2024-01-22 Introducing Office English – Office English

Introduction

Welcome to our new business English series Office English. In each episode, Pippa and Phil talk about the phrases you will need to succeed in English at work. Want to write the perfect email? Need to talk about your ideas in meetings? Office English can help. 

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.

Clips from the series
It’s a bit difficult, with that difference between being friendly and being business-y because you actually need something.

You know those technicalities of when to write ‘Kind regards’ and when to write ‘Best wishes’.

I might call somebody on the phone if there’s something urgent, but I don’t think I use phone calls at work as often as before.

Phil
Hello. And welcome to Office English, a new business series from BBC Learning English. I’m Phil.

Pippa
And I’m Pippa. Communicating well at work is difficult, even for native speakers of English, like us.

Phil
So, in this podcast, across ten episodes, we’re going to talk through the harder parts of speaking English in the office.

Clips from the series
In Britain, we tend to have politeness as a really important thing. So we say ‘I’m sorry’ a lot. Or ‘Can I just do this?’

I think I’m probably quite bad at networking when I don’t know somebody because I get really nervous.

Whenever you’re talking about mistakes, you’re dealing with how people feel, and often you’re dealing with how you feel yourself.

Pippa
From meetings…

Phil
To work events…

Pippa
To dealing with mistakes…

Phil
We’ll learn some phrases that will help you speak well in English at work and succeed in your career.

Pippa
We’ll be hearing from colleagues at the BBC about how they use English in the office.

Phil
And discussing how we can get the balance between being friendly and professional at work.

Pippa
Our first two episodes will be available from 29th January with weekly episodes every Monday.

Phil
To listen, follow our Learning English for Work podcast on your podcast app. Or head to our website: www.bbc-story.com.