Episode 0027
Summary
A female employee, Liv, approaches her supervisor, Mr. McKenna, to request unpaid leave. She explains that she has used all her vacation days but needs to attend her sister's wedding overseas from September 1st to the 30th. Mr. McKenna agrees to the request but reminds her of the two-month notice policy for planning.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Mr. McKenna, do you have a second? I need to talk to you about something.
Sure, Liv. What can I do for you?
Well, I was just wondering. You see, I know I've used up all my vacation days this year, but my sister's getting married and the wedding is overseas and well,
You want to take some time off, is that right?
Well, sir, I was just hoping I might be able to take some unpaid leave this year.
What dates are you planning on taking off? I'll need at least two months' notice so that I can plan for your absence.
I was thinking of taking off from September 1st until the 30th. Would you be okay with that?
Well, I guess so.
Summary
This audio provides a detailed guide on how to politely ask your boss for time off, featuring a dialogue between an employee (Liv) and her manager (Mr. McKenna) where Liv requests unpaid leave for her sister's overseas wedding. The hosts, Marco and Erica, then break down key vocabulary like "vacation days," "overseas," "unpaid leave," and "notice." They emphasize the importance of using polite and indirect language when approaching a superior, offering specific phrases like "I was just wondering" and "I was just hoping that" to make requests sound less demanding. The segment also includes example dialogues to illustrate proper usage and common pitfalls.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello everyone, welcome to EnglishPod.
Today I'm here with Erica.
Hi Marco.
And I'm Marco.
And we're bringing you a great elementary lesson about a situation at an office.
That's true. Today we're gonna learn some phrases for asking for time off.
Right. Asking for time off.
Or asking for leave.
Asking for leave, right.
Right. So we're gonna give you some great phrases and vocabulary for when you want to ask for leave.
So, let's just listen to our dialogue today where in office where Liv wants some time off.
Mr. McKenna, do you have a second? I need to talk to you about something.
Sure, Liv, what can I do for you?
Well, I was just wondering, you see, I know I've used up all my vacation days this year, but my sister's getting married and the wedding is overseas and well,
You want to take some time off, is that right?
Well, sir, I was just hoping I might be able to take some unpaid leave this year.
What dates are you planning on taking off? I'll need at least two months notice so that I can plan for your absence.
I was thinking of taking off from September 1st until the 30th. Would you be okay with that?
Well, I guess so.
Well, it sounds like the boss wasn't too happy about Liv's request.
Well, she wanted to take off for 30 days, so
I guess that is a long time.
That is a long time. I wish I could do that.
Yeah.
Okay, we have some great words for you today, so let's start with our language takeaway.
Language takeaway.
Four words on our language takeaway today. Uh, Erica, why don't you tell us the first one?
The first word is vacation days.
Vacation days.
Vacation days.
So what are vacation days?
Basically, you're it's the number of personal leave days. So the number of days that you can take to go on vacation.
Mhm.
How many vacation days do you have?
Yeah, I think I I have not so many. I only have 10 vacation days.
10 vacation. Well, in some countries, uh, there are 10 vacation days is normal. In other, I guess it's 10, 15, even 20, I've heard.
Yeah, yeah. Well,
Vacation days.
We can't take too many vacation days, or else we won't make any more podcasts.
I know.
Um, why don't we look at our second word? Overseas.
Overseas.
Overseas.
When you travel overseas, you travel over the ocean.
Over the ocean to another country.
Exactly.
Okay, overseas.
Okay, and our third word for language takeaway, unpaid leave.
Unpaid leave.
Unpaid leave.
So this is time off without pay.
Without pay.
Simple.
Right. Unpaid leave.
And our last word, notice.
Notice.
Notice.
Notice.
So we have some great examples on how we use notice and from these examples, I'm sure you'll be able to understand exactly what they mean.
Example one.
If you want to quit your job, make sure you give enough notice. You'll need to tell us four weeks in advance.
Example two.
You didn't give me enough notice about this project. I didn't have enough time to finish it.
So when you give someone notice, you give them information in advance.
In advance, right.
So if I want to take time off, I need to give my boss notice, advance information.
Right. 15-day notice or a 20-day notice, etcetera.
Great, so that's our language takeaway for today. Now we are ready to listen to our dialogue a second time and this time it's gonna be really slow.
Mr. McKenna, do you have a second? I need to talk to you about something.
Sure, Liv. What can I do for you?
Well, I was just wondering, you see, I know I've used up all my vacation days this year, but my sister's getting married and the wedding is overseas and, well,
You want to take some time off, is that right?
Well, sir, I was just hoping that I might be able to take some unpaid leave this year.
What dates are you planning on taking off? I'll need at least two months notice so that I can plan for your absence.
I was thinking of taking off from September 1st until the 30th. Would you be okay with that?
I guess so.
A lot of non-native English speakers sometimes feel quite nervous about asking their boss for time off, hey?
