English speaking lesson · Work & Career
Delegating a task
You need to hand off a piece of work to a colleague who's happy to help. You practise it as a real conversation, at whichever of the four levels fits you — the room and the steps stay the same, only the words get harder.
A chat with a colleague · you talk to the willing colleague
Free plan: 10 messages a day. No card needed.
What you have to do
Explain the task, give context, agree a deadline, and offer support to get started. You finish the lesson by getting there in conversation — not by answering questions about it. Nothing is corrected while you talk; the corrections are collected and handed to you at the end.
How it opens
Sure, what do you need from me?
Spoken aloud by the tutor playing the willing colleague.
The 5 steps that finish it
A step clears when you say the thing that clears it. The steps are identical at all four levels — only the example line fades, and at Natural there is none at all.
- 01
Say what you need
Say what task you'd like them to take on.
“I have a task for you — could you help with this?”
- 02
Give some background
Give some background or context on the task.
“It's part of a project, and it's an easy task, don't worry.”
- 03
Say when it's needed
Say when the task is needed by.
“By Friday, please — I need it done soon.”
- 04
Check the task
Check the task is right.
“Yes, that's right.”
- 05
Offer support
Say if there's anything they need, and thank them.
“I'll be ready to help if needed — thanks for taking this on!”
The words, at all four levels
The same room and the same steps, four vocabularies. These are the words the lesson listens for and scores you on — with what each one means and how it sounds when you are talking to the willing colleague.
Starter
A1 – A2Simple, everyday words with a full hint on every step.
- task
- a piece of work to do
- “I have a task for you.”
- help
- support with something
- “Could you help with this?”
- project
- a piece of planned work
- “It's part of a project.”
- easy
- not difficult
- “It's an easy task.”
- ready
- prepared, able to go ahead
- “I'll be ready to help.”
- date
- the day something happens
- “By this date, please.”
- need
- to require something
- “I need it done soon.”
- done
- finished
- “I need it done soon.”
- please
- a polite word when you ask
- “By this date, please.”
- thanks
- a short way to say thank you
- “Thanks for taking this on.”
Conversational
A2 – B1Common words at a natural pace, with hints to lean on.
- assign
- to give someone a task
- “I'd like to assign this to you.”
- handle
- to deal with or manage something
- “Could you handle this one?”
- background
- context or history behind something
- “Let me give you some background.”
- priority
- something treated as most important
- “It's a fairly high priority.”
- workload
- the total amount of work you have
- “How's your workload otherwise?”
- timeline
- the schedule for something
- “What timeline works for you?”
- confirm
- to say something is definitely settled
- “Can you confirm that works?”
- correct
- right, with no mistakes
- “Yes, that's correct.”
- appreciate
- to be grateful for something
- “I appreciate you taking this on.”
- cheers
- informal thanks
- “Cheers for that!”
Confident
B1 – B2Richer, more specific words, with only light hints.
- delegate
- to pass a task to someone else
- “I'd like to delegate this to you.”
- ownership
- full responsibility for something
- “Full ownership would be great.”
- scope
- the range covered by a piece of work
- “The scope is fairly contained.”
- dependency
- something a task relies on first
- “There's one dependency to flag.”
- resourcing
- the people or tools needed
- “Resourcing shouldn't be an issue.”
- milestone
- an important point marking progress
- “There's one milestone to hit.”
- flexible
- able to change easily
- “The date's fairly flexible.”
- sorted
- arranged and settled
- “That's sorted, thanks.”
- appreciate
- to be grateful for
- “I'd appreciate that.”
- confirm
- to say something is definitely settled
- “Could you confirm by Friday?”
Natural
B2 – C1Advanced, idiomatic words — no hints at all.
- offload
- to pass a task to someone else to lighten your load
- “I wanted to offload this to you.”
- plate
- the amount of work you have (informal)
- “How full is your plate right now?”
- spearhead
- to lead a new initiative
- “Would you spearhead this one?”
- autonomy
- freedom to decide how to do something
- “You'd have full autonomy on it.”
- buy-in
- agreement and support from others
- “I just need your buy-in first.”
- turnaround
- the time taken to complete something
- “What turnaround feels realistic?”
- nail
- to fix something firmly (informal) — 'nail down'
- “Let's nail a date down.”
- obliged
- grateful for a favour
- “Much obliged, thank you.”
- sorted
- dealt with and settled
- “Great, we're sorted.”
- cheers
- informal thanks
- “Cheers, appreciated.”
More Work & Career lessons
- Give a meeting update
- Networking introduction
- Work phone / video call
- Small talk with colleagues
- One-on-one with your manager
- Requesting time off
- Presenting an idea
- Giving feedback
- Negotiating a deadline
- Onboarding a new hire
- Job interview
- Asking for a raise
- Resigning