Episode 0105

And I'm Erica.

Today we're bringing you a lesson about the office, so something related to business, right?

That's right. And in this lesson, we're learning um, language you can use to tell someone they did a good job.

Okay, so a job well done. You want to praise somebody.

That's right. So we're going to listen in as a manager praises his employee on a presentation.

Okay, so before we listen to the dialogue, let's take a look very quickly at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

Well, we're going to hear both of these words in the dialogue, and the first one is a wiz.

Whiz.

To be a wiz.

Okay, so it's an adjective, somebody is a wiz.

That's right. And wiz comes from the word wizard.

Okay, so kind of like a like a witch, but a guy witch.

Yeah, man witch. Um, but so a wiz is someone who is really good at something.

Okay. So I can say David is a computer wiz.

Or Anthony is a math wiz.

Okay, so he's really good at computers or he's really good at math, or he knows a lot about math.

Exactly.

Okay. And uh, our second word.

Well, we're going to hear about slides.

Slides.

PowerPoint slides.

PowerPoint slides. Okay, so everyone knows PowerPoint, right?

A computer program.

A computer program that you use to make presentations.

And a slide is one page in that presentation.

Okay, so if you have 10 pages in your PowerPoint presentation, you basically have 10 slides.

Exactly.

Very good. So now let's listen to the dialogue for the first time and we're going to see what's happening in this business meeting.

And so, that concludes my outline for our marketing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time.

Nah, come on, it was nothing. I'm just doing my job.

Well, Kristen did give me a hand with the slides. She's a real wiz on PowerPoint.

Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points.

All right, well, it sounds like the employee is a little bit shy or or embarrassed by receiving all of these compliments.

Yeah, I guess he's kind of uh, being humble about it.

Exactly. So, why don't we move on to the language now? There are so many really useful phrases in this dialogue, um, that I think we're just going to focus on those today. So, let's get started with fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

Okay, so today on Fluency Builder, let's start with our first phrase. The boss was so impressed with the presentation that he said, I was completely blown away.

To be completely blown away.

Okay, so to be completely blown away.

Or to be blown away.

All right, so what does that mean to be blown away?

To be surprised, um, and amazed, but in a very positive way.

Okay, so I can say, I'm surprised, I'm amazed, uh, but I'm still not very clear on this. Why don't we listen to a couple of examples of how we could use this phrase?

Example one.

Carl blew me away with his knowledge of political science.

Example two.

I was blown away when I heard that Jenny and Rick had gotten married. They've known each other for less than a month.

Example three.

My parents were blown away when they found out I had a tattoo.

Okay, so completely blown away. You blew me away.

That's right.

Now, what about our second word?

Well, it's quite similar. Um, the boss said that you really wowed me.

You wowed me.

To wow someone.

Okay, so it's spelled W O W, wow.

So when you wow someone, you make that person go, wow.

Okay, so you impress somebody.

Yeah. To wow someone.

I can use it as a verb. You wowed me.

I want to wow you.

Well, I want you to wow me.

Okay, so uh, wow.

Now, let's take a look at our third phrase. The guy, he's a little bit shy, he's trying to be a little bit humble about, you know, receiving so many compliments. So he says, oh, it was nothing.

It was nothing.

Really, it was nothing.

It was nothing.

So that's a way of saying it wasn't hard or it's not a big deal.

It's not that important.

Exactly. So if somebody's saying, wow, thank you so much for lending me your car. It was nothing.

It was nothing.

All right. It's it's a polite way actually to respond to a nice compliment. Very good. So before we move on to our next phrase, let's listen to a couple of examples with it was nothing.

Example one.

Thanks for lending me your car this week. I really appreciate it.

It's okay, really. It was nothing.

Example two.

Don't worry about it. It was nothing.

Okay, so I think that's pretty clear. Now, our final phrase here for fluency builder. Um, the employee said that Kersten gave him a hand.

Okay, so to give someone a hand.

Give me a hand.

Give me a hand.

Basically, to help someone.

Help me or assist me.

Okay, so to help someone to give me a hand or let me give you a hand.

That's right.

All right, very good. So great phrases in fluency builder today. I think it's time for us to listen to the dialogue for the second time. Uh, we're going to slow it down a little bit so we can catch all these phrases and then we'll come back.

And so, that concludes my outline for our marketing strategy for next year. Thank you very much for your time.

Ah, come on. It was nothing. I'm just doing my job.

Well, Kristen did give me a hand with the slides. She's a real wiz on PowerPoint.

Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points.

Okay, so like we said before, there's a a lot of really helpful phrases in here. Um, and we're going to look at a few more of these in putting it together.

Putting it together.

Okay, so let's start with the first phrase. Uh, the boss was quite impressed with him and he said, that was quite the presentation.

That was quite the presentation.

All right, quite the presentation.

So this phrase, quite the presentation, it means it was good, right?

Mhm.

It was, it was special.

It was, it was very good.

Yeah. Now, we can take the noun presentation out and replace it with any other noun.

All right, so I can say Bob is quite the basketball player.

