Episode 0332

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we're going to be helping you set up a an answering machine basically.

That's right. So somebody's calling you, you can't answer the phone, so you leave a message.

And we're going to teach you all about that today.

That's right. So let's take a listen to our dialogue and we'll be back in a moment to figure out just what's going on.

Can you help me set up my voicemail message? I just got this service and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say.

Sure. You just basically got to let the caller know who they called and ask them for their contact information so you can call them back.

Okay, so I can say, 'This is Abby's voicemail. I will call you later, so leave me your name and number.'

That's more or less the idea, but try something that sounds more friendly.

Uh, a little too friendly, Abby.

Just say this: 'Hi, you've reached Abby. I'm unable to answer your call right now, but if you leave me your name and phone number, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.'

That's perfect. Can you say that again and record it for me?

All right, we're back so now let's take a look at some language takeaways.

Language takeaway.

All right, in the first sentence, we are asking someone to help me set up my voicemail message.

So we got two keywords there.

That's right. So let's break it up. The first one is a phrasal verb to set up, okay?

Uh, you can set a lot of things up, but just remember that set and up, these are the two words that go together. In this case, we're setting up voicemail. It means to establish or to start or to

to put together.

Yeah, to install.

Like, for example, you get a new computer and you have to connect all the cables and you have to connect the monitor. So you said, 'Can you help me set up my computer?'

That's right. So he always helps me set it up.

So my computer, for example.

That's right. And what we're setting up is our voicemail message.

So what exactly is voicemail?

Well, you know what mail is, we have email and regular mail. Voicemail is the kind of message you receive on your phone, your cell phone, or your home phone when you don't answer the phone.

That's right. So basically a way for people to leave you a message even though you can't answer them.

That's right. So, um, this is something that's it's not text, it's actually a voice, so that's why it's called voicemail.

And you have to set it up, okay? So there's there's no automatic voicemail message. You actually have to make your own or you can choose one, and today we're making our own.

That's right.

And uh, so we're explaining that we actually just got this service and we don't really know what we're supposed to say or or how to set up our voicemail.

That's right. So, um, voicemail messages are a kind of service.

And now who would offer this kind of service, Marco?

Uh, probably your telephone company.

That's right. So a telephone company will offer many different services, and these are things that you can pay extra for, and uh, they're useful, they can help you in some way.

So another kind of service is three-way calling.

Mm-hmm, right?

That's right. So actually we're taking a look at this word 'service' as a noun, so we have a service or this service.

Mm-hmm. So the company offers this service.

Mm-hmm. And uh, well, why are we setting up the voicemail? And our friend explains that we just basically doing it to let the caller know who they called.

Okay, so if I call a number and it says, 'Hey, leave a message!'

I don't know who I'm leaving a message for, did I dial the wrong number? What do I say? Do I say my phone number?

So this is basically instructions for what to say.

That's right. And you become the caller, right?

That's right. Mm-hmm.

So whoever is making the call is called the caller.

And um, this is why we are setting up our voicemail to let the caller know who we are calling, and of course, we have to ask the caller for their contact information.

All right. Now this is important because it's not just something you have with voicemail messages, you have contact information for many different things. For example, your medical care, your school, you have to include contact information.

Now, this would be your phone number, your address, and or your email.

That's right. So your contact information is not only useful for in a voicemail message, but for example, in a business meeting or or a business lunch, you want to get maybe someone else's contact information so you can call them later.

That's right. So don't forget, it's also your name as well.

So forgot to mention that.

That's right. Your contact information must have your name.

All right, so that's uh, that's pretty much all we have for the first part of language takeaway.

Why don't we listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back in a bit with fluency builder?

Can you help me set up my voicemail message? I just got this service and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say.

Sure. You just basically got to let the caller know who they called and ask them for their contact information so you can call them back.

Okay, so I can say, 'This is Abby's voicemail. I will call you later, so leave me your name and number.'

That's more or less the idea, but try something that sounds more friendly.

Uh, a little too friendly, Abby.

Just say this: 'Hi, you've reached Abby. I'm unable to answer your call right now, but if you leave me your name and phone number, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.'

