Phone and video calls

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Useful phrases for callsVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Check the callListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11Find the future formsGrammar exercise
12. 12Arrangements, plans and decisionsGrammar rule
13. 13Arrangement, plan or decision?Grammar exercise
14. 14Moving the client callGrammar exercise
15. 15Questions about plansGrammar exercise
16. 16Say it clearlySpeaking practice
17. 17Role-play: moving a callSpeaking practice
18. 18Let's discussDiscussion
19. 19Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: Kenji's emailGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: an email after a callDiscussion

Words

• on mute/ˌɑːn ˈmjuːt/

  with your microphone turned off, so that the other people on a call cannot hear you (mute, unmute: the verbs)

• break up/ˌbreɪk ˈʌp/

  to keep cutting out on a phone or video call, because the connection is bad

• connection/kəˈnekʃn/

  the link that lets you use the internet or make a phone call (a good / bad connection)

• share your screen/ˌʃer jər ˈskriːn/

  to let the other people on a video call see what is on your computer screen

• catch/kætʃ/

  to hear or understand something that someone says

• clarify/ˈklærəfaɪ/

  to make something clearer or easier to understand (clarification: the noun)

• follow/ˈfɑːloʊ/

  to understand an explanation or what someone is saying

• on the same page/ɑːn ðə ˌseɪm ˈpeɪdʒ/

  agreeing about something, or understanding it in the same way

• reschedule/ˌriːˈskedʒuːl/

  to change the time or date of a meeting, call or event

• time zone/ˈtaɪm zoʊn/

  one of the areas of the world that has its own time

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about calls at work.

1. How many phone or video calls do you have in a normal week? Are any of them in English?
2. Which is harder for you in English: a phone call or a video call? Why?
3. Has a work call ever gone wrong for you? What happened?

Grammar rule

Arrangements, plans and decisions

Talking about the future at work

Form	Use it for	Example
am / is / are + -ing (the present continuous)	arrangements: plans fixed with other people, often with a time or a place. They are in your calendar.	I'm meeting the designers at 11:00. Are you coming to the launch party?
am / is / are + going to + verb	plans and intentions: things you decided before you speak, even if the details are not fixed yet	We're going to hire two more developers next year.
will ('ll) + verb	decisions you make while you speak: offers and quick decisions during a call	"We need a room for Thursday." "OK, I'll book one."

For arrangements, be going to is also correct: We're meeting / We're going to meet them on Tuesday. In conversation and in chat, the present continuous is the most common way to talk about what is in your calendar. In emails and announcements, will is also common for planned events: The office will be closed on Monday.

With the present continuous, say when (tomorrow, on Friday, at three, next week), or make it clear from the situation. Without a time, it usually means now: I'm calling the bank (now). I'm calling the bank tomorrow (an arrangement).

For a prediction about something nobody arranges, use be going to or will, not the present continuous: Look at the traffic. We're going to be late! (Not We're being late.)

Don't forget am / is / are: not I meeting her at two. After going to and will, use the base form: not We're going to moving it or I'll sending it. Questions: Where are you staying in Denver? Are they going to sign the deal?