Job Well Done

Marco: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

Erica: And I’m Erica.

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

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

Marco: Okay, so, a job well done.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: You want to praise somebody.

Erica: That’s right, so, we’re gonna listen in as a manager praises his employee on a presentation.

Marco: Okay, so, before we listen to the dialogue, let’s take a look very quickly at “vocabulary preview”.

Erica: Well, we’re gonna hear both of these words in the dialogue and the first one is a wiz.

Marco: Wiz.

Erica: To be a wiz.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s an adjective – somebody is a wiz. [NOTE: might be an adjective, but here, actually, it’s a noun]

Erica: That’s right and wiz comes from the word wizard.

Marco: Okay, so, kind of like a… like a witch, but a guy-witch.

Erica: Yeah, man-witch, um, but, so, a wiz is someone who is really good at something.

Marco: Okay, so, I can say “David is a computer wiz”.

Erica: Or “Anthony is a math wiz”.

Marco: Okay, so, he is really good at computers or he is really good at math or he knows a lot about math.

Erica: Exactly.

Marco: Okay, and, uh, our second word.

Erica: Well, we’re gonna hear about slides.

Marco: Slides.

Erica: PowerPoint slides.

Marco: PowerPoint slides, okay, so, everyone knows PowerPoint, right?

Erica: Uhu, a computer program.

Marco: A computer program that you use to make presentations.

Erica: And a slide is one page in that presentation.

Marco: Okay, so, if you have ten pages in your PowerPoint presentation, you basically have ten slides.

Erica: Exactly.

Marco: Very good, so, now let’s listen to the dialogue for the first time and we’re gonna see what’s happening in this business meeting.

Erica: Alright, well, it sounds like the employee is a little bit, mm, shy or… or embarrassed by receiving all of these compliments.

Marco: Yeah, I guess he is kind of, uh, being humble about it.

Erica: Uhu, exactly! So, why don’t we move on to the language now? There’re so many really useful phrases in this dialogue, um, that I think we’re just gonna focus on those today, so, let’s get started with “fluency builder”.

Marco: 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” [NOTE: actually, the boss was a woman, so… she said]

Erica: To be completely blown away.

Marco: Okay, so, to be completely blown away.

Erica: Or to be blown away.

Marco: Alright, so, what does that mean to be blown away?

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

Marco: 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?

Man A: Karl blew me away with his knowledge of political science.

男A: 卡尔丰富的政治学知识把我彻底折服了。

Woman B: I was blown away when I heard that Jennie and Rick had gotten married. They have known each other for less than a month.

女B: 听说珍妮和里克结婚时我被震撼到了。他们认识还不到一个月呢。

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

女C: 我父母发现我有纹身时极其震怒/大受震撼。

Erica: Okay, so, I think that’s a little bit clearer now and this is a wonderful way to give your praise to someone when they do something really amazing.

Marco: Okay, so, completely blown away. You…

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Blew me away.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Now, what about our second word?

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

Marco: You wowed me.

Erica: To wow someone.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s spelled W-O-W, wow.

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

Marco: Okay, so, you impress somebody.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: To wow someone. I can use it as a verb.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: You wowed me; I wanna wow you.

Erica: Well, I want you wow me.

Marco: 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”.

Erica: It was nothing.

Marco: Really, it was nothing.

Erica: It was nothing.

Marco: So, that’s a way of saying “It wasn’t hard” or “It’s not a big deal”.

Erica: It’s not that important.

Marco: Exactly, so, if somebody’s saying “Wow! Thank you so much for lending me your car”, don’t worry about it.

Erica: It was nothing.

Marco: It was nothing.

Erica: Yeah, uhu.

Marco: Alright.

Erica: It’s a polite way, actually, to respond to a nice compliment.

Marco: Very good, so, before we move on to our next phrase, let’s listen to a couple of examples with it was nothing.

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

男A: 谢谢你这周把车借给我。我真的非常感谢。

Man B: It’s okay really, it was nothing.

男B: 没关系，真的，举手之劳罢了。

Woman C: I can’t believe you organized the surprise birthday party. Thank you so much.

