Do you feel shy or nervous speaking English at work? This video will help! Learn easy tips to talk with coworkers and understand North American office culture. We talk about fun office events like potlucks and Secret Santa, and what to do if you don’t know what to say. You’ll also learn about cultural differences and how to feel more confident at work. https://www.engvid.com/social-english-at-work/

Need more small talk tips and ideas? Watch these lessons next:
SMALL TALK: What to say and what NOT to say! https://youtu.be/MqeA407ce74
Real English Conversation: How to talk about the weekend https://youtu.be/nalf4N9yPcs

In this lesson:
0:00 Is it difficult to understand your coworkers?
2:57 How to make friends at work
6:07 Show who you are!
8:03 Make small talk!
9:45 Cultural & generational differences
12:53 Sensitive topics

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello. My name is Emma, and today we are going to talk about English in the workplace. Specifically, today we are going to talk about social English. So we will talk about how to talk to your co-workers, how to make it easy, what might be difficult when it comes to talking to co-workers, and how to have more of a social life at work.

So lets get started. I first wanted to talk about a problem many English language learners have when they work in an English... When they work in an English environment.

One common issue is they have difficulty understanding what their English-speaking co-workers are saying. English speakers are not the best communicators. They use a lot of slang, a lot of expressions, a lot of idioms, so it can be very difficult to understand what your co-workers are saying.

So the first thing I want to teach you about is I want you to become aware of what is easiest and what is most difficult in the workplace, because you can use this to your advantage. What do you think is easier? Listening to one co-worker talk to you in a quiet environment like their office, or talking to multiple co-workers, so two, three, four, or five co-workers in a noisy environment like a lunchroom? You would probably say that this is the easier thing to do, and youre correct.

So, the reason this is important is if youre trying to meet people in an English workplace environment, its good to take opportunities to meet co-workers one-on-one, so just you and the co-worker, and talk then. Of course you can talk in these situations, too, but youre going to have a lot more difficulty. So, the best time to connect with people is one-on-one, especially if English isnt your first language. The reason is in these situations where you have multiple co-workers, theyll probably be talking very fast, making lots of jokes that you might not understand, and using a lot of slang or expressions you might not know. So, if you want to meet people, this can sometimes be the easier way to do it. So, my first tip, meet and talk to your co-workers. Try to do it at least some of the time one-on-one in a quiet environment. Youll understand them more.

The next problem a lot of people have when theyre learning a language and theyre working in an English environment is trying to make friends, or trying to meet your co-workers and get to know them. It can be difficult to get to know your co-workers. So, here are my tips for this. First of all, remember, it takes time. Okay? When you start at a company, it will take time for people to get to know you, and thats normal. Some people you work with might be shy or reserved. Thats normal, too. You can still smile and say hi to them. This has come up at my workplace where sometimes youll see some people who are very shy, they dont talk a lot, but they love it when people say hi to them. So, theres no problem with being friendly. Be friendly, especially if its natural for you. You know, you can say hi to your co-workers. Even if they dont seem like they say hi to you, its a good thing to say hi to them.

Go to work events. Workplaces often have these things called potlucks. A potluck is where everybody brings food for the group. So, if theres a potluck, its a great opportunity to get to know other people, you can bring food from your culture, so potlucks are a great idea to attend at work. BBQs, so sometimes there might be a work barbecue, sometimes for different holidays, like Christmas you might have something called Secret Santa, which is a game people play where they buy a gift for somebody.

So, my main point is if your workplace has something social happening, its a great idea to participate and to learn more about the culture, along with learning more about people. At a lot of these types of events, thats where you actually get to know people, so if youre invited to one, definitely go. […]