How to Schedule an Appointment in English
Vanessa:
Hi. I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to schedule a doctor’s appointment?
Let’s do it. Talking on the phone, and especially
doing some professional business on the phone,
can be really intimidating. It can be intimidating
for you as an English learner, but it’s also
intimidating for me as a native English speaker.
I sometimes feel a little bit nervous on the
phone. I’m not exactly sure what to say. Before
I talk on the phone, I need to take a deep
breath, think about what I’m going to say.
Today I would like to give you that same type
of preparation help. You’re going to be watching
me book an eye doctor appointment for my husband,
Dan. I call the eye doctor on the phone, and
we go through the process of booking an appointment
for him.
I want to explain some of the expressions
that we use, some of the questions that we
use. If you ever need to book an appointment
on the phone for a doctor’s office, or for
a hotel, or book anything on the phone, I
hope this will give you some extra confidence
so that you can do it because, really, if
you take a deep breath, you got it.
All right. Let’s watch the conversation that
I had on the phone with the eye doctor’s secretary.
Then we’re going to pause. I’m going to explain
some important expressions to you that I think
would be helpful for your daily conversations.
All right. Let’s watch.
All right. I am going to be attempting to
make an eye doctor appointment for my husband,
Dan. I already scheduled an appointment for
myself. I wanted to share that with you, but
I forgot to record it. I can’t go back now,
so I’m going to also make an appointment for
my husband, Dan. I want you to listen carefully,
hear what they have to say on the phone, the
questions they ask. I hope to help you along
the way so that you can use these expressions
yourself. All right. Let’s see what happens.
Secretary:
Triangle Visions of Asheville. This is Emma.
How can I help you?
Vanessa:
Hi. I was calling to make an eye doctor appointment.
Secretary:
All right. Have you been seen by us before?
Vanessa:
All right. We’re off to a fast start, huh?
The first question that she asked me is, “Have
you been seen by us before?” Now this isn’t
a little joke because they’re an eye doctor,
and she asks, “Have you been seen by us?”
No. This is just a common question that means,
are you a current patient at this doctor’s
office? It’s not because they’re a vision
doctor, an eye doctor. This means, are you
a current patient? Have you been seen by us?
Let’s take a look at another sample sentence
where you can use this sentence construction.
If the secretary on the phone asks you, “Are
you a current patient?” You could say, “No,
I haven’t been seen by you before.” That doesn’t
mean they have not looked at you. They have
not seen you. No, it just means that you’re
not a current patient. Or if you are a current
patient, and they say, “Oh, are you a new
patient?” you could say, “No, I’ve been seen
by you before, but it’s been a long time.”
All right. Let’s watch that clip one more
time. Listen for the question, have you been
seen by us before? Then we’re going to continue,
and you can watch the next part. Let’s watch.
Secretary:
Triangle Visions of Asheville. This is Emma.
How can I help you?
Vanessa:
Hi. I was calling to make an eye doctor appointment.
Secretary:
All right. Have you been seen by us before?
Vanessa:
I have not. I’m actually calling to make an
appointment for my husband. I have a scheduled
appointment for myself, but I wanted to make
a second one for him.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Let’s see. Yes, it’s just a
little tricky with spouses. Is he available?
Because, unfortunately, because he is a legal
adult, he would either need to authorize you
to make the appointment, or he would need
to make it himself.
Vanessa:
Oh okay. Would authorization mean he just
needs to hop on the phone and say yes? All
right. We had a little difficulty here because
I’m making the appointment for my husband.
Usually, this is not a problem when it’s a
haircut appointment or something that’s a
little less formal, but with doctor’s offices,
it might be a little more serious because
there are some regulations they have to comply
with. Not everyone has access to your medical
data. This secretary is thinking that maybe
this includes booking appointments.
I wanted to ask, what does authorization mean?
Sometimes this just means that the other person
needs to send an email. Maybe you need to
have an official document, or maybe they just
need to say, “Hey, yes, she can book the appointment
for me, but I’m too busy to do it myself.”
I used a wonderful phrasal verb, to hop on.
