🗣️ Thursday Noon: Communication Phrases
Session type: Vocabulary Deep Dive | Topic: Communication Phrases — Meetings, Emails & Feedback
📖 Word of the Day
Articulate /ɑːrˈtɪk.jʊ.lət/ (adj) / /ɑːrˈtɪk.jʊ.leɪt/ (verb)
Vietnamese meaning: Diễn đạt rõ ràng, mạch lạc
Three example sentences:
- “She gave an articulate explanation of the deployment pipeline that even non-technical stakeholders could follow.”
- “Can you articulate the main blocker you’re facing before the standup ends?”
- “He’s very articulate in written communication — his PRs always have clear context.”
🔗 Resources:
📚 Vocabulary Table: 5 Key Communication Phrases
| Phrase | IPA | Vietnamese Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circle back | /ˈsɜːr.kəl bæk/ | Quay lại bàn sau | ”Let’s circle back on the API design after the sprint review.” |
| Touch base | /tʌtʃ beɪs/ | Liên lạc / cập nhật nhanh | ”Can we touch base this afternoon about the release plan?” |
| Take it offline | /teɪk ɪt ˈɒf.laɪn/ | Thảo luận riêng, không trong cuộc họp | ”This is getting complex — let’s take it offline and sync separately.” |
| Action item | /ˈæk.ʃən ˈaɪ.təm/ | Việc cần làm, đầu việc cụ thể | ”The action item from today’s meeting is to update the runbook by Friday.” |
| Constructive feedback | /kənˈstrʌk.tɪv ˈfiːd.bæk/ | Phản hồi mang tính xây dựng | ”I appreciate the constructive feedback on my pull request — I’ll refactor that section.” |
🔊 Pronunciation Guide
Practice Sentence:
“I’d like to articulate my concerns — let’s take it offline and circle back with a clear action item.”
Breakdown:
| Word/Phrase | Stress | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ar-TIC-u-late | 2nd syllable | Stress on “TIC” |
| TAKE it OFF-line | 1st & 3rd | Two stresses |
| CIR-cle BACK | 1st & 2nd | Both words stressed |
| AC-tion I-tem | 1st syllable each | Two clear words |
🎯 Tip:
In natural speech, “take it offline” often sounds like “take-it-OFFline” — the first two words blend together. Listen for this in meetings!
🔗 Practice with Google Translate TTS
✏️ Exercise 1: Vocabulary in Context
Fill in the blank with the correct phrase: (circle back / take it offline / touch base / action item / constructive feedback)
- “Your code works, but here’s some _______ — the variable names could be more descriptive.”
- “This discussion is going in circles. Can we _______ and set up a focused meeting?”
- “I haven’t talked to the DevOps team yet. I’ll _______ with them this afternoon.”
- “The main _______ from the retrospective is to add integration tests before next sprint.”
- “We’re out of time — let’s _______ on the architecture decision after lunch.”
✅ Click to see answers
- constructive feedback
- take it offline
- touch base
- action item
- circle back
✏️ Exercise 2: Translation Challenge
Translate these Vietnamese sentences into natural English using today’s vocabulary:
- “Tôi muốn nói chuyện riêng với bạn về vấn đề hiệu suất của hệ thống.”
- “Sau buổi demo, chúng ta hãy quay lại vấn đề bảo mật.”
- “Bạn có thể cho tôi phản hồi mang tính xây dựng về bài thuyết trình không?”
✅ Click to see suggested answers
- “I’d like to take this offline and discuss the system performance issue with you privately.”
- “After the demo, let’s circle back on the security concerns.”
- “Could you give me some constructive feedback on my presentation?”
💡 Bonus: In a real meeting, you might combine them: “I’d like to take this offline — can we touch base after the demo? I want to articulate the security risks clearly.”
💡 Idiom of the Day
”Get the ball rolling”
IPA: /ɡɛt ðə bɔːl ˈroʊ.lɪŋ/ Vietnamese meaning: Bắt đầu / khởi động một việc gì đó
Usage examples:
- “I’ll get the ball rolling on the onboarding docs — can someone review the first draft by Thursday?”
- “We’ve been planning this migration for weeks. It’s time to get the ball rolling and start with the dev environment.”
🎯 In a meeting context:
“To get the ball rolling, let’s start with a quick status update from each team lead.”
🎭 Mini Dialogue: Sprint Retrospective
Context: Two engineers, Thuan and Sara, are wrapping up a retrospective meeting.
Sara: “Before we close — Thuan, can you articulate the main bottleneck you mentioned earlier?”
Thuan: “Sure. The deploy pipeline is too slow — it’s blocking the whole team during peak hours.”
Sara: “That’s a solid point. Should we take it offline and set up a dedicated session with DevOps?”
Thuan: “Agreed. Let’s touch base with them tomorrow and get the ball rolling on an improvement plan.”
Sara: “Perfect. I’ll make that an action item in the meeting notes. Any constructive feedback on today’s retro format?”
Thuan: “It was great — very focused. Let’s circle back in two weeks and see if the pipeline issue is resolved.”
🎯 Challenge: 2-Minute Practice Right Now
Your challenge:
Open Slack, Teams, or your email drafts and write one message using at least 2 phrases from today’s lesson. It can be:
- A follow-up to a meeting
- A response to a PR comment
- A check-in with a teammate
Example starter:
“Hey [name], following up on our discussion — let’s [circle back / touch base] on [topic]. I want to [articulate] my thoughts more clearly. The main [action item] I see is…”
⏱️ Time yourself: 2 minutes. Hit send (or save as draft). You just practiced real-world communication English!
🌟 Quick Reference Card
| Situation | Phrase to Use |
|---|---|
| Meeting running long | ”Let’s take it offline” |
| Need to follow up later | ”Let’s circle back on this” |
| Quick informal sync | ”Can we touch base?” |
| Starting a project | ”Let’s get the ball rolling” |
| Giving helpful criticism | ”Here’s some constructive feedback” |
| Clear task assignment | ”The action item is…” |
Practice makes permanent. See you at the Evening session! 🌙