B1 · Misunderstandings and Apologies
Explaining a Late Arrival and Clearing the Air
- CEFR level:
- B1
- Sentences:
- 12
- Duration:
- 1 min
- Speakers:
- Tom & Emma
"Explaining a Late Arrival and Clearing the Air" is a B1-level English conversation about misunderstandings and apologies, 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
I arrived twenty minutes late, and they thought I didn't care.
- Line 2Emma 0:03
What happened on the way, and did you message in advance?
- Line 3Tom 0:07
A subway shutdown happened, and my phone battery was at two percent.
- Line 4Emma 0:11
That's rough, but silence often gets read as indifference.
- Line 5Tom 0:16
They said, "You always have an excuse," which hurt me.
- Line 6Emma 0:20
Then separate facts from feelings when you explain it.
- Line 7Tom 0:24
I'll share the transit alert screenshot and apologize directly.
- Line 8Emma 0:28
Also state how you'll prevent this next time.
- Line 9Tom 0:31
I'll leave earlier and carry a small power bank every day.
- Line 10Emma 0:34
Good, and ask if they want to reschedule key points.
- Line 11Tom 0:39
If trust is still low, I'll arrive thirty minutes early next meeting.
- Line 12Emma 0:43
That follow-through will speak louder than one apology.
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.
- rough /rʌf/ adjective
not smooth; difficult or approximate
- silence /ˈsaɪləns/ noun/verb
quietness; to make quiet
- indifference /ɪnˈdɪfərəns/ noun
lack of interest or concern
- hurt /hɝt/ verb/adjective
to cause pain; injured
- facts /ˈfækts/ plural noun
things known to be true
- feelings /ˈfilɪŋz/ plural noun
emotions or personal opinions
- alert /əˈlɜrt/ adjective
quick to notice and react to things; watchful
- apologize /əˈpɑlədʒaɪz/ verb
to express regret for something done wrong
- prevent /prɪˈvɛnt/ verb
to stop something from happening
- reschedule /riˈskɛdʒul/ verb
to arrange a new time
- trust /trʌst/ noun
belief that someone or something is reliable
- apology /əˈpɑlədʒi/ noun
a regretful acknowledgment of an offense or failure