This is an all ears English podcast, Episode 15 33 vocabulary to make strong impressions at work.

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts. Obreht Khadar, the Eilts whiz and former Eilts examiner Jessica Beck coming to you from Arizona and Portland, Oregon U.

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Start your seven day free trial at all ears English dot com forward slash bonuses today, Jessica and Aubrey Take-Over to share three phrases that can make you sound amazing at work and also share what vocabulary mistakes you must avoid in the office.

Hey, Aubrey, how's it going? Hi, I'm great, how are you? How are you feeling? A little bit loopy, just like Jessica.

I had a minor procedure this morning, but they gave me Valium before it and I thought it would be worn off and I would be fine before we recorded. But is not I'm still a little bit loopy.

So but because this is going to be a fun one, we are talking about some real three of very specific vocabulary phrases, guys that are used in business. If you do not use English at work, don't worry. We still use these phrases in daily life as well. But we are going to define them as far as far more for professional purposes today, because we do want to remind you guys that Aubrey and I are doing a Web class together, March 6th and 9th Obree.

Where can students sign up for that Web class?

Yeah, go to English dotcom promotions. This is going to be a good one. You want to make sure to reserve your spot? I think this is going to be a really popular one. So make sure to sign up early.

It is going to be a huge guys. I am so excited for this as we are recording this episode. I like have just finished sort of all of the planning and creation and like design of this thing. And guys. Oh my gosh, you know what? We are trying some new stuff in this Web class. It is going to be so informative and motivational, I promise you guys, after you finish this Web class with us live, remember, it's not recorded.

So after you show up live and finish this class with us, you are going to be ready for that next step in life, like you are going to find that way to dig deep and do what you got to do to grab that promotion that raise that opportunity. So, yeah, I mean, English skills for sure. You're going to get vocabulary structures and examples. But like, I'm excited about the strategies, the confidence, the motivation. So guys, grab your spot right now.

All ears, English, dotcom promotions. We are going to have the classes March 6th and 9th.

OK, so how did you come up with the topic for today's show?

Yeah, so I taught business personal coach class to one of our students. When you sign up for our business course you have the option to have personal coach classes and they are amazing. You're able to ask us any questions you want about things you're learning in the class. And this student had so many interesting questions and we had this great conversation.

She learned a ton and a couple of I asked her, can we use some of these on the podcast?

Because they're so interesting and it'd be so great for any student who works in the business world. So we're going to share with you three of her questions and the answers. Super fun.

OK, I love digging into vocabulary. These are like my favorite episodes to do. You know, like think about in real life. How do we use these? Because, guys, I need you. Yeah, you could Google Nesh. That's our first word, guys. You can Google Nesh definition and then you get like all these different explanations. And it's really tough to know just by seeing this thing on a screen, how do natives actually use this?

Like, do we do we say this at work?

What what is going on here? So what is the first definition that comes to your mind, Obree, when you hear the word nesh?

Yeah, I think of a niche market, like if someone has specialized in something and they've just found their own niche. Right. And I hear this all the time, really, any time a store or a business owner is really trying to get a corner on the market, they say they've got their own niche corner, the market.

That's another great phrase corner. The market is to, like, control this piece of the market. Right. And so, like these days, when it seems like there are a thousand experts online about any given topic. Right. You really do have to hone in on. There's another phrase from our course, all the phrases today. Guys, by the way, are from our business English course, where, like all of these phrases come directly from native professionals.

Right. So you know that. Yeah, like people actually say these things who are successful and they speak English at work.

So anyway, the way to define yourself to find a market right. These days is to specialize. Right.

Like, let's take what we do, for example. Right. Guys like if you and we say this a lot and in Web classes, but like if you Google, like, learn English or whatever, you get billions of results, so. As a as a teacher, how do we make you find us right, like we can't just say I'm an English teacher, we're not discoverable, that's not enough to to, you know, to find people.

So, like, specializing in Eilts, for example. That was a great way for us to find find something we're good at to help people in real, significant, specific ways. Yes.

And we found sort of a niche in emphasizing on connection rather than perfection, because so many English teachers are working on perfecting your grammar.

And and we're recognizing that that's not the best way to learn. The best way to learn is to make these connections and the rest of it comes right.

That's a really good point. That's a really good point. So niche market, as we said, that would be the most common way that you would use that at work. But then also like the next definition that like the next most common time we use it is to describe a small place in our home.

Now, Aubrey says it's the same word, but you pronounce it as niche. Well, any native speaker would pronounce it as a niche, but it's the same word, just totally different definition.

And it's interesting because you will see this misspelled and it h really just because it sounds like it would be spelled that way and it's sort of a mispronunciation, right. When you say Nesh, you're using the French pronunciation and then, you know, anglophones have kind of changed it to be niche.

So don't let yourself be confused. It's actually the same word. And whether you hear it as Nitsch or Nesh, you'll know like, oh, you might be a little smarter than the average native speaker to realize.

That's actually the same word. Totally.

So I don't actually say niche. I say nuk. So a niche or a nook is a like a small separate place in your home that is used again for a usually very special purpose, like a reading nook, a dining nook and office nook. So it's a small place in your home that you have claimed for a specific purpose. I would say so that's how we could see that like yes, it's the same word. It does come from a say the same place.

Hey, guys, thanks for listening today. Remember, though, to all ears, English dotcom promotion. Grab your spot for this business. English Web class right now, get inspired. Learn the vocab and strategies you need to succeed in your job or another job. Go to all English dotcom slash promotion.

OK, what is another expression that came for my course that your student asked about? Yes.

