After the earlier comedy video blog this week, here’s another one with more opportunity to practise your listening skills (and learn a little bit more about English culture).
The video is not exactly the best quality, but this is one of my favourite scenes from possibly the most popular comedy series ever in the UK. It’s called The Office and it shows how boring office work can be. The comedy is very dry and very British!
Here, we see David Brent, the office manager giving Keith, one of the accountants, his annual appraisal. That’s when your boss, or superior, gives an assessment of the work you have done over the past year. In this situation, the boss should be objective and give the employee an unbiased review of things that they have done well and could possibly do better. The staff member receiving the appraisal should be positive and enthusiastic, showing that they are taking on board (understanding and accepting) what they are being told. It can be a very important meeting, as the worker’s salary in the following year or annual bonus may depend on how they act in the appraisal.
Watch the video from 1:00 min and you will see that Keith, the worker doesn’t really care what’s going on….or is too stupid to understand the seriousness of the situation. It’s funny how the boss gets more and more frustrated at the ridiculous answers.
If the language is too difficult and you can’t understand something, write down the time of the video part that that is unclear in the comments section below, and I will get back to you, writing out what they say in that sentence.
Hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend.
