Feedback wrapped in warmth

Essential vocabulary

• ¿tendría diez minutos esta semana?: would you have ten minutes this week? The whole check-in exists because you ask for it, a request, not a summons, and asking is itself the right move at one month.
• ¿cómo me está yendo?: how am I doing? The plain question that opens the whole conversation and invites honest, direct feedback instead of vague reassurance.
• gracias por decírmelo: thank you for telling me How you receive direct criticism here, no over-apologizing, no self-defense, just a note and a thank you.
• ¿qué puedo mejorar?: what can I improve? Turns the feedback moment into a growth question you control, instead of just absorbing whatever comes.
• ¿en qué le gustaría que me enfoque este mes?: what would you like me to focus on this month? The follow-up that makes the growth question concrete and forward-looking, not just a request for a grade.
• ¿me lo puede confirmar por correo, para tenerlo claro?: could you confirm that by email, so I have it clear? The normal Bolivian office reflex after a verbal agreement, written confirmation, softened with 'para tenerlo claro' so it reads as clarity, not distrust.
• eso lo consulto con RRHH: I'll check that with HR The routing line for anything about your contract or benefits, recognition and the correct door, never an interpretation from Ing. Camacho or from you.
• quedo con eso: I'll go with that / that's settled for me A clean way to close a clarified point in the conversation, showing you're tracking what was agreed.

Bolivian Spanish terms

• decime Roberto nomás: just call me Roberto A real promotion in the relationship, the title-drop invitation. Recognizing it as warmth and accepting gracefully, while keeping your own forms respectful, is the graceful middle path.
• nomás: just / go ahead (softening particle) Turns a command or offer into something easygoing, 'decime Roberto nomás' reads as a relaxed invitation, not an order, because of this little word.
• vas bien, pero…: you're doing well, but… How criticism usually arrives here, wrapped in warmth first. The 'pero' carries the real message; hearing it without wilting or arguing is the actual skill being taught.

Useful phrases

• ¿Tendría [X] minutos para…?: Would you have [X] minutes to…? The request pattern for asking a superior for a meeting, you initiate, politely and directly.
• Gracias por decírmelo. Lo voy a tener presente.: Thank you for telling me. I'll keep it in mind. The way to receive direct feedback here, short, grateful, and forward-looking, with no spiral of apologies.
• ¿Me lo puede confirmar por correo, para tenerlo claro?: Could you confirm that by email, so I have it clear? The written-confirmation reflex after any verbal agreement with a superior, normal office practice, not a sign of distrust.
• Eso lo consulto con RRHH.: I'll check that with HR. The routing reflex for contract and benefits questions, you name the right door, you never interpret the answer yourself.

Learn this in the app

Start a New Job in Bolivia, Workplace Spanish

More guides from this notebook

• The building knows you before the org chart does
• The group is the intranet
• Your first real task, half by text, half by voice note
• The question you don't fail silently on
• An update nobody asked for is the one that gets remembered

Words from this guide in the glossary

• decime Roberto nomás: just call me Roberto
• nomás: just, simply (softening particle)
• vas bien, pero…: you're doing well, but…