Real English Conversations: annoying coworkers

Posted on September 30, 2006
Filed under General silliness, Listening, Real English conversations, Upper intermediate | 12 Comments

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New podcast format: Real English Conversations

Hi, this is Lori from Better at English dot com, comin’ at you with a brand new format today: Real English conversations.

Here at Better at English, we believe that learners need to hear authentic conversational English as it’s spoken by first-language speakers, not just the simplified, stilted, unnatural, boring, wishful-thinking language you find in most mass-market English teaching materials. So we’re proud to introduce our new format: Real English Conversations. This format will feature first-language speakers of English engaging in unscripted, spontaneous conversations.

Now because Better at English is based in southern Sweden, my access to first-language speakers of English is somewhat limited. So for the time being, you’ll mainly be hearing me and my friend Michael, who is from England. That way you can hear both American English and British or “English” English in the same podcast. We’ll keep these short and snappy, between two and five minutes long, and we’ll always provide a transcription and vocabulary list. So if you’re listening to our podcast via iTunes or some other podcatcher, remember that you can surf to our website, W W W dot Better at English dot com, to read the transcript and get the vocabulary list. We hope you’ll enjoy and benefit from our new format. So, without further ado, here we go with our first episode of Real English Conversations.

Conversation Transcript



Lori: Uhh, I came across this really funny website the other day… It’s, umm, designed to where people can anonymously send an e-mail to an annoying coworker…

Michael: Mmm hmm…

L: Saying things like, “You really need to use deodorant [laughter]…but we’re too shy to tell you”… and they, you know, you just put in their e-mail address…

M: Okay

L: Umm, and it got me thinking about annoying coworkers…

M: Okay

L: Can…Do you have any memories of particularly irritating and annoying people at work?

M: Well, I don’t remember anyone who was…smelly, ummm

[laughter]

M: But there was there was one guy who was rather irritating, umm, he was, actually, he was someone who I, who I answered to, he was…

L: He was your manager?

M: He was…yeah…he was, he was a manager at my department.

L: Uh huh.

M: And..umm…what he would do would be if myself ..or..or..and one of my colleagues were having a conversation that was in any way, uhh, related to something other than the immediate job that we were working on…

L: Uh huh.

M: …he would, uhh, jump in there and and and, uhh, tell us off! For doing it…

L: Really?

M: For doing it…yeah!

L: For just chatting while you were working?

M: Yeah, oh yeah! It it it could be…you could be sitting at your desk and your friend is sitting across from you and you could say, “So…you have a good weekend, Steve?” and before you’ve even got a chance to start the conversation, you know, our boss would, would chip in and say [imitating odious boss] “Ah, gentlemen I don’t think that’s work-related, could we have a bit less chatter please?”

L: [laughter] No! Did he..

M: And he did actually use to speak like that as well.

L: Really?

M: Yeah, that was, that was, his tone of voice was annoying but that wasn’t the point, it was, it was just that he wouldn’t allow non-work-related topics of conversation. Which…okay…

L: That’s right, because everyone knows that we all work much better and more efficiently when we’re miserable.

M: [Laughter] Well, yeah… That’s uhh, I..he..I don’t think he cared about that, but, okay, I mean, if if if that was … If it was going to be a very draconian and strict regime at work, then I guess that’s fair enough. But it wasn’t a two-way system and and and this was what was particularly annoying, because when it was lunch time or break time this same manager would not be averse to approaching me and asking me about work-related issues whilst I was trying to eat my lunch or, you know, whilst I was…

L: OK, and you were on, then, on your own time not on company time while you’re eating lunch…

M: Oh yeah! Yeah, this this is company allotted, daily company time when you know you’re supposed to go out and have a cigarette and do whatever you do on your break time.

L: But it’s really considered your own personal time…

M: Absolutely! Yeah…

L: …your break from work…

M: Yeah

L: …and he had no problems encroaching on YOUR time.

M: No no.

L: OK.

M: No no..that was…so..

L: He sounds like somewhat of a jerk.

M: It was a..He was a hypocrite, for sure.

L: Can you do the voice again?

M: [Imitating odious manager]: The voice, oh he used to speak like that… “But I don’t think this is very work related, so think we should stop now.”

L: [laughs] OK, let’s stop now.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Better at English. Remember, transcripts and vocabulary lists are available at our website, WWW dot Better at English dot com. See you next time!

Vocabulary list – key words and phrases

To come across something – phrasal verb
To find something
anonymous
If someone is anonymous, their name is unknown or not made public
annoying
If someone or something is annoying, it makes you feel angry
irritating
If someone or something is irritating, it makes you feel angry or annoyed
coworker
A coworker is somebody you work with
to answer to someone – phrasal verb
If you answer to someone, then you report to them. You take orders from them.
manager
Someone who controls and organizes other people in a business. A boss.
department
A part of a business or organization that deals with a certain area of work. For example, the finance department, the accounts department, the customer service department
colleague
Someone you work together with (like coworker). Also, someone who is in the same profession as you
immediate
In this conversation, immediate means “directly related to”
to jump in — phrasal verb
In this conversation, to jump in means to interrupt someone who is speaking
to tell someone off (for something) — phrasal verb
If you tell someone off, you speak angrily with them because you think they have done something wrong.
to chip in – phrasal verb
In American English, “to chip in” usually means to contribute something. People in an office may all “chip in” to buy a co-worker a birthday present. In informal British English, “to chip in” means to interrupt. This is what Michael means in the dialog here.
to allow (someone to do) something
to permit
the point
The most important part of what someone says, the main idea
fair enough
You say “fair enough” to show that you understand why someone does something, but don’t really agree with it.
efficient(ly)
using your time well and working in a quick and organized way.
draconian
draconian is a word used to describe rules, procedures and methods that are unreasonably severe
regime
a (usually disapproving) word to describe a government or a business’s methods and practices. In our podcast, Michael is showing disapproval of the odious manager’s strict “all work – no chatting” rules.
averse
If you are averse to something, you strongly dislike it or are opposed to it
to approach someone
To come near someone. Here, the manager approaches Michael during his breaks to talk to him about work.
to be on your own time
American English: during time when you are not being paid to work. British English “IN your own time”
to be on company time
time when you are being paid to work
jerk
An unpleasant or stupid person. Usually said about men
hypocrite
Someone who claims to believe in one thing, and then acts in a way that is the opposite.