女C: 不敢相信你策划了这场惊喜生日派对。太感谢你了。

Man D: Don’t worry about it, it was nothing.

男D: 别客气，这没什么。

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

Marco: Okay, so, to give someone a hand.

Erica: Give me a hand.

Marco: Give me a hand.

Erica: Basically, to help someone.

Marco: Help me or…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Assist me.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Okay, so, to help someone… “give me a hand” or “let me give you a hand”.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Alright, 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 gonna slow it down a little bit, so, we can catch all these phrases and then we’ll come back.

Erica: Okay, so, like we said before there’s a lot of really helpful phrases in here, um, and we’re gonna look at a few more of these in “putting it together”.

Marco: 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”.

Erica: That was quite the presentation!

Marco: Alright, quite the presentation.

Erica: So, this phrase quite the presentation, it means “it was good”, right?

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: It was… it was special.

Marco: It was… it was very good.

Erica: Yep, now, we can shake the noun presentation out and replace it with any other noun. [NOTE: shake out = throw away; put aside]

Marco: Alright, so, I can say “Bob is quite the basketball player”.

Erica: Uhu. Why don’t we listen now for a few more examples?

Woman A: I heard you’re quite the dancer. Can you teach me some moves?

女A: 我听说你可是个跳舞高手。能教我几招吗？

Man B: Karl is quite the ladies man. He is very good when it comes to talking to girls.

男B: 卡尔真是个花花公子/大众情人。在和女孩子聊天方面他非常有一套。

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

女C: 南希在数学方面相当有天赋。你给她任何数学题她都能解出来。

Marco: So, you’re saying in a… in a very good way that something is very good.

Erica: Or special.

Marco: Very special.

Erica: Yep, uhu.

Marco: Alright, so, the boss was very impressed with the employee and he said “And I saw that you took on board my feedback”.

Erica: To take on board my feedback.

Marco: Okay, so, take on board something.

Erica: Uhu. So, here my feedback is, uh, my suggestions, right?

Marco: Uhu.

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

Marco: Okay, so, I can say, for example, uh, “I want you to take on board my ideas”.

Erica: Uhu, or “Jenny took on board a few of my suggestions, I was really happy”.

Marco: Okay, very good, so, to take on board – to accept and use.

Erica: Alright, so, take on board feedback, take on board suggestion[s], take on board ideas.

Marco: Okay, very good. And we have one more phrase on putting it together today – to think something through.

Erica: To think it through.

Marco: Okay, so, think it through.

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

Marco: Uhu, so, think through. What does that mean?

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

Marco: Okay, so, to take into consideration all the aspects.

Erica: Right, so, why don’t we give an example?

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: Um, if you’re thinking through a plan, right, you don’t just think about the end.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: The outcome.

Marco: Okay.

Erica: You wanna think about all of the small details, the steps in that plan.

Marco: Okay, so, maybe I wanna buy a new car, but…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: It’s a lot of money, so…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: I really have to think it through.

Erica: So, you have to think carefully about everything that is involved in buying the new car.

Marco: Right.

Erica: All the money you’re gonna have to, you know, not spend on parties and…

Marco: Exactly, you have to think it through, you have to analyze it very carefully.

Erica: 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?”

Marco: I can say “You guys are very young, I think you should think it through before you get married”.

Erica: Hm, good advice.

Marco: Okay, so, to think it through.

Erica: Okay, so, um, three great phrases and why don’t we hear them one more time in our dialogue?

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

Erica: Yeah, and, you know what, I read recently that something like 6 out of every 10 employees don’t get regular praise from their boss.

Marco: Hm, 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.

Erica: Yeah, but I think, um, for… for western employees, actually, it’s really important and it helps them work harder, the more…

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: The more, um, times they hear “Job well done!”

Marco: Yeah, very good. So, now you have the tools that maybe you can use with your employees or…

Erica: With your friends.

Marco: With your friends.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: Okay, so, if you have any questions, comments or doubts, please come to our website englishpod.com.

Erica: Yep, Marco and I are always around to help you out, so, um, until next time, thanks for listening and… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!