Yeah, I guess it's a kind of a difficult subject.
Yeah, but today we're gonna teach you some great phrases that you can use next time you need to ask for some time off.
Great, so why don't we take a look at putting it together?
Putting it together.
Okay, so on putting it together today, we're going to talk about some great phrases that you can use when approaching your boss.
Yes.
We heard Liv say this.
Do you have a second?
Do you have a second?
This is a nice way to make sure your boss isn't busy when you want to ask him something.
Right, right.
Right, but we could also say this in two different ways. Let's listen.
Do you have a minute? I want to ask you something.
Do you have a sec? I need to talk to you.
A great way to approach your boss.
Yeah, I I love this phrase. Do you have a sec?
Yeah, do you have a sec? It's really natural.
Okay, so you've asked your boss for leave and you want to make sure that he agrees with you.
Yes.
And this is how Liv did it.
Would you be okay with that?
Would you be okay with that?
This is a great pattern. And we've got two other examples of how you can use it.
Example one.
Are you all right with that?
Example two.
Will you be okay with this?
Example three.
I'm fine with that.
Okay, great examples, great patterns, really useful language.
Yes.
Okay, so now let's listen to our dialogue a third time.
Mr. McKenna, do you have a second? I need to talk to you about something.
Sure, Liv, what can I do for you?
Well, I was just wondering, you see, I know I've used up all my vacation days this year, but my sister's getting married and the wedding is overseas and, well,
You want to take some time off, is that right?
Well, sir, I was just hoping I might be able to take some unpaid leave this year.
What dates are you planning on taking off? I'll need at least two months notice so that I can plan for your absence.
I was thinking of taking off from September 1st until the 30th. Would you be okay with that?
Well, I guess so.
I really noticed how Liv in this dialogue used a lot of really polite language, hey?
Yeah, I guess when you're talking to your boss, you really have to be respectful and you have to use really polite language.
What sort of things did she do to make herself seem more polite?
Well, she said a couple of interesting phrases. For example, well, I was just wondering.
Yeah, I was just wondering.
Right. It's like, well, she's kind of setting up to ask for a favor or for something.
And she also used another phrase that I thought was interesting.
Yeah, she also said I was just hoping that.
Yes.
Right? I was just hoping that maybe I could take some time off.
Yeah, again, that's sort of doesn't sound too strong. So it seems a bit more polite.
Yeah, because if she said, well, I want to take some time off, that's too strong.
Yeah.
So I was just hoping.
And then, well, the boss says, okay, well, when do you want to leave? And she says, well, I was thinking of, right? I was thinking of.
Yeah.
Again, if she would have said, I want to.
Yes.
Too strong, right?
Yeah. In English, sometimes we are careful to not be too direct when we're asking for some something, right?
Right, yeah.
Because if you're too direct, you sound a little bit impolite.
Yeah, you sound rude.
Yeah.
Okay, so great tips and great things to take into consideration the next time you're talking to your boss.
All right guys, we're out of time, but thanks for listening and be sure to check out our website, englishpod.com.
Right, where you can leave all your questions and comments and we'll be there to answer them. But I guess until then, it's goodbye.
Bye.
Summary
This audio is an English vocabulary learning exercise featuring two speakers. Speaker 1 provides definitions or instructions, while Speaker 2 responds with the vocabulary word or uses it in a sentence. The exercise covers terms such as 'have a second', 'use up', 'overseas', 'take some time off', 'notice', 'agree', and 'unpaid leave'. The segments are often repeated to reinforce learning, and some phrases are demonstrated within context sentences.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Have some time, not busy.
Have a second.
Take all of something.
Use up.
In another country across the ocean.
Overseas.
Stop working for a short time.
Take some time off.
Information that tells you about something or warns about something.
Notice.
Agree.
Be okay with that.
Time away from work that is not paid.
Unpaid leave.
Let's try that faster.
Time away from work that is not paid.
Unpaid leave.
Information that tells you about something or warns about something.
Notice.
Stop working for a short time.
Take some time off.
Take all of something.
Use up.
In another country across the ocean.
Overseas.
Agree.
Be okay with that.
Take all of something.
Use up.
Stop working for a short time.
Take some time off.
Have some time, not busy.
Have a second.
Stop working for a short time.
Take some time off.
Have some time, not busy.
Have a second.
Take all of something.
Use up.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Have a second.
Do you have a sec? I need to talk to you.
Use up.
I'm afraid I cannot join you for this trip. I've used up all my vacation days.
Overseas.
I've never traveled overseas.
Take some time off.
I have an exam tomorrow. May I take some time off today to study?
Notice.
If you want to quit your job, make sure you give enough notice. You'll need to tell us four weeks in advance.
Overseas.
I've never traveled overseas.
Take some time off.
I have an exam tomorrow. May I take some time off today to study?
Notice.
If you want to quit your job, make sure you give enough notice. You'll need to tell us four weeks in advance.