🖥️ Monday Noon: Technical Vocabulary Deep Dive
Session focus: The verbs, nouns, and phrases you actually use in code reviews, PRs, Slack threads, and daily stand-ups — with correct pronunciation.
1. 📖 Word of the Day: Refactor
| IPA | /ˌriːˈfæktər/ |
| Nghĩa (Vietnamese) | Tái cấu trúc code — viết lại code cho sạch hơn mà không thay đổi chức năng |
| Part of Speech | Verb / Noun |
Example Sentences
- “We need to refactor this module before adding new features — the logic is too tangled.”
- “The PR is mostly a refactor of the authentication service; no behaviour changes.”
- “Let’s schedule a refactoring sprint next week to clean up the legacy endpoints.”
🔗 References
- 📹 YouTube – What is Refactoring? (Fireship, 6 min)
- 📚 Cambridge Dictionary – refactor
- 📖 MDN / Martin Fowler – Refactoring catalogue
2. 📋 Vocabulary Table: Code Review & PR Language
| Phrase | IPA | Nghĩa tiếng Việt | Example in Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| to scaffold | /ˈskæfəld/ | Tạo cấu trúc ban đầu / khung code | ”I’ll scaffold the new service today and share the repo.” |
| to stub out | /stʌb aʊt/ | Viết hàm giả / placeholder trước | ”Can you stub out the API calls so we can test the UI flow?“ |
| a blocker | /ˈblɒkər/ | Vấn đề chặn tiến độ | ”Dependency on the DB migration is a blocker for my PR.” |
| to deprecate | /ˈdeprəkeɪt/ | Đánh dấu là lỗi thời, sắp bỏ | ”We’re going to deprecate the v1 endpoint next quarter.” |
| to squash (commits) | /skwɒʃ/ | Gộp nhiều commit thành một | ”Please squash your commits before merging so the history stays clean.” |
3. 🎙️ Pronunciation Guide
Practice Sentence
“Before we merge, can you refactor that helper, stub out the external call, and squash the commits?”
Breakdown
| Word | Stress | Common Mistake | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| re·FAC·tor | 2nd syllable | ”REE-fak-tor” (wrong stress) | Stress the middle — “ruh-FAK-ter” |
| DEP·re·cate | 1st syllable | ”deh-PREH-kate” | Like “DEP-ruh-kate” — first syllable strong |
| SQUASH | Single syllable | Pronounced like “squish” | Pure short-o: /skwɒʃ/ — mouth wide open |
| SCAF·fold | 1st syllable | ”ska-FOLD" | "SKAF-fold” — stress on first |
| STUB out | ”STUB” stressed | ”stub OUT” (wrong) | Verb stress = first word: “STUB out” |
🔊 Audio References
- 📹 Forvo — “refactor” pronunciation
- 📹 Forvo — “deprecate” pronunciation
- 📹 YouGlish — hear “squash commits” in real videos
4. ✏️ Exercises
Exercise 1: Vocabulary in Context
Fill in the blank with the correct word: scaffold / stub out / blocker / deprecate / squash
- “The missing API key is a _______ for the whole team — nobody can test locally.”
- “We plan to _______ the old login endpoint in v4.0 and fully remove it in v5.”
- “I’ll _______ a new microservice for payments — just the folder structure and Docker config for now.”
- “Could you _______ the third-party analytics call? We don’t want real events during testing.”
- “Once you’re happy with the five commits, _______ them into one before requesting review.”
✅ Answers
- blocker
- deprecate
- scaffold
- stub out
- squash
Exercise 2: Translation Challenge
Translate these Vietnamese sentences into natural English (as you’d write in Slack or a PR comment):
- “Tôi sẽ tái cấu trúc module này — logic hiện tại quá rối.”
- “PR này chỉ là dọn dẹp code, không thay đổi chức năng gì.”
- “Endpoint v2 sẽ bị đánh dấu lỗi thời vào tháng sau — hãy di chuyển sang v3.”
- “Bạn có thể gộp các commit lại trước khi tôi review không?”
✅ Model Answers
- “I’m going to refactor this module — the current logic is too tangled.”
- “This PR is purely a refactor / cleanup — no behaviour changes.”
- “The v2 endpoint will be deprecated next month — please migrate to v3.”
- “Could you squash the commits before I review? / Mind squashing before I take a look?“
5. 💡 Idiom of the Day: “Under the hood”
| IPA | /ˌʌndər ðə hʊd/ |
| Nghĩa | Phía bên trong / cơ chế hoạt động bên dưới — bạn không nhìn thấy nhưng nó đang chạy |
| Origin | Từ ô tô — mở nắp capo để xem động cơ |
Usage Examples
- “The UI looks simple, but under the hood there are three separate microservices handling each request.”
- “I don’t know exactly how the caching works under the hood, but the response times are impressive.”
🇻🇳 When to use it
Dùng khi muốn nói về implementation details hoặc internal workings mà người dùng (hay non-tech stakeholder) không thấy trực tiếp.
6. 💬 Mini Dialogue: Code Review on Slack
Context: Minh and Alex are reviewing a PR on Slack.
Minh: Hey Alex, I just pushed the PR. I added the new payment service, but I still need to refactor the validation logic — it’s pretty messy right now.
Alex: No worries. I saw you stubbed out the Stripe call — is that intentional?
Minh: Yeah, it’s a placeholder for now. The real integration is blocked by the API keys issue.
Alex: Got it. Before merge, can you also squash the commits? There are like eight small fixes in there.
Minh: Sure! And I’ll also add a note that the v1 helper is going to be deprecated after we fully ship v2.
Alex: Perfect. Under the hood the architecture looks much cleaner — nice work! 🚀
7. 🎯 Today’s Challenge (2 minutes)
Right now, open your last PR description or your most recent Slack message to a teammate.
👉 Rewrite it using at least 2 words from today’s vocabulary table.
For example, change:
- “I fixed the code and combined the git history” → “I refactored the helper and squashed the commits”
- “The old API will be removed” → “The v1 endpoint will be deprecated in Q2”
Post your rewritten sentence as a comment on your current PR — or just say it out loud. 🗣️
📊 Today’s Session Summary
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| 🌟 Word of the Day | refactor /ˌriːˈfæktər/ |
| 📋 Vocab Table | scaffold · stub out · blocker · deprecate · squash |
| 🎙️ Pronunciation Focus | Stress patterns in technical verbs |
| 💡 Idiom | under the hood |
| ✏️ Exercises | Fill-in-the-blank + Translation challenge |
| 🎯 Challenge | Rewrite a real message with today’s vocab |
🔁 Come back tonight for the Evening session — we’ll focus on listening comprehension with a real tech talk clip.
⬅️ Back to all English lessons | 🏠 Home