BLOCK 02
ENQUIRIES
- In our life various situations we have to seek information from others to perform various functions.
- It is very important to be clear and courteous in order to get information from others.
- Therefore we have to learn certain polite expressions to seek information from other people.
- Ways of expressing politeness differ from language to language.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENQUIRIES
- Personal enquiries.
- Telephonic enquiries.
- Enquiry about the death of a person.
- Dinner talk enquiries.
- Enquiries about Services
- Enquiries about Procedures
- Personal Enquiries
- In day-to-day life, we have to enquire about personal details.
- Direct questions begin with wh-words: what, where, when, why, and how. This is the basic form of the question.
- It is not quite polite to ask a person his or her name directly. Instead, we use modal verbs to frame polite questions.
- EXAMPLES:-
- Could I know your name, please?
- May I know your name, please?
- If you forget a person’s name…
- You can use a polite expression- “I am afraid”
- I’m afraid I didn’t get your name.
- This sentence expresses your regret for forgetting his or her name.
- If you want to make sure where the person is working, you could say:
- Did you say you were working in …?
2. Telephone Enquiries
Telephonic enguiry is an important part of business and privet life. Now let us have a look at the expressions and phrases that are commonly used for telephonic enquires.
Receiving a call
- There are certain expressions that used for the receiving calls
- It is a telephone courtesy to reveal yourself when you pick up the receiver.
- And you have to reveal whether it is an individual or a private residence.
- If you are an individual identity you would say
“Jayaram here.” OR “Jayaram.” OR “Jayaram speaking.”
- If you attend a call for any residents you would say
“Hello, Mr. Shorey’s residence.”
- If you attend a call for sake of an institution or company you have to say
“Good Morning, India Travel Bureau. May 1 help you?”
Making a call
- sometimes we have to make calls for making inquiries.
- On such occasions we have to disclose our identity and say who we wish to speak to, and why
“Good afternoon. I’m a regular customer of your bank, and I have a problem
with my statement …”
Identifying the Caller.
- Sometimes the caller may not disclose his or her identity.
- At that time you have to ask for their identity
Could you repeat your name, please?
May I know who is calling?
The bad manners on the telephone
The following are some bad manners we notice with people who make or receive calls;
- Failing to identify themselves.
- Not making sure they have the right number or have dialed the right number, and insisting on speaking to a person they think they have reached
- Speaking unclearly, or with a pan or food in the mouth
- Speaking unnecessarily loudly.
3. Condolence orEnquiry about the death of a person.
- It is a very sensitive matter to enquire about the death of a person.
- When we talk with anyone who needs comfort and consolation we are not supposed to ask direct questions.
- Let us have an example from the above conversation.
“I heard it was all too sudden.”
“It’s very difficult. Was it at home?”
4. Dinner Talk
- In dinner talk enquiries questions are not direct.
- They may begin as statements but expect a response.
- For example:- “Kids in School?”.
- There will be one or two direct yes or no questions which seek information.
- Read the conversation which has been given in the text.
5. Enquiries about Services
- In our life many situations, we have to enquire about services in order to fulfill our needs. sometimes we have ask to friends and sometimes strangers.
- Now let us have a look at some common phrases that are usually used in enquires about services
- I’d like to know……
- I wish to know…..
- Could you tell me…..
- Would you be able to tell me…….
- I’m looking for information regarding……
- I wonder if you could help me in this……..
6. Enquiries about Procedures
- In our life sometimes we have to ask questions about procedures.
- Procedures tell us how to do particular things or procedure tells us an established way of doing something.
- Preciseness is important whenever we answer questions. For example, if you enquire about the IGNOU admission procedure, it has to be clear and precise.
- Apart from that, we have to give clarification when explaining procedures
ATTENTION IN LISTENING
When we listen to English spoken informally, we need to make reasonable guesses about what is being said. Now let us have a look at what are the reasons for poor listening:
Reasons for poor listening.
- Noisy surrounding.
- The speaker may be walking along with us, and his/ her face will be away from us.
- Informal speech is usually fast and less clear.
- We have to practice certain strategies to improve our listening skills.
- Based on the context or situation we have to adopt different strategies.
How to overcome poor listening/ different strategies to overcome poor listening.
- Making a reasonable guess is an important strategy.
- When we listen informal speech surrounding may be disturbed by noise and sometimes speaker may be away from the listener.
- At that time listeners have to make reasonable guessing and assumptions about words based on the context.
- Informal speeches are usually fast and unclear.
- In fast speech, words run together, and some words are left unclear.
- Therefore reasonable guessing is an important one to achieving successful communication
- Record different speeches and listen to them again and again.
- This is another strategy that can be used for improving listening skills.
- If you practice this strategy for a few weeks you can overcome all difficulties based on pronunciation, meaning, accent, etc.
- Listen to the news headlines and sports commentary
- These are the easiest methods that can be used by beginners.
- Regularly listening to news headlines from news channels, and listening to the running commentary of Cricket football and hockey also can help us to improve our listening skills.
- Start listening to unscripted interviews. At the initial stage, you may not understand the speech completely. Gradually you improve your listening skills within a few months
These are some strategies or techniques that can be used for the improvement of listening skills.