Phone calls when you study abroad
By the Travel's Calling team · Updated October 30, 2026
Studying abroad means a semester of real conversations, and some of the hardest happen on the phone: calling your housing contact before you arrive, booking an appointment, ordering a taxi with luggage, or reserving a table for a group of classmates. A little preparation makes these calls much less stressful.
The calls students actually make
- Housing: confirming arrival with a host family, landlord or residence, especially if you're arriving late.
- Appointments: a doctor, a bank or a phone shop, where you'll need to give your name, date of birth or address.
- Taxis: getting from the airport or station with luggage.
- Restaurants: booking for a group, where they'll want a time and a name.
Before you leave home
Learn to say and spell your name, your local address, and your phone number in the local language. Those three come up in nearly every call. Practice dates and times too, including the 24-hour clock, which is standard in much of Europe and Latin America.
The first week
Your first calls will feel the hardest, and that's normal. Keep a call card with your key details and two rescue phrases ("Can you repeat more slowly?" and "Do you speak English?"). Ask your program staff or host for the local way to open and close a call; small details like the greeting make a big difference.
Use the phone to learn faster
Phone calls force you to listen without visual help, which is great training. Students who make calls themselves, instead of always texting or asking someone else, usually improve their listening faster. Start with low-stakes calls, like asking a shop's opening hours, before the important ones.
Practice before you go
Rehearse with a language partner, a tutor, or a practice tool. Travel's Calling lets you pick your destination city, choose your level, and practice calls like the hotel, a taxi and a restaurant as browser voice calls in the local language, with a short trip report after each one. Our phrase guides for Spanish, Italian, French, German and Japanese are a good place to start.
Phrase table
| Language | My name is… | My address is… |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Me llamo… | Mi dirección es… |
| French | Je m'appelle… | Mon adresse est… |
| Italian | Mi chiamo… | Il mio indirizzo è… |
| German | Mein Name ist… | Meine Adresse ist… |
| Japanese | …to mōshimasu | Jūsho wa … desu |
Practice this call before you go
Travel's Calling turns your own trip into practice phone calls. Pick your destination, upload your itinerary or type a few plans, choose your level, and take a voice call in your browser with an AI character who answers in the local language. After each call you get a short trip report. It works for destinations around the world, so you can rehearse this call in the local language.
Start practicing on Travel's Calling →Quick answers
- What phone calls will I make while studying abroad?
- Commonly housing, appointments, taxis and restaurant bookings. Each needs your name, address or phone number in the local language.
- How can I prepare for phone calls before studying abroad?
- Learn to say and spell your name, address and phone number, learn the typical questions for each call, and rehearse out loud.