How to Handle Phone Calls in French

When we speak to people in real life, we actually have a lot more clues than just words to help us understand what’s going on.

There’s all the visual clues that a person gives us like body language, facial expressions, and their positioning.

Then there’s the context around us in a situation that helps.

If you’re in a job interview, you’re already expecting different language than if you’re hanging out at the bar with your French friends.

But as soon as we’re on the phone, we lose those visual clues.

And often, it’s not until we’re on the phone that we realise how much we rely on them!

This is what makes phone calls so hard.

We know the context of the conversation (sometimes!) but we can’t see who we’re talking to, and we miss out on everything else they say beyond words.

That hyper focus on words can be mentally taxing for some of us – myself included.

I’ve always noticed that I learn much better with audio courses when I have a corresponding visual – a transcript, a text with related questions etc – than when I’m just listening and looking around the room twiddling my thumbs!

When it comes to picking a language resource to use, this is good information. I can simply adjust what I use to learn languages and how I use it.

But I can’t make those same changes with a phone call. So, what can we do?

One of the reasons listening is so hard is sound discrimination ability.

It’s not something that’s talked about much but it makes a huge difference when it comes to listening, especially listening on the phone, and especially with a language like French where there’s lots of elisions and liaisons to think about.

Elisions

What’s an elision? An elision is a contraction that happens when two or more words are spoken together. It’s when you drop a vowel for easier pronunciation.

You likely already know a few. For example, you don’t say “je ai”, you say “j’ai”. It’s not “le ami”, it’s “l’ami”.

Learning more about when to expect them, what they sound like, and how to use them can help you to get better at sound discrimination when it can feel like all the words blend into one! This is a great explanation of elision to get you started.

Minimal Pairs

Another really easy trip-up are those similar sounding word pairs. Think about peur vs père or dessus vs. dessous.

Especially when listening on the phone, these can be difficult to decipher.

To get better here, try these French pronunciation videos on YouTube with a focus on minimal pairs. 

Liaison

At first, it may seem that liaison and elision are the same, but they’re not.

They are similar but here’s where liasion differs: liasion is when the final consonant of a word (that’s not pronounced when the word is on its own) is pronounced when the next word after it begins with a vowel.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds!

For example, you don’t usually pronounce the final “s” in “les”.

You would say “les maisons” and it would sound more like “lay maisons”. But if that noun were to begin with a vowel, the “s” of “les” gets pronounced.

Take “les amis”. It’s not pronounced “lay amis”, it’s more like “lez amis”.

There’s a great deep dive into liaison that will help you to understand this further here.

Part of the way to get better at sound discrimination in general is simply more listening practice. I know, I know. It’s not the answer anyone wants to hear. But we can be a little more intentional with our practice to help us here.

The idea of a listening process is something you may have come across before but not paid much attention to.

Think of the actual listening (in this case, the phone call) as a three stage process: before, during, after.

If we’re making the phone call ourselves, we can plan beforehand to better prepare us for the context.

Think about what vocabulary or phrases you might want to use or expect to hear.

Consider sample scenarios of how you expect the conversation to happen.

When you’re prepared in this way, it’s less of a shock when the other person starts speaking!

Then there’s the phone call itself, which in terms of the process is the ‘during’ stage.

This is when you continually monitor how you’re doing.

Not with a heavy focus on every single word, but more so making sure you’re feeling ok, comfortable, and not too stressed.

If you noticed yourself getting stressed out, is it a conversation that can wait for another day when you’re better prepared or in a better mood for it?

Or is there a way we can simplify the language being used?

And finally, there’s the ‘after’ stage.

There’s a tendency after something scary in another language like a phone call to think “Phew! I’m glad that’s over!”, move on, and distract ourselves as quickly as possible!

But it is worth taking a moment to think about what went well, as well as what you feel could be improved for next time.

Be sure that your ‘after’ phase ends with a metaphorical pat on the back.

Every time you show up and do the scary thing, you’re getting closer to better fluency in French.

But what can you listen to and how can you apply this process?

Dictation

Dictation. It may send a shiver down your spine of school-era memories, but there are great tools out there now to make it a little more appealing!

I love the Dictée tool from TV 5 Monde.

You pick your level, pick a text, and get to type out what you hear as you hear it.

The pace is great, there’s a range of topics, and they make it easy to include accented letters. Well worth a try.

