Shadowing Practice: English for Problems at Work — Raise Issues Without Sounding Negative - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey, everyone.
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Welcome back to the Business English Podcast.
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I'm Alex.
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And I'm Emily.
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And today we're talking about something nobody enjoys, but everybody has to do.
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Talking about problems at work.
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The deadline that's slipping, the mistake you just made, the thing that's quietly going wrong.
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And I have a confession about my natural strategy for problems.
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My instinct, always, is to close my eyes and wait.
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I assume that if I ignore it long enough, it will get bored and leave.
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And does it?
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Once.
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One time in my whole life, I ignored a problem so successfully that it became somebody else's problem.
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I think about that day a lot.
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That is not a strategy.
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That's a miracle.
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And for everyone else, problems do not get bored and leave.
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They grow.
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A small problem you mentioned today is a quick chat.
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The same problem in two weeks is a crisis with your name on it.
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Which is the real point of today.
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The people who do well at work aren't the ones with no problems.
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Everyone has problems.
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They're the ones who can talk about a problem clearly, early, and calmly.
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And in English, that takes specific words.
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Because here's the trap for a lot of learners.
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When something goes wrong, the stress goes up, the English gets harder, and so people either stay silent and hope,
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Alex's method, or they blurt it out badly and sound like they're panicking or complaining.
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So today we fix that.
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Four very common moments.
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How to flag a problem early before it explodes.
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How to own a mistake without falling apart.
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How to ask for help when you're stuck
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and how to raise a problem in a meeting without sounding like you're just complaining.
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And these phrases are the same everywhere.
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Say, I wanted to give you a heads up, or I've hit a bit of a snag, or can I flag something?
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In London, New York, Singapore, Sydney, or Dublin, and every colleague in the room understands you instantly and thinks,
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this is someone I can trust with a problem.
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And notice the goal here.
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We're not teaching you to be the office pessimist, the person who finds a dark cloud in every blue sky,
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the one whose emails everyone dreads to open.
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We're teaching you to name real problems in a way that actually makes people glad you spoke up.
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Exactly.
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Done well, talking about a problem is a gift to your team, not a complaint.
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The problem was always there.
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You're just the brave one who said it out loud, while it's still small and fixable.
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That's leadership, even from the most junior seat in the room.
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So let's start at the very beginning of every problem, the moment you first notice it, and you have to decide whether to speak up.
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Spoiler, you speak up.
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Set the scene for us.
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So Lottie is working on a project, and she's just realized that something might go wrong next week, not today, but soon.
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Instead of waiting, she goes to her manager
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Franco right away.
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Listen for how she raises it without any drama.
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Franco, do you have two minutes?
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I wanted to give you a heads up on something.
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Sure, what's up?
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So, nothing's gone wrong yet.
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I want to be clear about that.
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But I can see a possible problem coming, and I'd rather flag it now than surprise you later.
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I appreciate that.
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Go on.
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We're waiting on the final figures from the supplier.
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They promise them by Monday.
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If they're late, and they were late last time, it puts our Thursday deadline at risk.
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Okay, so what are you thinking?
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A couple of options.
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I can chase the supplier today and make the deadline very clear.
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And if you could send one email from your side, just so they see it matters to management, that would help a lot.
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Easy.
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I'll do that this afternoon.
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Thanks for bringing this to me early, Lottie this is exactly the kind of thing I'd rather hear on a Tuesday than a Thursday.
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And that is how it's done.
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No panic, no drama, just a clear early warning with a plan.
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Let's pull the phrases.
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The star phrase is to give someone a heads up.
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A heads up is an early, friendly warning that something is coming.
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You can say, I wanted to give you a heads up, or just a heads up.
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The client is running late.
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It's warm and it's informal and it tells the other person I'm telling you this early so you're not caught off guard
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And the key verb, to flag
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To flag something means to point it out so people are aware of it
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You can say, I want to flag a possible issue
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Or, can I flag something quickly?
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You're not saying it's a disaster
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You're raising a small flag so everyone can see it
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Flag it early and a problem stays small.
