Extra English Podcast

(Don't) Call Me!

Extra English Podcast Episode 7

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0:00 | 25:54

In this episode, we talk about something many people love… and many people don’t: talking on the phone.

From old landlines to modern smartphones, we share our experiences with phone calls and why we both usually prefer texting instead. We also talk about when phone calls are still useful, and how phone habits have changed over time in Canada.

This episode is perfect for English learners who want to hear natural, everyday conversation about a very relatable topic.

You’ll hear simple, clear English in a relaxed conversation, vocabulary related to phone calls and texting, and some personal stories and opinions about phone culture. 

 If you’ve ever ignored a call and thought, “I’ll just text them later,” this episode is for you.

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SPEAKER_01

In the moment, I should just relax about it. Time for me. I feel like it's like chickens, which is chickens. They're more scared of us than we are of them, but I don't think they're scared on the other end.

SPEAKER_00

They're not scared we are.

SPEAKER_02

We're the chickens. Someone who works as a receptionist doesn't mind the phone. Hello, Eepers. Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa. We're two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us. And hopefully will interest you too. So join us for another conversation. Today let's talk about phones.

SPEAKER_01

Phones, great.

SPEAKER_02

Like cell phones, landlines, talking on them. Texting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, let's talk about it. Good plan.

SPEAKER_02

Mostly because I'm not a fan.

SPEAKER_01

This is going to be a very one-sided because neither of us love the phone.

SPEAKER_02

I don't love the phone. Um, and I'm so glad we've moved to a time in at least the history of our culture where they don't really have to talk on the phone very much.

SPEAKER_01

It was not the case when we were kids. No. There weren't a lot of options. What were you gonna do? Send a fax. I remember pre-fax. What was before fax?

SPEAKER_02

Letters.

SPEAKER_01

I I have sent a lot more letters than I've ever sent faxes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Uh yeah, when we were kids, there were no cell phones. No. Of course. Of course. Not a single cell phone. No. And well the first time I ever saw any kind of mobile phone was a car phone. Yes. And it was big. It connected to the I guess to the the cigarette lighter. Yeah. Uh in the car. And it was really big. And I remember the person saying, This is for emergencies only. Like it's really expensive. You don't touch it unless like we really need it. Because everything was expensive. Like calling, calling on a phone to another city was expensive.

SPEAKER_01

Uh-huh. When I first traveled overseas, we would call back home via like a phone booth. I don't know what else. We were in India, my brother and I. There was an acronym. Anyways, and it was expensive. So even though our parents, both our children, were on the other side of the world, they really worried about our safety and missed us, but we would only talk to them every like once a week, something like that. Because it cost a lot of money. What year was that? 2006.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So I lived in Chile for a short time in 2004. Okay. I believe. Time is funny. Time is in some ways that sounds like a couple of years ago. Yeah. And then when you do the math, it might have been 2005. I don't know. Around that time, around the same time. And um, I didn't have to go to a phone booth because I was staying in kind of a home safe home stay situation. Um, so there was a phone in the house, but my parents would we would like plan by email when they were going to call and they had to get a special card, international calling card.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we had one of those.

SPEAKER_02

I've totally forgotten about it until you just mentioned it. Yeah. So we would pre-arrange it and there would be a set amount of time, and then we would call and that would be it. Yeah, once a week or maybe not even.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Strange. What different times now?

SPEAKER_02

Unbelievable. Now, like, how often do you video chat with somebody in another country? Yeah. Regularly. Daily. Yeah. Yeah. All the time. Yeah, all the time. And it's and it's the cost of the internet only, it's free. It's ba yeah, it's cheap. And so available. So available.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. When we were kids, it was old school memorizing phone numbers. I can still remember my best friend when I was at elementary school or her phone number still in there. What what else could that brain space be used for if I could only get some of the old stuff moseying on?

SPEAKER_02

You know, I think that actually was probably good for our brains. I think to have to remember things like that. I was I always found that challenging. I knew my my house number, I knew a best, my best friend. Like I had a few numbers, but I didn't really remember very many of them. Um but I yeah, I think that's something that is good for the human mind to have to not to rely on everything being just there in your phone.

SPEAKER_01

Although I don't know, is your memory? I feel like no matter how much I practice remembering things, I don't get any better at it. Not then, not now. I I need the phone to tell me. I will miss every appointment that exists without the phone.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. But if we didn't have phones, we would find a way.

