Learn how to talk politely on the phone
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 23 - Getting Through To Your Bulgarian Friend. Eric Here. |
| Tina: Здравейте. I'm Tina. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk politely on the phone. The conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Tina: It's between Rositsa and Kalin. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Bulgarian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Калин: Добър ден! ABC Consult. Калин на телефона. С какво мога да съм Ви от полза? |
| Росица: Здравейте, обажда се Росица Проданова. Може ли да разговарям с Гергана Петрова? |
| Калин: Здравейте, опасявам се, че г-жа Петрова в момента е в интервю и не може да отговори. Бихте ли желали да оставите съобщение? |
| Росица: Аз няколко пъти се опитах да се свържа с нея на мобилния телефон, но все ме насочва към гласова поща. |
| Калин: Разбирам. Тя има много натоварен график и може би не успява да си включи телефона. |
| Росица: Ясно... Тогава, ако може само да ѝ предете, че съм я търсила. |
| Калин: Г-жа Петрова дали има Ваши координати? |
| Росица: Да, ние сме близки приятелки и това ще е достатъчно. Нека да ме потърси, когато се освободи. |
| Калин: Добре, ще ѝ предам. |
| Росица: Благодаря, дочуване! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Kalin: Good day! ABC Consult. It is Kalin speaking. How can I help you? |
| Rositsa: Hello. It is Rositsa Prodanova calling. Can I talk to Gergana Petrova, please? |
| Kalin: Hello. I am afraid that Ms. Petrova is currently in an interview and can not take the call. Would you like to leave a message for her? |
| Rositsa: I have tried a few times to reach her on her mobile phone, but I always get forwarded to a voice mail. |
| Kalin: I see. She has a very busy schedule and might not have been able to switch on her phone. |
| Rositsa: I see. Well, then, would you just pass on to her that I have called? |
| Kalin: Does Ms. Petrova have any of your contact details? |
| Rositsa: Yes, we are close friends and it will be enough. Tell her to call me, when she has some time free. |
| Kalin: All right. I will pass the message to her. |
| Rositsa: Thank you, goodbye! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Tina, are there many loanwords in Bulgarian? |
| Tina: Bulgarian has been influenced by different cultures and languages throughout the centuries. Some of the loanwords are so common, that people do not realize that they come from other languages. |
| Eric: Which are some of these influences? |
| Tina: The oldest influence is from the ancient Greek and Latin languages. For example, a lot of science terms originate from these as well as some of the religious vocabulary. For example from Greek we have философия and икона |
| Eric: respectively meaning “philosophy” and “icon,” |
| Tina: клиент and лектор come from Latin |
| Eric: They respectively mean “client” and “lecturer”. |
| Tina: As Bulgaria was part of the Turkish Empire for five centuries, there are also a lot of everyday words that come from the Turkish language. For example, килим and чадър |
| Eric: respectively meaning “carpet” and “umbrella” |
| Tina: There are also words that come from French, German, and of course from Russian. |
| Eric:What’s the Bulgarian for "loanwords” and “foreign words?" |
| Tina:заемки and чуждици |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Tina: полза [natural native speed] |
| Eric: benefit, usefulness |
| Tina: полза[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: полза [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: разговарям [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to talk |
| Tina: разговарям[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: разговарям [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: опасявам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to fear, to be apprehensive of |
| Tina: опасявам се[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: опасявам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: опитвам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to try |
| Tina: опитвам се[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: опитвам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: свързвам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to reach, to get in contact with |
| Tina: свързвам се[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: свързвам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: насочвам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to direct, to forward |
| Tina: насочвам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: насочвам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: успявам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to manage, to succeed |
| Tina: успявам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: успявам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: предавам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to pass on, to give up |
