Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 363, Using the Telephone.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 363.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Coming to you from beautiful Los Angeles, California and the Center for Educational Development.
To learn more about this podcast and to download a learning guide for this episode, go to our website at eslpodcom.
This episode is called Using the Telephone, and We are going to talk about some common vocabulary related to the telephone.
Let's get started.
I don't know how long this power outage is going to last.
Do you think we should call Elizabeth to tell her we'll be late for dinner?
That's a good idea.
Do you know her phone number offhand?
No, I don't.
And I can't look it up in my address book or in the phone book without any lights.
Oh, wait.
I have it programmed into my cell phone.
I should be able to use speed dial to call her.
Oh, no.
What's the matter?
My cell phone battery is dead.
Maybe we can use the landline to call directory assistance.
The operator should be able to give us her number.
I doubt it.
There must be more than one Elizabeth Bennett in our area code.
You're probably right, but I'll try anyway.
Where's the phone?
Oh, here it is.
Why aren't I getting a dial tone?
Try listening through the earpiece instead of the mouthpiece.
Oh, right.
How do I dial 411 if I can't see the keypad?
Hey, the power is back on.
Not a moment too soon.
Our dialogue between Charles and Jane begins by Charles saying...
I don't know how long this power outage is going to last.
A power outage is when there's a failure in the electricity system of a city or an area.
That means that people do not have electricity in their homes and businesses.
This sometimes happens here in California in the summertime and When there are so many people trying to use air conditioners, for example, there is often a power outage.
I shouldn't say often, sometimes a power outage.
There's a power outage in our dialogue.
Charles asks, do you think we should call Elizabeth to tell her we'll be late for dinner?
Jane and Charles are going to have dinner with Elizabeth.
Jane says, The phone number in the United States has a total of 10 numbers, 11 if you dial 1.
Every telephone number has ten numbers.
Sometimes however, if you are in the same city or area, you only have to dial the last seven numbers.
Phone numbers in the United States are usually grouped by three numbers for the area code the general area where you're calling then followed by three numbers and then four numbers.
So, for example, 310-555-1212.
That would be a typical phone number in the U.S.
Jane asks if Charles knows the phone number offhand.
Offhand means without needing to look it up.
You know it right away, immediately.
You've memorized the number.
Offhand is one word.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations of that term.
Charles says no, I don't, and I can't look it up in my address book or the phone book without any lights.
Your address book is a small book that people have with people's names, addresses and telephone numbers.
Many people now have these electronically on their computer or phone.
Charles says he can't look it up in the address book he has or in his phone book unless he has some lights.
And of course, because there's no electricity, there are no lights that he can use.
The phone book is a large book that has everyone's phone number.
Usually, most businesses have their phone numbers there as well.
Then he says, oh, wait.
I should be able to use the speed dial to call her, he says.
Speed dial is a technology that allows you to automatically dial all 7 or 10 numbers or 11 numbers of a phone number just by pressing one number, usually on your cell phone or also on your phone at home.
Charles then says, oh no.
And Jane says, what's the matter?
What is wrong?
He says, my cell phone battery is dead.
The battery is, as you may know, a small device that stores electricity to give power to things like your cell phone.
There are several meanings of that word.
Take a look at the learning guide for some more help on that.
He says that his battery is dead, meaning it has no more power.
Jane says maybe we can use the landline to call directory assistance.
A landline, one word is a traditional telephone that is connected with a wire in your home or office.
It's not a mobile phone.
It's not a cell phone.
It's the phone that we used to have exclusively before cell phones.
The only phones we used to have were landlines.
Directory Assistance is a service offered by phone companies, online or, sometimes now, by automatic computer systems, where you can find a phone number for a person by calling them up.
It used to be that directory assistance was always free in the United States.
Now sometimes you have to pay for directory assistance.
Jane says the operator should be able to give us Elizabeth's number.
The operator is the employee at the phone company who actually answers your call and gives you the information.
If it's a computer, of course, there is no operator.
Charles says, I doubt it.
I don't think so.
There must be more than one Elizabeth Bennett in our area code.
What he's saying is that the operator won't be able to help them because there are many different people with the same name Elizabeth Bennett in this case in our area code.
Your area code is the region or area where you're located.
Remember I said that telephone numbers in the US have 11 digits, one plus three numbers for the area code.
So in my part of Los Angeles the area code is 310 and everyone who lives around me in my neighborhood has that same area code.
He's saying here that there are too many people with the same name in the area code so the operator won't know which one we want.
Jane says, you're probably right, but I'll try anyway.
Where's the phone?
Oh, here it is, she says.
Why aren't I getting a dial tone?
Why am I not receiving or hearing a dial tone?
A dial tone is the sound you hear when you pick up a phone before you start dialing the number.
That's a dial tone.
It tells you that the phone is working, and you can then press the numbers for the person you are trying to call.
Charles says, try listening through the earpiece instead of the mouthpiece.
The earpiece of a phone is what goes next to your ear, so you can hear what the other person is saying.
The mouthpiece logically, is the part of the phone that goes by your mouth, so you can talk to someone.
What happened here is that Jane has the phone upside down, so that the mouthpiece is by her ear and the earpiece is by her mouth.
Not too smart, Jane.
Jane says, oh, right, how do I dial 411 if I can't see the keypad?
She's saying it's so dark she can't see the numbers on the phone to press them in order to call someone.
We call those numbers the keypad.
There are 12 buttons on a telephone with the numbers dialed 0 through 9, and then two other little buttons, one of which we call the asterisk.
It looks like a star.
The other is called the pound sign, which has two lines vertically and two lines horizontally.
It's also the symbol that we use for number, the pound sign.
Charles then says, hey, the power is back on.
The power is working.
The electricity is now working correctly.
Jane says, not a moment too soon.
That expression, not a moment too soon, means just in time.
You say this when you're waiting for something to happen and then it finally happens, just as you need it, right at the right moment.
Not too late.
You say not a moment too soon.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I don't know how long this power outage is going to last.
Do you think we should call Elizabeth to tell her we'll be late for dinner?
That's a good idea.
Do you know her phone number offhand?
No, I don't.
And I can't look it up in my address book or in the phone book without any lights.
Oh, wait.
I have it programmed into my cell phone.
I should be able to use speed dial to call her.
Oh, no.
What's the matter?
My cell phone battery is dead.
Maybe we can use the landline to call directory assistance.
The operator should be able to give us her number.
I doubt it.
There must be more than one Elizabeth Bennett in our area code.
You're probably right, but I'll try anyway.
Where's the phone?
Oh, here it is.
Why aren't I getting a dial tone?
Try listening through the earpiece instead of the mouthpiece.
Oh, right.
How do I dial 411 if I can't see the keypad?
Hey, the power's back on.
Not a moment too soon.
I can tell you the name of our script writer for this episode offhand.
It's Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