I said, “Does he just need to hop on the phone
and say yes?” Maybe he can just say, “Yes,
she can book an appointment.” That’s it.
I said, “Hop on,” because this means something
quick, some type of quick action. We use that
full expression, to hop on the phone, but
we can also use it in other ways. You might
say, “To get to the park, you just have to
hop on the bus.” You can use it for transportation
like this, to hop on the bus, to hop on the
train, to hop on a plane, even, if you’re
making a quick decision to just hop on a plane.
When I heard that there was trouble, I hopped
on a plane immediately. It’s this type of
quick, easy action.
All right. Let’s watch that clip one more
time. Then we’ll continue with the conversation.
I’m actually calling to make an appointment
for my husband. I have a scheduled appointment
for myself, but I wanted to make a second
one for him.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Let’s see. Yes, it’s just a
little tricky with spouses. Is he available?
Because, unfortunately, because he is a legal
adult, he would either need to authorize you
to make the appointment or he would need to
make it himself.
Vanessa:
Oh okay. Would authorization mean he just
needs to hop on the phone and say yes?
Secretary:
Pretty much, yes. Well, because I don’t have
him in my system… Actually, let me ask real
quick, if you don’t mind.
Vanessa:
Let’s talk about two points in this quick
clip. She said, “Let me ask real quick.” Just
to let you know, the correct grammar is really
quick, but in daily English conversation,
sometimes we just say real quick. We use real
with something else like, oh, it’s a real
beautiful day today. It’s a real beautiful…
It should be, it’s a really beautiful day,
but you will hear English speakers use real
instead of really, even though it’s grammatically
incorrect.
Personally, I don’t recommend that you use
this, but if you hear it, you’ll know what’s
happening, and you’ll understand. It’s just
kind of a really casual type of conversational
language. Let’s talk about that last sentence
that she said, “If you don’t mind.” This is
simply a polite comment. I don’t have a choice.
It sounds like she’s giving me a choice I
can ask or I don’t need to ask, but really,
she’s not giving me a choice. She’s just letting
me know, “Hey, I’ll be right back.” She could
have said, “Just a moment. I’ll be right back.”
That’s totally fine too. She said, “If you
don’t mind,” and she’s not waiting for an
answer. She just says, “If you don’t mind.”
Then I say, “Okay,” and then she goes and
asks for permission about this situation.
This is a really nice, kind of, just filler
expression to be polite, “Hey, if you don’t
mind.”
Let’s watch that clip, and then we’ll continue
with the conversation where you will hear
a very important phone verb. Let’s watch.
I’m actually calling to make an appointment
for my husband. I have a scheduled appointment
for myself, but I wanted to make a second
one for him.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Let’s see. It’s just a little
tricky with spouses. Is he available? Because,
unfortunately, because he is a legal adult,
he would either need to authorize you to make
the appointment or he would need to make it
himself.
Vanessa:
Oh okay. Would authorization mean he just
needs to hop on the phone and say yes?
Secretary:
Pretty much, yes. Well, because I don’t have
it in my system… Actually, let me ask real
quick, if you don’t mind. If you’ll just hold
just a second.
Vanessa:
Another quick sentence. She said, “If you’ll
hold just a second.” Am I holding something
in my hands? No. She’s asking just to wait.
This is a common phone verb. That means you
are waiting on the phone. Let’s take a look
at some common sentences using hold that you’ll
most likely hear on the phone in this type
of situation.
Do you mind holding for a moment? I’m not
holding something in my hands. Instead, do
you mind waiting for a moment. Because we
use hold on the phone, this is a more common
verb. Do you mind holding for a moment? Do
you mind holding for a second. Or you might
just hear the simple sentence, “Please hold.”
I’ve gotten this often on the phone when a
place is really busy. Let’s say you’re making
a restaurant reservation, and they’re super
busy. You call. They might just pick up the
phone and say the name of the restaurant and
then, “Please hold,” nothing else. They don’t
wait for a reply. They just say, “Please hold.”
That means you got to wait because they’re
really busy.
If you would like to see about how to order
food on the phone in English, I made another
one of these lessons where I ordered food
on the phone. Then I explained some expressions
to you. You can watch that video up here.