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And notice what Lottie did first.
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She lowered the temperature.
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She said, nothing's gone wrong yet.
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That one sentence stops the other person's heart from jumping.
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You can say, nothing's broken, but, or, this isn't urgent, but I wanted to mention it.
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You tell them how serious it is before you tell them what it is, so they don't imagine the worst.
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And she talked about a risk, not a disaster.
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She said it puts our deadline at risk.
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To put something at risk, or to say, there's a risk that, is a calm, professional way to describe a problem that hasn't happened yet.
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You can say, there's a risk we'll run over budget, or this could put the launch at risk.
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It's honest, but it's not panic.
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A couple more ways to open the same door, because you'll want options.
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You can say, I wanted to bring something to your attention, which is a touch more formal.
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Or, very naturally, I just want to put this on your radar.
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Your radar is the set of things you're keeping an eye on.
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You can say, I'll put it on your radar now in case it grows.
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And keep it proportionate.
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If it's tiny, say so.
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It's probably nothing, but if it's serious, be honest.
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This one's important.
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Matching your words to the real size of the problem is what makes people trust your judgment.
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They learn that when you say it's small, it's small.
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And when you say it's serious, they should drop everything.
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And the golden rule she followed, the one that makes managers trust you forever?
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She brought a possible solution, not just a problem.
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She didn't say, we have a problem, what do we do?
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She said, here's the problem, and here are two options.
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You can say, here's what I'd suggest.
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Or, one option is, bring a problem and a door out of it, and you look like someone who solves things,
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not someone who just reports them.
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Right, that's catching a problem early.
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Now, the harder one.
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What about when the problem is a mistake, and the mistake is yours?
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Because this is the one that really scares people.
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You made an error, maybe a real one.
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And now you have to tell someone, in English, without either hiding it or completely collapsing an apology.
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Here's Dexter, who has just discovered he sent a report to a client with the wrong figures in it.
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He goes straight to his manager, Noel.
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Listen for how he owns it cleanly and moves to the fix.
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Noel, I need to tell you about a mistake I made.
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I'd rather you hear it from me.
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Okay, tell me what happened.
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I sent the quarterly report to the client this morning
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and I've just realized the sales figures in it were from the old version.
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The numbers are wrong.
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That's on me.
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I didn't check the file properly before sending.
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Right.
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How wrong are we talking?
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The totals are off by a few percent.
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Not huge, but enough that we need to correct it.
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Here's what I've already done.
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I've prepared the corrected report and I've drafted a short, honest email to the client.
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I wanted you're okay before I send it.
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Let me see the email.
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Yes, that's good.
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Send it.
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And Dexter, thank you for coming to me straight away.
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Mistakes happen.
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Hiding them is the only real problem.
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Understood.
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I've also added a final check to my process so it doesn't happen again.
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Even better.
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Honestly, you've handled this better than people who've been here 10 years.
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Perfectly done.
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He didn't hide.
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He didn't grovel.
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He owned it, and fixed it.
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Let's pull the phrases because this is a skill that will save your career more than once.
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First, the clean, grown -up way to admit it.
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I made a mistake.
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And the lovely, honest phrase, that's on me.
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That's on me means it was my fault.
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I accept it.
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You can say, I made a mistake with the schedule or that's on me.
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I misread the brief.
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Short, honest, and strong.
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Owning it quickly actually makes you look more trustworthy, not less.
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And a common natural idiom for the same thing, to drop the ball.
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If you dropped the ball, it means you failed to do something you were responsible for.
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You can say, I dropped the ball on that email.
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I'm sorry.
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It's informal and very human.
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We've all dropped the ball.
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The professionals are just the ones who pick it straight back up.
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Two more honest phrases worth having ready I take full responsibility, which is formal, calm, and strong
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And I won't make excuses
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You can say, I take full responsibility for the delay
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Or I won't make excuses, I should have caught it
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Said simply without any drama, these make you sound like exactly the kind of person people want in charge of things.
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And a quick word on tone, because this is where people slip.