Link

Here is the website Lori mentions in the conversation – Annoying Coworker. Beware, sometimes the content is not exactly work-safe.

12 Comments

Comments

12 Responses to “Real English Conversations: annoying coworkers”

  1. Juanmi says:
    September 30, 2006 at 20:06

    Hi, this is a great post, I’m spanish and I’m following the podcast and It’s a good complement, so keep on doing it ;) I like this new format too, thank you, bye!

  2. Lori says:
    October 1, 2006 at 10:49

    Thanks for letting us know, JUANMI. B@E is a labor of love that we do in our free time, so it’s really rewarding to know that people are finding it useful.

  3. Jamie says:
    October 2, 2006 at 04:56

    Thanks for this podcast, and Lori. Some posts is so helpful for the ESL learners. :)

  4. Tea says:
    October 2, 2006 at 06:01

    Hi,
    Great format and the best ESL podcast I came across. I love it. I also like that you are working with the British guy, this works great for me as I’m trying to perfect by british accent as well.
    keep up the good work and thanks.
    bye.

  5. Lori says:
    October 2, 2006 at 08:53

    Thanks very much for your kind comments, Jamie and Tea. We’re really happy that you’re finding our podcasts useful.

    By the way, if you (or any of your listeners!) ever have questions or topics you’d like us to take up, we encourage you to let us know. Teachers LOVE answering students’ questions – it gives our lives meaning ;-)

  6. antonin says:
    October 2, 2006 at 17:39

    Hello,

    I m french and i m very happy to find your website and your podcast.
    I haven’t got a lot of english vocabulary in my brain!!! I hope to progress!!!!
    Thanks a lot and good luck!

  7. Lori says:
    October 2, 2006 at 18:03

    Hi Antonin – thanks so much for your kind words about our podcast. Don’t worry, there is plenty of room in your brain for lots of vocabulary :-) And as long as you’re motivated to learn, you WILL make progress. Good luck!

  8. Zeroes says:
    October 3, 2006 at 05:40

    just wondering if the use of the words “umm” and “uhh” are intended as being something taught because if you notice in today’s english it is rather annoying to have someone say “umm…” partly because it shows that they didn’t think before speaking and secondly that they can’t think of any fancy words that no one uses like draconian… just wondering

  9. Lori says:
    October 3, 2006 at 06:44

    Hi Zeroes,
    Thanks for your interesting questions. No, this podcast was not specifically designed to “teach” people to say “umm” and “aah” when they speak. But we do think that it’s important for learners to hear the way first-language speakers actually DO speak, not just the wishful-thinking, sterilized examples found in ELT materials. Goodness knows, there’s enough of THAT floating around…

    Fillers like “umm” and and “aah” are a common feature of unscripted, spontaneous, informal conversations between first-language speakers. Even if excessive “umm-ing” and “aah-ing” are probably something most would try to avoid while speaking in public or giving a speech, when they are just having a conversation with a friend, you might be surprised at how much of this type of thing creeps in. And it’s perfectly normal. Now, whether someone approves of it or not is another story!

    While everyone has different speaking styles, most first-language speakers (the ones I know, anyway) don’t spend time carefully planning each sentence in advance to ensure that every utterance that comes out of their mouths is a perfectly formed, grammatically correct masterpiece. They just speak.They backtrack. They search for words. They use fillers like “umm” and “aah.”

    As for “fancy” words like draconian, it’s good to remember that one man’s “fancy” is another man’s “plain vanilla.” I didn’t even blink an eye at M’s use of “draconian.” The other day, a colleague reacted with strong disapproval to the word “ubiquitous” in an ELT text, claiming that “nobody uses words like that!” I sheepishly admitted that I use “ubiquitous” every now and then in both speech and writing. Diff’rent strokes.

    Having said all this, I probably won’t be TRANSCRIBING the umms and aahs in future “Real English Conversations,” because it’s quite time-consuming and I think readers don’t actually NEED to have those transcribed understanding.

    Umm, aaah, well, I hope this, umm, answers your, errr, question! ;-)

  10. Emdad says:
    December 22, 2006 at 16:28

    thanx a lot lori n michael for such a nice approach. Among so many elt podcasts i went thru, urs is the most attractive n most interesting as well. thanx again.

  11. Lori says:
    December 23, 2006 at 01:15

    Thanks, Emdad. I’m glad you like our approach! I’ll be sure to pass on your kind words to Michael :)

  12. maurizio says:
    March 21, 2010 at 11:16

    thank you.your work is so precious to me