A lot of you found that very useful, and I
hope that you will too. You can use just,
please hold, very simple, straightforward,
especially if you’re extremely busy.
We can put this in a bigger phrase. Someone
might say, or if you’re a secretary, you might
say, “I’m going to put you on hold for a moment.”
This phrase, to put you on hold, is the same
idea. Please wait. Maybe they’re going to
push the hold button on the phone. That’s
kind of what this means. All right. I’m going
to put you on hold for just a moment. Ask
this question, and then I’ll be back. I’m
going to put you on hold for a moment. It
just lets the other person know that they
haven’t disappeared, but you’re just going
to have to wait for a moment.
Finally, a common one is, thank you for holding.
This is pretty self-explanatory. After the
person comes back on the phone, then they
are going to thank you for waiting, thank
you for holding. You will see this, or rather
hear this expression, in just a minute. Let’s
review that sentence. You’ll hear it again,
and then we’ll move on with the conversation.
Listen for this great phrase, “Thank you for
holding.” All right. Let’s watch.
Secretary:
If you’ll just hold just a second.
Vanessa:
I could have Dan make the appointment. He
is just in the other room, but I wanted to
share it with you. We’ll see what happens.
This is a good test.
Secretary:
Thank you for holding. I cleared that up with
them. Actually, we should be good. As long
as we’re just making an appointment, we should
be all right.
Vanessa:
All right.
Secretary:
All right. Okay. Yes, I never want to slack
off on the HIPAA stuff, so I just wanted to
make sure.
Vanessa:
No problem. In this section you heard, “We
would be good. We should be all right.” This
type of phrase, to be good, to be all right,
or to be okay, just means everything’s fine.
Everything’s correct. We can even use this
in a really casual situation that you’ll probably
hear a lot in movies, TV shows. You can use
it too. If you’re just walking and someone
bumps you, they might say, “Oh sorry.”
What can you say to reply to them? They bumped
into you. You could say, “It’s okay. No problem,”
or you can use this phrase and you could say,
“It’s okay. You’re good.” “You’re good,” is
a very casual way to say, I forgive you. Usually,
we use forgive for pretty serious things,
but it’s a casual way to say that. Oh, no
worries. You’re good. This means I’m fine.
I’m not hurt. Forget about it. It’s totally
fine. Oh, you’re good.
This is a really casual way to say this. You
could also interchange, “Oh, you’re all right.
You’re okay,” but I think, “You’re good,”
is probably more common in this bumping situation.
“Oh, you’re good.” You’ll hear this a lot.
There’s another great phrasal verb that I’d
like to share with you, and it is to slack
off. I love this one. This means that you
are not careful about something. It’s not
about danger. It usually means laziness or
forgetfulness. We use this often in school
situations.
You might say, “Yes. I got a perfect score
on my first test in English class, so I thought
I’m great at English. I don’t need to study.
I slacked off. The next test, I failed.” This
means I was lazy. I was not attentive. I was
not careful about studying because I thought
everything’s fine. It’s fine. No problem.
I can slack off, and I’ll still get a good
grade, but really, I shouldn’t have slacked
off. We can sometimes just give a warning.
Don’t slack off. Don’t slack off. You need
to stop slacking off and get to work.
On the phone, the secretary was saying, “I
don’t want to slack off on HIPAA stuff.” What
is HIPAA? Let me tell you. HIPAA… That stands
for, I looked it up, Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act. Basically, this is
medical privacy, that if your neighbor calls
your doctor’s office, they can’t say, “Hey,
can you tell me the medical records for my
neighbor?” No, this is private information.
This law, this act is basically protecting
you.
Whenever you go to a doctor’s office, when
you make an appointment, or when you fill
out some forms, there will hopefully be a
HIPAA form. The secretary will probably tell
you this, “All right. Fill out these forms
with your medical history and sign this HIPAA
form.” It says, “I agree to have my medical
information be private.” That’s the general
idea, I think. It’s saying, I agree that this
should be private.