That's perfect. Can you say that again and record it for me?

All right, here we are in Fluency Builder, and the first phrase we've got is, 'How about this?'

So, um, we're saying, we're saying we've got an example for you. 'How about this?'

That's right. Then the example.

So we've talk about, we've talked about 'how about' many times already, so for example, you know, 'How about we go to the movies?' or 'how not to say how about your weekend' because that's completely wrong.

In this occasion we're talking about 'how about this' and this is like setting it up for an example.

That's right. So for another example, we could say, 'So Marco, I'm trying to figure out how to say hello when I answer the phone because I don't like the way I say it now.'

So I could say, 'How about this?' 'Hello?'

Right.

Yeah, that's all right, that's all right.

Hello?

That's too strong.

Hello?

Yeah, that's good.

All right. So basically I'm setting up an example.

I'm saying, 'Okay, keep listening, I will give you an example.'

Yeah, just imagine that you are trying on different clothes and someone is giving you their opinion.

So maybe you try on a black shirt and you say, 'How about this one?'

Uh, boring.

And then you try on a green one and you say, 'Now, how about this?'

Better.

Right? So then you're giving them other options and examples, and this is why we say, 'How about this?' and then we give the example like Abby did.

And you're also asking for a response. You're asking for an opinion.

Um, and so what Abby's saying is, uh, 'I promise I will give you a ring as soon as I can.'

Now, this phrase, 'give you a ring' is very British English, but it's also something you should know if you want to be in America because you'll hear it in uh, in TV and stuff.

That's right. It's actually a colloquial term for saying, 'I will call you, I will call you, I will call you back' or 'I will give you a call.'

So the telephone rings. That's the verb that goes with with a phone, right? Ring, ring.

So I will give you a ring means, 'I will call you,' just like you just said, Marco.

That's right. So, um, remember this phrase, it's actually, it may seem a little bit confusing, but remember, it has to do with calling someone. I will give you a ring is, 'I will call you.'

Or if you say, 'Hey, give me a ring later on this afternoon.'

Means call me later this afternoon.

All right. And then moving towards the end of the dialogue, Abby says, 'Hi, you have reached Abby.'

Okay, this is weird because she is Abby, but she's saying, 'You have reached Abby.'

Right, you're speaking about yourself in the third person.

That's right. So this is a message, so you're telling people what to do. Like I said, they're instructions.

And so this is basically the first thing you say, 'You have reached Catherine.' That means the number you dialed is Catherine's phone number.

Right.

So you reached, that means that you've contacted.

Right, exactly.

So, um, as you said, it's important if you ever call a bank or in uh, or any type of company, it will say,

You have reached, uh, Wells Fargo Bank or something, and it'll give you, it'll tell you what number you called because maybe you put in your finger wrong and you just called the wrong number.

And I realized then his phone is broken.

That's right.

So actually this verb 'to reach someone' also has to do with uh, with in general with calling. I was trying to reach you all afternoon, but I couldn't get a hold of you.

That's right.

And I was so frustrated.

Well, actually if I had voicemail, I would continue by saying, 'I am unable to answer your call right now' because maybe my phone is off, maybe I'm busy. So we say, 'I am unable to answer your call right now.'

All right. Now this seems really long, okay? And a little bit strange, but this is basically the the standard for how to uh, record a message.

I am unable to answer your call right now.

So you answer the phone, right? Or you answer a phone call, but in this case, I'm unable to, that means I can't talk to you.

Um, for whatever reason, I'm out of the house, I'm busy, so I'm unable to answer your call right now.

Just remember that that means I can't talk to you right now, I can't be on the phone.

And actually this word 'unable' sounds a lot more polite and and a lot more formal than saying 'I can't.'

That's right. And that's why we use it on messages like this because it is so polite and so nice.

That's right.

All right, so that's all the time we have for fluency builder, let's take a listen to our dialogue one last time.

Can you help me set up my voicemail message? I just got this service and I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say.

Sure. You just basically got to let the caller know who they called and ask them for their contact information so you can call them back.