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Own it once, firmly, and then move on.
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If you apologize five times, you actually make it worse.
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Now your manager has to spend energy reassuring you instead of solving the problem.
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One clear, that's on me, and go straight to the fix.
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And notice what
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Dexter did not do.
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He didn't give 10 excuses.
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He gave one short, honest reason.
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I didn't check the file, and then stopped.
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You can explain briefly, but don't bury it in excuses.
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One clear reason sounds like responsibility.
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Five reasons sound like you're running away from it.
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And the most important move of all, he came with the fix already started.
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He said, here's what I've already done.
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That changes everything.
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A mistake plus a fix is just a bump in the road.
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You can say, here's how I'll fix it, or I've already started correcting it.
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You're not bringing your manager a fire.
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You're bringing them a fire that's almost out.
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And the quiet professional finish so it doesn't happen again
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when you add what you've changed to prevent it next time
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you turn a mistake into a lesson you can say I've added a check
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so it won't happen again that's the sentence
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that makes a manager stop worrying now sometimes the problem isn't a mistake sometimes you're just stuck
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and you need another human being to help you
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and this one is secretly hard because a lot of people think asking for help makes them look weak.
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It's the opposite.
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Struggling in silence for three days is what looks weak.
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Asking a good question after 20 minutes is smart.
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Here's Hassan, who's stuck on a task he can't figure out, going to ask his colleague Greta, who knows the system better.
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Listen for how he asks without feeling embarrassed about it.
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Greta, do you have a minute?
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I've hit a bit of a wall with the new reporting tool. Of course.
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What's going on?
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So, I've been trying to pull the monthly numbers, and I've tried everything I can think of, but the report keeps coming out empty.
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I feel like I'm missing something obvious.
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Ah, that one catches everyone.
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Can you show me your screen?
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Sure.
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Here.
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I set the dates, I pick the team, and then… nothing.
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There it is.
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You have to click
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Apply before it runs.
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It's hidden right at the bottom.
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Honestly, everyone misses it the first time.
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Oh, you're kidding.
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That's it?
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I could have saved myself an hour.
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Thank you.
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I really appreciate you taking the time.
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Anytime.
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Seriously, just grab me whenever.
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It's faster than struggling alone.
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And now Hassan knows, and he'll never forget it.
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Let's grab the phrases, because asking for help well is a real skill.
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Start with the honest opener.
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I've hit a wall, or, I've hit a bit of a snag.
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To hit a wall means you've got stuck and can't move forward.
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A snag is a small problem that's blocking you.
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You can say, I've hit a wall with this spreadsheet or, I've hit a snag with the booking system.
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They're both relaxed, honest ways to say, I'm stuck without sounding helpless.
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And a crucial detail, Hassan showed he'd already tried.
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He said, I've tried everything I can think of.
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Always say that when it's true.
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You can say, I've already tried X and Y, but it shows you're asking for help, not asking someone to do your job.
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People are far happier to help someone who clearly tried first.
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And the warm, natural phrases for actually asking.
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Do you have a minute?
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Is the perfect opener.
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Small, polite, easy to say yes to.
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and a lovely informal one.
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Can I pick your brain?
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To pick someone's brain means to ask for their knowledge and ideas.
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You can say, can I pick your brain for a second?
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Or could I bounce an idea off you?
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Both make the other person feel like an expert, which they usually enjoy.
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And if you just need a direction, not a full answer, there's a brilliant little phrase.
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Could you point me in the right direction?
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It means, you don't have to solve it for me.
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Just show me where to look.
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You can say, I don't need the whole answer.
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Could you just point me in the right direction?
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It's a small, respectful ask, and people almost always say yes.
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And two friendly ways to say you'd welcome help without sounding desperate.
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I could use a hand with this, and could you spare a few minutes?
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You can say, I could use a hand with the figures, or, when you get a chance, could you spare five minutes?
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Light, warm, and easy to say yes to.
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And remember the mindset, because it changes how you ask.
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Two heads are better than one.
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You're not confessing a weakness, you're using a resource.
