English Lesson (Listening): "Mistakes, Version 1" (B2 Level)

Version 1
Vocabulary

A. Professional contexts – contextes professionnels. English: It is important to use formal language in professional contexts. French: Il est important d’utiliser un langage formel dans les contextes professionnels.

B. Misjudge (verb) – mal juger. English: I misjudged his abilities because he was nervous during the test. French: J’ai mal jugé ses compétences parce qu’il était nerveux pendant le test.
Misjudging (noun)
Q: Talk about a time when you misjudge someone or something. –

C. Misinterpret (verb) – mal interpreter. English: She misinterpreted his message and thought he was angry. French: Elle a mal interprété son message et a cru qu’il était en colère.
Misinterpreting (noun)
Q: Talk about a time when you misinterpreted something or someone’s statements. –

D. Subpar – mediocre. English: His performance was subpar because he didn’t prepare well. French: Sa performance était médiocre parce qu’il ne s’était pas bien préparé.

E. Distractions – distractions. English: I need a quiet place to study without distractions. French: J’ai besoin d’un endroit calme pour étudier sans distractions.
Q: What are the common distractions at work? –

F. Perceive (verb) – percevoir. English: People perceive success differently depending on their culture. French: Les gens perçoivent le succès différemment selon leur culture.

G. Embrace (verb) – embrasser, adopter, accueillir. English: He embraced the new work environment with enthusiasm. French: Il a adopté le nouvel environnement de travail avec enthousiasme.
Q: Is it easy for you to embrace change or not? –

Embrace also mean “étreindre”. She embraced her son before putting him to bed.  Elle a étreint son fils avant de le mettre au lit.

H. At all costs – à tout prix. English: She wanted to succeed at all costs. French: Elle voulait réussir à tout prix.
Q: What do you want to get or achieve at all costs? –

I. Whereas – tandis que/alors que. English: He likes coffee, whereas I prefer tea. French: Il aime le café, tandis que je préfère le thé.

Guide Questions
1. What does the speaker say about committing mistakes?
2. Talk about the speaker’s examples.
3. What are the causes of mistakes?
4. How do different cultures perceive mistakes? Examples, in Western societies and East Asian cultures.
5. What does the speaker say about U.S. employees and a Japanese manager?

American Accent

British Accent

Indian Accent

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