If there is a situation where you want someone
else to have access to your medical information,
maybe your husband, or wife, or mother, or
something like this, then there’s often a
section where you can write, this person also
can have access to my data. If your husband
calls the doctor’s office and says, “Hey,
did you get the lab results for my wife? I’d
like to know what they are,” well, if his
name is not given permission to see that,
they’ll say, “No, we can’t tell you. It’s
a private thing. It’s under this act.”
If he has permission, if you have given legal
permission on this form, then they can tell
him over the phone. Then that’s not a problem.
He’ll probably need to verify who he is, that
he’s not your neighbor. In this situation,
it’s just keeping your information private.
All right. Let’s watch that section one more
time. Listen for those useful expressions,
and then we’ll go on to the next section where
you’ll hear some more valuable parts of booking
an appointment on the phone. Let’s watch.
Secretary:
Okay. Thank you for holding. I cleared that
up with them. Actually, we should be good.
As long as we’re just making an appointment,
we should be all right.
Vanessa:
All right.
Secretary:
All right. Okay. I never want to slack off
on the HIPAA stuff, so I just wanted to make
sure.
Vanessa:
No problem.
Secretary:
All right. What is his last name?
Vanessa:
It’s Prothe, P-R-O-T-H-E.
Secretary:
All right. What is the first name?
Vanessa:
Daniel.
Secretary:
Got you. What is his date of birth?
Vanessa:
It’s 4/1/87.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’ll link up the addresses
here. What is your first name?
Vanessa:
Vanessa. Okay. I want you to notice two things
that happened in this section. The first one
was that I spelled my last name. If your last
name is unusual, especially maybe difficult
to spell for an American… It’s a very vague
sentence, but something that might not be
extremely common in the U. S. Be prepared
to spell your last name and also your first
name. I didn’t spell Daniel or Vanessa because
those are commonly known in the U. S., and
people most likely know how to spell them.
If you don’t want to spell your name, then
you can wait until they ask you. Because it’s
a doctor’s office appointment, usually, you
want them to spell your name correctly and
to have everything accurate for medical reasons.
If you think maybe your last name or your
first name’s difficult to spell, just practice
spelling it in advance so that when you go
to the appointment, they can easily find you.
There’s one more thing. When I said Dan’s
date of birth… That’s how she asked me.
It’s kind of a formal way. She didn’t say,
“When’s his birthday?” She said, “What’s his
date of birth?” This is common for a doctor’s
office. I said, “4/1/87.” Do you think that
his birthday is January 4th, or do you think
his birthday is April 1st?
Unfortunately, the U. S. is not very logical
about dates, and we use month, day, year.
I know that almost the rest of the world says
day, month, year, and this makes so much sense.
Unfortunately, in the U. S., we don’t do it
like that. His birthday is April 1st, 1987.
You can use this. You can say the specific
numbers of your date of birth, or you can
just say April 1st, 1987. Totally fine.
If I ever need to give a date for someone
who’s from another country, and I’m not certain
if they are using day, month, year, or month,
day, year, I just say the full thing, September
4th, 1987. That’s my birthday. I will say
the full date. Maybe that would be a little
bit safer for you because if you tell the
doctor’s office the wrong birthday, and when
you go to the office, they verify your identity
with your birthday, that could cause a problem.
They might say, “Oh, you’re not the same person
because your birthday is wrong.” Try to be
as clear as possible about the day.
If you’re not comfortable saying 4/1/87, because
maybe it’s January, maybe it’s April, just
say the full thing. That’s totally fine. All
right. Let’s go back and watch this clip where
I spelled our last name and I gave Dan’s date
of birth. Then we’ll continue with the conversation.
Let’s watch.
Secretary:
What is his last name?
Vanessa:
It’s Prothe, P-R-O-T-H-E.
Secretary:
All right. What is the first name?
Vanessa:
Daniel.
Secretary:
Got you. What is his date of birth?
Vanessa:
It’s 4/1/87.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’ll link up the addresses
here. What is your first name?
Vanessa:
Vanessa.
Secretary:
Got you. The address is…
Vanessa:
That’s right.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’m going to link
that up. What’s the best phone number to reach
him by?
