Learn how to greet somebody at the office and ask them to do something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Greeting Your Co-worker in the Morning. Becky here. |
| John: Hi, I'm John. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to greet somebody at the office and ask them to do something. |
| John: It's between Linda and Thomas Gray. |
| Becky: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Good morning. |
| Thomas Gray: Good morning, Linda. The weather is wonderful today. |
| Linda: Right! The temperature is perfect. |
| Thomas Gray: It's a shame we have to work in the office! |
| Linda: Indeed, it is. Sadly, I’ll need you to work on the report we talked about in the meeting. Do you think you can finish it by Friday morning? |
| Thomas Gray: It may be difficult, but I’ll try. |
| Linda: Thank you, Thomas. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Linda: Good morning. |
| Thomas Gray: Good morning, Linda. The weather is wonderful today. |
| Linda: Right! The temperature is perfect. |
| Thomas Gray: It's a shame we have to work in the office! |
| Linda: Indeed, it is. Sadly, I’ll need you to work on the report we talked about in the meeting. Do you think you can finish it by Friday morning? |
| Thomas Gray: It may be difficult, but I’ll try. |
| Linda: Thank you, Thomas. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: The conversation we just heard was between two co-workers. What if one of them was the boss? What should you call your boss in the US? |
| John: It’s typical to call your boss, or any superiors, by their title and surname. For men, this will usually be Mr., and women will use either Mrs., Miss, or Ms. |
| Becky: Right, some people may use other titles, such as Dr., but these are special cases and you’ll be told if you need to use something like that. |
| John: It’s rare to call a boss by their job title, but if you’re talking about them to another member of staff, you might say "The CEO wants this report by Friday," instead of using the CEO's name. |
| Becky: Let’s also say that many American companies aren't as formal and are happy for staff to use first names, |
| John: Right, some companies use surnames only without titles. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: wonderful [natural native speed] |
| Becky: extremely good, amazing |
| John: wonderful [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: wonderful [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: perfect [natural native speed] |
| Becky: flawless, without error |
| John: perfect [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: perfect [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next up is... |
| John: shame [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a pity |
| John: shame [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: shame [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, there’s... |
| John: indeed [natural native speed] |
| Becky: really, correct |
| John: indeed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: indeed [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: sadly [natural native speed] |
| Becky: unfortunate |
| John: sadly [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: sadly [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly... |
| John: difficult [natural native speed] |
| Becky: something that is hard to do, the opposite of easy |
| John: difficult [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: difficult [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: shame |
| Becky: This is a noun that means that something is disappointing or not satisfactory, and it can be used in any situation. |
| John: "Shame" can also refer to a feeling of guilt or embarrassment because of bad behavior. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say.. “It's a shame he didn't get the job.” |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: indeed |
| Becky: This is an adverb that means "really" or "correct." |
| John: It can be used in any situation. For example, you can say “Indeed, it seems that is the case.” |
| Becky: It can also be used for emphasis, or to add extra supporting information to a sentence. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to greet somebody at the office and ask them to do something. Let’s start by quickly reviewing the main greetings. |
| John: As we already mentioned in another lesson, we can say “hello” at any time during the day. |
| Becky: In the morning, you would naturally say, “good morning.” Any time past noon, we say “good afternoon.” |
| John: Finally, from around six p.m. or seven p.m., the greetings change to “good evening.” We don’t use “good night” as a greeting, even during the night, as this is typically a way to say “goodbye.” |
| Becky: Although we can say “hello” all day, we usually don’t use it when dealing with clients and customers. “Good morning,” “good afternoon,” or “good evening” are better greetings for clients and customers, as they sound more formal. |
| John: Also, when you enter the office or workplace at the start of the morning, the usual greeting is “good morning.” |
| Becky: Co-workers that have a friendly relationship will probably just say “morning” to each other. Okay, now let’s see how to ask your co-worker to do something. |
| John: There are many ways to ask a co-worker of a similar position to do something. The appropriate way to ask depends on your relationship to them and how major the task is. For small, easy tasks that you know your co-worker will be happy to do, you can ask in a more direct manner using “Can you…?” |
| Becky: For example “Can you photocopy this for me?” or “Can you get the phone?” To make these phrases a little more polite, you can use “Could you…?” and “please.” |
| John: For example “Could you photocopy this for me, please?” or “Could you get the phone, please?” |
| Becky: If the task is bigger, you’re asking someone you don’t know very well, a superior, or someone who may be too busy to help, you should be more polite and less direct. |
| John: Before saying what you want them to do, you should use an opening question, such as “Are you busy?” or “Could you help me?” |
| Becky: If they say “yes” or ask why, then you can explain what you want them to do using the same patterns as before. To ask for favors, it’s best to use “please.” |
| John: For example “Could you get me the sales figures for the last quarter, please?” or “Could you finish this by Friday, please?” |
| Becky: Finally, if your co-worker agrees to help, remember to say “Thanks for your help.” |
| John: If you are a senior member of staff asking a more junior member of staff to do something, then you can be more direct. |
| Becky: It’s more telling your co-worker what to do than asking. Common sentence patterns for these kind of requests are “I need you to…” or “Please do…” |
| John: For example, you can say “I need you to get me the sales figures for last quarter” or “I need you to finish this by Friday.” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| John: See you! |
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