Hello again! I hope you’ve had a good week and that your Friday is going well.

Even new English learners may have to speak English on the phone at some time or another.Incluso quienes estén comenzando a aprender inglés tendrán que hablar por teléfono en un momento dado. Normally speaking over the phone in English is difficult because we can’t see the other person’s face or see their mouth move and so we may have trouble understanding them. However, when making and receiving phone calls, we normally follow some sort of structure. Hablar por teléfono en inglés suele ser difícil porque no vemos la cara y la boca de la otra persona, así que nos puede costar entenderle. Sin embargo, las llamadas telefónicas suelen seguir una estructura. Let’s have a look at a few ways of speaking on the phone. Firstly, let’s look at a common phone conversation between Tom (T) and Mrs Smith (MS): T: Hello, can I speak to Max please?Hola, ¿puedo hablar con Max, por favor? MS: Sure. May I ask who’s calling?Claro. ¿De parte de quién? T: My name is Tom. Is that Mrs Smith?Me llamo Tom. ¿Es usted la señora Smith? MS: Yes, it is Tom. Just hang on a second. I’ll check if he’s here.Sí, soy yo, Tom. Un segundo, veré si está. (A few seconds later) I’m afraid he’s not home. Can I take a message?(Unos segundos más tarde). Lo siento, no está en casa. ¿Quieres dejar un mensaje? T: It’s OK, thank you, I’ll call back later. Thanks so much, Mrs Smith.No hace falta, gracias. Llamaré más tarde. Muchas gracias, señora Smith. MS: Not at all. Have a nice day.De nada. ¡Que tengas un buen día! T: You too.Igualmente. MS: Goodbye!¡Adiós! T: Goodbye, Mrs Smith!¡Adiós, señora Smith! We may also use many variations in our conversation and the list below will help you structure your sentences in a better way. Podemos usar muchas variaciones de esta conversación y la lista de abajo te ayudará a estructurar las frases mejor. Answering the phone: - Hello! - Good morning/afternoon/evening Asking for a person: - May / Can I speak to (name)? - Is (name) there? Asking to take a message: - Can I take a message? - Would you like to leave a message? Asking who is calling: - Who’s calling please? - May I ask who’s calling? Introducing yourself: - This is (name) - (Name) speaking Asking a person to wait: - Hold on - Hang on, I’ll call (name) - Just a second Until next week! Have a nice weekend.