Vanessa:
412.
Secretary:
All right. Is that a phone number that he’s
okay with receiving text reminders on?
Vanessa:
Yes.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’ve got that set
up for him. All right. Will he be doing the
out-of-pocket as well?
Vanessa:
Yes.
Secretary:
Got you.
Vanessa:
You just heard a great expression, out-of-pocket.
What is in my pocket? What do you think she’s
saying? Are you taking something out of your
pocket? No. This means that all of the expenses
for the medical visit, I will pay by myself
without insurance. Let’s talk about payment.
When you go to the doctor’s office, you have
two choices. You can pay with your insurance
if you have insurance, or you can pay out-of=pocket.
For me, I have general health insurance, but
that does not include eye insurance. When
I go to the eye doctor, I need to pay out-of-pocket.
She knows this because I’ve already booked
an appointment for myself. In their system,
it says out-of-pocket. It says Vanessa does
not have eye insurance, so she will pay out-of-pocket.
I imagine in their computer system, there’s
two options: insurance, out-of-pocket. They
probably clicked out-of-pocket. They know,
or they’re guessing, that my husband, Dan,
also will be paying out-of-pocket. If you
are simply visiting the U. S. and you have
no insurance, this is what you’d say. They’d
ask you, “Do you have insurance, or do you
have your insurance card with you?” I say,
“No, I’m paying out-of-pocket.” Great. This
is very clear, and this is the typical medical
expression.
Whenever you pay out-of-pocket, they will
most likely tell you the full price for your
visit in advance. If they don’t, it’s okay
to ask. I always do because I’m going to be
paying in cash at that moment, so I want to
know how much it will be. Usually, they’ll
tell you. You’re about to see that in just
a moment. She’ll tell me the full price for
the visit because I’m going to be paying out-of-pocket.
I need to know.
If they don’t tell you, feel free to ask,
“Hey, by any chance, can you tell me how much
is the price for this visit?” They’ll tell
you. If they don’t know, well, that’s another
problem. She can probably dig a little bit
deeper, or maybe you should go to somewhere
else that’s a little more clear. In general,
most places will tell you the full price for
an out-of-pocket payment. All right. Let’s
watch that clip one more time, and we’ll go
on to the next one where you’ll hear some
more details about the payment. Let’s watch.
Secretary:
All right. Is that a phone number that he’s
okay with receiving text reminders on?
Vanessa:
Yes.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’ve got that set
up for him. All right. Will he be doing the
out-of-pocket as well?
Vanessa:
Yes.
Secretary:
Got you. All right. Is he a contact-lens wearer?
Vanessa:
Yes. Right now, he wears glasses and occasionally
wears the daily contacts. I’m sure he’d like
to have an appointment to see all of that,
get an appointment for contacts and just a
general eye exam. That would be great.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Just to give you a heads-up
there, the exam itself… That would include
seeing the doctor and getting your glasses
prescription, all that, that’s $99 out-of-pocket.
The contact lens exam is its own separate
charge. Since he’s worn contacts before, you’d
be looking at $75 for if he gets fit for a
standard lens or $120 if he gets fit for a
specialty lens. All right. That would also
include any follow-up visits that he may need
for that.
Vanessa:
Oh, got you. Okay. All right. In this section,
you heard a little bit more details about
the payment for this eye doctor’s visit. She
used a really great expression that you’re
going to hear a lot in daily conversation,
and that is, to give a heads-up, to give a
heads-up. This is usually a warning. It’s
not always something that’s really seriously
negative.
Let’s take this example that you don’t like
dogs, or maybe you’re a little bit allergic
to dogs. You’re about to go to your neighbor’s
dinner party. Your neighbor might say, “Oh,
I just want to give you a heads-up that my
uncle is bringing his dog to our party.” This
is like a little warning. It’s not something
super serious. It’s not, “There’s a cliff.
Don’t fall off the cliff. I want to give you
a heads-up.” No, no, no. That’s really serious.
That’s just, watch out.
