we both spoke in english but...

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i talk to different clients over the phone at work. as we were discussing things, i can see well that she wasn't able to understand what i mean. i tried to say the words as clearly and as slowly as i could and used the easiest words in the english language possible. the woman on the other hand, responded in such english that i wasn't able to comprehend. i tried using probing and rephrasing techniques but to no avail, we ended up the call with only one thing clear, we will call her back if she is no longer busy. thinking over our pointless conversation, i wonder how we cannot understand each other even if we both were speaking the english language. this is a really silly and critical situation particularly for companies like ours. but in any unavoidable situations like this, how can it be prevented? how about you, have you had similar experience/s as i just had this day?