This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1498.
You're breaking up.
Phrasal verbs for telephone conversations.
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How can you sound like a native during phone conversations?
Use phrasal verbs.
Listen in today as we discuss seven phrasal verbs to use while talking on the telephone.
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Hey, Aubrey, how's it going?
Hi, Lindsay.
I'm great.
How are you?
Awesome.
Doing really well.
So what's happening?
What's happening today?
We're having another, our fourth installment of our series on phrasal verbs.
I have really loved these.
I think they're really fun.
The role plays are really fun.
And it's so helpful to have phrasal verbs about a situation so that you can actually use them.
Yes.
And I'm really excited that we are starting this year off strong.
This is the first official episode of the year, according to my calendar, at least.
And we're going into phrasal verbs, which is awesome because guys, this is the year we're going to help you master these phrasal verbs right.
It's such a key to taking your English to that high level, advanced level.
And there is a way to do it if you do it right.
Exactly.
Right.
This is for even advanced students.
This is often what holds them back from actually sounding like a native.
If they're not using phrasal verbs or just using them incorrectly, this can really be a stumbling block.
So if you start doing this right, you're right up there to where you're sounding like a native.
I know.
So good.
So good.
So but this one in particular, what is the topic that we're kind of coming in on today?
Yeah.
So we're talking about telephone conversations, right?
Instead of taking one verb and having you know all of the different forms of that, like hold, hold back, hold on, hold up, hold off, hold out, hold over, hold down, hold for.
There's so many, and they all have a totally different meaning.
So instead, if you think about being on a telephone conversation and all the phrasal verbs that might come up, learn them that way.
Learn them in that scenario, and then you can use them on your next phone conversation.
I love it.
This is so good.
So good.
I mean, phones and calling and things are really changing a lot, right?
Yes.
One way we know that is that there are all these big apps around the world that serve as everything.
They serve as a way to make a phone call, a social media network, a way to buy groceries.
I mean, they do everything.
Things like WeChat, for example, in China.
That's one of those apps.
It's just like huge.
Exactly.
Right.
And so, so many of us are replacing phone conversations with social media.
It's much easier to you know just see what someone's up to on WeChat or Facebook or Instagram, instead of a phone call which sometimes can take a lot longer.
So this is evolving a lot.
Yeah, that's true.
And we want to let you guys know that we are also on WeChat.
The whole universe is there and now we're there too.
Yes, exactly.
You can find us there, All Ears English on WeChat.
Come and check us out.
Exactly.
It's called All Ears English Official.
That is our channel.
So if you want to interact with All Ears English in 2021 over there, that is another option for you guys.
Okay, very cool.
So yeah, things are changing.
I mean, Aubrey, are you someone who likes to make phone calls?
Some people don't like to make phone calls.
Like if there's a customer service call, they'd rather go to chat on a website and resolve it that way.
That is definitely me.
Yep.
I would prefer like a chat on a website, send an email.
And my poor mom would really prefer that I call her sometimes, but we've ended up texting a lot because I just don't like talking on the phone.
It's difficult to find time, right?
With my kids everywhere.
I'm going to end up being distracted and feel like I'm disrespecting the person on the phone.
So it's easier just to shoot a quick message.
In fact, I have really started using the app Marco Polo to replace...
Phone calls, like with my mom.
We'll just leave each other a video message on Marco Polo instead of a phone call, because you still kind of want that FaceTime experience of seeing them and talking to them.
Right.
But you can't do it when they're free, you know?
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
I like that idea.
I guess that's kind of blown up with the pandemic and everything.
Marco Polo, right?
Yes, right.
So people still have a chance to interact even if they can't be in person.
What about you, are you a phone talker?
Well, when it comes to resolving a problem, I definitely do not wanna do chat.
Like for example, a problem with my bill, my cell phone, right?
I wanna get on the phone and resolve it.
For some reason, it just feels like chat would take longer, or sending an email and customer service waiting.
I hate that.
