Giving directions on the phone roleplays

Giving directions on the phone roleplays

Roleplay situations from below, each time going through the whole conversation from “Hello/ Good…” to “(Good)bye”. You can choose by:

• picking a card at random
• dealing out the cards and choosing one from your hand
• choose a number
• picking a number at random

with the person who picked being the receiver each time. Your teacher will tell you how to pick and if/ when/ how you can use the useful phrases below to help.

Useful phrases for giving directions on the phone I’m having problems finding… Where are you now?                Can you see…?                       Do you know…? If you start from… If you look towards…                                       If you face North/ Southeast/… If you can see…you’re on the right track. – If you’ve reached…, then you’ve gone too far. It’s a bit too difficult to explain on the phone. Stay there and I’ll come and find you. Thanks for help. See you soon.

When your teacher stops you, look at all of the roleplay cards and ask about any situations which are difficult to know what to say in, working together to brainstorm suitable phrases each time.

Brainstorm useful language for giving and checking directions on the phone, then compare with the box above.

Brainstorm similar language for the other situation that your teacher tells you about.

 

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1. The caller will visit the receiver’s office the day after tomorrow. They phone for directions.

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2. Arrange a meeting somewhere in the building that you both work in and give directions on how to get to the meeting room.

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3. The caller is on their way to a meeting in the building that you both work in but they realise that they don’t know how to get to the meeting room.

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4. The caller phones when they get to the station that you are supposed to be meeting at. The caller is at the wrong exit.

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5. You both want to invite a third person to a bar. Try to agree on a bar which is easy to find and easy to explain the directions to, discussing how you will explain that to the third person. Then one of you phones that third person.

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6. The receiver has emailed a map to the caller but the caller wants to check if they understand it.

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7. The receiver has emailed the caller a map but the caller isn’t sure which spot on the map they should meet at.

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8. The caller has come out of the wrong exit of the station and so the directions which the receiver emailed aren’t useable. The caller phones to ask for updated directions.

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9. The directions that are on the caller’s smartphone don’t match the map that receiver emailed. The caller phones to check which directions are right.

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10. The caller has got so lost that they don’t know where they are on the map anymore. When they phone, the receiver asks them to describe what they can see.

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11. The caller has got so lost that they don’t know where they are on the map anymore. They want to ask a passer-by for directions but can’t speak the local language. They phone the receiver for help.