IELTS Speaking for Success - 🧑‍💼 Work (S10E14) + Transcript

Episode Date: April 14, 2024

Learn 150+ languages with quality native-speaking teachers on italki! Buy $10 get $5 for free for your first lesson using our code SUCCESSIELTS: Web: https://go.italki.com/ieltssuccessapr App: https://italki.app.link/ieltssuccessapr - Do you like your job? Why did you choose this kind of work? What’s the most interesting part of your work? What’s the most difficult part of your work? What would you like to do in the future? Tune in and have a great day! - Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s10e14 © 2024 Success with IELTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, Sunshine. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory, and we're the host of the AIL Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way. We started this podcast to give you super vocabulary and perfect grammar for your... Which score, Rory? Is it your band 9th score? Band 9 score. Oh, it's amazing being a podcaster, isn't it?

I really love my joke. So we talk about work? Dear listener, in IELD speaking test, the first questions, the first topic that the examiner will ask you about is work or studies or accommodation. And we know it for sure. Okay, so take notes, choose nice vocabulary and nice grammar from this episode because this is the first topic you'll get in your speaking test. Work, studies or accommodation. And we'll talk about studies in our next episode. Okay?

Now, not everyone is a podcaster, so we picked a common job to talk about instead, which is great because I get to pretend to be something else for a change. Yes, Rory is a teacher and is a podcaster. He's also an influencer and a castle owner, a Scots free person. But anyway, so Rory has picked another job. So Rory is pretending, kind of like making it up. We wanted to describe like a common job for you to take out like nice vocabulary and grammar. Okay?

But don't worry if you don't do this job because there's still things that you can apply to talk about work in general. Work, work, work, work, work, work. That's my soundtrack for this episode, do you listen. Do you work or are you a student? I've been working as a sales assistant for about a year now. Oh, and why did you choose this kind of work? To be honest, it chose me. I just needed a job that would pay the bills.

I don't plan on doing it forever. And do you like your job? It's all right. I get on reasonably well with my colleagues, and it's pretty straightforward. Although it can be boring at times if I'm stuck on the tills or stacking shells for hours on end. What's the most interesting part in your work? Well, I know it's frowned on. I like to gossip with my colleagues, but it's mostly like hard.

so it's not so bad. It's also fun to see what other people are buying and chat with them as you scan everything through. And what's the difficult? Nothing particularly. It's a pretty low-level job, so it's not very complex. Sometimes customers can be a pain, but that's a rarity. What would you like to do in the future? Well, ideally, I'd really like to work in marketing or something else related to business,

so hopefully what I do now has prepared me well for that sort of environment since I've seen it from the inside out. Rory, before we get back into the episode, can I ask you something? When it comes to learning language, what's the difference between passive and active learning? Passive language learning happens when you learn by only listening or reading. So listening to this podcast would be a form of passive learning when I think about it. Active learning is when you're actively using the language, like speaking. And in fact, the biggest challenge for many language learners is the absence of regular speaking practice.

Taking lessons with I-talkie would be a form of active learning for speaking. example. And it's not a coincidence we're talking about ITalky. In case you didn't know, IToki is a platform where you can book one-on-one IELTS preparation classes with native English teachers. Some of them are actually former IOT examiners. You can also take mock IELT speaking tests and get personal feedback on how to perform better during the actual exam. All lessons are personalized to your goals and needs. You can pay per class, book lessons around your busy schedules and learn from anywhere in the world. link in the description of this episode to sign up for Itoki. Use our promo code, Success

IELTS and get five extra dollars for free when you spend your verse 10. The discount is only available for the first 50 people. Make sure to sign up before the offer runs out. Now let's get back to the episode. DeLisner, we have our super premium episodes for you where Rory and I are discussing speaking part two and three. We use recent speaking topics and give you super grammar, more vocabulary, okay, so do check them out. The link is in the description. Yay, nice and easy, dear listener, huh? You see? So, and here we can give shorter answers. Like, maybe one or two sentences, like from one to three sentences. So it's kind of, it's absolutely okay. But if you want to give more, to give like longer answers, that's okay. The examiner

could stop you and move to a new question, which is absolutely. fine because the examiner controls the time. So, when the examiner asks you, do you work or are you a student, you should choose one topic. So I work or I'm a student. And then the examiner will proceed to ask you questions about studies in our next episode or about work. So here we are choosing one thing like work. You can say that both I'm a student and I work, but it's kind of, it's more difficult to talk about both of them. So it's much easier to choose just one. And worry, what grammar structure have you used?