I just want a direct person to answer the call and let's solve the problem.
But when it comes to talking to friends, I like to be on the phone.
I like to, but I know what you mean.
I think my life is not quite as busy as yours.
I don't have four kids.
So I have a little bit more time, but I also do feel my attention is pulled between something and talking on the phone.
So it's tricky these days.
Right.
And it's especially now that you can usually talk on the phone through your car.
So it's still hands free.
You're not distracted.
But, you know, you can't text.
You want to talk to and you have some time.
So that's when I'll sometimes make a phone call and talk to someone in my car.
That makes sense.
So it should be.
I mean, technology should make it easy to do exactly communicate in the way you want to in that moment, right?
The way that works at that time.
That's exactly.
Yeah, for sure.
So we have some great phrasal verbs today for when you guys are on the phone.
There are phrasal verbs that we use as part of a conversation.
So the first one we're going to talk about is pick up, which just means to answer a call or maybe check your phone.
You could say like I picked up the phone to call my mom, but then I saw she had texted me so I didn't call.
Yeah, yeah, I like that.
So perfect, yep.
So, and then we have, well, it's interesting.
I wanna say something about this.
Pick up, we used to say that all the time for the phone on the wall, right?
But we've continued to say it, even though, we're just answering on our phone.
We're not necessarily picking it up, although we could be.
But even if it's already up to our face, our phone, it's interesting that the verbs carry over even if we're doing something different physically.
That's true, right?
We've kept using pick up, even if like, I have my AirPods in listening to a podcast and the call comes in and I tap it twice, I'm not picking anything up.
But I would still say that.
Exactly.
That's a better example.
I love it.
And then cut off.
So what is this cut off?
So, yeah, we would say we're cut off if a phone call is disconnected.
You might say, oh, we just got cut off.
What were you saying when you call back?
Because the phone call was disconnected.
Yes.
And that happens shockingly often still.
I feel like we should just be beyond this by now, you know, or just someone's the line cuts out.
Oh, sorry to add another one.
That's good, though.
Cut off, cut out.
Yeah, the line cuts out because with cell service, right, you're dependent on that. the carrier on the towers.
And if you go through a dead zone, then you're going to get cut off.
Even though in the commercials, these brands, they say we're everywhere.
You're not everywhere.
No, you go to the American West and you'll find out that they're not everywhere.
Whenever we drive north to Idaho, it's like at least an hour or two of just no cell service.
Oh yeah.
Or all of Southern Utah.
I mean we're driving out in a couple of weeks to California and I'm planning for no cell service or a hotspot service through all of Southern Utah Utah, all that area.
It's very, download some music, download some podcasts.
You're not going to have access.
Exactly.
Exactly.
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Okay.
How about this next one then?
Hang up.
Yeah.
So just when we end a phone call, we say, hang up.
I'm going to hang up now.
I'll talk to you later.
And this is the same thing.
It's carried over from the days when you literally physically put a phone down.
Exactly.
Even though you're just pressing a button to end the call.
Really interesting.
Yeah.
It's true.
We don't really hang anything up anymore.
And there's an expression if someone doesn't want to talk to you anymore, so they intentionally hang up the phone, we'd say, like he hung up on me.
We're not actually hanging anything up, but we still use that as well.
Yeah, I love it.
I love it.
And then what about hold on or hang on or hold on?
So this is when we're kind of fielding a call, right?
We're answering the call and someone's asking for someone else, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
We use this when we're asking someone to wait.
We might say, hang on a second.
I'm looking up the address.
So you're not going to end the call.
You just need them to wait for a second while you do something.
Yes.
So good.
Hang on.
Do you use hang on or hold on?
I feel like they have the exact same meaning.
You can use either.
Hang on.
Hold on.
I use hold on, but I like hang on better.
I just think it's more fun to say.
It's like for some reason it feels a little more casual, a little more playful.
Oh, hang on a second.
Right.
So that's my opinion.
What about you?
