More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Notice first: read these and say what they share — "**Naming the gap**: 'Let me pause. Marta, I think that came across sharper than it was meant. Kenji, I heard it as a proposal to move the date, not as a criticism of the team. Is that how you meant it, Marta?'" / "**Translating stance**: 'When Jonas said 'no, we won't be doing that', what I heard was a boundary, not an insult. Priya, is that how it landed with you?'" / "**Holding silence**: 'There's been a pause. In this room silence sometimes reads as agreement and sometimes as the strongest form of disagreement. Priya — which one is it for you right now?'"
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Four live moves. (a) NAME THE GAP, NOT THE PERSON — 'Let me pause. I think what's just been said is being heard as X, and I think it was meant as Y. Can we check?' Never say 'you're being rude' or 'you're overreacting'. (b) TRANSLATE THE STANCE, NOT THE SENTENCE — 'What I heard in that was a proposal, not a refusal — is that right?' The mediator paraphrases the FUNCTION, not the words. (c) HOLD THE SILENCE — when one party has read a silence as consent and the other has read it as strongest disagreement, the mediator names both readings and asks the silent party which they meant. (d) LAND ON A JOINT SENTENCE — never close a mediation on 'so we all agree'. Close on a specific sentence both parties would say tomorrow in their own words: 'if this landed, what would each of you say to your team on Monday? Let's write those two sentences before we leave the room.'
2.Rewrite: 'Kenji, you're being too indirect — say what you mean.'
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'Let me pause. I think Kenji has made his answer, and I want to check that we heard it. Kenji — was 'we may need to think about that some more' a soft no, a genuine 'not yet', or an invitation to reshape the proposal?'
3.Rewrite the mediator's line: 'Marta didn't mean it that way.'
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'I think what Marta said is landing harder than it was meant. Marta — can you say the intent behind that sentence in one line, so we're working from the same reading?'
4.Draft the closing move: two joint sentences after a live mediation on a launch date.
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'Kenji — on Monday, could you say to your team: 'the launch is now the 14th, and design has the extra week they asked for'? Marta — could you say to yours: 'the extra week is real, and the 14th is fixed on our side'? Same problem, two rooms, one outcome.'
5.Sort these into "natural" and "not natural" and justify each decision out loud: "**Naming the gap**: 'Let me pause. Marta, I think that came across sharper than it was meant. Kenji, I heard it as a proposal to move the date, not as a criticism of the team. Is that how you meant it, Marta?'" · "**Translating stance**: 'When Jonas said 'no, we won't be doing that', what I heard was a boundary, not an insult. Priya, is that how it landed with you?'" · "**Holding silence**: 'There's been a pause. In this room silence sometimes reads as agreement and sometimes as the strongest form of disagreement. Priya — which one is it for you right now?'" · "**Landing on a joint sentence**: 'Before we leave — Marta, what would you say to your team about this on Monday? Kenji, what would you say to yours? Let's make sure those two sentences are the same problem, even if they're different words.'"
6.Build three sentences on this pattern about your own week — one neutral, one emphatic, one tentative.
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Four live moves. (a) NAME THE GAP, NOT THE PERSON — 'Let me pause. I think what's just been said is being heard as X, and I think it was meant as Y. Can we check?' Never say 'you're being rude' or 'you're overreacting'. (b) TRANSLATE THE STANCE, NOT THE SENTENCE — 'What I heard in that was a proposal, not a refusal — is that right?' The mediator paraphrases the FUNCTION, not the words. (c) HOLD THE SILENCE — when one party has read a silence as consent and the other has read it as strongest disagreement, the mediator names both readings and asks the silent party which they meant. (d) LAND ON A JOINT SENTENCE — never close a mediation on 'so we all agree'. Close on a specific sentence both parties would say tomorrow in their own words: 'if this landed, what would each of you say to your team on Monday? Let's write those two sentences before we leave the room.'
1.Fill: 'Translate the ____, not the sentence — that's the whole game.' (1 word)
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stance
2.Fill: 'Close on a ____ ____ — anything vaguer and by Monday they're back where they started.' (2 words)
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joint sentence
3.Fill: 'Rule one: ____ ____ ____ ____ ____.' (5 words)
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shame no one in the room
4.Complete in context: "Mediating live is not translating words — it's translating what the words are DOING."
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to mediate live
5.Complete in context: "Translate the stance, not the sentence — that's the whole game."
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to translate the stance
6.Complete in context: "Name the gap before it becomes a grievance."