SPEAKER_01

You'd have a paper calendar. Yes. You'd have a a phone book with numbers.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. Right? Okay. So I don't know about you, but the phone book used to come. How often would the phone book come? Well, I think once a year. Do you think? That seems about right. Yeah. And it would be depending on where you live, thick or thin. Like inches thick. Mm-hmm. Thin, thin paper. And to not have your number in there, you had to pay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

All these things I've forgotten. That's true. You wanted privacy. But also, why would you? I mean, there are reasons you wouldn't want your phone number, I suppose. But we never considered them. No, because I think we wanted people to be able to find us.

SPEAKER_02

Of course. Yeah. It would list uh first initial, last name, and address. Would it have addressed?

SPEAKER_01

I don't think so. Address? No, maybe not. I'll just double check. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02

Where can we find a phone book?

SPEAKER_01

Do they even exist? They don't exist anymore.

SPEAKER_02

Do you think recently I got a yellow pages in the mail?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, so the yellow pages, the the pages for people's homes were white. And then the yellow pages was businesses. Yeah. Although people would pay to advertise their business in the homes section. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And I feel like there were also blue pages for government kind of things. Um and sometimes they would all come in one. You would have the yellow pages in the back of the phone book, but I got just just a local listing of businesses recently in the mail, and I put it like I I I kept it. And then I thought, why am I keeping this? What a hundred person recycled it. You will Google.

SPEAKER_01

That is too funny.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I like the nostalgia of it, but I'm not gonna use it. So it doesn't need to take up space. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But we used to all have them. Ours was in a drawer by the kitchen phone. Yes. We had did we have we had two phones, one on the main floor in the kitchen. Okay. Very practical place for a phone. Yeah. And the other was upstairs, although I don't remember where. Maybe my parents' bedroom. Anyway, by the kitchen phone was the white pages. Yeah. And we I used it on a regular basis. Yeah. Right? If I forgot my friend's phone number, of course I know their last name. Flip, flip, flip through the thousands of pages, you find it. Alphabetical order.

SPEAKER_02

That was also, I think we were better at dictionary skills because we had phone book skills.

SPEAKER_01

We're just getting dumber. Unfortunately. No, I agree. All that kind of stuff. You know, when I got my job at the library, I had to put things in alphabetical order. Phone book would have helped me develop that skill.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, but instead, did you sing the alphabet in your head?

SPEAKER_01

No, I'm singing the alphabet in my head.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I have to admit, sometimes I do. Like some of the parts of the alphabet are very clear in my head of how they go in order, but there's a few and I have to do it. LMLP. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01

One day I got a phone call from this. I was in high school, and there was this boy I knew in my grade, and he phoned me, and I hadn't given him my phone number. Oh. But he told me he just called every person with my last name. Which also is hilarious because in the town I grew up in, if you've listened to our first episode, you know I come from an Amish Mennonite background. It's a cultural group. My hometown is full of that cultural group, and my last name is very common. There would have been hundreds. But he said he asked everyone who picked up the phone, Do you know Misha? And then eventually he got my uncle. Oh. And my uncle was like, Yeah, her number's this one. So funny. So he didn't have to go through the whole thing. You didn't have to go. He got event quick enough, he would have got to a relative. But also a bit weird, like, if I didn't give you my number, maybe I don't want you to call me. You couldn't help it though. It was in the phone book. Yeah. This is why you would pay, not this is the reason. No, it was fine, actually. We had a pleasant conversation.

SPEAKER_02

So speaking about people calling, did you spend a lot of time as a young person, a teenager, or maybe a tween on the phone?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, certainly way more than I have spent in the last 10 years of my life. I was never really, as we mentioned, I don't love talking on the phone. I don't love it now. I didn't love it then. But I do feel like it was kind of a more common pastime back then. Yeah. Right? Like if you wanted to socialize. Yeah. So I would have spent time, certainly, talking on the phone, but also you you couldn't do it in private.

SPEAKER_00

Right?

SPEAKER_01

Like it was the kitchen phone. So if I was having a conversation with my friend, my whole family was hearing it. Yeah. Which was fine. Not I didn't have anything super scandalous to talk about, but also it does, it's a different vibe than just chatting with a friend.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. After a while, houses um started getting multiple lines.

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

So then you would have a different ring tone. So you'd know which, like, are you calling for the kids? Are you calling for the parents? Um, or just multiple same line, but multiple phones. So you could be in a in a more private space if you wanted.

