B1 · Digital Communication and Privacy
Do-Not-Disturb Agreement for Late-Night Work Group Messages
- CEFR level:
- B1
- Sentences:
- 12
- Duration:
- 1 min
- Speakers:
- Tom & Emma
"Do-Not-Disturb Agreement for Late-Night Work Group Messages" is a B1-level English conversation about digital communication and privacy, 12 lines long (about 1 minute) between Tom & Emma. Read the full script below with the translation next to each line, then try speaking one of the roles out loud.
Dialogue script
Each entry shows the English sentence first, with the translation on the line below it. To practise speaking, cover the translation and repeat after the audio.
- Line 1Tom 0:00
Our work group keeps sending messages after midnight almost daily.
- Line 2Emma 0:03
Are those urgent incidents or routine updates posted too late?
- Line 3Tom 0:08
Mostly routine status posts that could wait until morning.
- Line 4Emma 0:12
Then team norms need adjustment to protect recovery time.
- Line 5Tom 0:16
People fear delaying messages makes them look less hardworking.
- Line 6Emma 0:19
We can separate send time from response expectation explicitly.
- Line 7Tom 0:24
Let's set quiet hours from 10:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.
- Line 8Emma 0:29
Allow exceptions only with an "urgent" tag and a phone call.
- Line 9Tom 0:34
I'll suggest scheduled-send feature for nonurgent nighttime drafts.
- Line 10Emma 0:38
Great, and manager support will make it easier to follow.
- Line 11Tom 0:42
If urgent tags are abused, we'll review the rules every month.
- Line 12Emma 0:46
Balanced rule. Rested teams usually make better decisions.
Native audio, line-by-line recording and pronunciation scoring for this dialogue are in the EngTalk app.
Key vocabulary
Content words from this dialogue, ranked by the CEFR level at which they appear across the whole 500-dialogue library. Function words and proper nouns are excluded.
- messages /ˈmɛsɪdʒɪz/ plural noun
written or spoken communications
- norms /nɔrmz/ noun
accepted standards or typical ways of behaving.
- protect /prəˈtɛkt/ verb
to keep safe from harm or loss
- fear /ˈfɪr/ noun or verb
an unpleasant feeling of danger or to be afraid
- delaying /dɪˈleɪɪŋ/ verb
present participle of delay; making something late
- less /lɛs/ adverb
to a smaller amount or degree
- response /rɪˈspɑns/ noun
an answer or reaction
- expectation /ˌɛkspɛkˈteɪʃən/ noun
a belief about what will happen
- balanced /ˈbælənst/ adjective
keeping elements in pleasing or reasonable proportions
- rule /rul/ noun
an official instruction about what is allowed
- teams /timz/ noun/verb
groups working together or joins with others
- decisions /dɪˈsɪʒənz/ noun
plural of decision; choices made