Shadowing Practice: 我剛抱怨完工作，一轉身才發現老闆全都聽見了｜Real Life Office English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
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It happened on a Tuesday afternoon, and the worst part was that I wasn't even having a terrible day.
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I was just tired.
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The week had been busy.
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Our team was preparing a presentation for a client, and the deadline kept getting closer.
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Every morning, something changed.
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A new slide, a new number, a new request, a new small update that somehow took two hours.
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By Tuesday afternoon, I had already changed the same presentation three times.
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At around three o'clock, my co-worker Jason walked over to my desk.
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He looked at my screen and said, still working on that.
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I leaned back in my chair.
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Unfortunately.
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Jason laughed.
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I thought we were done yesterday. So did I.
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He pointed at the screen.
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What changed this time?
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I sighed.
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The whole first section.
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Again.
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Again.
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Jason shook his head.
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That's rough.
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Normally I would have just smiled and gone back to work, but I was tired, and Jason was someone I felt comfortable around.
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So I said something I probably should not have said, Honestly, I don't think anyone knows what they want anymore.
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Jason smiled.
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I kept going.
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That's the problem.
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We change one thing, then someone changes it back.
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Then we have a meaning about why it changed.
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And after the meeting, we change it again.
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Jason laughed.
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And because he laughed, I got a little more confident.
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That was my mistake.
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I said, At this point, I think we're just moving things around so everyone can look busy.
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Jason's face changed.
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Not dramatically.
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Just slightly.
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His eyes moved past me.
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Then he stopped smiling.
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I noticed, what?
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He didn't answer.
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He looked behind me again.
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And suddenly I knew.
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I turned around.
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My boss, David, was standing about six feet behind me, holding a coffee.
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He had definitely heard me.
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I don't know how long he had been standing there.
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Maybe five seconds.
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Maybe thirty.
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It felt like three hours.
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David looked at me.
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I looked at David.
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Jason suddenly became extremely interested in his laptop.
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David took a small sip of coffee.
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Then he said, sounds like you've had an interesting afternoon.
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I wanted the floor to open.
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I wanted the ceiling to fall.
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I wanted the fire alarm to go off.
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Anything.
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Instead, I said, yeah, that was all I could think of.
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Yeah.
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David nodded once.
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Then he said, carry on.
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Then he walked away.
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I stared at my screen.
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Jason waited about two seconds.
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Then he whispered, Wow.
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I turned to him.
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Do not say anything.
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I wasn't going to.
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You were absolutely going to.
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He tried not to laugh.
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I'm sorry.
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This is not funny.
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It's a little funny.
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I looked toward David's office.
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His door was closed.
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My stomach dropped.
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What do you think he heard?
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Jason said, probably enough.
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Enough for what?
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I don't know.
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Enough to fire me.
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Jason gave me a look.
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No one is firing you because you complained about PowerPoint.
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It wasn't about PowerPoint.
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You know what I mean.
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I lowered my voice.
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I basically said management has no idea what it's doing.
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You didn't say management.
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I said no one knows what they want.
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That could mean anyone.
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I also said we're moving things around to look busy.
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Jason paused.
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Okay.
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Exactly.
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That part was not ideal.
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For the next 20 minutes I got almost nothing done.
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I kept replaying the conversation in my head.
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Maybe David hadn't heard everything.
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Maybe he had only heard the last sentence.
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Actually, that was worse.
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Maybe I should go to his office and explain.
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No, that might make it bigger.
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Maybe I should send him a message.
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What would I even say?
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Hi David, just wanted to clarify the insulting comment you overheard five minutes ago.
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Absolutely not.
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At 3.27, a message appeared on my screen from David.
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Do you have five minutes?
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My heart stopped.
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Everyone knows that five minutes is never five minutes.
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I stared at the message.
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Then I typed, sure.
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I deleted it.
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It sounded too relaxed.
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I typed, yes, of course.
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That sounded guilty.
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Finally, I wrote, yep, I can come by now.
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I walked toward his office.
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Jason looked at me.
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I pointed at him.
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If I don't come back, delete my browser history.
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He laughed.
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I did not.
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I knocked on David's door.
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He looked up.
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Come in.
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I sat down.
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He closed his laptop.
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That made me even more nervous.
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Then he said, so?
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I waited.
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He waited.
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I hate when people do that.
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Finally, I said, I'm guessing this is about what you heard.
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David nodded.
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Partly.
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I took a breath.
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I'm sorry.
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He didn't say anything.