SPEAKER_01

This reminds me of, I just had a memory of something we don't do anymore, which is I would pick up the phone, it might be for my mom, say, and you would cover the handle and then shout. I haven't done that in a long time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And you hope you covered it well enough or the person on the other end would get an earful. Those were yeah. What did you spend a lot of time on the phone? Were you? I also didn't really love it. No, it was a means to an end for me. I would I'd rather, you know, talk to somebody in person. Also, I had a fairly large family, and so there was always someone to talk to at home. That's nice. Yeah, and I just kind of had the same routine. No, it wasn't it wasn't part of my my uh free time activities. Yeah, fair enough. And that continued on to this day. I actually I this is not diagnosable, but I I feel like I have a mild phobia of making phone calls. I really dislike it. I'm happy when someone calls me. Yes. I think that's lovely when I want to talk to you.

SPEAKER_01

I don't like that. If you call me, I will watch it ring and wait until it's done ringing so I can continue using my phone. So I'm with you.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I hate making appointments on the phone. One time I waited like six months more than I wanted to to get my hair cut because I didn't want to call them to make the appointment. Why? It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01

They didn't have their online booking system was broken and I just fine. Why doesn't everybody get? I'm currently uh postponing every day calling my dentist back because I know I have a filling, I have cavity that needs a filling. Yeah, they know it, I know it. There's no appointment on the books. And they called me last week and left a message saying, hey, we don't have an appointment, give us a call. And every day I'm like, okay, tomorrow. And then today I'm gonna do it tomorrow. Yep. So check back in. Tomorrow always comes.

SPEAKER_02

Right? I mean, there's always a tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01

Uh tomorrow feels tomorrow's Friday in the time we're recording this, so it feels like end of the week. Yeah, you better make tomorrow the actual tomorrow. But like, what's the big deal? What's the big deal? I mean, why can't I just pick up the phone and call the phone? Oh, I thought you meant about the get your cavity filled. I do. I do want to get that cavity filled.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't know why it's so hard. For me, appointments especially I find stressful because my calendar is also on my phone. So if I'm talking on the phone, how am I how am I accessing my calendar to make the appointment? And then and it's it feels like there's pressure. I don't want to take their time and and we have to I have to decide in the moment. I should just relax about it. I can make time for me.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like it's like chickens, which is chickens. Actually, no, I'm taking mine. I was gonna say they're more scared of us than we are of them, but I don't think they're scared on the other end.

SPEAKER_00

They're not scared. They're not scared we are.

SPEAKER_02

We're the chickens. Someone who works as a receptionist doesn't mind the phone.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, but when I was in high school, as we've mentioned previously, hopefully you've listened to every single episode we've recorded. You'll have all the context. I worked at a library in high school. Yes, and I regularly had to phone people, right? Your your book is here or your book is late or whatever. Yeah. It did help me get a little more used to it because it was like a regular part of my job. Um, but I was the person on the other end of the phone.

SPEAKER_00

And you didn't love it. And I didn't love it.

SPEAKER_02

But if that was gonna be your lifelong career, don't you think you'd want to do something that feels less stressful?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I don't stressful do that for a lifelong career.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That's we are never have to use the phone in our job. Never. Almost never. What even is a phone? Who needs them? Do you know? I currently have a landline. Whoa! Yes, in the year 2020, 2020. Well, now it's 2020. Okay, but I had to buy a new landline phone in 2020 because I moved into my condo. My condo is a very old building, yeah, and our intercom system is landline only. Amazing. Right? Just has never been updated. Most these days, mostly you can get the front door buzzer system and intercom system to call to your cell phone. Cell phone, yeah. But no, ours is a landline, so I had to buy a phone. So I found one that was kind of retro because my my building is retro. And actually, I kind of like it. And my son loves it. He's three, and when people buzz up, he like jumps for joy because he loves to answer the phone and say hello, and then I press the button. Do you use it for anything besides opening the door? No, it doesn't have any functional like I don't pay for okay. I don't even know how you do that. I'm sure people have landlines that function. I think so.

SPEAKER_02

But or are they all internet based? So in the pandemic, was it it was around 2022, around that time, I don't remember. Um, we decided to get like a phone in our apartment at the time. And but we didn't get a line installed, we just did it through the internet. It was void, like voiceover. What was the what was your reasoning? What was the reasoning? I don't know. I think someone needed a a number for a a job or something that wasn't that wasn't a mobile, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Or maybe for your kids before they have cell phones. Maybe I was thinking it would be kind of my son's not old enough yet to need a phone, but I have heard of that as a strategy to kind of uh delay the cell phone use, which has some troubles.

SPEAKER_02

But also, it helps like there's skills that that kids these days don't have. That's true. Like picking up the phone or talking to someone, or like you know, there's something nice about having a communal phone with for the whole family where you know who's calling and you all know each other, and like is so and so there, no, they're not, and take a message. Like that's something that my kids have never done.