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to name the gap
7.Complete in context: "That was ______, not a disagreement — the disagreement came in later."
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a misread of intent
8.Complete in context: "Holding the neutral chair is harder than being right — that's why it's the job."
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to hold the neutral chair
9.Complete in context: "'Is that how you meant it?' — one clean check-the-reading move saves twenty minutes."
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to check the reading
10.Complete in context: "Close on ______ — anything vaguer and by Monday they're back where they started."
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a joint sentence
11.Complete in context: "Rule one: shame no one in the room. Everything else is negotiable."
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to shame no one in the room
12.Cover the list. Which words can you still recall, and what does each one add that a simpler word wouldn't?
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to mediate live — to translate stance and register between two parties in real time, without prepared script | to translate the stance — to paraphrase the FUNCTION of what someone said — proposal, refusal, boundary — rather than the surface words | to name the gap — to say out loud, without blame, that one party's intent and the other party's reading are not lining up | a misread of intent — the moment one party hears another party's assertive-as-aggressive, polite-as-evasive, silent-as-agreeing | to hold the neutral chair — to stay as mediator on both sides even when one party is easier to sympathise with | to check the reading — to ask, in the room, whether one party's interpretation of another's line matches what was meant | a joint sentence — the single specific outcome both parties would say aloud in their own room tomorrow, in each other's presence | to shame no one in the room — to conduct the mediation such that neither party leaves feeling they were exposed or judged
1.Give two natural word partners for "to mediate live" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Mediating live is not translating words — it's translating what the words are DOING.
2.Give two natural word partners for "to translate the stance" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Translate the stance, not the sentence — that's the whole game.
3.Give two natural word partners for "to name the gap" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Name the gap before it becomes a grievance.
4.Give two natural word partners for "a misread of intent" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: That was a misread of intent, not a disagreement — the disagreement came in later.
5.Give two natural word partners for "to hold the neutral chair" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Holding the neutral chair is harder than being right — that's why it's the job.
6.Give two natural word partners for "to check the reading" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: 'Is that how you meant it?' — one clean check-the-reading move saves twenty minutes.
7.Give two natural word partners for "a joint sentence" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Close on a joint sentence — anything vaguer and by Monday they're back where they started.
8.Give two natural word partners for "to shame no one in the room" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Rule one: shame no one in the room. Everything else is negotiable.
9.Choose three words from this lesson and build one sentence that uses all three naturally.
1.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to mediate live": "Mediating live is not translating words — it's translating what the words are DOING."
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Keep the meaning of: to translate stance and register between two parties in real time, without prepared script
2.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to translate the stance": "Translate the stance, not the sentence — that's the whole game."
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Keep the meaning of: to paraphrase the FUNCTION of what someone said — proposal, refusal, boundary — rather than the surface words
3.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to name the gap": "Name the gap before it becomes a grievance."
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Keep the meaning of: to say out loud, without blame, that one party's intent and the other party's reading are not lining up
4.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "a misread of intent": "That was a misread of intent, not a disagreement — the disagreement came in later."
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Keep the meaning of: the moment one party hears another party's assertive-as-aggressive, polite-as-evasive, silent-as-agreeing
5.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to hold the neutral chair": "Holding the neutral chair is harder than being right — that's why it's the job."
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Keep the meaning of: to stay as mediator on both sides even when one party is easier to sympathise with
6.Summarise the lesson's main idea in exactly 20 words — no more, no less.
1.A director from a low-context corporate culture and a senior engineer from a high-context one, disagreeing over a launch date.
2.A new UK client and a longstanding Nordic supplier, misreading each other on price transparency.
3.A returning colleague and a new manager, misfiring on how much detail belongs in status updates.
4.Long turn (2 minutes, no notes): Bring one real cross-style disagreement (from work, family, community). Teacher plays BOTH parties (voice-switched, with a clear signal between them). You mediate live for 20 minutes and MUST: (a) open by naming both readings and checking each, (b) translate a stance where one has been misread, (c) hold at least one silence out loud, (d) close on two joint sentences — one for each party's own room. Then write a 250-word memo naming the specific moment you were closest to breaking neutrality and how you held it.
5.Record 90 seconds using at least four of: to translate the stance, to name the gap, a misread of intent, to check the reading, a joint sentence. Listen back and mark one thing to make more precise.
1.Plan first: write a three-line outline (position → strongest support → concession) before you draft.
