Good morning! Today’s session is about one of the hardest professional skills in any language: disagreeing with a teammate, a PM, or your manager without sounding rude or passive. In tech, this comes up constantly — in architecture reviews, sprint planning, code reviews. Let’s build the vocabulary to push back diplomatically.
📖 Word of the Day: Assertive
- IPA: /əˈsɜːtɪv/
- Vietnamese: quyết đoán, dám nêu chính kiến (nhưng vẫn tôn trọng người khác)
Example sentences:
- “You need to be more assertive in design reviews — don’t just agree because everyone else did.”
- “She gave assertive but respectful feedback on the PR: clear about the problem, open to being wrong.”
- “Being assertive isn’t the same as being aggressive — it’s stating your position clearly and calmly.”
Real links to hear it:
- Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/assertive
- YouGlish (hear it in real videos): https://youglish.com/pronounce/assertive/english
🗂️ Vocabulary Table
| Phrase | Vietnamese | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Push back (on something) | phản đối, đưa ra ý kiến ngược lại | ”I want to push back on the timeline — two weeks isn’t realistic.” |
| See it differently | nhìn nhận vấn đề khác đi | ”I see it differently — I think we should ship the smaller version first.” |
| I hear you, but… | tôi hiểu ý bạn, nhưng… | ”I hear you, but I think this introduces more risk than it solves.” |
| Play devil’s advocate | đóng vai người phản biện | ”Let me play devil’s advocate for a second — what if the vendor API goes down?” |
| Agree to disagree | đồng ý là còn bất đồng, không ép nhau | ”We can agree to disagree here and let the data decide next sprint.” |
🔊 Pronunciation Guide
Assertive breaks into three syllables: as-SER-tive.
- “as” — short, like the letter “a” in “cat”
- “SER” — the stressed syllable, rhymes with “her”
- “tive” — quick, soft “tiv” sound, almost swallowed
Practice sentence (read aloud 3 times):
“I want to be assertive about this, but I’m also open to hearing why I might be wrong.”
Say it slowly first, then at normal speaking speed, then try recording yourself and comparing to the YouGlish clips above.
✍️ Exercises
Exercise 1 — Fill in the blank
Complete with one of: push back, see it differently, devil’s advocate, agree to disagree, assertive
- “I know the team already decided, but I want to _______ on the database choice.”
- “Let me _______ for a second — what happens if this fails at 3am?”
- “You were really _______ in that meeting today, and it worked — the PM actually reconsidered.”
Show answers
- push back
- play devil’s advocate
- assertive
Exercise 2 — Translate to English
Translate this into natural English: “Tôi hiểu ý của anh, nhưng tôi nhìn nhận vấn đề này khác đi. Chúng ta có thể đồng ý là còn bất đồng và để dữ liệu sprint sau quyết định.”
Show answer
“I hear you, but I see it differently. Let’s agree to disagree and let next sprint’s data decide.”
💬 Idiom of the Day: “Play devil’s advocate”
Vietnamese meaning: cố tình đóng vai người phản biện, đưa ra ý kiến ngược lại — không phải vì tin vào điều đó, mà để kiểm tra xem lập luận có vững không.
Examples:
- “I actually agree with the plan, but let me play devil’s advocate — what’s our rollback story if this migration fails?”
- “During the design review, our staff engineer always plays devil’s advocate, and it’s saved us from at least three bad decisions this year.”
📺 Recommended Watching
- Harvard Business Review on YouTube — search “how to disagree at work” for short, practical clips on workplace pushback.
- Speak English With Vanessa — clear breakdowns of polite disagreement phrases for non-native speakers.
- Real English Conversations — has several videos specifically on “disagreeing politely in English.”
🎯 Daily Challenge
In your next meeting today, use one phrase from the vocabulary table above — even if it’s a small disagreement. Notice how the room reacts when you disagree calmly instead of going silent or getting defensive. Write down what happened.
See you this evening for more practice! 🌙