News Podcasts

It might not always be as uplifting as you’d like but the advantage of using news in your French practice is you’ve probably already got an idea of what they’re talking about.

That context is a great help when it comes to understanding more of what you hear.

Journal en français facile is a great start point because they provide a transcript for the slow paced podcast.

When you get to a point that it feels too slow, you can upgrade to one of the many faster news podcasts available in French!

Video Practice

Getting better at listening so you can handle phone calls in French doesn’t mean that your practice has to be limited to audio-only.

There are plenty of useful video options available that you can take advantage of such as YouTube or Netflix.

I recommend watching interesting French content using the Language Reactor tool. This can add subtitles to any content – even if they don’t show as an option within the video player itself.

You can then apply your new listening process to your video practice as and when you need to so you can make the most of watching TV, film, and other video content.

So far we’ve focused primarily on listening, as this is often the hardest part of handling phone calls in French.

However, it’s worth familiarising yourself with French phone etiquette so you know what you should say at the start or end of a phone call.

Answering the Phone

In casual situations, you can answer with:

  – Allô ? (Standard but mostly for informal or unknown calls)

  – Oui, bonjour ? (More polite, often used with unknown numbers)

  – Oui ? (Very casual, used among friends and family)

In a professional setting, always state your name:

  – [Nom de l’entreprise], bonjour ! (e.g. “Boulangerie Dupont, bonjour !”)

  – Bonjour, [Votre Nom] à l’appareil. (e.g. “Bonjour, Claire Martin à l’appareil.”)

Introducing Yourself When Calling Someone

Don’t just say “Allô”, state who you are:

  – Bonjour, c’est [votre nom]. (Casual)

  – Bonjour, [votre nom] à l’appareil. (More formal)

  – Je vous appelle au sujet de… (I’m calling about…)

If calling a business, be clear and polite:

  – Bonjour, je souhaiterais parler à [nom de la personne] (I’d like to speak with…)

  – Est-ce que je peux parler à quelqu’un qui s’occupe de… ? (Can I speak to someone who handles…?)

Asking to Speak to Someone

Casual:

  – Est-ce que [nom] est là ? (Is [name] there?)

  – Je peux parler à [nom] ?

Formal/Professional:

  – Pourrais-je parler à [nom], s’il vous plaît ?

  – J’aimerais parler à [nom] concernant [sujet].

What you might hear if the person isn’t available:

  – Il/elle n’est pas là en ce moment, voulez-vous laisser un message ? (They’re not here right now, would you like to leave a message?)

Leaving a Voicemail (Message Vocal)

If you get a voicemail, you’ll often hear:

  – Bonjour, vous êtes bien sur le répondeur de [nom]. Merci de laisser un message après le bip.

Here’s an easy framework for a casual message you can leave:

  – Salut [nom], c’est [votre nom]. Rappelle-moi quand tu peux !

And a couple of phrases for more formal voicemail:

  – Bonjour, ici [votre nom]. Je vous appelle au sujet de [raison]. Merci de me rappeler au [votre numéro].

  – Vous pouvez me joindre au [numéro] entre [heures].

Ending the Call Politely

French speakers usually close a call with a polite exchange, rather than just saying “bye” abruptly.

Casual:

  – À plus! (See you later!)

  – Bonne journée! (Have a nice day!)

Professional/Formal:

  – Merci beaucoup pour votre aide, au revoir!  (Thank you very much for your help. Goodbye!)

  – Je vous remercie, à bientôt! (Thanks again, bye!)

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help in understanding when you need it, especially over the phone. No shame here for getting help!

Here are some useful phrases for when you don’t understand what’s been said in a phone call:

– Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plaît? (Can you speak more slowly, please?)

– Je n’ai pas bien compris, pouvez-vous répéter? (I didn’t quite understand, can you repeat?)

– Excusez-moi, je ne vous entends pas bien. (Excuse me, I can’t hear you well.)

– Il y a beaucoup de bruit, pouvez-vous parler plus fort? (There’s a lot of noise, can you speak louder?)

I hope this has been a helpful confidence boost to get you ready for your next French phone call. You can do it!

Remember, it’ll get easier over time the more phone calls you make.

Every phone call that ends feeling like a failure is all practice, and therefore a step closer to it becoming easier in the future.