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The best people at any company ask for help constantly.
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That's often how they got to be the best.
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So ask early, ask warmly, and say thank you properly afterward.
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And one tiny phrase that saves enormous embarrassment.
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I feel like I'm missing something obvious.
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Hassan used it, and it's magic, because it gives you permission to ask a simple question without shame.
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You can say, I'm probably missing something obvious here, but...
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Nine times out of ten, you are missing something obvious, and so does everyone else.
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Now, from asking one person quietly to the scariest room of all.
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Raising a problem in front of a whole meeting.
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Because this is where it gets delicate.
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In a one -to -one, you can be relaxed.
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But in a meeting, if you raise a problem badly, you sound negative, like the person who's always complaining.
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Raise it well, and you sound like a leader.
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Here's Ingmar in a team meeting run by Talia.
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He's noticed a problem that keeps happening, and he wants to bring it up.
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Carefully.
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Listen for how he raises a real concern without dragging the mood down.
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Okay, before we wrap up, does anyone have anything else?
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Actually, yes.
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Can I raise something?
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I don't want to be negative because the project's going well overall.
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But I've noticed a recurring issue I think we should talk about.
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Please, go ahead.
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So three times now, we've had two people accidentally working on the same task because we're not updating the shared tracker.
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We're wasting hours, and honestly, people are getting frustrated.
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You're right.
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I've seen that too.
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What do you think we should do?
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Well, here's what I'd suggest.
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What if we spend two minutes at the start of each day just confirming who's doing what?
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A quick check, nothing heavy.
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I think it would fix most of it.
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I like that.
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Let's try it for two weeks and see.
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Thanks for raising it, Ingmar.
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That's a real problem and a sensible fix.
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And that's how you raise a problem in a meeting and come out looking better, not worse.
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Let's pull the phrases.
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First, the polite way to open the door.
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Can I raise something?
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Or, can I flag a concern?
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To raise something means to bring it up for discussion.
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You can say, can I raise something before we finish? or I'd like to raise a concern about the timeline.
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It's a calm, professional way to say I have a problem to put on the table.
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And the brilliant shield Ingmar used first.
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I don't want to be negative, but...
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This little phrase protects you.
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It tells the room you're not complaining for the sake of it.
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You're trying to help.
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You can say, I don't want to sound negative, but.. or I'm raising this because I care about getting it right.
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Say that and people hear a problem solver, not a complainer.
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In the precise, unemotional way he described the problem, I've noticed a recurring issue.
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A recurring issue is a problem that keeps happening again and again.
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Notice he gave a fact three times now, not a feeling.
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You can say, I've noticed a recurring issue with the deliveries, or this keeps happening.
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Facts are calm and hard to argue with.
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Blame is loud and starts fights.
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Describe the problem, not the person.
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And then, the move that separates the complainer from the leader.
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He brought a suggestion.
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He said, here's what I'd suggest, and offered a small, light fix.
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You can say, what if we tried?
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Or, my suggestion would be, anyone can point at a problem.
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The person everyone respects is the one who points at a problem and then points at a possible way out.
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And if the fix isn't yours to decide, you can hand it to the group gently.
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You can say, I don't have the perfect answer, but I wanted to put it on the table.
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To put something on the table means to raise it for everyone to deal with together.
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You're not demanding a solution on the spot.
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You're starting the conversation.
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And pick your moment.
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A big problem dropped in the last 30 seconds of a meeting helps nobody.
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You can say, this might need its own conversation.
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Could we find time for it?
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Raising a problem well is partly what you say and partly knowing when the room can actually do something about it.
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And one more gentle phrase for the room.
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Has anyone else run into this?
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it invites others in instead of making it just your complaint.
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You can say, has anyone else noticed this?
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Or am I the only one seeing this?
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Suddenly it's a shared problem the team solves together, not one person grumbling.
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That's the whole secret really.
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Make it everyone's problem to solve, not everyone's fault.
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So let's gather today's phrases because talking about problems is really just four moments, each with its own little toolkit.