If there’s something that you want to warn
someone about a little bit, you can say a
heads-up. That’s why she used it about the
payment. She wanted to maybe have a indirect
or polite way to start talking about how much
I will be required to pay. She said, “I just
want to give you a heads-up.” I just want
to give you a notice or a warning that this
is how much the visit will cost.
Then she used a great expression, “You’re
looking at $75 if he wears standard lenses.”
This is the price, $75 for part of the appointment.
She said, “You’re looking at.” Is this another
clever expression with vision and eye doctor,
you’re looking at. This just is a polite way
to talk about money.
Let me give you another sample sentence. If
you go to a car dealership and you buy a car,
the car salesman might say, “You’re looking
at $15,000 before tax.” The price of the car
is $15,000 before tax. Instead of saying,
“The price of this car is $15,000 before tax,”
it’s a more casual way and maybe kind way
to talk about price. You’re looking at. You’re
looking at 15,000 before tax. It’s also a
roundabout number.
Maybe the eye doctor’s appointment will be
$80. Maybe it will be $70. She gave us specific
number, $75. I imagine that this will probably
be $75, but for other purchases like a car,
it might be a little more indirect. You’re
looking at $15,000 before tax. All right.
Let’s go back and watch this clip. Then we’ll
go onto the next one.
Secretary:
All right. Is he a contact-lens wearer?
Vanessa:
Yes. Right now, he wears glasses and occasionally
wears the daily contacts. I’m sure he’d like
to have an appointment to see all of that,
get an appointment for contacts and just a
general eye exam. That would be great.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Just to give you a heads-up
there, the exam itself that would include
seeing the doctor, and getting your glasses
prescription, and all that, that’s $99 out-of-pocket.
The contact lens exam is its own separate
charge. Since he’s worn contacts before, you’d
be looking at $75 for if he gets fit for a
standard lens or $120 if he gets fit for a
specialty lens. All right. That would also
include any follow-up visits that he may need
for that.
Vanessa:
Oh, got you. Okay.
Secretary:
All right. Okay. Let’s look for an appointment
for him. Did you want me to try to schedule
you all both together or just book him a separate
appointment?
Vanessa:
Probably a separate appointment would be best.
Secretary:
Okay. Got you. Is there a preferred timeframe
or day of the week you’d like me to be looking
at?
Vanessa:
If there’s any afternoon that’s available,
that would probably be good, anytime, yes,
in the afternoon. In this clip, I said two
very similar expressions. I said, “That would
be good. That would be best.” This is, really,
just a polite way to say, “Yes, that’s what
I want.” Often we kind of use indirect language
like this when we’re doing something professional.
Let me give you a couple examples. When can
we have a meeting? I think Friday would be
best. Oh, this is great, very polite. I think
Friday would be best. Just very simple and
clear, but it’s also polite. Or if you’re
booking a hotel and the secretary on the phone
says you can check in at 10:00 AM or 2:00
PM. Well, you could say, “I think 2:00 PM
would be good.” I think 2:00 PM would be good.
You could just say, “2:00 PM, please.” That’s
fine. This great expression, “I think 2:00
PM would be good,” is another one you can
use. All right. Let’s go back and watch this
clip and continue with the conversation. We’re
almost done. You got this. Let’s watch.
Secretary:
Let’s look for an appointment for him. Did
you want me to try to schedule you all both
together or just book him a separate appointment?
Vanessa:
Probably a separate appointment would be best.
Secretary:
Got you. Is there a preferred timeframe or
day of the week you’d like me to be looking
at?
Vanessa:
If there’s any afternoon that’s available,
that would probably be good, anytime, yes,
in the afternoon.
Secretary:
Got you. All right. It looks like my first
afternoon appointment I’ve got available…
I have Tuesday the 4th at 1:30.
Vanessa:
Okay. Tuesday the 4th at 1:30… Yes, that
seems fine. Let’s go with that.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’m going to put him
there.
Vanessa:
I said, “Let’s go with that.” Did you hear
me say that? Let’s go with that. This is just,
that’s the one I want to choose. We often
use this expression, go with, when we’re ordering
something. You’ll hear this often in a restaurant.
