Dealing with a problem

In this video, Vanya goes to Yuna with a problem. Listen to the language they use for dealing with a problem and practise saying the useful phrases.

Do the preparation exercise first. Then watch the video and do the exercises to check your understanding and practise the language.

Transcript

Ana: Hi! I'm Ana. Welcome to What to Say

Do you know what to say when you need to deal with a problem? Listen out for useful language for dealing with a problem. Then, we'll practise saying the new phrases – after this.

 

Vanya: Yuna!

Yuna: Oh, morning!

Vanya: I've got a bit of a problem. 

Yuna: What's wrong?

Vanya: Can we talk in private?

Yuna: Of course.

Yuna: Right, so, what's the matter? 

Vanya: Well, I've made a mistake. A big mistake.

Yuna: OK. I'm sure we can work it out.

Vanya: It was such a silly thing to do! 

Yuna: I'm getting worried now. What's going on here? 

Vanya: OK. It was late last night and I was tired. I wasn't concentrating and I accidentally used my company credit card instead of my own to buy something! 

Yuna: Don't worry, these things happen. There's a procedure to deal with this. How much did you spend? 

Vanya: It was quite expensive.

Yuna: How expensive?

Vanya: It was very expensive.

Yuna: Vanya, how expensive?

Vanya: £3,782 … and 56 pence.

Yuna: What? You spent £3,782?! 

Vanya: … and 56 pence. 

Yuna: What was it? Vanya?

Vanya: Just a weekend break! I just like a really nice hotel!

Yuna: OK, I see. Thanks for letting me know.

Vanya: Ah! I feel so much better now I've told you. Please don't tell Noelia.

Yuna: Oh, I'm definitely going to tell her!

Noelia: Hi!

Vanya: Hi!

 

Ana: Hello again! Wow, that's a lot of money for a weekend break. So, did you notice the useful phrases used for dealing with a problem? Listen to me and then repeat. 

 

What's wrong?

I've got a bit of a problem.

Could we talk in private?

What's the matter?

I've made a mistake.

I'm sure we can work it out.

Don't worry, these things happen.

Thanks for letting me know.

I feel so much better now I've told you.


Ana: Try and use some of these phrases the next time you need to deal with a problem in English. Bye for now!

Discussion

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Submitted by ChiaraKoehrlen on Wed, 23/10/2024 - 10:04

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When was the last time you helped someone with a problem at work?

The last time I've helped someone was during my summer job. The girls who made the mistake was new and we talked about what she has done and we solved the problem together.

Submitted by gratos on Sun, 20/10/2024 - 11:25

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I always helped my colleagues at work. one time I remembered I had noticed something weird in the company 's sales report that my friend was responsible for so I hurried to fix it and avoid my friend embarrassment . It such a great feeling to help somebody secretly without letting him know who is this anonymous helper.

Submitted by shacka on Fri, 14/06/2024 - 09:48

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I've found out that one of my colleague's clients sent a wrong discount code to his customers within the campaign and my colleague who's responsible for that hasn't checked it. So I've called the client to solve the issue in order to resend the right one. After that, I told her to always check discount codes before the client's promotional campaign to make sure it works properly.

Submitted by ubaid332 on Mon, 10/06/2024 - 15:04

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When was the last time you helped someone with a problem at work?

I helped my classmate with his thesis. He doesn't know how to set the formatting and make the table of contents in a Microsoft Word document. I formatted his thesis and made the table of contents. After that, I helped him with document printing as well.

Submitted by AleCalvin on Sun, 02/06/2024 - 20:51

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Last time I helped someone at work was on last Friday. A colleague asks me to help her
to recut some images in the proper size to insert again in the new website, before the website will 
go online. 

Submitted by maryamKeihani on Sun, 05/05/2024 - 13:07

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the last time i helped someone with a problem was just one hour ago when I answered my phone and my old friend from school whose name was Sommaye told me that she had made a problem and need a legal help.

Im a lawyer so my job usually is dealing with peoples problem. we always should be ready to solve others issues.

Submitted by lizz95 on Thu, 15/02/2024 - 01:30

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Well, at work usually we deal with issues all the time. Since our job is to help others to understand a product features and functionalities, we are solving problems all the time. One of the things I like the most of my job is that we all are always available to lend a hand when it is needed.

Submitted by Esraa.AA on Thu, 28/12/2023 - 10:26

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The last time I helped someone was yesterday. It was something related to my parents and I'm still working on that issue wish me luck!

Submitted by Toan3002 on Sun, 17/12/2023 - 08:08

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Currently, I don't have a job, but sometimes I also help my classmates at university when they are absent. For example, I will send them the curriculum of the lesson that the teacher is teaching that day.