Shadowing Practice: 同事總是把我的名字念錯，我一直不好意思糾正，直到整個辦公室都跟著叫錯｜Real Life Office English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Thanks everyone, and Emily Chan will take it from here.
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I looked up from my laptop.
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There it was again.
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Chan?
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My last name is Chan, not Chan.
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I had already heard it from Ben. From Rachel.
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From people I had never even met.
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Somehow, one small pronunciation mistake had spread through the office, and the worst part was, I knew exactly how it started.
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I had never corrected anyone.
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When I first joined the company, one of my co-workers mispronounced my last name during a meeting.
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Welcome, Emily Chan, I noticed immediately.
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But there were 15 people on the call.
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Everyone was looking at me, and I had been at the company for exactly three days.
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So instead of saying, actually, it's pronounced Chen, I smiled and said, thank you.
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Happy to be here.
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I told myself it was fine.
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It was close enough.
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Surely, someone else would say it correctly later.
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No one did.
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A few days later, Ben stopped by my desk.
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Hey, Emily Chan, how's the new job treating you?
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I almost corrected him.
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I really did.
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I opened my mouth.
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Then Ben handed me a coffee.
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This is for you.
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I accidentally ordered two.
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I looked at the coffee.
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Then I looked at Ben.
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And somehow, correcting my name suddenly felt ungrateful.
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So I just said thanks.
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A week later, Rachel introduced me to someone from another team.
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This is Emily Chan.
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She just joined our group.
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I almost corrected her too.
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But now another thought stopped me.
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Maybe it was too late.
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If I corrected them now, would they wonder why I had waited two weeks?
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So I decided I would wait for a better moment.
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That moment never came.
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What came instead was a company meeting.
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About 40 people were on the call.
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Sarah was introducing the people working on a new project.
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She said, Ben will handle the client side, Rachel will coordinate with operations, and Emily Chan will take care of the reporting.
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There it was again.
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Except this time, forty people heard it.
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A few minutes later, someone I had never met sent me a message.
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Hi, Emily Chan, nice to meet you.
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I stared at the screen.
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My name was now spreading.
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This was no longer one pronunciation mistake.
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It was becoming company knowledge.
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At lunch, I finally told Ben.
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Can I ask you something slightly awkward?
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Ben looked worried.
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That sentence has never led to anything good.
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I laughed.
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It's nothing serious.
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Okay, I took a breath.
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My last name is actually pronounced Chen.
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Ben stopped chewing.
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What?
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Chen?
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He stared at me for about two seconds.
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Then he slowly put down his sandwich.
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Have I been calling you Chan this entire time?
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Kind of.
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Kind of.
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Yes.
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Emily.
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Yes.
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Why did you not tell me?
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I laughed.
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I don't know.
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It felt awkward.
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Ben looked genuinely horrified.
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I have introduced you to people.
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I know.
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I said it in front of Sarah.
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I know.
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I think I said it to a client.
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I stopped smiling.
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You did, Ben thought for a second.
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Actually, no, that might have been Rachel.
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That is somehow worse.
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Ben covered his face with one hand.
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This is terrible.
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It's really not, it is for me.
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Then he looked at me.
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Okay, teach me.
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I said my last name again, Chen.
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He repeated it carefully.
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Chen, yes, Chen, Chen, yes.
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Okay, Chen.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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Got it.
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Then he pointed at me.
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You have to correct people.
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I know.
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No, seriously, please correct us.
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I will.
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You promise?
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I promise.
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Five minutes later, Rachel walked over.
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Hey, Emily, Sarah's looking for you.
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Ben immediately said, before you go, we need to talk about Emily's name.
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I nearly dropped my fork.
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Ben, what?
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I said I would correct people.
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I did not say you should hold a press conference.
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Rachel looked confused.
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What happened?
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I smiled awkwardly.
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My last name is actually pronounced Chen.
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Rachel blinked.
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Then her eyes got very wide.
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Oh no. That was not the reaction I was hoping for.
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She said, I've been saying, Chen.
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I know.
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For weeks, I know.
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Why didn't you tell me Ben pointed at her?
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Exactly, I said.
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I just didn't want to make it awkward.
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Rachel laughed.
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Emily, this is way more awkward.
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She was right.
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Then she smiled.
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Okay, Chen.
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Yes, Chen.
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Perfect.
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Thank you for telling me.
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That surprised me.
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Thank you for telling me.
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She was not offended.
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She was embarrassed for maybe five seconds.
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Then she moved on.
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She just wanted to say mine incorrectly.
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Later that afternoon, Sarah sent me a message.
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Do you have a minute?
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I went to her office.
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She smiled.
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Ben told me I've been pronouncing your last name wrong.
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Of course he did.
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I said, yeah, it's Chen.
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Sarah repeated it, Chen.
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Exactly.
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Then she said, I'm sorry, I wish you had corrected me earlier.
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I didn't want to interrupt you.
