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Technical Meetings English: Clarifying Questions That Prevent Expensive Mistakes
- Authors
- Name
- 1) Podcast Intro
- 2) Core Expressions
- 3) Fill in the Blanks
- 4) Speaking Practice
- 5) Korean → English Translation
- 6) Listening Challenge
1) Podcast Intro
In fast technical meetings, small misunderstandings create big delays.
Today’s training helps you ask precise clarifying questions without sounding uncertain.
You’ll practice practical expressions, fill-in-the-blank drills, speaking prompts, and translation output.
Let’s train to confirm scope, priority, and next actions clearly.
2) Core Expressions
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Could you clarify what you mean by ~? | ~의 의미를 명확히 요청 | Could you clarify what you mean by “production-ready”? |
| Just to make sure I understood correctly, ~ | 이해 확인 | Just to make sure I understood correctly, we deploy on Friday, right? |
| Are we optimizing for A or B? | 우선순위 확인 | Are we optimizing for speed or stability in this release? |
| What would success look like here? | 성공 기준 확인 | What would success look like here for this sprint? |
| Can we align on the next steps? | 실행 계획 정렬 | Can we align on the next steps before we close? |
3) Fill in the Blanks
- Could you __ what you mean by “minimal scope”?
Answer: ||clarify|| - Just to make sure I understood __, we pause feature B this week.
Answer: ||correctly|| - Are we optimizing __ latency or cost in phase one?
Answer: ||for|| - What would success look __ for this API migration?
Answer: ||like|| - Can we align __ the next steps and owners?
Answer: ||on||
4) Speaking Practice
- Your PM says, “Let’s simplify the dashboard.” Ask one clarifying question.
Sample: ||Could you clarify which user segment we should prioritize for simplification?|| - The timeline changed suddenly. Confirm understanding and priority.
Sample: ||Just to make sure I understood correctly, we’re moving the release to Thursday and prioritizing bug fixes over new features, right?|| - End a meeting with action alignment.
Sample: ||Can we align on the next steps, owners, and deadlines before we wrap up?||
5) Korean → English Translation
- “제가 제대로 이해했는지 확인하고 싶어요.”
Answer: ||I want to make sure I understood correctly.|| - “이번 작업의 성공 기준이 무엇인가요?”
Answer: ||What would success look like for this task?|| - “마무리 전에 다음 단계에 대해 정렬할 수 있을까요?”
Answer: ||Can we align on the next steps before we wrap up?||
6) Listening Challenge
Listen and write the missing phrase:
A) “__, are we deprioritizing the payment refactor this sprint?”
Answer: ||Just to make sure I understood correctly||
B) “Before we start implementation, __?”
Answer: ||could you walk me through an example use case||
C) “Great discussion. __ and owners?”
Answer: ||Can we align on the next steps||
Practice tip: In real meetings, one precise clarifying question is often more valuable than ten vague comments.