Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Asking for Simple Business Information in English. Becky here.
John: Hi, I'm John.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for simple information. The conversation takes place at an office.
John: It's between Linda and John Sullivan.
Becky: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Linda: Do you know Mr. Lee's telephone number?
John Sullivan: Yes, his office number is 555-1234.
Linda: Yes, I tried that earlier, but he wasn’t in. Do you happen to know his cell phone number?
John Sullivan: Yes, it's 555-5678.
Linda: I'll try there. Thank you very much!
Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly.
Linda: Do you know Mr. Lee's telephone number?
John Sullivan: Yes, his office number is 555-1234.
Linda: Yes, I tried that earlier, but he wasn’t in. Do you happen to know his cell phone number?
John Sullivan: Yes, it's 555-5678.
Linda: I'll try there. Thank you very much!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Although the Internet has become essential to business, phone calls are still very important also. How should you answer a business call in the US?
John: When you answer a call, you should state your company's name and then your name, followed by asking if you can help the caller.
Becky: What if you’re the one who called?
John: If you make a call, you should also identify your company and yourself before asking any questions. If you make an internal call, it might be more informal.
Becky: That’s because internal calls sometimes have caller ID, so you may not need to introduce yourself and can instead just say a short greeting before asking any questions.
John: Some companies give their employees business cell phones that the company will pay for, so they should never be used for any personal calls.
Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
John: to know [natural native speed]
Becky: to be aware of something
John: to know [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: to know [natural native speed]
Becky: Next, we have...
John: telephone [natural native speed]
Becky: a machine that allows you to speak to other people in a different place
John: telephone [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: telephone [natural native speed]
Becky: Next up is...
John: number [natural native speed]
Becky: symbol representing a quantity
John: number [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: number [natural native speed]
Becky: Next, there’s...
John: office [natural native speed]
Becky: a place where people work, usually on computers
John: office [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: office [natural native speed]
Becky: Next, we have...
John: to happen [natural native speed]
Becky: to take place, to occur
John: to happen [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: to happen [natural native speed]
Becky: And lastly...
John: cell phone [natural native speed]
Becky: a portable telephone
John: cell phone [slowly - broken down by syllable]
John: cell phone [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is...
John: office number
Becky: The first word "office" is a noun and refers to a workplace where administrative work is performed. The second word "number" is short for "phone number."
John: The phrase together refers to the telephone number of the office. For example, you can say “Can you tell me your office number?”
Becky: You can switch out "office" for any other number you need. For example "hospital number" or "Mark's number."
Becky: Okay, what's the next word?
John: Not in
Becky: "Not" is an adverb that is used to make sentences negative. "In" is a preposition that means "inside." This phrase is a quick way of saying that a person isn't in a certain place, such as the office.
John: This is a slightly informal phrase, but it's fine to use it in most situations, also in the contracted form. For example, “The doctor isn't in right now.”
Becky: In this case, “is not in” became “isn’t in.”
Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for simple information. An easy way to ask for simple information is with WH question words. Let’s review them.
John: They are “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” “who,” and “how.”
Becky: Using these six words, we can make many different questions. Let’s give a sample sentence for each one, starting with “what.”
John: You can say “What time does the meeting start?”
Becky: A question with “where” could be “Where is the meeting?”
John: An example with “when” is “When will the meeting start?”
Becky: Using “why” you could ask “Why were you late this morning?”
John: With “who” you can ask about people, for example “Who will be at the meeting?”
Becky: “How” is usually to ask about method, condition, or quality.
John: For example “How does the fax machine work?”
Becky: To make these questions softer and more polite, you can begin the sentence by saying “Do you know?”
John: For example “Do you know when the meeting will start?” or “Do you know who will be at the meeting?”
Becky: Now let’s see how to answer simple questions and give information.
John: Most of the simple questions we just saw can be answered by using a sentence made by a pronoun followed by a “to be” verb and the answer.
Becky: Listeners, in the lesson notes, you can find a table complete with the personal pronouns and the verb “to be.” Let’s practice, for example, what can you answer to “When is the meeting?
John: You could say “It’s at two p.m.”
Becky: If someone asks “Where is your office?” you could answer “It’s on the third floor.”
John: Remember that for questions about the future, such as “When will the meeting start?” and “Who will be at the meeting?” we need to use the modal verb “will.”
Becky: This follows the pronoun, and goes before the verb.
John: For example “It will start at two p.m.” or “Mr. Baker will be at the meeting.”

Outro

Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
John: See you!

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