Hello! Welcome to your next lesson.
In our last lesson, we focused on how to ask for clarification when you don't understand something. This is a vital skill for preventing misunderstandings. Today, we will build on that by learning the specific vocabulary you need to clearly describe technical problems.
This lesson directly addresses the learning outcome: Acquire vocabulary for describing common technical problems. As a satellite technical consultant, being able to explain issues with hardware, software, and connections precisely is a core part of your job. This vocabulary will help you sound more professional and confident during team meetings and technical discussions.
1. General Vocabulary for Technical Problems
Let's start with some of the most common words and phrases used to describe technical issues. These are high-frequency terms that you will hear and use often.
This image gives us a great starting point with some very common phrases:
- It has crashed / frozen: We use this when a computer or software stops responding.
- It's out of order: This is a general term, often used for public machines (like an ATM), meaning it is not working.
- It's broken down: This is common for machines with moving parts, like a car, but can also be used for electronics.
Now, let's see how these words are used in a conversation.
Computer Problems - Listening Lesson
This resource from Oxford Online English features a short dialogue at a computer repair shop. It's a great example of how people describe common computer issues.
Please read the text of the dialogue. Pay attention to the phrases the woman uses to describe her problem and the words the man uses to diagnose it.
From that dialogue, we get some excellent vocabulary:
- "It's just terribly slow." (Describing performance)
- "Warnings kept popping up." (Describing an unexpected screen event)
- "If your computer has been infected with something..." (Describing a virus or malware issue)
- "We might have to reformat your hard drive." (Describing a potential solution)
To expand this list, here are more essential phrases for describing problems.
Communicating with Tech Support in English: Key Phrases
This article from Your Native Teacher provides clear examples for different scenarios. It's a useful reference for building your vocabulary.
Please read the sections titled 'Describing Your Issue' and 'Common Scenarios and Phrases'. Focus on the bolded example sentences, like 'My computer won’t start' and 'The software keeps crashing'.
2. Describing Connection and Online Meeting Issues
In today's professional world, many technical problems happen during online calls. Knowing how to describe these issues clearly is very important for smooth communication.
How to Describe Video Call Problems in English - Business Meeting Phrases and Vocabulary - UK and US
This video from High Level Listening is excellent for learning phrases related to online meeting problems. It features both American and British speakers, which is great for your listening practice.
Please watch the following parts of the video: Microphone/Sound Problems (01:20 - 06:11): Focus on phrases like I can't hear you, you're on mute, and your mic is muted. Internet/Connection Problems (06:11 - 10:22): Listen for descriptive words like choppy, breaking up, and lagging. Webcam/Camera Problems (15:24 - 19:10): Pay attention to I can't see you, you're frozen, and it's just a black screen. Try to repeat the key phrases out loud as you hear them.
Here's a quick summary of the key vocabulary from the video:
| Category | Key Vocabulary and Phrases |
|---|---|
| Sound | I can't hear you. / Your mic is muted. / You're on mute. |
| Connection | The connection is bad/choppy. / You're breaking up. / It's lagging. |
| Video | I can't see you. / Your video is off. / You're frozen. |
| General | I lost you. / The call dropped. / It was something on my end. |
Test your understanding!
You are in a video call. Your colleague's video stops moving, but you can still hear their voice. What is the clearest and most polite way to describe this problem?
- "Your computer is broken."
- "I can hear you, but you're frozen."
- "You are lagging."
Show answer
Option 2 is the best choice. It clearly and politely describes the exact problem: the audio is working, but the video picture is not moving. Option 1 is too general and potentially rude. Option 3 ("lagging") refers to a delay, which is a different issue.
3. The Process: "To Troubleshoot"
You now have a good list of words to describe problems. The next step in a technical conversation is often to discuss the process of finding the cause. The key verb for this is to troubleshoot.
Given your computer science background, you are already an expert in the process of troubleshooting. This section will just focus on the English term and how to use it.
Troubleshooting for the Internet • Vocabulary • Part 1/4
This video from Call Center Academy gives a great definition of the verb 'to troubleshoot' and how it's used in a technical support context.
Please watch two short clips: What is 'to troubleshoot'? (04:17 - 05:42): This part explains that troubleshooting is a logical, step-by-step process of elimination to find the root cause of a problem. Using 'troubleshoot' as a verb (08:50 - 10:09): This part shows how to use the word in a sentence, for example, 'We're going to troubleshoot your phone.'
So, when you are talking about finding and fixing a problem, you can say:
- "Let's troubleshoot this issue."
- "I need to troubleshoot the connection."
- "I troubleshot the system yesterday, but the problem is back." (Note the past tense: troubleshot).
4. Speaking Practice
Let's put all this vocabulary into practice. The image below shows a "bug tracker," a tool used by technical teams to list and manage problems.
Your Task:
Choose one of the problems from the bug tracker in the image (e.g., "App version 10.12 crashes" or "Passwordless login creates loop").
Imagine you are in a team meeting. Your manager asks you to describe the problem. Say 1-2 sentences out loud describing the issue to your team. Try to use vocabulary from this lesson.
See a sample answer
Let's choose the problem: "App version 10.12 crashes"
Here is a possible way to describe it:
"I'm seeing a problem with the new app version. The software crashes right after it starts. The welcome screen freezes, and then the whole application just closes unexpectedly. I think we need to troubleshoot it."
Conclusion
Excellent work. You have now learned a wide range of essential vocabulary for describing technical problems clearly and professionally.
Key Takeaways:
- For software/hardware: Use verbs like crash, freeze, run slow, and phrases like won't start or keeps popping up.
- For online meetings: Use specific adjectives like choppy, lagging, or frozen for connection issues, and phrases like you're on mute for audio problems.
- For the process: Use the verb to troubleshoot to describe the process of finding and fixing a problem.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
Now that you can describe a problem, the logical next step is to talk about how to fix it. In our next lesson, we will focus on the learning outcome: Acquire vocabulary for proposing and describing technical solutions. You'll learn the phrases you need to suggest actions and explain how they will resolve the issues we learned to describe today.