Okay, so I can say, 'This is Abby's voicemail. I will call you later, so leave me your name and number.'

That's more or less the idea, but try something that sounds more friendly.

Uh, a little too friendly, Abby.

Just say this: 'Hi, you've reached Abby. I'm unable to answer your call right now, but if you leave me your name and phone number, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.'

That's perfect. Can you say that again and record it for me?

All right, so talking about voicemail, I think uh, in the United States this is a very, very popular and almost uh necessary service.

That's right. So in America if you buy a phone plan, which most people have, uh, that means that you, uh, you can use your phone in a certain way, like everyday you have um free nights or you have a thousand minutes per month to to talk.

But you sometimes also get these services or you pay extra for them.

And voicemail is very important because people don't text as much in America as they do in other countries.

And so, um, I know in other places sometimes you text a message to someone and they receive it and okay, it's a it's a message. But if you don't do that, you actually have to record a message.

Right.

Like when I call my parents, they never answer the phone, so I always have to leave a voicemail message. So I say, 'Hi, it's Catherine, it's Saturday, where are you? Call me.'

Right, okay.

So that's that's that kind of, I think, cultural behavior that we just expect to leave messages for people in America.

And it's actually interesting because I've been to other countries where they also have voicemail messages and uh, and the service, but people are not as willing to actually leave the message.

So it happened to me, uh, for example, I I call someone, I get their voicemail, and I don't leave a message. I just hang up.

And then they have...

You're bored or you're uncomfortable?

Uh, I don't know, because, you know, if you have a mobile phone, it'll show up anyways that you have a miss call from this person.

So then I really just, I don't I don't really leave the message anymore. It's like, 'Okay, you saw that I called you, either I'll just call you back later or you'll call me back when you see the the miss call.'

Hm.

But yeah, for homes, obviously it's different, you need to leave a message if you call someone's home.

Yeah, although sometimes it can be a bad thing. I I definitely have a friend who loves to leave long messages.

Oh really? 'Hey, Catherine, it's me. So it's like Saturday at 4:00 and I was just thinking about calling and I was going to come over, but I decided not to come over, but then I was thinking maybe I would just call you instead, and I can see that you're not home, but maybe you're out to dinner, I remember you saying,' and they just go on and on and on.

You actually, there is an end, they'll go 'Beep,' and then it cuts you off.

Right. I think it's like 30 seconds or something like this.

So it's very interesting this whole voicemail thing especially in the business world as well, many times people going to a meeting, turn off their phones or put it on silent, and, you know, if you want to reach them, you want to leave a message, you got to do the voicemail thing.

Yeah, calls will go right to voicemail so that you don't interrupt the meaning.

Exactly.

So that's all the time we have for today. Come to Englishpod.com, we more than welcome your questions, your comments, any suggestions, you can find us there, englishpod.com. See you.

Bye-bye.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

An electronic system enabling the recording and storage of voice messages.

Voicemail.

Set down in writing or voice or the like.

Record.

Essentially, fundamentally.

Basically.

The supplying or a supply of something required by the public.

Service.

Prepare.

Set up.

Let's try that faster.

Set down in writing or voice or the like.

Record.

The supplying or a supplier of something required by the public.

Service.

Essentially, fundamentally.

Basically.

An electronic system enabling the recording and storage of voice messages.

Voicemail.

Prepare.

Set up.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Basically.

Basically, what you're saying is, I have to buy a monkey?

Basically.

He basically just told me to get lost.

Basically.

So basically, if we had a million dollars, we could buy the zoo.

Voicemail.

I've tried calling his mobile phone a few times now. I'll leave a voicemail.

Voicemail.

Voicemail.

Some creepy guy just sent me a random voicemail.

Set up.

For an extra fee, I can set up your television.

Set up.

This looks very complicated to set up.

Set up.

I don't know how to set things like this up. That's why I hire professionals.

Record.

Can you please record a message for the answering machine for when we are not here?

Record.

Record.

I'm going to record the basketball match so I can watch it later.

Service.

We provide a security service to local schools in the neighborhood.

Service.

I don't think your idea of a car washing service will work, as nobody has any cars.

Service.