What grammar structure did I use? Yes, is it present, perfect, continuous? Oh, yes, I've been working as. So I have been working, I've been working as a teacher. I've been working as a dentist. So work as, work as a doctor, as a manager. So you started working, you are working, and you will be working. So I've been working.

And another thing to point out, you might be asked how long you've done your job for or you might want to include it in your answer to this question. But please, do not feel that you must give the exact time that you have been working there because in real life, nobody does this. So for me, I said, I've been working as a sales assistant for about a year now. maybe it's 11 months, maybe it's 13, I don't know and really I don't care. And neither does the examiner. Yeah, Rory, can you ask me this question?

Yes. Do you work or are you a student? I've been working as a food blogger for about two years now. Have you? No, that's not true. So this is a good answer to this question, all right? Then you can say, to be honest, to be honest with you, like a nice start. Like, what's the intonation here, Rory? What is the intonation, actually?

I think it's rising, because like, You want to be polite and nice. So to be honest, this job chose me. So I didn't choose it. Like, the job chose me. It's just a job, you know? Like, I don't really like it particularly. So, you know, like, the job chose me.

So to be honest, it chose me. Uh-huh, say it? To be honest, it chose me. An important thing to highlight here will be the use of it instead of repeating the words, this job, because, or this kind of work, because we don't want to repeat questions in our answers. Yeah, you can say, like, I needed a job.

So I need some job to pay the bills. So we pay the bills. Or you can say, I have to pay the bills, so I just have to do it. It's just a job. It's just to pay the bills. It's not about principles or anything like this. I don't think you can afford to have principles

if you're a sales assistant. Yeah, or if you kind of work, I don't know, in a restaurant, I'm a waiter. I'm, I don't know, like, a man. I don't plan on doing it forever, for example. Or even if you do plan to do it forever, you can just say. And then an interesting answer to the question like, do you like it? Do you like your job?

Yeah. And so it's all right. It just means it's okay. I don't love the job and I don't hate it. Yeah. I get on reasonably well with my colleagues, a phrase of verb. I get on well with my colleagues. I get on well with my boss.

I get on well with everybody in the company, so I have good relationship with them. And you can also say, I work for this company and I've been working for Google, for example. I've been working for blah, blah, blah company. It can be a little boring sometimes. It can be a little dull, monotonous. And then, Rory, you use very specific words. I'm stuck on the till. The tills.

Yeah, the till is the thing that you show the price with and scan the items with. But you could be stuck on the tills or if you do another job like being an English teacher, you could be stuck on online work or stuck doing online work. The idea is that you cannot move from this position. You cannot do anything else. Yeah, so a till or register in the United States is the drawer in a cash register. So when you go to a shop and this machine that goes

and then this drawer opens up and you see cash there. I'm loving the sound effects for how I sure works. Just imagine the cash machine and then and then ching yeah.

So like this, the till opens. So I'm stuck on the tills or I'm stuck, can you see like I'm stuck on paper Are stuck doing paperwork? I'm stuck doing paperwork. Or I'm stuck working with children.

Or if you work, I don't know. As a doctor, for example. So you're a doctor. I'm stuck on the wards. What are words? A ward is a place that a doctor works, working on the ward. W-A-R-D. Ah, okay.

It's kind of rooms, like hospital rooms, yeah. Yes. Okay, and like a stacking shelves. So what you have in a shop? So where the clothes are? Can you say like I'm stuck on this job? It could be, just meaning you cannot move from it. That would be a bit different though.

If you're stuck on a job, it could mean that you cannot do anything else because it's too difficult or because you've been ordered to be there and nothing will change. A cool answer, the most interesting part in my work is gossiping with my colleagues. Yes. I think that's true for most jobs, though. Like, everybody likes to, like, do or engage in office gossip. And when we gossip, what do we say, usually?

