Telephoning- Dictating & Checking/Clarifying

Telephoning Dictating and Checking/Clarifying Practice

Work in groups of three or four. Dictate things from the list below to your partner(s),
speaking as quickly as possible at first. Your partner(s) can interrupt, ask you to speak
differently and check what you said as many times as they like, then they should show you
what they have written to check. You might want to (secretly) write down the thing that you
will dictate before you start speaking, and/ or check with your business card, the internet
etc. See the next page for useful language for these tasks.



Home phone, including area code



Office phone, including extension number if you have one



Mobile phone, including instructions for international dialling



Email address



Website or particular webpage



Postal address



Search terms that they should put into Google etc



Directions to get somewhere



Some amounts of money (prices etc, including foreign currencies)



Some product or service names and/ or numbers



An order and/ or delivery reference number



A reservation reference number (e.g. for a flight)



Some large numbers



Some small numbers, including decimals and/ or fractions



Some dimensions



Some dates and times



Some difficult to spell words, e.g. foreign town names



Instructions on how to use something with several steps, e.g. how to delete a

programme from their computer



Some financial data, e.g. profit margins, interest rates or exchange rates



Two or more sentences with (lots of) punctuation

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Useful language
Can I (double) check…?/ Just to (double) check,…
Can I check that back/ read that back?/ Let me read that back (to check).
Can you repeat the first part/ middle part/ last part/ whole thing/ from…/…?
Can you say it again/ one more time (more slowly)?
Can you spell that/…?/ How do you spell…?
Could you speak (a little) slower, please?
Did you mean (to say)…? Did you say… or…?
Do I need any punctuation (in that email address)? Do you mean… or…?
I didn’t (quite) catch… I guess you mean…
I understood up to… I’m not familiar with…
Is that (one word/ B for Bobby/ one five…) (or two words/ V for Virgin/ five oh/…)?
Is that spelt with a… (or a…)? Is that… as in…?
So, that’s…, right? What does… mean?

Do the same, but this time your partner(s) will compete to ask as many different checking/
clarifying questions about each one as they can (including wrongly checking things back).

Do the same, but as complete telephone conversations.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Telephoning dictating and checking/ clarifying practice Part Two
Student A
Dictate the things below to your partner as fast as you can. Only say each one once. They
will double check if they are not sure what you said. Don't say the words in brackets
unless they ask about that thing. Don’t use any gestures or write anything for your partner.
1

730 9065

(phone number)

2

0932 4555 7122

3

012 022 3344

4

911

(emergency telephone number)

5

alexcase@hotmail.co.uk

6

www.english.adventure.or.jp

7

East Dean

8

central station

9

1999

(year)

10 2:45

(time)

11 07:20
12 04:14
13 30

th

March

14 12:00
15 12 dolls
16 twenty Won
17 $199
18 tree
19 four
20 it was fast
21 the fourth
22 16
23 1 1/2
24 a quarter

25

0.000015

26 155,000
27 772,114,320
28 1,100,000,000
29 B
30 C8
31 G
32 etch
33 Q
34 double BV

(=BBV)

35 we are
Check your partner’s answers.
How can you easily explain the differences between the things above and the other things
on your partner’s list?

Do the same again with the same information, but this time with your partner pretending
they don’t understand and using as many of different phrases as they can to double-check

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Now write down the things that you hear your partner dictating. You will only hear each
number once quite quickly, but you can ask questions. You must use a different question
each time that you check something.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Ask your partner to check your answers and discuss the reasons for any differences
between your answers and what they were supposed to dictate.

Do the same, but this time pretending you don’t understand and asking as many different
checking/ confirming questions as you can.

Roleplay whole phone conversations including the things above, checking even if it is easy
to understand.

Do the same with your own real model numbers, dimensions, etc.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Telephoning dictating and checking/ clarifying practice Part Two
Student B
Listen to your partner saying things from below as quickly as they can and try to choose
the correct one. They will only say each one once so you should check any which you
aren’t sure about. Please use a different phrase each time you confirm something.