2.Write a 380–420-word mediation report in five short sections. §1 The two parties and their default styles. §2 The MISREAD OF INTENT — what one heard as X that the other meant as Y. §3 The mediator's opening move, quoted in direct speech. §4 The translation of stance that unlocked the exchange, quoted in direct speech. §5 The JOINT SENTENCE for each party in their own words. You MUST use at least SIX target items naturally. No 'we agreed to disagree'. No 'both sides had a point'. (380–420 words). Include: to mediate live, to translate the stance, to name the gap, a misread of intent, to hold the neutral chair, to check the reading, a joint sentence, to shame no one in the room.
3.Model analysis: compare your text with the model. What does the model do in its first and last sentences that yours doesn't?
1.Cambridge examiners reward candidates who can hold multiple perspectives without collapsing into one. Mediation language demonstrates the ability to translate stance and hold a neutral chair — both markers of C2 fluency.
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In a Part 3 long turn on communication, deployment, or teamwork, USE mediation vocabulary: name the gap, translate the stance, close on a joint sentence. Show the examiner that you can hold two views without picking either.
2.How does the mediator OPEN, and what does it accomplish?
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'I want to name at the start what I think has been happening, and then check whether that reading is right.' The mediator names the gap in both directions and CHECKS THE READING before pushing into content. Both parties know they've been heard before they've been asked to move.
3.Where does the mediator TRANSLATE THE STANCE rather than the sentence?
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'When Jonas said just now 'the 7th has been in three of my written notes', how did that land?' followed by 'Is that what you meant when you said it?' The mediator surfaces the misread of intent — 'evidence' heard as 'accusation' — and lets Jonas re-say the FUNCTION cleanly.
4.How does the mediator refuse to be pulled into the factual dispute — and why?
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'Can we hold that as a separate question for a moment, because I don't think it's the one that's actually driving the heat in the room.' The mediator sees that the factual question (was the date fixed or intended?) is being used as a proxy for the relational question (were we heard?). She parks the first to solve the second.
5.Quote the JOINT-SENTENCE landing and explain why it works.
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'The 7th is fixed, and the design team has a real extra pair of hands from Tuesday to make it work.' / 'The 7th is fixed, and I've heard clearly from Priya's team that our communication in October wasn't as visible as I thought. We'll change how we log fixed dates from this launch on.' Same outcome, each in their own team's language, each carrying a specific commitment. Neither side is shamed.
6.Where does the mediator SHAME NO ONE IN THE ROOM?
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Everywhere, but particularly: 'Thank you for saying that' after Priya admits her defensive instinct, and 'I meant it as evidence, not as accusation' framed as Jonas RE-SAYING his intent, not as being corrected. Nobody in the room is exposed for the misread; the misread is exposed instead.
1.In your own words, when do you use "Live mediation: translating stance, register and intent in real time"?
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Four live moves. (a) NAME THE GAP, NOT THE PERSON — 'Let me pause. I think what's just been said is being heard as X, and I think it was meant as Y. Can we check?' Never say 'you're being rude' or 'you're overreacting'. (b) TRANSLATE THE STANCE, NOT THE SENTENCE — 'What I heard in that was a proposal, not a refusal — is that right?' The mediator paraphrases the FUNCTION, not the words. (c) HOLD THE SILENCE — when one party has read a silence as consent and the other has read it as strongest disagreement, the mediator names both readings and asks the silent party which they meant. (d) LAND ON A JOINT SENTENCE — never close a mediation on 'so we all agree'. Close on a specific sentence both parties would say tomorrow in their own words: 'if this landed, what would each of you say to your team on Monday? Let's write those two sentences before we leave the room.'
2.Complete naturally: "Mediating live is not translating words — it's translating what the words are DOING."
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to mediate live
3.Complete naturally: "Translate the stance, not the sentence — that's the whole game."
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to translate the stance
4.Complete naturally: "Name the gap before it becomes a grievance."
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to name the gap
5.Complete naturally: "That was ______, not a disagreement — the disagreement came in later."
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a misread of intent
6.Complete naturally: "Holding the neutral chair is harder than being right — that's why it's the job."
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to hold the neutral chair
7.Two-minute retell: summarise the reading/listening from this lesson without looking at it.
8.Which of the four mediation moves is hardest for you to make when the room is warm — and why?
9.Whose neutral chair have you watched hold under pressure this year, and what specific line did they use?