Yeah, I think I'm the same.
I'd say, hang on a second.
Hold on.
Hold on a second.
I think if I'm face to face with someone and I need them to wait for me to do something, I say hold on.
Hold on a second.
Like my kids, I'll say, hold on a second.
I got to do this.
But if I'm on the line on the phone, I'll say, hang on a second. more.
Oh my gosh.
Subtleties.
The subtleties of English, guys.
Write this down.
Make sure you get this.
This is good stuff.
And then break up.
So I guess we touched on this a little bit before.
You're breaking up, right?
You might say that.
Do you use that one?
Yeah.
If the connection is getting bad, if it's getting poor so that there's static on the line or you feel like you're about to lose the call, you could say okay, you're breaking up.
I'll call you later.
Exactly.
Oh, man, these are really good.
I feel like these also could have been in our business English course, right?
For how to handle telephone business telephone calls when the connection's not good.
Yeah, because more and more business is it's happening in your car on the road, right?
You're not always in the office.
You're often on a call with someone as you drive to another state and this will happen.
You'll lose connection as you're trying to make a business call.
And we really need to know what to say, right?
Yes, we need the right words in this moment, and phrasal verbs do apply.
And then call back is kind of kind of kind of easier, right?
We know this one most of us.
I hope our listeners know this.
What does it mean, right?
Just that you're going to return the call, so call me back later.
Or i'm going to call you back, call me back once you're in the car.
I'll say this a lot because my sister and i both were like okay, once i'm driving i'll have time to chat with you.
I'm busy right now, so call back once you're in the car.
I love it.
I think this is an example of a situation that you guys, actually you can manufacture a scenario or even just take advantage of simple things happening.
Like again, maybe you're you get a weird bill on your cell phone, like if you use Verizon or T-Mobile or whatever you have in your country.
Maybe you Maybe you live in the US and you can make that call.
Make that call in English and engage with the person by using some of these phrases
Like that's what you want to try to do.
Yes, definitely.
I remember the first time I had to make a phone call when I was an exchange student in France.
Oh my gosh.
And I needed a call and it was so stressful because I wasn't fluent enough to be confident and comfortable.
I wish I had had these phrasal verbs in French to know like, okay, I know how the natives say this.
I can do this.
Oh my gosh.
We've heard a couple of your stories about living in Belgium and all this stuff on our web classes.
So guys, make sure you tune into the web classes to hear these stories.
I remember being in tears in Japan trying to set up my internet.
Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh.
It was so bad.
It was so bad.
And you just don't have all the vocabulary you need.
You don't have all the phrasal verbs for that situation.
And you're kind of stuck, right?
Oh, God.
Yeah, I'm so glad you guys are getting these phrasal verbs this way.
Where, when you next are in this scenario, when you have a business call or any phone call, you have all these phrasal verbs at your fingertips to use, to sound like a native, to be able to make yourself understood.
Exactly.
But I think the step in between getting there, guys, is finding a way to practice this.
And again, you can find a way to make calls to different customer service situations and actually practice this.
You can do it.
We've actually done an episode on that technique in the past.
I'll see if I can find the link.
We did it way back before 100, episode 100, on how to use customer service to actually practice these.
That's so smart.
Yes, come back to the blog.
We'll put a link to that because that is a great idea.
Yeah, really interesting.
All right.
Let's do a role play, Aubrey.
Okay, let's do it.
You get to start again.
It's going to be us on a phone call.
We're on a phone call.
Okay.
Hey, I'm surprised you picked up the phone.
Oh, I usually get your voicemail.
I know I never answer phone calls.
I have a minute now, though.
What's up?
Hang on.
My doctor's on the other line with results I'm expecting.
Can I call you back?
Yeah.
Bye.
Okay.
Oh, hey, sorry about that.
No problem.
I'm actually going through a tunnel though.
So I'll call you back if we get cut off.
Yeah, you're breaking up.
Sorry.
Just hang up if you can't hear me and we'll talk later.