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So I kept going.
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I said was unprofessional.
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I was frustrated, but I shouldn't have said it like that, and I definitely shouldn't have said it in the middle of the office." David leaned back in his chair.
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Okay.
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That okay gave me nothing.
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I added, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful.
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I know everyone is under pressure right now.
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He looked at me for a moment, then he asked, Do you believe what you said?
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That was not the question I expected.
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I thought he would tell me to be more careful.
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I thought he would remind me about professionalism.
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Instead, he was asking if I meant it.
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I said, some of it.
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David raised his eyebrows slightly. Which part?
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Now I had a choice.
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I could apologize again and get out of there.
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Or I could actually answer.
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I looked down at my hands.
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Then I said, I do think we're changing direction too often.
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David stayed quiet.
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So I continued.
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For example, yesterday we changed the opening because the client wanted more context.
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This morning we shortened it because we were told there was too much context.
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And this afternoon we added some of it back.
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David nodded slowly.
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I said, I understand that priorities change.
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That's normal, but sometimes we make changes without knowing which request is actually the priority.
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And then the team ends up redoing work.
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David asked, how much time do you think we're losing?
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I hadn't expected that question either.
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I don't know exactly.
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A few hours?
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More than that?
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I thought about it.
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Probably more.
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He nodded again.
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Then he asked, why didn't you bring this up earlier?
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That question made me uncomfortable.
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Because I knew the answer.
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I said, I didn't want to sound difficult.
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David almost smiled.
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So you complained to Jason instead?
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I closed my eyes for half a second.
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Apparently, yes.
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That made him laugh.
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Just a little.
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And suddenly I could breathe again.
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I said, I know that sounds terrible.
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It sounds human.
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Then his expression became serious again.
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But there's a difference between being frustrated and being disrespectful.
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I know.
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If you think a process is wasting time, tell me.
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Don't wait until you're angry enough to say something you don't really mean.
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I nodded.
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That's fair.
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Then David said something I definitely didn't expect.
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For what it's worth, I agree with you.
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I looked at him.
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You do?
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Yes.
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He turned his laptop slightly toward me.
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There were several versions of the presentation open.
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I've been getting different instructions too.
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Some changes are coming from the client.
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Some are coming from our side, and some are probably unnecessary." I stared at the scream.
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For the first time all afternoon, I realized something.
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I had assumed every confusing decision came directly from David, but apparently he was also dealing with changing instructions.
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He said, "'That doesn't mean we can ignore requests, of course, but we can do a better job of clarifying what is actually final.' I nodded.
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Then I said, "'Can I ask something?' "'Sure,' when we get two different requests.
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Could we confirm which one takes priority before we start changing everything?" David said, yes.
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And if something isn't urgent, could we maybe finish the current version first?
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Yes.
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I hesitated.
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And maybe stuck calling every request a quick change?
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David laughed.
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I can't promise that.
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Fair enough.
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Then he said, how about this?
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Before you make another major change today, send me the list of open requests.
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I'll tell you which ones actually need to be done for tomorrow.
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That would help a lot.
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And going forward, if the team is getting conflicting direction, flag it.
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You don't have to solve it yourself." I nodded.
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Got it.
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I stood up.
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Then I stopped.
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There's one more thing.
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David looked at me.
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I really am sorry about what you heard.
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He nodded.
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I appreciate that.
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Then he said, and Emily me.
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Yes, next time you want to complain about management, I froze, he continued.
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At least check who's standing behind you.
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I stared at him.
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Then he smiled.
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I laughed, noted.
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When I walked back to my desk, Jason immediately looked at me.
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Well?
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I sat down.
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I still have a job.
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I told you.
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And apparently David agrees that the process is messy.
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Jason looked surprised.
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Seriously?
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Yeah.
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Then he said, so technically you were right.
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I pointed at him.
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No, this is not the lesson.
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What is the lesson?
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The lesson is that if you have a problem, talk to the person who can actually fix it.
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Jason nodded.
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That sounds mature.
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And check behind you before complaining.
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That sounds more useful.
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I laughed.
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Then I opened the presentation again.
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A few minutes later, David sent me a message.
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Only update slides 3, 6, and 9 today.
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That was it.
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Three slides, not 12.
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I almost wanted to frame the message.
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At 4.30, I finished the changes.
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For the first time that week, I closed the file without wondering if someone would ask me to redo the whole thing.
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That afternoon taught me something I still think about.
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Complaining feels easier than speaking up.