1.Warm-up — five lines, five different rooms — Teacher gives you five short lines (a low-context ask, a high-context softener, a complaint that owns its reading, an apology with a specific take-back, an ironic aside without a signal). For each, in ten seconds: label style (low/high-context), name the specific move (ask, softener, complaint, apology, irony), and say what would break if you tried the same line in the opposite room.
2.Prep — pick a real cross-style disagreement to mediate — Option: a director from a low-context corporate culture and a designer from a high-context one, disagreeing on a launch date.
3.Prep — pick a real cross-style disagreement to mediate — Option: a longstanding supplier and a new client from opposite corners of the transparency spectrum, on price.
4.Prep — pick a real cross-style disagreement to mediate — Option: a returning colleague and a new manager, misfiring on how much detail belongs in status updates.
5.Round 1 — switch style on the same message — Draft one operational message from the mediation you're about to run (a boundary you'll set, an ask you'll make). Deliver it for 2 minutes in a LOW-context version, then 2 minutes in a HIGH-context version. Teacher plays whichever room you didn't choose. After both, in one sentence: name what you gave up in each version and which one you'd send if you had to choose.
6.Round 2 — three repair moves under time — Teacher plays the counterparty. In 90 seconds each: (a) MAKE THE COMPLAINT that has to be made in the mediation, opening on 'from where I'm sitting' or similar, (b) DELIVER THE APOLOGY you also owe in the same relationship, with a dated specific take-back, (c) ENTER THE TABOO topic with permission asked and an out offered. Any line beginning with 'you' resets that round. Any hedged 'if'-apology resets that round.
7.Round 3 — translate one joke, cut one — Choose two pieces of humour from your first language — one you'll TRANSLATE into English (with a visible flagged substitution) and one you'll CUT (delivered as a straight observation with the loss named). Deliver both to teacher in 3 minutes total. Teacher plays a room from a culture unlike either of the two parties in the mediation. Then, in one sentence: which of the two would you actually use inside the mediation itself, and why?
8.Round 4 — face-work rehearsal — Draft one line for each face-move you'll need in the mediation: (a) a POSITIVE-FACE protection for one party, (b) a NEGATIVE-FACE protection for the other, (c) a HOLD-YOUR-OWN line for yourself as chair, (d) a DELIBERATE FACE-COST for the moment softening would cost the mediation the deal. Deliver each in 60 seconds. Teacher pushes the one line where the softener is louder than the ask.
9.Round 5 — mediate live at the table — Teacher plays BOTH parties from your mediation card (voice-switched, with a clear signal). You sit in the chair. In 10 minutes: NAME THE GAP in both directions, TRANSLATE THE STANCE at least once, HOLD A SILENCE out loud if one lands, and CLOSE on two joint sentences — one for each party's own room. You may not use 'you should', 'you need to' or 'you're right' to either party. If you break neutrality, teacher hands you back the chair and continues.
10.Talk it through — which move survived which round — Together, rebuild the strongest moment from each round. Teacher names one strongest move per round; you name a different one. Then, in one sentence: which of the five rounds most changed how you'd approach the actual real-world version of this mediation next week?
11.Bring it together — the two joint sentences — Write, in a single short paragraph: (a) Party A's joint sentence to their own team tomorrow, in Party A's voice; (b) Party B's joint sentence to their own team tomorrow, in Party B's voice; (c) one sentence naming what you as the chair will do differently the next time you sit in this seat. Use at least FIVE Unit 7 target items naturally.
12.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "high-context style".
13.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "low-context style".
14.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to read the room".
15.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to match the register".
16.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a face-cost".
17.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a pragmatic misfire".
18.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to switch on purpose".
19.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a repair move".
20.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to own your reading".
21.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to name the harm".
22.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a hedged 'if'-apology".
23.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to ask permission to enter".
24.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a specific take-back".
25.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to die in translation".
26.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to flag the substitution".
27.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "dry irony".
28.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to say it straight and flag the loss".
29.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "face".
30.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "positive face".
31.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "negative face".
32.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to spend face on purpose".
33.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to give the ask a spine".
34.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to mediate live".
35.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to translate the stance".
36.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to name the gap".
37.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a joint sentence".
38.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to shame no one in the room".
39.Which of the five rounds most exposed a habit you didn't know you had?
40.Which joint sentence was harder to write — Party A's or Party B's — and what does that tell you about where your neutral chair is weakest?
41.If you had to run this mediation for real on Monday, which round of today would you rehearse one more time first?