Oh my gosh.
The call that was never meant to happen.
This happens all the time.
It does happen all the time.
It's so true.
And you need ways to talk about it, because this would be really tricky if you didn't know how natives talk about someone breaking up or a phone call getting disconnected.
But if you have these phrasal verbs, it's just they just come out.
That's so native.
It really could be, because you know, if you use kind of standard words you could sound a little abrasive.
That's the problem.
Like if you're talking to a native speaker and you, this happens, this scenario, so common.
If you use some standard textbook word that doesn't suit the situation, it could sound like you don't care, or like you're being abrasive, or you, I don't know.
Well, take this role play, for example, the first where you said I'm surprised you picked up the phone.
If you said, I'm surprised you answered the phone.
Usually I get your voicemail.
That would sound like, oh, like you're annoyed.
But with picked up, so native and friendly.
And I'm like, oh, I know I never answer the phone.
Yeah, guys, it's so key.
So this is why phrasal verbs come down to connection.
They build the connection for you.
So learn these.
Absolutely learn them.
So good.
Yes, definitely.
Let's go through it.
So we use that one. you know, picked up the phone.
And yeah, so native, just to say that instead of answered.
Exact same meaning, but this is how natives say it, right?
Yeah.
Phrasal verbs allow you to put a little more meaning behind your words.
That's the point.
And then I said, hang on, my doctor's on the other line.
Another good example of a way to be friendlier and build that rapport with someone.
Oh, hang on.
You're just being casual.
Hang on.
Yep.
Very friendly.
Right.
And then can I call you back?
Yeah, that's pretty standard.
Yeah.
And then a little bit later I said, no problem.
I'll call you back if we get cut off.
That just means if the line gets disconnected because of you know bad connection, then you'll get cut off.
Exactly.
And then here's this really high level one, guys.
Yeah, you're breaking up.
So I'm hearing the static or I'm hearing the interference on your side.
So I'm saying that, yay, you're breaking up.
We should end the call.
Yep, exactly.
You're like you know it's going to get cut off, or you're just not able to understand enough because their voice is going in and out.
That's called breaking up.
So you just say, yep, you're breaking up.
Let's talk later.
Oh, my gosh.
And that can be very frustrating.
I think humans have a very visceral reaction to bad audio.
Yes, it's true.
I think it triggers something in our brain.
I get angry when I hear bad audio and I'm trying to understand.
It triggers anger in me for some reason.
I don't know why, but it's like a sense of I can't understand what I need to understand in this moment.
So this is really frustrating and we're not used to it because, like with the radio and most you know audio mediums, it's always usually very clear, very easy to understand.
So if it's not...
And especially if it's something we need to hear, we get really frustrated.
Yeah.
It's almost like a sense of we're losing control because we can't take it in.
Yeah.
So guys, that's why it's so important to get this.
Okay.
And then finally, you said, sorry, just hang up if you can't hear me and we can talk later.
So probably tomorrow we'll talk when we're both at home and...
And I'll say that all the time.
If someone's like, oh, you're late.
I'll say, well, just hang up if you can't hear me.
We'll talk later.
Yeah.
So natural.
Okay, Aubrey.
So then what should our listeners keep in mind as they go out and they go and try to practice this?
Yes.
So when you have your next phone conversation, you'll be ready with today's phrasal verbs.
You'll be ready to speak like a native during any phone conversation.
And yeah, all of these verbs have so many different particles that go with them.
If you're memorizing that whole list, it would be really hard to use any of them in an actual conversation.
So learn them in context.
Exactly.
Learn them.
And remember, if you don't manufacture that practice situation, they won't be there for you.
Right, guys?
So go and find a situation, an opportunity to practice.
And remember that we're on WeChat, guys.
Go and search for All Ears English Official to find our channel.
Awesome.
We'll see you there.
Very cool, Aubrey.
I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good one.
Thanks, Lindsay.
See ya.
Bye.
Bye.
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