你问我答

Mobile Phone Etiquette 手机礼节

Hello everyone, my name is Cai Lu. When I arrived in the UK I found it a little difficult to talk with foreign people by mobile phone. It is different from in China. When we talk on the phone in China we usually say in Chinese 你有什么事吗?But I don't know how to say it in English. To avoid this embarrassing situation, I want the BBC programme to give me some suggestions. Thank you.

Cai Lu, from Beijing, studying in UK

Telephone conversations can be difficult because you can't see the person you are talking to. Of course this is even harder in a foreign language.

Cai Lu asks us how to say the phrase 你有什么事吗?in English. Indeed, if you don't know how to say this the conversation can be quite awkward!

So what do British people say?

Finn calls a couple of his colleagues to find out what they would naturally say in place of 你有什么事吗?

Young people with mobile phones

What do you say after 'Hello'?

Listen out for these phrases:

Can I help you with something?

What's up?

Did you just call for a chat?

If you have a question you would like to ask our team, email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.

We might produce a programme about your question.


教育频道意见反馈留言板 电话:010-82628888-5178 欢迎批评指正

新浪简介 | About Sina | 广告服务 | 联系我们 | 招聘信息 | 网站律师 | SINA English | 会员注册 | 产品答疑

Copyright © 1996 - 2011 SINA Corporation, All Rights Reserved

新浪公司 版权所有