The English you need between meetings, not only in them

Everyday work talk is still speaking practice

People often wait to practise until a high-stakes interview or a big deck. The quieter moments train the same muscles and happen more often:

• Greeting someone and asking a real question, not only “how are you?”
• Explaining what you are working on in two sentences.
• Asking someone to slow down or repeat without sounding lost.
• Offering to help, or saying you cannot take more work this week.
• Making small talk that can lead into the task: weekend plans, a commute, a shared project.

Useful lines for a multilingual team

• “Could you say that another way?”
• “I want to make sure I understood: you need this by Thursday, correct?”
• “I can take the first draft. I will need a review from you.”
• “I am not sure — let me check and come back after lunch.”

These sentences protect you from guessing. Practise them until they come out at normal speed. If a colleague uses an idiom you do not know, it is fine to ask what they mean; you can practise that question too.

A weekly habit that stays small

Two or three short lessons beat a long session you postpone. Before a stand-up, spend five minutes saying yesterday’s work and today’s plan in past and present tense. After the stand-up, notice one sentence you wished you had said, and practise that sentence with Maya the same day.

When the conversation is more formal, move to business English speaking or presentation practice. For hiring processes, use job interview English. To understand the product itself, see how an AI speaking tutor differs from a chat window.

Questions