So our students said they heard the expression come across and asked us to elaborate. And she asked, can I say I come across very confident during the interview. She wasn't sure if that made sense. Right. So I let her know. Yes. That's a perfect way to use this to any time.

It's just the way you're presenting yourself.

This is a very native phrase to say, this is the way I'm coming across or this is how I come across. So, yeah, you can definitely say I feel like I came across really confident in that interview.

You guys, this is such this is such a good example of connecting with native speakers, using more natural vocabulary.

OK, so let me let me give you the two the two options here.

We could say like, oh, you know, Tina, I just watched Bob's Burgers last night.

So now the the name Tina is on my mind. Great cartoon, by the way, guys.

OK, so we could say, like, Tina seems nice, which is like it's a boring sentence. And the native speaker you're talking to wouldn't have a lot to say to that. Yeah, totally agree.

Or you could be like Tina comes across as a very kind and empathetic person to work with. Right. And that is something that the native speaker could connect to, could dig into. Right. Could could agree with, grab on to and be like. Oh yes, I thought so too, especially when she said blah, blah, blah. Right. So this is a great a great thing to notice. Guys, if we're using natural phrases, interesting phrases, it gives the other person something to connect to and they want to talk to us.

So that's a great example. And now another way we use this this phrasal verb come across to come across is like to accidentally see or to accidentally discover something.

So I could be like I was digging through some old files on my computer and I came across a really old episode we did five years ago and we never published it. And it's amazing. So instead of saying, like, I accidentally found, I found, I discovered. We can also use that phrase I came across.

Yes, right. We use it all the time. It's very native, very natural. These are the differences.

Instead of using that more common verb found to use come across, like you said, it makes those connections. That makes you sound more native. And it opens up a more interesting dialogue for sure.

Totally. You know, I mean, honestly, yes, I do want to speak to people that sound more interesting. I mean, isn't that like a logical thing to say? And so the best way to do that is to use some interesting words. Right.

OK, what is the last phrase to talk about today?

So this one's related. She said another expression I heard is get something across. But then she asked, does it mean to make some ideas or thoughts understood by people? Is this similar to knock some sense into someone?

And we suspect the phrase, I know it was so interesting because, yeah, she's right.

It does mean to help your thoughts be more understood. But no, it's not similar to the expression knock some sense into someone.

So do you ever say that don't guys don't say that.

I was so glad she was asking me so that she would know to not use that phrase in the same meaning, because not only does it, you know, have a totally different meaning, but you could be misunderstood and it could cause real problems.

Oh, my. So listeners, listeners, what if you guys I get like let's just say you're like Googling some phrases. Right. And the thesaurus doesn't tell you the positive and negative connotations. Right. It doesn't reflect how people feel when you say something like, so what have you see that these two phrases are somewhat synonymous and you're like, hmm, I'm going to sound interesting today.

I'm going to say knock some sense into someone at work. Guys, if you said that to like your boss or a co-worker, it means that you're like hitting them physically with your fist or your slapping them upside the head to make them realize something like that is how like aggressively physical that phrase is. So it's good to know one so you don't use it.

And two, because you'll hear people say that movies and stuff. But don't you say that you listeners, I know it has a very negative connotation.

Like in the movies I see someone like a really mean parent say it into their kids, to their kid. Like I'm going to knock some sense into you.

And it's a threat of violence. Right? I would never in a meeting want to say in order to say I'm going to get this message across, you would never want to say I'm going to knock some sense into you. So, yeah, this is really good to know. Don't use this at work. It is amazing how viscerally how I can't physically like I physically feel things in reaction to phrases. And that is one of the phrases where, like you said, I just automatically inside.

I'm like, oh, God, OK, so what does it mean? It just means, like to make someone understand something. Right, like just basically like that's what it's trying to get across. Oh, I just used it get across to pick up the better phrase to use that I just did to get it across, to get something across. It means you just want to make someone understand your point. Right. So this is a great way to summarize something.

If you feel like you have an explaining things and you're not sure if it's clear, because I know guys like sometimes you worry about your English, you're not sure if you made yourself understood. This is a great phrase that you can use.

You can be like, well, what I'm trying to get across is that my company can't design this website for a more affordable price or whatever, like use this phrase to introduce the summary, the very direct, clear thing you want to say.

Yeah. And it's actually a really good phrase for that because I'm thinking of the alternatives of maybe like what I'm trying to help you understand or anything else you could say might have some connotation of assuming they didn't understand, whereas this one. Right. This one is just summarizing. Like just want to make sure I got this across correctly. That's on you has nothing to do with them. Not understanding, you're just clarifying.

I want to summarize what I'm saying to make sure I was properly clear.

I love it. That is such a good point guys, because some some of these phrases, you guys, you think they're fine because it sounds like fine English, but it comes off sounding sort of passive aggressive, like I like judgmental.

So that's a good example. Like an alternative would be like I need you to understand this.

And that sounds like what?

Like you're good. You're assuming they didn't. Yeah. Or something. Yeah. So. Oh, God. OK, so guys, you can learn more amazing phrases to connect and positive ways with managers and higher ups in our web class.

All about the English you need and the strategies and the confidence to get your next promotion. So sign up now guys. I guarantee that like we're going to run out of room in this Web class, guys.

So sign up now. Go to all English dotcom promotions. Yeah, OK, we'll see you guys there.

Right. I'm excited. I'm excited to go. Oh, I'm so excited.

OK, all right. All right. Thank you for thank you for hosting all the English with me today. A rare but fun treat.

Right. All right. I'll see you next time, Jessica. All right.

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