English Lesson — Friday Morning: Performance Reviews & Promotion Conversations

Happy Friday. Today’s session is about the vocabulary you actually need in a performance review or a promotion conversation — not generic “leadership” buzzwords, but the specific language for showing impact and asking directly for what you want.

Word of the Day: Quantify

• Word: quantify
• IPA: /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.faɪ/ (UK), /ˈkwɑːn.t̬ə.faɪ/ (US)
• Vietnamese: lượng hóa, định lượng (biến điều gì đó thành con số cụ thể)

Example sentences:

1. “Before the review, I quantified my impact: reduced deploy time by 40%, cut on-call incidents in half.”
2. “It’s hard to quantify how much a good mentor helps a junior engineer, but retention numbers are a start.”
3. “My manager asked me to quantify the cost savings from the migration before we present to leadership.”

Real links:

• Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/quantify
• YouGlish (hear it in real videos): https://youglish.com/pronounce/quantify/english

Vocabulary Table

Phrase	Vietnamese	Example
make the case for	đưa ra lý lẽ thuyết phục cho việc gì	“I want to make the case for a promotion this cycle.”
track record	thành tích, quá trình làm việc đã qua	“My track record on this team speaks for itself.”
level up	thăng tiến, nâng cấp kỹ năng	“Leading that project helped me level up fast.”
punch above your weight	làm việc vượt cấp bậc hiện tại	“She’s been punching above her weight since she joined.”
ask for what you’re worth	yêu cầu đúng với giá trị bản thân	“Don’t undersell yourself — ask for what you’re worth.”

Pronunciation Guide

Quantify breaks into three syllables: QUAN-ti-fy. The stress is on the first syllable — say it strong and a little longer, then the other two syllables are quick and light: KWAHN-tuh-fye.

Practice sentence (read aloud 3 times):

“I want to quantify my impact before I ask for a promotion.”

Read it slowly the first time, focusing on the stressed QUAN. Second time, at normal speed. Third time, imagine saying it to your manager in a real 1:1 — with confidence, not hesitation.

Exercises

Exercise 1 — Fill in the blank

1. Before asking for a raise, ___________ (quantify) your contributions with real numbers.
2. She has a strong ___________ (track record / level up) of shipping projects on time.
3. He’s been ___________ (punch above his weight / make the case) on a team two levels above his title.

Show answers

1. quantify
2. track record
3. punching above his weight

Exercise 2 — Translate to English

1. “Tôi muốn lượng hóa tác động công việc của mình trước cuộc họp đánh giá.”
2. “Đừng ngại yêu cầu đúng với giá trị bản thân.”

Show answers

1. “I want to quantify the impact of my work before the review meeting.”
2. “Don’t be afraid to ask for what you’re worth.”

Idiom of the Day: “Put your best foot forward”

Vietnamese: thể hiện bản thân theo cách tốt nhất có thể, tạo ấn tượng tốt nhất

Examples:

1. “Walking into the promotion conversation, I made sure to put my best foot forward — data ready, examples ready.”
2. “First 1:1 with a new manager? Put your best foot forward and come with a clear summary of your recent wins.”

Recommended Watching

• Linda Raynier (YouTube) — real career-coaching content on salary negotiation and promotion conversations, aimed at tech/corporate professionals.
• Cambridge English (YouTube) — short, accurate pronunciation and vocabulary clips, good for verifying word stress.
• YouGlish search for “quantify” and “track record” — hear both used in unscripted, real speech.

Today’s Challenge

Write one sentence quantifying a real accomplishment from this week — a number, a percentage, a concrete outcome — and say it out loud three times before your next meeting. That’s the exact sentence you’ll want ready the next time someone asks “what have you been working on.”