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When you catch a problem early, you flag it.
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You give someone a heads up.
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You lower the temperature first.
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Nothing's gone wrong yet.
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You describe it as a risk, not a disaster.
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And you bring a possible solution, not just the problem.
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When the problem is a mistake you made, you own it cleanly.
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I made a mistake.
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That's on me.
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I dropped the ball.
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You give one honest reason, not 10 excuses.
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You come with the fix already started.
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Here's what I've already done.
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And you add, so it won't happen again.
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When you're stuck, you ask for help early and without shame.
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I've hit a wall.
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I've hit a snag.
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You show you've already tried.
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You ask warmly.
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Do you have a minute?
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Can I pick your brain?
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Could you point me in the right direction? and you let yourself say, I'm probably missing something obvious.
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And when you raise a problem in a meeting, you do it like a leader.
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Can I raise something?
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I don't want to be negative, but...
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You describe a recurring issue with facts, not blame.
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You bring a suggestion.
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Here's what I'd suggest.
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And you invite others in with, has anyone else run into this?
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And underneath all four, the same simple truth, the one that took me far too long to learn.
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Problems don't shrink when you hide them.
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They shrink when you say them out loud, early, calmly, to the right person.
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The words we gave you today are just the tools that make that easy.
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So here's your challenge before the next episode.
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Think of one small problem at work you've been quietly avoiding.
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We all have one right now and pick one phrase from today to open the conversation.
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Maybe it's, I wanted to give you a heads up.
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Maybe it's, can I pick your brain?
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Just one problem, one phrase said out loud this week.
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Because the problem you're avoiding is almost never as bad as the silence around it.
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Say the sentence, it's always smaller once it's out of your head and in the room.
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And tell us in the comments, what's the hardest part of talking about problems at work for you?
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Owning a mistake?
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Asking for help?
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Speaking up in a meeting?
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We read every one, and your answer might become our next episode.
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New episodes twice a week.
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If this one helped, send it to the colleague who carries every problem silently until it's enormous.
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Gently.
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As a kindness.
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We've all been that person.
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So this week, pick your one problem, pick your one phrase, and just say it.
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And if it works, remember, it was my advice.
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If it doesn't, you must have misheard me.
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Take care.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “English for Problems at Work — Raise Issues Without Sounding Negative”. This video has 408 sentences and 3756 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:38. The speaker talks at a natural 159 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| complain verb | /kəmˈpleɪn/ | To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment. |
| deadline noun | /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/ | A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed. |
| disaster noun | /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/ | An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent… |
| panic noun | /ˈpænɪk/ | Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals; (countable) an instance of this; a fright, a scare. |
| suggestion noun | /səˈd͡ʒɛst.ʃən/ | Something suggested (with subsequent adposition being for) |
| radar noun | /ˈɹeɪˌdɑɹ/ | In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves… |
| quietly adverb | /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt.li/ | Producing little or no noise. |
| colleague noun | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate. |
| informal adjective | /ɪnˈfɔɹ.m(ə)l/ | Not formal or ceremonious. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| silence noun | /ˈsaɪ̯ləns/ | The absence of any sound. |
| formal adjective | /ˈfɔɹməl/ | In accordance with established forms. |
| badly adverb | /ˈbæd.li/ | In a bad manner. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| speak up verb | /ˌspik ˈʌp/ | To talk more loudly or clearly. |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| fall apart verb | To disintegrate, to break into pieces. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Franco, do you have two minutes?
- She didn't say, we have a problem, what do we do?
- How wrong are we talking?
- Greta, do you have a minute?
- Maybe it's, can I pick your brain?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've hit · hasn't happened · has just discovered |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who do · ones who can · person who finds |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 123 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, trustworthy /ˈtɹʌst.wɜː.ði/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: suggestion /səˈd͡ʒɛst.ʃən/, shield /ˈʃild/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, confession /kənˈfɛʃən/, proportionate /pɹəˈpɔɹʃənət/
- Long words — get the stress right: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, successfully /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, apology /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like phrase, solve, complain.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.