SPEAKER_01

No, yeah, interesting. Yeah. That reminds me we talked about the white white pages, yellow pages, the big phone book. Yeah. But didn't your family also have like a family phone book where you would write down also in alphabetical order, usually tabs for every letter, and you'd write people's numbers in there.

SPEAKER_02

I don't think we had one because my mother is really good with numbers. Oh, really? She just remembered all those. Not just phone numbers, but numbers. Oh my gosh. She just loves numbers. She doesn't forget a birthday, she doesn't forget a a phone number. So I we didn't have that book, but I think it's just because we relied on her to be the book.

SPEAKER_01

You would would you just ask her what's Aunt So-and-so's number? Well, I wouldn't call Aunt So-and-so. Problem solved. Well, we had one, and it was over the years it would be written in, and then like a number would be scratched out because someone got a new one, and it was kind of fun. I do like that. Yeah. When I moved out on my own, I got one too.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

For the same.

SPEAKER_02

I would have had to also, so I didn't have my mom's brain with me anymore. You just had to remember her number, and then you would always call her first.

SPEAKER_01

Uh speaking of when I moved out on my own, which was when I was just 19. Ooh, so young. At sort of maybe an average age. Maybe. For Canadian. I don't know. I was starting university back then. Then yes. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

These days I feel like it's getting later and later because life is expensive.

SPEAKER_01

Life is expensive. Anyway, I moved to another city. In fact, I grew up in a very small town and I moved to Montreal, which is a big city. Oh, yes. We need to talk about that someday. I've got questions. Um, so my parents gave me a cell phone for safety, right? If I was gonna be out at night by myself in the city and whatever. But at the time it was pay as you go. So you didn't have like now I pay so much a month and I get unlimited calling and texting and some data. But at the time you would pay for like 30 minutes of talking time. Yeah. So I would always keep about that much on because I didn't actually use it. I had a landline that I used to talk to people. Yeah. The cell phone was just in case I would bring it with me sometimes when I went out at night. I'm saying sometimes because I remember a night I got home late. Because I was young, we went out dancing. I got home at 4 a.m. or something, and there were five messages on my landline. From your mom? Oh. And the last one, like 3:30 in the morning. She's like, I'm not worried, but but but I'm worried. I should have brought my cell phone with me. Your poor mama. She's arrived.

SPEAKER_02

Uh I my first cell phone I got because I was I'm older than you. And so I'm a little bit slightly. Slightly. Um, so I was I didn't get one when I first moved out or anything like that. But then there came a point in time when I had a very unreliable vehicle.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

And I didn't trust it to get me from point A to point B all the time. So same as you. Yeah. Pay as you go, very minimal use, but it was really for 911.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Just emergency phone.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. It's a good time.

SPEAKER_01

Just in case. Did you ever need to use it?

SPEAKER_02

Well, I not for an emergency. Yeah, good. Um, but I did use it once because there I was going to someone's house and there was flooding on the way.

unknown

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

And I didn't know an alternate route to get there. So I had to call and say, can you talk me through the directions? Because I mean, we didn't have GPS either.

SPEAKER_01

It was before Google Maps and even before MapQuest.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Back in the day.

SPEAKER_02

So I I if I had to go somewhere, I wouldn't like make a make a paper map. Yeah. But I didn't need a paper map for this. I knew the directions until the flooding. So did you call someone to I did call and we worked it all out. I got there. It was fine. That was good. It came in handy. It did. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, you know, I had a funny story with my cell phone in university. So I had this phone only for emergencies. I used my landline for actual calling, and everyone who knew me knew that. No one would ever call me on my cell phone. Uh, but one day this guy was like flirting with me and asked for my number. Instead of just saying no, which I could have said, I gave him my cell phone number because I know I never use that. So I thought, okay, here's a way to like get him to leave me alone. Anyway, he called a lot. Like, I think he called three times the first day.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

And then over the weekend, and then I just kept watching these calls come into myself. And I think it really frustrated him that I never answered. But of course, I'm not going to after you call me three times in one day. And even now you said you if someone calls you, just watch it ring. Like this hasn't changed. Even now.

unknown

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

And then he started calling me from different numbers. But I knew it was all him because nobody else ever would have used that number who actually knew me. So have you now learned to just say no? I think I could say no, yeah. This doesn't happen as often as it went to. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, no, better just to say no. But also, it came in handy. It did, yes. Right? If I'd given him my real number.

