What you do
1. I' m a / an (+ job).
e.g. a nurse / an accountant / a builder
2. I work in (+ place or general area).
e.g. a hospital / an office marketing / social
3. I work for (+ name / place of the company).
e.g. Union Bank / IBM / Fiat / an international bank
What your job involves
4. I'm in charge of
e.g. a big company
5. I' m responsible for
e.g. some workers in that department
6. I have to deal with
e.g. any complaints / overseas clients, mainly
7. I run
e.g. the company / a restaurant
8. I manage
e.g. a shop in downtown
Daily duties / routines
9. I have to go / attend (formal)
e.g. (to) a lot of meetings / conferences
10. I visit / see / meet
e.g. patients / clients
11. I advise
e.g. people / clients and give them help...
12. It involves
e.g. writing letters / filling in forms / doing a lot of paperwork / using computers a lot of the time
Getting a job
13. It's not easy to get / find work
e.g. in big cities / round these parts
14. I'd love to do
e.g. marketing / this kind of work
15. It's difficult to make a living as a / an
e.g. freelance writer
16. I've been offered a job
e.g. in that company / in London
17. I've applied for a job
e.g. in a local company / in the accounts department
Working hours
18. I have a nine-to-five job / I work nine-to-five
(regular working hours in Britain)
19. I do / work shift work.
(nights one week, days next)
20. I am on flexi time.
(flexible working hours)
21. I have to do / work overtime.
(work extra hours)
22. I only work part-time / take a part-time job.
(part of a day or a few days a week)
23. I am a workaholic. I work full-time.
(work too much)
24. I took early retirement.
(retire at 55 in Britain)
25. I am on / take sick leave.
(a period spent away from work, etc. because of illness)
26. I am on / take maternity leave.
(expecting a baby)
27. I gave up work
e.g. in order to study
28. I was laid off (informal)
e.g. when the factory went bust
29. I was made redundant.
(no longer needed and therefore out of work)
30. I was dismissed (formal)
e.g. for refusing to obey orders
31. I was fired (informal)
e.g. for always being late
32. I am on / off duty.
(to be working / not working)
Other useful phrases
33. We usually take a break
e.g. for lunch / for ten minutes
34. We normally knock off work (informal)
e.g. about 5:30 p.m. and go off to a restaurant nearby
35. I get some rest.
(a period of time when you relax after working)
36. I was rather inexperienced
e.g. for that kind of work
37. I have a lot of experience
e.g. in this area / of this kind of problem
38. I am sufficiently qualified
e.g. for this position
39. This is a job requiring
(a period of time when you relax after working)
40. I try to be hardworking.
(work hard)
41. I'm quite competent
e.g. at my job
42. I try to work efficiently.
(work quickly without making mistakes and wasting time)
43. Efficiency is very important
e.g. in my job
44. A lot of people do voluntary work.
(you want to do it and you're not paid)
45. I was promoted.
(get a higher position)
46. It is a demanding job.
(needing a lot of effort, care, skill)
47. I fill in for / stand in for / cover for
e.g. her while she is off sick
48. I am acting
e.g. as a manager for the next couple of months
49. I will take the place of
e.g. our manager when he leaves
50. The morning shift takes over from
e.g. the night shift at 9 a.m.
51. It is great teamwork
e.g. that helps get the job done on time
52. We teamed up
e.g. with another group to finish our project
53. We cooperate
e.g. with a German firm on this project
54. I was employed
e.g. as a secretary for a couple of months
55. I do casual work.
(not regular, usually paid hourly)
56. I've got a temporary job
e.g. working in a newspaper office
57. This factory has 200 employees.
(a person who is employed)
58. The staff
e.g. are so polite and friendly
59. They promoted
e.g. me to office manager
60. I'm on leave
e.g. at the moment because...
61. The post has been vacant
e.g. for some time
62. I turned it down.
(to refuse one's offer)
Payment
63. I am paid
e.g. every months and this pay goes directly into my bank account monthly
64. My salary
e.g. is 20.000$ a year
65. I earn
e.g. 200$ a week as a hairdresser
66. With many jobs you get holiday pay and sick pay.
(when you're off duty or ill)
67. I'm going to a pay rise.
(my pay goes up)
68. My average income
e.g. has risen 2% this year
69. I' m poorly paid / badly paid / don't earn much.
(I'm paid very little money)
70. I have a high income / earn a lot / am well-paid.
(I'm paid a lot of money)
71. My take-home pay / net income is 150$.
(money left after deductions)
72. My gross income is more than that.
(before deductions)
- What do you do?
- What's your job?
- What do you do for a living?
- What are your main responsibilities?
- What do you do every day?
- What are your duties?
- What is your daily routine?
- What does your job involve?
- How many people does your firm employ at present?
- Can you have some time off whenever you want?
- Why don't you apply for another job?
- Have you filled in the application form?
- If they offer you a well-paid job, will you take it?
- How much holiday do you get / How many weeks holiday do you get?
- What are normal working hours for most office jobs in your country?
- What kind of jobs get very high salaries in your country?
- What is the minimum amount of income tax you have to pay?
- What jobs often involve shiftwork? Would you like to do one?
- Is flexi-time common in your company?
- What are your working hours?
- Do you do / work any overtime?
- Teachers don't earn very much, do they? Why (not)?
- When were you last promoted?
- Why / When did you apply for this job?
- Why did you take an early retirement?
- Why did you resign?
- Did they give you a lot of training before getting the job from the company?
- Did you do / go on any training courses for this job?
- Have you been promoted since you started in the company?
- Do you normally get a good pay rise at the end of each year?
- How do you feel about your future prospects in the company?
- Are you happy in the job or do you feel is time for a fresh challenge in another company?
- What exactly are your duties as a nurse?
- Who do you work for?
- Are you usually busy at work?
- What do you find difficult about working there?
- Can you describe your place of work?
- What do you like about your job?
- Do you usually cover for a colleague when he is on leave?
- How do you find visiting a lot of people / clients?
- Who will take your place when you leave? How do you feel about this?
- What kind of jobs are you good at?
- Can you tell me about your boss? What kind of a person is he / she?
- Have you ever had any serious problems at work?
- Do you work at the moment? Tell me about the work you do.
- Have you ever had any other jobs?
- Would you like to do the same job as your mother / father?
Travel is a verb: I enjoyed mytraveltrip very much. It is only used as a noun in a general sense, e.g. travel broadens the mind.
Trip refers to both a journey: the trip there was fine; or a short stay: a business trip; or a holiday: I’m going away on a trip.
Journey only refers to getting from one place to another: the journey there was very uncomfortable.
Part 2
Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.
Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.
Describe a memorable journey you have made. You should say:
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Part 3
Travelling and learning
- What do people learn from travelling?
- Do you think the growth of international tourism is a good thing? Why (not)?
Tourism and culture
- How has tourism changed the way people in your country live?
- How should tourists behave when they visit your country?
Ways of travelling
- What do you think is the best way for a tourist to travel if they want to learn about your country?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by plane?
Part 2
Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.
Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.
You should then speak for between one and two minutes.
Describe a journey that you remember well. You should say:
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Part 3
Reasons for daily travel
- Why do people need to travel every day?
- What problems can people have when they are on their journey, for example to work or school? Why is this?
- Some people say that daily journeys like these will not be so common in the future. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Benefits of international travel
- What do you think people can learn from travelling to other countries? Why?
- Can travel make a positive difference to the economy of a country? How?
- Do you think a society can benefit if its members have experience of travelling to other countries? In what ways?
