Transcription
Today, we are going to practice listening a little, and then you will also try to speak, to produce sentences. I need your opinion, and I will use a situation from everyday life. Then, I will present three possible solutions, and you will give me your opinion. Okay? So, it's a simple, everyday situation. I received my phone bill for my mobile phone, and I saw there was a problem. The bill is higher than usual. I don't understand why. So, I will show you three situations, three possible responses, and for each one, I will ask for your opinion. Okay? So, we will start with the first approach. Is it a good approach? I'll let you watch, I'll let you listen, and then you will explain to me what you think about it. Ah, wait, I just received a message. It's my phone bill. 90 dollars. Well, that's strange. It's strange because usually it's 60. Strange. Strange. Yeah. Well, that's how it is, huh. I must have done something. They don't charge people like that for no reason. Yeah, maybe I should look at my bill, wait, the details... on my account. Oh yeah, but I need the password. I don't remember the password. It's okay, it's okay. I'm not going to spend 10 minutes on this for 30 dollars, huh. There. 90 dollars, I'll pay 90 dollars.
To help you a little to formulate sentences, try to tell me if you think this is a good approach. What am I doing here? Am I trying to find a solution? You can press pause if you want time to think, and you can of course give me your suggestions in the comments. I will read them and correct them. You see that here, I am not trying to solve the problem. I am not trying to make an effort to solve the problem. I am enduring the situation. To endure is when you accept something. You're not necessarily happy, but that's how it is. It's a bit like fate. And you see at the end, I resign myself. That means I will pay 90 dollars. Too bad, that's how it is. That's life. I don't even try to look at the details of my bill because it requires too much effort. So, this is an approach that is not necessarily effective. I'll let you watch the second approach now. Look carefully at what I'm doing. Look carefully at my gestures, my body language. Ah, wait, I have a message. It's my bill. Here. What? 90 dollars. Is this a joke or what? Usually, I pay 60. No, no, no, no, no, this is not going to happen like this. Wait, wait, I'm going to check my account, and I can tell you they're going to hear from me! There's an online chat, they're going to hear from me! So, wait, I need to log in. Password. Do I remember the password? I don't remember. Password reset. There, I'm going to spend another hour sorting out a problem like this. No, no, no, no. Bill. So, what did they do? They're charging me for data. Data? Did I go abroad or not? No, no, no, no, that's not possible. When I go abroad, I turn off my data, I know that. So, it's not possible. It's not possible. So, it's simple. If they charge me the 30 dollars, well, I'll switch, I'll switch phone providers and I'll look elsewhere. There, that's how it works. That's how you have to talk to them. You see that here I'm immediately annoyed, I'm angry, I get angry because I refuse to pay 90 dollars. I don't understand. So, I get angry. You see in my gestures that I want to explode. So, I try to log in, and especially I anticipate. I want to threaten the phone provider. I don't want to, I don't want to accept this bill, and I want to threaten to leave if I don't get my way, if I don't get what I want, I'm in confrontation. Of course, sometimes we are frustrated by these situations because they make us waste time. We don't want to solve these kinds of problems. And frustration can lead to anger, okay? But we know very well that it's not necessarily a good thing.
So, look at situation C now. Ah, wait, wait, I have a message. It's my phone bill. Wait. 90 dollars this month. Well, let's see, usually I pay 60. That's strange, though. Did I do anything special? I should go and check the details on the website. Wait, I'm going to log in. So, yes, wait, wait. I need a password. But the password, I saved it in my emails. I'll find it right away. Yes, it's okay, it's here. So, login. Hop, bill. What happened? Before getting angry, I'll try to see what's going on. So, ah, look, I see they charged for data. Did I go abroad? Yes, I went to the United States not long ago. Well, yes. Look, there's the date. October 11th. So, that's strange, on October 11th, I went to the United States, but I arrived in the afternoon, and I see they charged me for my data in the morning. Aren't they taking me for a fool? That's not possible, I wasn't in the United States, so they'll have to explain it to me, huh. And then, I see there's another date. I don't know. Well, listen, it's simple, I'll ask them the question in the chat, I'll explain it to them, and then I'll see what they say. I think they have a very good explanation. There, that's the best solution, I think. But I don't want to pay for data for nothing, you know. Why is this situation effective? Does it allow me to solve my problem reasonably? Well, yes, you see that it does. You see here that I immediately try to understand. I have a pragmatic attitude. I'm looking for a solution, and I start by consulting the bill. What's happening? I look, I think, I admit that I went abroad. I look at the dates, I remember what happened, and I notice that there's a problem. So, I explain it to the phone provider, hoping there will be a solution. There.
So, I'll still give you the end of the story. Okay? Because even though I used this situation to let you practice comprehension, to help you speak, to make sentences, there is still an ending because it's a true story. It happened to me this week. So, in fact, by talking with the person in the chat, I realized they made a mistake. They charged data by error. On October 11th, I hadn't yet arrived in the United States when they charged the data. So, the person told me they would correct the bill. So, you see, it's important to check your bills, to pay attention to these small details because sometimes it allows us not to pay for nothing. We don't like paying for nothing. On the other hand, for the second date, I replied to a text message. The person explained to me that when you reply to a text message, it's like activating the data, and so I will be obliged to pay those 16 dollars. But it still ends well because instead of paying 90 dollars, I will pay 75 dollars this month, and I will be careful next time. So, there is still a solution, huh, to avoid this kind of problem. These are virtual, electronic SIM cards. Have you ever tried them? Well, I have tried them, and in fact, they are great. So, I don't think I'll have these billing problems in the future. There, so I thank you for participating in this exercise with me, and I'll see you very soon. Bye bye.