English for Software Product Development

English · 中文

A practical English guide for Chinese software engineers in global teams. Focuses on real-world communication scenarios and spoken English that engineers actually use.

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Overview

Most English courses teach you "correct English." But nobody actually talks like that at work.

This book doesn't teach grammar, writing, or business emails. It answers one question:

What would an actual engineer say in this situation?

Each chapter starts with a real conversation, then breaks it down expression by expression — with alternatives, common Chinglish mistakes, and pronunciation tips.

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Features

• No textbook English — Every expression is under 8 words. No one talks like that to their teammates.
• AI is everywhere — AI is embedded in every scenario, not a separate chapter. You discuss AI-generated code, debug together, and review AI output with colleagues.
• Nobody is perfect — Someone shifts blame, someone can't say no, someone cuts corners, AI makes things worse. Real problems make real content.
• No product names — No ChatGPT, GPT, or Claude. Just AI.

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Contents

Chapter	Scenarios
01-daily-standup	Standup — progress, blockers, stuck, interruptions, AI
02-sprint-planning	Planning — estimation, scope creep, unrealistic demands
03-refinement	Requirements review — challenges, pushback, compromises
04-test-review	Test review — edge cases, priorities, automation vs manual
05-demo	Demo meeting — crashes, unexpected questions, scope changes
06-bug-demo	Bug demo — can't reproduce, environment issues, AI analysis
07-code-review	Code review — suggestions, debates, LGTM, nitpicking
08-api-integration	API integration — 500s, mismatched fields, timeouts, CORS
09-phone-calls	Phone calls — lag, mute, missed audio, interruptions
10-slack-im	Slack / IM — @mentions, bumping, code snippets, async
11-with-qa	Talking to QA — reproduction, environment, old bugs
12-with-pm	Talking to PM — changes, deadlines, wasted work, AI magic
13-with-backend	Talking to backend — outdated docs, untracked changes
14-with-designer	Talking to designer — feasibility, missing edge cases
15-user-guidance	User guidance — screenshots, cache, "old version was better"
16-task-assignment	Task assignment — nobody wants it, mentoring, urgent breaks
17-help-colleague	Helping colleagues — don't know either, AI made it worse
18-debugging	Debugging — "it was working", bisecting, restart fixed it
19-asking-for-help	Asking for help — dumb questions, solved it myself
20-technical-discussion	Technical discussion — spikes, trade-offs, debt
21-alignment-discussion	Alignment meetings — info gaps, blame game
22-on-call-incident	On-call incidents — rollback, hotfix, postmortem

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How to Use

Each chapter is a folder containing one full dialogue and multiple analysis files.

01-daily-standup/
├── 01-dialogue.md           Full dialogue (English only)
├── 02-still-on-it.md        Analysis: "Still on it"
├── 03-wrapped-up-pr-up.md   Analysis: "Wrapped up / PR is up"
├── ...
├── 10-vocab.md              Vocabulary list
└── 11-pronunciation.md      Pronunciation guide

Suggested workflow:

1. Read the dialogue 01-dialogue.md — get a feel for the scenario
2. Study the breakdown 02-xxx.md — learn alternatives and common mistakes
3. Practice pronunciation pronunciation.md — say the tricky words out loud
4. Review vocabulary vocab.md — reinforce key terms

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Import to Eudic (欧路词典)

Prefer to study with a flashcard app on your phone? We provide a ready-made textbook for 欧路词典 (Eudic):

output/eudic_import.txt

Import steps:

1. Open Eudic → 生词本 (Wordbook) → 导入生词 (Import words)
2. Select output/eudic_import.txt
3. Open 背单词 (Vocabulary review) and pick the imported textbook

The textbook contains 1,100+ entries grouped into 22 units (one per chapter) — every dialogue line, expression, and vocabulary term with a Chinese translation, in word,meaning format.

Regenerate after content changes:

python3 scripts/build_eudic.py

New dialogue translations go into scripts/dialogue_data.json.

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Project Structure

AGENTS.md                   Style guide
README.md                   This document (English)
README.zh.md                Chinese version
frontend-engineer/          22 chapters
└── reference/              Reference files
    ├── common-mistakes.md        Common Chinglish mistakes
    ├── pronunciation.md          Pronunciation table
    ├── high-frequency-expressions.md  Quick reference
    └── scenarios-brainstorm.md   Master scenario list
scripts/
├── build_eudic.py               Generate Eudic textbook (output/eudic_import.txt)
└── dialogue_data.json           Dialogue line translations
output/
└── eudic_import.txt             Eudic textbook (import this into the app)

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Contributing

Found a new trouble scenario? Want to add expressions for a situation?

1. Add the scenario to reference/scenarios-brainstorm.md
2. Create an analysis file in the corresponding chapter
3. Mark [ ] to [x] in the brainstorm file

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License

MIT