Word of the Day
accountability — /əˌkaʊntəˈbɪlɪti/
🇻🇳 Vietnamese: trách nhiệm giải trình
The quality of being responsible for your decisions and actions, and expected to explain them when asked.
Example sentences:
- “As a tech lead, accountability means owning the outcome of your team’s decisions — not just the process.”
- “We introduced weekly syncs to improve accountability across all squads in the engineering org.”
- “True accountability in a startup culture means celebrating failures openly so the team can learn fast.”
Top 5 Power Phrases from Week 25
| Phrase | IPA | Vietnamese | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| rapport | /ræˈpɔːr/ | sự gắn kết | Building trust with teammates or clients |
| ballpark figure | /ˈbɔːlpɑːrk ˈfɪɡər/ | con số ước lượng | Giving rough estimates in planning meetings |
| facilitate | /fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/ | tạo điều kiện / điều phối | Running workshops, retros, or discussions |
| action item | /ˈækʃən ˈaɪtəm/ | đầu việc cụ thể cần làm | Assigning tasks after a meeting |
| let’s table that | /lɛts ˈteɪbəl ðæt/ | gác lại vấn đề này | Deferring a topic to keep the meeting on track |
Pronunciation Guide
Breaking down “accountability”
a · COUNT · a · bil · i · ty
| Syllable | Sound | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| a | /ə/ | unstressed (schwa) |
| COUNT | /kaʊnt/ | PRIMARY STRESS |
| a | /ə/ | unstressed (schwa) |
| bil | /bɪl/ | secondary |
| i | /ɪ/ | light |
| ty | /ti/ | light |
Key tip: The stress falls on COUNT — say it louder and slightly longer than the rest.
Practice sentence:
“Ac-COUNT-a-bil-i-ty starts with clear action items and ownership.”
Say it 3 times slowly, then try at natural speed. Notice how native speakers often reduce the unstressed syllables to a quick schwa /ə/.
Exercises
Exercise 1: Fill in the Blank
Choose the correct Week 25 word to complete each sentence.
(rapport / ballpark figure / facilitate / action item / let’s table that)
- “Can you give me a __________ for how long the migration will take? Even a rough estimate helps.”
- “I need to __________ tomorrow’s retrospective — can someone send me the team notes beforehand?”
- “Good engineers build __________ with stakeholders by communicating early and often.”
- “That’s an interesting idea, but __________ for now — we only have 10 minutes left in this sprint review.”
- “The __________ from today’s stand-up: update the API docs by Thursday.”
Answers:
- ballpark figure
- facilitate
- rapport
- let’s table that
- action item
Exercise 2: Translate into English
Translate these Vietnamese sentences using vocabulary from Week 25.
- “Anh ấy luôn tạo được sự gắn kết tốt với khách hàng ngay từ buổi gặp đầu tiên.”
- “Chúng ta hãy gác lại vấn đề ngân sách này và tập trung vào kiến trúc hệ thống trước.”
- “Đầu việc cụ thể của tôi trong sprint này là hoàn thiện tài liệu API trước thứ Sáu.”
Sample Answers:
- “He always builds strong rapport with clients from the very first meeting.”
- “Let’s table that budget issue and focus on the system architecture first.”
- “My action item for this sprint is to finish the API documentation before Friday.”
Bonus Idioms
Three idioms every Vietnamese tech professional needs for the modern workplace:
1. Hit the ground running
🇻🇳 bắt đầu ngay và chạy full speed — to start a new job or project with energy and without needing time to prepare
Workplace examples:
- “We need someone who can hit the ground running — the product launch is in three weeks.”
- “She hit the ground running on her first day by already knowing the codebase from the code review.”
2. On the same page
🇻🇳 đồng thuận / hiểu giống nhau — when everyone in a group understands or agrees on the same thing
Workplace examples:
- “Before we start the sprint, let’s make sure everyone is on the same page about the acceptance criteria.”
- “The design and engineering teams were finally on the same page after the kickoff workshop.”
3. Move the needle
🇻🇳 tạo ra sự thay đổi có ý nghĩa — to make a meaningful, measurable difference or progress
Workplace examples:
- “We’ve shipped a lot of small fixes this quarter, but none of them really moved the needle on user retention.”
- “If you want to move the needle on conversion, focus on the onboarding flow — that’s where users drop off.”
Mini Dialogue
Sprint Retrospective — using this week’s vocabulary
Linh (Scrum Master): I’d like to facilitate today’s retro. Before we start, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about the sprint goal we had.
Minh (Dev Lead): Agreed. One thing I want to raise is accountability — a few action items from last sprint weren’t picked up until the final day.
Linh: That’s a fair point. Should we redesign how we assign action items, or let’s table that for a separate process meeting?
Minh: Let’s discuss it here — I think we can give it a ballpark figure of 15 minutes and still move the needle on team trust.
Linh: Perfect. And I want to say — the rapport in this team has been genuinely strong this sprint. That matters.
Your Challenge
Write one sentence using both “accountability” and “action item” about a real task you have coming up this week.
Example:
“To build real accountability in my team, I always make sure every meeting ends with at least one clear action item assigned to a named owner.”
Now it’s your turn. Think of your next task — who owns it, what’s the deadline, and what does taking accountability look like?