You can use this in a restaurant too. You
might say, “I’ll go with the steak and salad,
please.” I’ll go with. It doesn’t mean that
you are taking the steak and salad to go and
taking it home. It just means this is what
I choose. This is what I want to order. I’ll
go with the steak and salad, please. Excellent.
This is a great way to use this phrase. Okay.
Let’s go back and watch and then continue
our conversation.
Secretary:
All right. It looks like my first afternoon
appointment I’ve got available… I have Tuesday
the 4th at 1:30.
Vanessa:
Okay. Tuesday the 4th at 1:30… Yes, that
seems fine. Let’s go with that.
Secretary:
Okay, great. All right. I’m going to put him
there.
Vanessa:
About how long are those appointments?
Secretary:
I’d say about 45 minutes, average. It also
sort of depends. If he wants to pick out glasses,
frames, or anything like that at the end,
that would extend the time a little bit.
Vanessa:
Sure.
Secretary:
On average, I’d say about 45 minutes, around
there.
Vanessa:
Okay. That’s great. Why did I ask, “About
how long will this appointment be?” This is
not a necessary question. Really, I just asked
this for my own personal knowledge because
while Dan is at the doctor’s office, I will
be watching the kids. I wanted to know, do
we have time to be dropped off at a park and
then he could pick us up? Or what do we have
time to do while he’s gone? I just wanted
to know. I wanted to show you, too, that if
you have any questions for the secretary when
you’re booking these types of appointments,
feel free to ask.
As you can see, this lady is extremely kind
and polite. It’s no problem to ask a question.
If you have any, don’t worry about asking.
Just ask and that way, you’re not guessing
or wondering about something. You know. All
right. Let’s continue with the conversation.
About how long are those appointments?
Secretary:
I’d say about 45 minutes, average. It also
sort of depends. If he wants to pick out glasses,
frames, or anything like that at the end,
that would extend the time a little bit.
Vanessa:
Sure.
Secretary:
On average, I’d say about 45 minutes, around
there.
Vanessa:
Okay. That’s great.
Secretary:
All right. Okay. I have got him booked for
Tuesday the 4th at 1:30. Is there anything
else I can do for you?
Vanessa:
That’s it. All right. We are coming to the
end of the conversation. She asked, “Is there
anything else I can do for you?” I said, “That’s
it.” That’s it. I didn’t need to say, “No,
that’s it.” I could have said that, but this
expression, “that’s it,” means I’m finished.
Everything is complete.
When you’re ordering at a restaurant, you
can also use this. Let’s go back to our previous
example where you say, “I’ll go with the steak
and salad, please.” Then your waiter says,
“Would you like a glass of wine to go with
that?” You say, “No, that’s it.” You’re saying,
“I don’t want the wine. I’m finished. I just
want the steak and salad. No, that’s it.”
This is a great expression to use to just
politely say, “I’m done. No. This is it. That’s
all that I want.” All right. Let’s watch that
clip one more time. We have finished our conversation.
Let’s watch.
Secretary:
All right. Okay. I have got him booked for
Tuesday the 4th at 1:30. Is there anything
else I can do for you?
Vanessa:
That’s it.
Secretary:
All right. Looks great. Well, you have a great
rest of your day.
Vanessa:
Thanks so much. You too.
Secretary:
Thank you. Goodbye.
Vanessa:
Bye. Success. Yes. Congratulations on following
me on this journey of a booking a doctor’s
appointment on the phone. For me, sometimes
I do feel a little nervous in these situations.
If you feel a little nervous, don’t worry.
It is perfectly normal. I hope that this lesson
will help you to prepare a little bit.
Now I have a question for you. Tell me, do
you like booking appointments over the phone,
even in your native language? How do you feel?
Do you feel comfortable with this type of
thing, or do you feel a little bit nervous?
Let me know in the comments. I can’t wait
to read to see what you have to say. We are
all human around the world. We all have similar
feelings and experiences.
Well, thank you so much for learning English
with me. I’ll see you again next Friday for
a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
The next step is to download my free ebook,
Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker. You’ll learn what you need to do
to speak confidently and fluently. Don’t forget
to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more
free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.