Oh, you mean for the details of gossip, I don't know. It depends on what you're talking about or who you're talking about, but probably personal details of other people's lives that should not be shared, at least in the open public. Yeah, you're just like, office gossip. Yeah, when we talk about other people's, private lives, okay, usually like in an unkind way, disapproving. But it's not something that we should do openly because it is frowned on,

and that just means people do not approve of this. Yeah, so if you have an office job, it's a very good idea, answer, to show off your vocabulary. So I work in an office and you say, yeah, I know it's frowned on, so people don't like it. but I like to gossip with my colleagues during my lunch break. Awesome. And then the examiner looks at you like, ah. And I enjoy chatting with my colleagues. I enjoy like good relationship with my colleagues, you can say.

I enjoy hanging out with my colleagues. So you can say that like your colleagues, like the atmosphere is the most interesting part. And then the next question is usually about something difficult. And Rory goes like, no, nothing in particular. nothing particularly is difficult, you know? Nothing particularly. Yeah, nothing. And you see, again, you don't repeat, like, nothing is difficult.

You say nothing particularly, like a normal conversation. Yeah, like a question and answer. And then details, it's a pretty low-level job. So what's a low-level job? A low-level job is just something that doesn't require a great deal of complexity or work or understanding. So being a sales assistant, in comparison to being a lawyer, doesn't require that much complexity.

So it's pretty low level. The same way as what's another job that's pretty low level. I would imagine being a sales rep in a shop is also relatively low level, especially if you're just starting out. The pay in low level jobs is usually low as well. What about other jobs like a lawyer, a doctor, head of the department? That's a high-level job. Yeah, it's a high-level job, so it's demanding, it's difficult.

And then you can say sometimes customers, or sometimes my boss can be a pain. And here the idiomatic expression is a pain in the neck or a pain in the somewhere else. A pain in the behind. Behind, yes. Or the Pahuki, if you're Scottish. So, you can say, like, sometimes customers can be a pain in the neck, or sometimes customers can be a pain, right? Or sometimes meeting deadlines can be a pain, or a pain in the neck.

But that's a rarity. A rarity is something that's... Doesn't happen very often. Yeah, like, almost never happens. That's a rarity. Give us a sentence with this rarity. Well, this one was... The customers can be a pain, but that's a rarity.

In my real job, sometimes... I'm trying to think about things that rarely happen in my job. Oh, yes, sometimes I'm asked to do teacher training, but that's a rarity. Eh. The final question is usually, what would you like to do in the future? And he, like, would you like? So, I'd really like to work in marketing. Or I'd really like to work as a president of the world.

I'd really like to be... or I'd really like to work for Google, for example. Would you like to work for Google? No, no. I feel like that might be a little bit difficult. Demanding. Yeah, very demanding. Well, I think they have, like, interesting people,

and their office is fun. But I would like Google to be partners with us, you know, so we can partner up Google and I'll Speaking for Success Podcast. That would be a nice Spanish. It would be nice, yeah. Yeah, but also nice. Nike, McDonald's, you know, Apple, if you're listening in, we're, you know, open for your suggestions. Or any other company, frankly?

No, no, not any other company. We're picky. We're choosy, Rory. Yeah, so we just listed a whole bunch of companies. Gucci, you know, Dolce Gabbana would be nice, you know, if you want us to advertise your bags, Dolce Gabbana, bags. Yeah, Louis Vuitton, you know, Gucci, again. Cartier Would you say

Cartier? I love how you talk to me about these brands as if I know anything about watches that are worth thousands of pounds Walk, walk, whack, whack, whack, whack. Thank you very much for listening to listen to and in the next episode we're going to be talking about studies.

Alright, so if you're a student, do listen up I will see you next time. Bye! Do you work or are you a student? I've been working a sales assistant for about a year now. Oh, and why did you choose this kind of work? To be honest, it chose me. I just needed a job that would pay the bills. I don't plan on doing it forever. And do you like your job? It's all right. I get on reasonably well with my colleagues,

and it's pretty straightforward, although it can be boring at times if I'm stuck on the tills or stacking shells for hours on end. What's the most interesting part in your work? Well, I know it's frowned on, but I like to gossip with my colleagues, but it's mostly light-hearted, so it's not sober. It's also fun to see what other people are buying and chat with them as you scan everything through. And what's the difficult? Nothing particularly. It's a pretty low-level job, so it's not very complex. Sometimes customers can be a pain, but that's a rarity. What would you like to do in the future? Uh, well, ideally, I'd really like to work in marketing or something else related to business, so hopefully what I do now has

prepared me well for that sort of environment since I've seen it from the inside out. M. BATI-D-D-B-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D.