the CD again to check it.  Were you right?

Again, most people don't do this.  Do it and confirm that your mind isn't tricking you.  Listen carefully!  Don't trust yourself from 5 minutes ago!

5.  Finally, check the written audio script and see if you were right.

At this point, you're 1 sentence practice has probably cost you a few minutes.  But it's worth it!

If you've followed these steps, I promise that your listening skills will develop more quickly than if you had just listened to something and written it down and moved on without checking.

Using these steps you are not just listening to content words, but also learning to catch the tougher, faster, function words too.

A Key Point to Keep your English Study Fresh and Fun.

Ok, to start off with, let me tell you the most important thing for improving your language skills.  It's easy, it's obvious, but it's important.  It's:

MOTIVATION!

You must, must, must have a reason to get better.  Since you need to put in a lot of time and effort to get better, you have to have a reason to keep trying.  If you don't have a reason, please make one now.  Do you need to study for fun?  For a promotion?  For a vacation?  Get a reason, and when you start to lose energy, review your goals.

Easy, right?