Office English

medium level

Office English / Help

Episode 250519/ 19 May 2025

4.2(32,622 ratings)·40,355 students

Transcript

Note: This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.

Phil

Do you worry about asking for help at work?

Neil

Nobody likes to keep asking how to do something so you can end up feeling a bit stupid, really.

Georgie

I actually don't feel worried to ask for help because, my teammates are very helpful and approachable.

Andrew

If it's something new and I've just started a company, I don't mind asking for help, but if it's something that I feel like I should know how to do already, then I do feel a little bit nervous about asking for help.

Pippa

In this episode of Office English, we're talking about asking for help and offering to help other people.

Phil

Hello and welcome to Office English. In this podcast, we talk about the difficult situations you might face at work and some language you can use to help. I m Phil.

Pippa

And I'm Pippa. You can find a transcript for this episode to read along on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Phil

We heard from some BBC colleagues at the start of the programme about asking for help. Some people don't mind, but some people worry about it. What about you, Pippa?

Pippa

I think I don't mind asking for help if I really need it, but I do have a tendency to just try and do everything myself and not ask for help until it's a bit late. I'm always just worried that I'm annoying people, but really, I shouldn't worry about that because usually people are happy to help you if it's a genuine need, if you're not asking all the time.

Phil

Yeah, I think I'm similar. I perhaps try and do too much myself when I should ask for help. I actually think a lot depends on who you ask for help as well. Some people are easier than others.