1

730 9065

(phone number)

7,309,065 (large number)

2

0932 455 7122

0932 4555 7122

3

012 022 3344

01 2022 3344

4

911 (emergency telephone number)

9/11 (date of World Trade Centre attacks)

5

alexcase@hotmail.co.uk

alex_case@hotmail.co.uk

6

www.english-adventure.or.jp

www.english.adventure.or.jp

7

Eastdean

East Dean

8

central station

Central Station

9

1999 (year)

1,999 (number)

10 2:45 (time)

2.45 (number)

11 07:20

19:20

12 04:14

04:40

13 13

th

March

30

th

March

14 00:00

12:00

15 12 dollars

12 dolls

16 twenty one

twenty Won

17 $199

$100.99

18 three

tree

19 four

foe

20 it was first

it was fast

21 the fourth

the force

22 16

60

23 1/2

1 1/2

24 a quarter

a quota

25

0.000015

0.0000015

26 155,000

1,155

27 772,114,320

77,211,432

28 1,100,000,000

1,000,000,001

29 B

V

30 C8

she ate

31 G

Z

32 H

etch

33 Q

coup

34 double BV (=BBV)

WBV

35 VR

we are

How can you say each of the things above? How can you clearly show the differences?
What questions can you ask to double check?
Do the same again, but this time pretending that you don’t understand and asking as
many different checking/ confirming questions as possible.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Now dictate the numbers below to your partner, saying each one as quickly as you can but
pausing between each one and answering any questions they might have. Don’t give the
information in brackets unless they ask for it.

1

097 377 652

2

+92 (0) 898 444 5555

3

grant-young@yahoo.com

4

william_s_williams@gmail.es

5

http://www2.growing.co.uk

6

head-lice.gov.uk

7

the green park

8

Old Market Square

9

30

th

May

10 1973 (year)
11 1,653
12 15:55
13 $19.99
14 15
15 0.00134
16 2/3
17 1 1/6
18 1/100
19 232,754
20 ex-colleague
21 X-ray
22 DGZ719
23 JJ729
24 VOA

Show this to your partner and check that you both have exactly the same thing. If there is
something different, which of you made a mistake and what was it?

Do the same, but this time with your partner really knowing the answer but pretending they
don’t and asking as many checking/ confirming questions as possible.

Work together to say the things above as many ways as possible, including extra
information to make sure that the person listening doesn’t get confused.

Roleplay whole phone conversations including the things above, checking even if it is easy
to understand.

Do the same with your own real model numbers, dimensions, etc.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Checking/ Clarifying telephoning roleplays

Choose roleplays from below, roleplaying the whole conversation each time.

1

Ask them to dictate something to you

2

Check and double check the message they give you.

3

Dictate a complex email address to your partner, saying it really quickly the first time

4

Dictate a complex website address to your partner, saying it really quickly the first time

5

Dictate a name and postal address to your partner, saying it really quickly the first time

6

Someone left a number on your answer machine, but you couldn’t understand any oth-
er parts of the message

7

The information they need is on a difficult to find page of your website

8

The other person is speaking too quietly

9

The person who phones you starts talking about an urgent matter but you have no idea
who is speaking

10

The person you are speaking to gives you lots of numbers very quickly

11

The person you are speaking to talks quickly and says numbers and names you need
to write down without pausing

12

The receptionist mispronounces your name

13

There is a lot of background noise their end

14

There is a lot of background noise your end

15

They need to speak to your colleague who is sitting nearby to get the information they
are asking for

16

They need to speak to your colleague who isn’t there to get the information they are
asking for

17

You are being asked to agree to something but still don’t really understand what is be-
ing proposed

18

You are put through to the wrong person

19

You can’t find that caller’s details on your computer system

20

You can’t hear the person’s voice very well

21

You can’t understand about 50% of what is being said

22

You have dialled the wrong number

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014