Skip to content
Vera
English

The format everyone finds hardest.

Bad audio, no lips to read, and someone waiting for you to answer.

What Vera actually is

A phone call with someone who is not there. You say the thing out loud, they answer the way a real person would, and you get to do it again — as many times as it takes, with nobody listening.

1She calls youA real phone call, about ten seconds after you tap. Lock screen, headphones, car — wherever you take calls.
2She plays the other personNot a coach reading tips. Phone & Video Calls, with someone on the other end who answers back.
3She pushes when you are vagueFollow-up questions, interruptions when you ramble, and a straight read at the end on what landed.
Start Practising

15 minutes free · no card needed

Start Practising

15 minutes free · no card needed

“What if I am bad at it?”Everyone is, on the first one. That is the entire reason it happens here and not there.
“What if I do not know what to say?”She asks first and follows up on whatever you answer. You never start from a blank page.
“What if it is awkward?”It is, for about twenty seconds. Then it is a conversation, and nobody heard the twenty seconds.

Not practising doesn’t save you anything.

The ticket, the evening, the weeks of applying — all of it is spent before anyone says a word. The practice is the only cheap part, and the only part that changes how the rest goes.

Start Practising

15 minutes free · no card needed

What she'll actually ask

She asks these the way a real person would, then follows up on whatever you say.

  1. Can you hear me? Start the call properly.
  2. We just talked over each other. Recover.
  3. Ask me to repeat what I said, naturally.
  4. Take a message and read it back to me.
  5. End the call politely.
More about this one

Phone and video calls are the hardest format in a second language and the one people avoid, which makes the gap grow. There are no visual cues, the audio is compressed, people talk over each other, and there is no time to compose an answer. Avoiding calls is a rational short-term response and an expensive long-term one, particularly at work. The only fix is calls, which is conveniently what this is.

What she listens for

Overlap recoveryTalking over each other is constant on calls and rarely rehearsed.
ConfirmingReading information back is what prevents the errors that make calls stressful.
ClosingEnding a call cleanly is formulaic and almost never taught.

Other English practice

English Job InterviewsInterview-specific English, not general conversation.Business EnglishMeetings, updates, disagreement, and the small talk before the call starts.IELTS SpeakingAll three parts, in format, with the long turn timed.TOEFL SpeakingA timing exercise disguised as a language test.

Common questions

Why are calls harder than face to face?

No lip reading, no gestures, compressed audio, and no thinking time. Every support you normally use is removed at once.

How do I stop avoiding calls at work?

Practise them where nothing is at stake. Avoidance grows the gap, and the gap makes the next real call harder.

What if I miss information?

Read back what you did catch and ask about the rest. Confirming is normal professional behaviour in any language.

Ready to try it?

Your first 15 minutes are free. No card required.

Start Practising