Basic phone conversations 1

Examples of basic telephone conversations in English.  Here are five very simple dialogues which we have recorded with native English speakers. 

Are you confident speaking in English on the telephone?

It is not easy to use English on the phone. However, with practice you will soon become more confident. The best way to improve your Telephone English is to listen to telephone conversations.

Listen to telephone conversations.

In BE23 we want to help you speak English confidently.  That's why we've prepared a series of simple English telephone conversations for you to listen to.

The telephone conversations

In this first set of conversations we will listen to 5 very typical phone calls. Listen to each conversation at least twice. Do you understand everything? Don't worry if you didn't understand every word the first time.  Before listening to the conversations make sure you have read our classes on making telephone calls and answering telephone calls in English.

The quality of the recordings is not particularly high.  Don't hesitate to listen again if you don't understand everything the first time. 

Conversations 1-5

Simple dialogue 1

Let's start with a very simple conversation! In this dialogue the caller wants to speak to a person he knows in another company. The company's receptionist answers the phone.

Did you understand the conversation? Was Alex Jones available?

Simple dialogue 2

This dialogue starts in a similar way to the first conversation: The caller asks to speak to a particular person. Unfortunately, on this occasion the person is not in the office. Pay attention to the phrases which the receptionist uses.

Did you notice how the receptionist offered the caller an alternative? This is always a good idea!

Simple dialogue 3

This is a similar situation to dialogue 2, but this time, the receptionist asks the caller a different question.

It is very important to know how to take a message. We have several classes on this subject in this course on English for the telephone.

Simple dialogue 4

Do you think the receptionist is helpful in this next conversation?

Simple dialogue 5

Here is another situation which is very typical in all offices around the world:

Did you understand why Sam wasn't available to take the call?

Phrases from these basic telephone conversations

Here are some of the most important phrases and questions from the telephone dialogues:

• I'm afraid he's not here at the moment.
• Would you like to leave a message?
• Could you call back later?
• Would you like to speak to his secretary?

Make a note of these phrases! You will almost certainly need them if you regularly answer the phone of your company and have to speak in English.

More basic telephone conversations

Do you want to listen to more conversations? Then go to part 2 of this class, which has 5 more examples of basic telephone conversations in English.