| Tina: предавам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: предавам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And lastly.. |
| Tina: координати [natural native speed] |
| Eric: contact details |
| Tina: координати[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: координати [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Tina: от полза съм |
| Eric: meaning "to be of use, to be helpful" |
| Tina: от is a preposition and its main meaning is "from", полза is a noun in feminine and means "benefit,” or “use," and съм is the verb "to be." |
| Eric: The phrase can be used in both formal and informal contexts. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Ще й бъде от огромна полза, ако можеш да копираш тези документи. |
| Eric: ..which means "It will be a huge help to her, if you could copy these documents." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Tina: имам координатите на (някого) |
| Eric: meaning "to have someone's contact details" |
| Tina: имам is the verb "to have," координатите is the definite form of the noun in plural координати "coordinates," на (някого) in this case means "of (someone)." |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Искам да се свържа с Иван, но нямам никакви негови лични координати. |
| Eric: .. which means "I want to reach Ivan but I do not have any of his personal contact details." |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Tina: Дочуване! |
| Eric: meaning "goodbye, till next time we talk" |
| Tina: This is an exclamation to finish a talk on the phone. It consists of two words: до and чуване. до is a preposition and means "to,” or “till," чуване derives from the verb чувам "to hear," but does not have an independent meaning itself. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Значи, ще се видим след половин час. Дочуване! |
| Eric: .. which means "It means we will meet in half an hour then. Goodbye!" Is this a word used only on the telephone? |
| Tina: Yes, it is. On the other hand, Довиждане! isn’t used on the phone unless the two people have fixed an appointment. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk politely on the phone. There is nothing too complicated about talking on the phone, except that people tend to use some specific verbs and phrases which are not common in face-to-face communication. It also applies when leaving routine messages. Let’s start with how to answer a call. |
| Tina: In general, when answering a call, you should say: Добро утро, Калин на телефона. С какво мога да Ви помогна? |
| Eric: which means "Good morning, this is Kalin speaking. How may I help you?” |
| Tina: if it isn't morning, you should say Добър ден, "Good day" or Добър вечер, "Good evening." Also if you work in reception, you should greet with the hotel or company name, instead of only your name. For example:Добър ден, хотел Рила, с какво мога да Ви помогна? |
| Eric: which means "Good afternoon, Hotel Rila. How may I help you?" |
| Tina: or as in the dialogue Добър ден, ABC Consult, разговаряте с Калин, с какво мога да Ви помогна? |
| Eric: Which means "Good day, ABC Consult. You are talking to Kalin. How may I help you?" Ok, what should we say when we are looking for someone? Are there some fixed expressions? |
| Tina:Yes, for example Търся (някого)... |
| Eric: “I am looking for (someone)...” |
| Tina: Може ли да ме свържете с отдел Клиенти? |
| Eric: “Could you put me through to the Customer Service Department?” |
| Tina: Бих желал да разговарям с… |
| Eric: This means “I would like to talk to...” Listeners, in the Lesson Notes, you’ll find a longer list. Now let’s see how to put someone on hold. |
| Tina: You can say Изчакайте за момент, моля. |
| Eric: “Please, hold on for a moment.” |
| Tina: Момент само да проверя дали може да разговаря. |
| Eric: “Let me put you on hold while I check whether the person is available." And what if you need to tell someone they have a telephone call? |
| Tina: You can simply say За теб е. |
| Eric: meaning "It's for you." |
| Tina: Обажда се Калин. |
| Eric: "Kalin is calling." Next, when no one can take the call, you might suggest that people leave a message. |
| Tina: In this case, you can suggest Бихте ли оставили съобщение? |
| Eric: “Would you like to leave a message?” |
| Tina: Мога ли да предам нещо на Петя? |
| Eric: “Can I pass anything on to Petya?” |
| Tina: And if you want to make sure that the return call will happen smoothly, you could also ask Бихте ли оставили Ваш телефон? |
| Eric: “Would you leave your phone number?” Finally, how can we conclude the call? |
| Tina: When finishing up the call, you can either thank the other person for their call or reaffirm what the next step on either side would be, for example Благодарим за обаждането Ви! |
| Eric: “We thank you for your call.” |
| Tina: Вие ще се обадите отново, нали? |
| Eric: “You will call back later, is that right?” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Tina: До скоро! |
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