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When we complain to a co-worker, there is very little risk.
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They understand us.
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They agree with us.
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We feel better for a few minutes, but nothing changes.
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Speaking directly to the person involved is harder.
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You have to explain the problem clearly.
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You have to stay calm.
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And you have to be ready for the possibility that you don't know the whole story.
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That was exactly what happened to me.
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I thought David was creating all the confusion.
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He wasn't.
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He was dealing with it too.
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I still think I was right that the process needed to improve, but I could have handled it much better.
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Instead of saying no one knows what they want anymore i
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could have said i'm getting a few conflicting requests can we clarify
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which one takes priority instead of saying we're just moving things
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around to look busy i could have said i'm worried we're
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redoing the same work is there a way we can confirm changes before we start same problem very different conversation
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and much lower chance of turning around
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and finding your boss holding a coffee behind you
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if you enjoy learning real workplace english through stories like this
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subscribe to fluent trail english we'll keep learning through the awkward funny
290
and very real situations that actually happen at work see you in the next episode
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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les
Deze spreekles op niveau B2 is gebaseerd op de video “我剛抱怨完工作，一轉身才發現老闆全都聽見了｜Real Life Office English”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: David, Jason, looked, nodded, laughed. Deze video bevat 290 zinnen en 1862 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 10:56. De spreker praat in een natuurlijk tempo van ongeveer 170 woorden per minuut, dicht bij een alledaags gesprek. Slechts 81% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden, dus de woordenschat is pittig.
Belangrijke woorden in deze video
De 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:
| Woord | Uitspraak | Betekenis |
|---|---|---|
| nod werkwoord | /nɑd/ | knikken |
| stare werkwoord | /stɛɚ/ | staren |
| redo werkwoord | /ɹiˈduː/ | herdoen |
| clarify werkwoord | /ˈklæɹ.ɪ.faɪ/ | klaren |
| frustrate werkwoord | /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/ | frustreren |
| disrespectful bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /dɪs.ɹɪˈspɛkt.fəl/ | respectloos, oneerbiedig |
| instruction zelfstandig naamwoord | /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/ | onderwijs |
| eyebrow zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/ | wenkbrauw |
| overhear werkwoord | /oʊ.vɚˈhɪɚ/ | luistervinken |
| fluent bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˈfluənt/ | vloeiend |
| confuse werkwoord | /kənˈfjuːz/ | verwarren, in de war brengen |
| hesitate werkwoord | /ˈhɛz.ə.teɪt/ | aarzelen |
| messy bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˈmɛsi/ | wanordelijk, chaotisch |
| sigh werkwoord | /saɪ/ | zuchten |
| insult zelfstandig naamwoord | /ɪnˈsʌlt/ | belediging |
Phrasal verbs die je zult horen
| Woord | Uitspraak | Betekenis |
|---|---|---|
| sit down werkwoord | gaan zitten | |
| turn around werkwoord | omdraaien | |
| come back werkwoord | terugkomen | |
| end up werkwoord | belanden, terechtkomen | |
| go off werkwoord | afgaan | |
| look up werkwoord | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | opkijken |
| stand up werkwoord | opstaan |
Zinnen om te herhalen
Korte, volledige zinnen uit de video die je in alledaagse gesprekken kunt gebruiken:
- What do you think he heard?
- What would I even say?
- Do you have five minutes?
- David asked, how much time do you think we're losing?
- Then he asked, why didn't you bring this up earlier?
Uitspraak om op te letten
De spreker gebruikt 43 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, didn't, we're. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.
- De klanken “sh” en “zh”: instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, professionalism /pɹəˈfɛʃənəˌlɪzəm/, shorten /ˈʃɔɹtn̩/, confusion /kənˈfjuːʒən/
- Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: disrespectful /dɪs.ɹɪˈspɛkt.fəl/, professionalism /pɹəˈfɛʃənəˌlɪzəm/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, unnecessary /ʌnˈnɛs.əˌsɛɹ.i/
Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:
- Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: nod /nɑd/, confuse /kənˈfjuːz/, pause /pɔːz/, subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/, freeze /ˈfɹiːz/
- /w/ — met ronde lippen: whisper /ˈ(h)wɪspɚ/, workplace /ˈwɝkˌpleɪs/
Zo oefen je met deze video
- Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
- Begin op 0,75× snelheid, spreek zin voor zin na en ga terug naar normale snelheid zodra het makkelijk gaat.
- Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als nod, stare, redo.
Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?
Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.