Mhm. Why don't we listen now for a few more examples?

Example one.

I heard you're quite the dancer. Can you teach me some moves?

Example two.

Carl is quite the ladies' man. He is very good when it comes to talking to girls.

Example three.

Nancy is quite gifted at math. She can solve any math problem you give her.

So you're saying in a in a very good way that something is very good.

Or special, very special.

All right. So the boss was very impressed with the employee and he said, and I saw that you took on board my feedback.

To take on board my feedback.

Okay, so take on board something.

So here my feedback is um, my suggestions, right?

Mhm.

And when you take on board my feedback, you accept my feedback and you use it.

Okay. So I can say, for example, uh, I want you to take on board my ideas.

Okay, very good. So to take on board, to accept and use.

All right, so take on board feedback, take on board suggestion, take on board ideas.

Okay, very good. And we have one more phrase I'm putting it together today. To think something through.

To think it through.

Okay, so think it through.

So here the boss said that he took the time to think through my suggestions.

Mhm. So think through. What does that mean?

Um, to think carefully about all of the details of something.

Okay, so to take into consideration all the aspects.

Right. So, why don't we give an example? Um, if you're thinking through a plan, right? You don't just think about the end, the outcome. You want to think about all of the small details, the steps in that plan.

Okay. So maybe I want to buy a new car, but it's a lot of money. So I really have to think it through.

So you have to think carefully about everything that is involved in buying the new car. All the money you're going to have to, you know, not spend on parties and

Exactly. You have to think it through. You have to analyze it very carefully.

That's right. So, let's give a few examples of how we can use this phrase. Hey, Marco, have you thought through my suggestions?

I can say, you guys are very young. I think you should think it through before you get married.

Good advice.

Okay. So to think it through.

Okay, so, um, three great phrases and why don't we hear them one more time in our dialogue.

And so, that concludes my outline for our marketing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time.

Nah, come on. It was nothing. I'm just doing my job.

Well, Kristen did give me a hand with the slides. She's a real wiz on PowerPoint.

Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points.

Okay, great dialogue and uh some interesting phrases for giving praise, right? That's I think very important in the workplace.

Yeah, and you know what, I read recently that something like six out of every ten employees don't get regular praise from their boss.

Yeah, it's very important and in some cultures, well, it's not very common to praise or to give positive feedback to their employees.

Yeah, but I think um for for Western employees, actually it's really important and it helps them work harder, the more, the more um times they hear, job well done.

With your friends.

With your friends. Yeah. Okay, so if you have any questions, comments or doubts, please come to our website englishpod.com.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Used to say it was good.

Quite the

Praise given to someone for doing a good job.

Give credit.

The action of saying a person did a good job.

Praise.

Speech, demo, a meeting where you present something.

Presentation.

Make someone confident, help them do better.

Encourage.

To tell the truth, frankly speaking.

Honestly.

To publicly give special attention to someone for doing a good job.

Recognize.

Impressed by.

Blow someone away.

Suggestions for improvement.

Constructive criticism.

Amaze, impress.

To wow someone.

Used to show humbleness.

It was nothing.

Are entitled to.

Deserve.

Praises, credit.

Recognition.

Recall the past.

Look back on.

Advance, progress.

Improvement.

Help someone.

Give someone a hand.

A genius.

Whiz.

Adopt.

Take on board.

Other people's opinions.

Feedback.

To carefully consider and think about it.

Think through.

Good job.

Well done.

Let's try that faster.

Used to show humbleness.

It was nothing.

Amaze, impress.

To wow someone.

A genius.

Whiz.

Make someone confident, help them do better.

Encourage.

Help someone.

Give someone a hand.

Are entitled to.

Deserve.

Advance, progress.

Improvement.

Recall the past.

Look back on.

Adopt.

Take on board.

Praises, credit.

Recognition.

Other people's opinions.

Feedback.

Good job.

Well done.

To tell the truth, frankly speaking.

Honestly.

Used to say it was good.

Quite the

To carefully consider and think about it.

Think through.

Suggestions for improvement.

Constructive criticism.

The action of saying a person did a good job.

Praise.

Impressed by.

Blow someone away.

To publicly give special attention to someone for doing a good job.

Recognize.

Praise given to someone for doing a good job.

Give credit.

Speech, demo, a meeting where you present something.

Presentation.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Quite the

Quite the

Quite the

That's quite the car. You must have spent a lot of money on it.

Blow someone away.

Carl blew me away with his knowledge of political science.

Blow someone away.

Blow someone away.

My parents were blown away when they found out I had a tattoo.

Look back on.

Look back on.

Look back on.

We raised three kids and worked full-time. So sometimes I look back and wonder how we did it.

Take on board.

Banks really need to take on board the views of their customers to understand them better.

Take on board.

It seems that young people are finally taking on board the message that it's not cool to smoke.

Take on board.

Mike is not the type of person that takes on board any feedback.

Think through.

I really need to think through my options in order to make a decision.

Think through.

We can't afford a mistake, so think things through and make sure you have everything ready.

Think through.

You should think through all these questions before you start writing your report.