SPEAKER_02

I've heard that some people have an alternate email address for something similar. Like there's the email address they use for everything. And then sometimes a website will ask you to verify through something. And if you think they're gonna send you spam in the future, they have this secondary email address for that. It's your it's your idea.

SPEAKER_01

It's a 2026 version of mine. Yes. Unused cell phone. I like it. Uh but yeah, now I would just watch it ring too. Yeah. I mean, listen, if my mom calls, I will pick up.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And the first thing she would say is, it's not an emergency. Okay. That's good. Because I would assume if she's calling, it's an emergency.

SPEAKER_02

Well, if anybody calls, I assume it's an emergency. Usually the first thing I ask is, Are you okay? Why aren't you texting me? So that's really interesting. I think this is probably true for certainly our generation and younger. Yes, we would expect a text before a phone call. Absolutely. Yeah. Otherwise we assume there's a problem. Yeah. If you're if you're calling, it's immediate. It's emergency. Yeah. Urgent. Yeah. Totally. Although it really is nice to talk on the phone sometimes. So I think there's people who just call because they want to talk to you. That's beautiful. In that case, it's probably best to say, uh, is it now a good time for a call? Yeah. Or do you want to chat or something to kind of give a heads up? I think so too. Give an idea. I there are But don't call Misha. Just don't call me. I'm sorry. There are a few people. If you called me, I would pick up. You would not. I'd think about. I'm going to test this out sometime next week. But actually I probably won't because I hate the phone call. What are you going to do?

SPEAKER_01

And then I'll answer and you'll be like, oh. I there are a few people I call on the phone, which is older generations. For example, my my grandma. Yep. I'm not gonna she's not actually my grandma, but my grandma-like person. Yeah. Yeah. She she is not gonna ever text me. No, I don't know that she even knows how to text. She might be calling, like picking up on a landline. I think she probably has a landline. Yeah. For sure she has a landline. Yeah. And I call her. Yeah. Right? And and because the point is to catch up. Yes. So it does make sense to Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

With the older generation. Um, but with my parents, I don't actually we don't call, we video chat. Oh, do you? Yeah. Through your phone. Yeah. Yeah. So it's it's it's a call. Yeah. It's a video call.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. We see totally. I think that reduces a lot of my phone dislike when you have the I think part of what I don't like about talking on the phone is you're missing all that body language. Yeah. I feel like it's a lot of context that's missing.

SPEAKER_02

It's true. Yeah. Yeah. We're really lucky that we live in a time where we can totally just like talk like this, even if there's a device in between. Even if we're opposite ends of the world. Yeah. Uh so just going back to landlines and teenagers and all these things. I have a vivid memory of what my phone looked like.

SPEAKER_01

I wonder if it looked like the phone I had as a teenager. I wonder. I'm curious.

SPEAKER_02

So for years and years, phones were like the rotary, it would go around, you'd tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. I don't know how to explain that.

SPEAKER_01

That was very clear.

SPEAKER_02

Uh and then they went to digital phones. So they was you'd still plug against the wall, but you'd beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And then I remember being so excited when I got one that lit up. It had, it was clear, the plastic case was clear. Same phone.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, same phone. You could see all the inside.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. And I had never seen circuits and like that inside, all the mechanics of that before. It was so cool. And they added these unnecessary lights, which would light up when the phone rang.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I think they were a little bit popular.

SPEAKER_01

I think they were popular.

SPEAKER_02

What like late 90s, maybe?

SPEAKER_01

Late 90s, I think so. That's the when I first had my own phone in my room. That's what it was. Yeah, it was so fun.

SPEAKER_02

That is fun. You could turn off the ringer, but I don't think you could turn off the lights.

SPEAKER_01

I don't remember if mine lit up extra. When it rang? It's been a couple years. I mean, it must have. It must have. Anyway.

SPEAKER_02

It was very fun.

SPEAKER_01

Very cool. Phones today aren't as cool looking necessarily, but they come with accessories that are fun. People oh, those kind of old phones. Oh no, I mean like the phone we use every day.

SPEAKER_02

Cell phones. A cell phone. I think some people might say they might disagree. People who love phones and technology might they look sleek.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_02

I guess.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, we can talk about this more when I give you a call tomorrow to chat. Or more likely when I call you and you don't pick up. Then we'll talk about nothing. It'll be great.

SPEAKER_02

It'll be great.

SPEAKER_01

I'll send you a text message. Sorry. Yeah, I didn't pick up.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that'll be it. That'll be the whole thing. Thanks for listening to another episode.

SPEAKER_01

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