Business English Imitation Lesson Idioms Vocabulary
Hello! I’m Emma from mmmEnglish!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking about idioms
and expressions that are commonly used in
business and professional contexts.
And I wanted to give you the opportunity to practise
using them in context
with the correct tone, pronunciation, intonation
and facial expression.
So this is an imitation lesson.
Now you might have already practised
with some of my other imitation lessons.
There are several on my channel,
which you can watch right here.
Now these imitation lessons allow you
to practise your speaking skills with me,
out loud.
If this is your first time practising
with one of my imitation lessons,
don’t worry.
I’ll explain exactly what you need to do
and later in the lesson, I’ll share one way that you can
keep practising what you learn in this lesson
with a native English speaker.
So keep watching!
So there are three very simple steps
in my imitation lessons.
Firstly, you just need to listen to me
and read the text on screen.
Then you’ll hear me say the same thing again
but after each clause or sentence
there’ll be a pause in the video
where you can imitate me out loud.
So that just means you’ll copy and repeat
exactly what I said out loud.
Lastly, I’ll invite you to shadow me
which means speaking the words with me
at the same time.
That way, you can copy the natural rhythm in my voice.
Ready to get started?
Remember at first, you just need to listen
and read the words on the screen.
Well, actually I’m not even supposed to be
attending this conference,
but my boss offered me his ticket
and I didn’t want to turn it down!
I really need to brush up on my
project management skills actually.
I’ve taken on a new role in the sales team
and I’ve been flat out ever since!
I’ve even started giving weekly
presentations to the board,
but my workload is just getting a bit out of hand.
I did yesterday’s presentation completely off-the-cuff!
But, go back six months
and it was a very different story..
I was seriously considering jumping ship!
Really! Almost half the team had lost their jobs!
Luckily, we’ve since got a new general manager
on board
and I think I told you about her, didn’t I?
She’s been doing an amazing job so far;
runs a very tight ship
but I guess that’s how she turned things around!
Anyway, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing
but things are finally getting back on track!
How are things with you?
Did you notice that the words
looked a little different on screen?
The bold words are stressed words
and the underlined vowels are
stressed syllables in each word.
These words and syllables sound stronger and clearer
while the others reduce and become weaker.
Paying close attention to them will help you to sound
more natural when you speak.
You can learn more about stress syllables
here in this lesson.
But right now, you’re ready to imitate me.
Remember there will be a pause after
each clause or sentence
and that’s when you need to imitate what I said
exactly as I said it, exactly how I said it.
So try to copy the intonation and the tone in my voice
even the expression on my face
or the gestures I make with my hands.
Well, actually,
I’m not even supposed to be attending this conference,
but my boss offered me his ticket
and I didn’t want to turn it down!
I really need to brush up
on my project management skills actually.
I’ve taken on a new role in the sales team
and I’ve been flat out ever since!
I’ve even started giving weekly presentations
to the board,
but my workload is just getting a bit out of hand.
I did yesterday’s presentation completely off-the-cuff!
But go back six months and it was a very different story
I was seriously considering jumping ship!
Really! Almost half the team had lost their jobs!
Luckily,
we’ve since got a new general manager on board
and I think I told you about her, didn’t I?
She’s been doing an amazing job so far;
runs a very tight ship
but I guess that’s how she turned things
around!
Anyway, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing
but things are finally getting back on track!
How are things with you?
Nice work!
At this point,
you might want to practise a few more times
and that’s fine!
You just need to go back in the video and practise again,
practise as many times as you need to.
In fact, you could even practise this script
with a native English speaker,
to check your pronunciation and expression
and to get feedback on how you can improve.
You could do this with one of the English teachers
at Cambly.
I’ve put the link in the description for you because
your first fifteen minute lesson is free!
May as well try it out!
So are you ready to keep practising with step three now?
This time, you need to shadow me
and it’s a little more difficult to do because
we’ll be speaking at the same time
but it allows you to practise making the sounds
and following the natural rhythm of my voice
to help you sound much more natural
while using English.
Don’t worry if you make some mistakes,
just try to relax and go with the flow!
You can practise as many times as you need to.
Well, actually,
I’m not even supposed to be attending this conference
but my boss offered me his ticket
and I didn’t want to turn it down!
I really need to brush up
on my project management skills actually.
I’ve taken on a new role in the sales team
and I’ve been flat out ever since!
I’ve even started giving weekly
presentations to the board,
but my workload is just getting a bit out of hand.
I did yesterday’s presentation completely off-the-cuff!
But go back six months and it was a very different story
I was seriously considering jumping ship!
Really! Almost half the team had lost their jobs!
Luckily,
we’ve since got a new general manager on board
and I think I told you about her, didn’t I?
She’s been doing an amazing job so far;
runs a very tight ship
but I guess that’s how she turned things around!
Anyway, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing
but things are finally getting back on track!
How are things with you?
That’s great!
I’m sure you got a little tongue-tied there
but don’t worry about it,
keep practising with this video until you start
getting the hang of it.
Remember that you can claim your free lesson
with one of the native English speakers on Cambly
and get some personal feedback
on your English pronunciation.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the mmmEnglish Channel
and keep practising right now if you want to
with these lessons right here.
I’ll see you next week for another English lesson
here at mmmEnglish.
Bye for now!