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Sarah looked surprised.
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You can always correct me on your name.
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I nodded.
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I know that now.
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She smiled.
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Names matter.
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Then she added, and for the record, if I ever pronounce someone's name wrong, I'd much rather they tell me.
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That stayed with me, Because I had spent weeks imagining the correction would create some huge, uncomfortable moment.
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But the actual correction took about three seconds.
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The awkward part had been everything I did to avoid it.
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The next morning, I joined another meeting.
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There were about 20 people on the call.
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Marcus was presenting.
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Halfway through, he said.
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I'm going to hand this over to Emily Chan.
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My heart dropped.
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Not again.
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For one second, I almost let it go.
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Then I remembered my promise to Ben.
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I unmuted.
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Thanks, Marcus and just a quick correction, my last name is pronounced Chen.
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There was a tiny pause, Marcus said, Chen.
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Got it, sorry about that, I smiled.
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No worries, it happens all the time.
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And that was it, no disaster, no long awkward silence.
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We simply continued with the meeting afterward marcus sent me a
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message thanks for correcting me i want to make sure i get people's names right
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that was when i realized something i had been treating correction like criticism
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but it wasn't i was simply giving someone the information they needed and usually one sentence is enough Actually, it's pronounced Chen.
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Or in a meeting, just a quick correction.
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It's pronounced Chen.
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If you waited longer than you meant to, you can say, I should have mentioned this earlier, but it's pronounced Chen.
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And if the other person feels embarrassed, no worries.
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It happens all the time.
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That's really all you need.
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A few days later, a new employee joined our team.
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Her name was Marisol.
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Before the meeting, Ben looked at her name on the screen.
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Then he looked at me.
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Then he looked back at the screen.
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I knew exactly what he was thinking.
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When Marisol joined the call, Ben said, Hi, welcome.
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And before I say your name wrong for three weeks, could you tell me how you pronounce it?
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Marisol laughed.
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She said her name.
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Ben repeated it carefully.
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She smiled.
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Perfect.
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Ben looked at me.
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I'm learning.
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I smiled.
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Slowly.
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I used to think correcting someone would make things awkward.
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Now I think the opposite is true.
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Most people do not want to keep saying your name wrong, they just do not know they are doing it.
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So if someone mispronounces your name, you do not need to wait three weeks.
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You definitely do not need to wait until half the office learns the wrong version.
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You can simply smile and say, actually it's pronounced, then say your name.
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And if you are the person who is not sure, you can ask, could you tell me how you pronounce your name?
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Or I want to make sure I'm saying your name correctly.
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A few seconds of awkwardness can save weeks of awkwardness later.
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Trust me, I have experience.
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A lot of experience.
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If you enjoy learning real workplace English through situations that actually happen, subscribe to Fluentrail English.
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And if I ever pronounce your name wrong, please correct me.
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I'll see you in the next episode.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “同事總是把我的名字念錯，我一直不好意思糾正，直到整個辦公室都跟著叫錯｜Real Life Office English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Ben, Chen, looked, Chan, Emily. This video has 215 sentences and 1371 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:05. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pronounce verb | /pɹəˈnaʊns/ | To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously. |
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| correction noun | /kəˈɹɛkʃən/ | The act of correcting. |
| awkwardness noun | The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness. | |
| mispronounce verb | /ˌmɪspɹəˈnaʊns/ | To pronounce (a word, phrase, etc.) incorrectly. |
| pronunciation noun | /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken. |
| stare verb | /stɛɚ/ | To look fixedly (at something). |
| embarrassed adjective | /ɪmˈbæɹ.əst/ | Having a feeling of shameful discomfort. |
| correctly adverb | /kəˈɹɛk(t).li/ | In a correct manner. |
| awkwardly adverb | In an awkward manner; with discomfort or lack of coordination. | |
| horrify verb | /ˈhɒɹɪfaɪ/ | To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror. |
| ungrateful adjective | /ʌnˈɡɹeɪtfəl/ | Not grateful; not expressing gratitude. |
| unmute verb | /ʌnˈmjuːt/ | To restore the sound output (on a speaker or other audio device), having previously muted it. |
| offend verb | /əˈfɛnd/ | To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult. |
| incorrectly adverb | /ˌɪnkəˈɹɛk(t).li/ | In an incorrect manner. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| put down verb | To insult, belittle, or demean. |
| walk over verb | To gain an easy victory. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Can I ask you something slightly awkward?
- Why did you not tell me?
- It's really not, it is for me.
- I just didn't want to make it awkward.
- Do you have a minute?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been saying · I've been pronouncing |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If I corrected them now, would they |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is actually pronounced · was not offended · is pronounced |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has never led · have introduced |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: correction /kəˈɹɛkʃən/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, incorrectly /ˌɪnkəˈɹɛk(t).li/, coordinate /koʊˈɔɹ.dəˌneɪt/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/
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 pronounce, awkward, correction.
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.