Adam and Rob
Both: Hello!
Adam: Welcome back, listeners – and welcome back, Rob! How was your holiday?
Rob: It was really nice, Adam, thanks. I went to Slovenia and the weather was fantastic.
Adam: Sounds great. And the comments you sent about the weather in your countries were great too! Many of you have very hot weather. Abuhekmat in Oman told us about weather that reaches 49 degrees! I can’t imagine being that hot. Fazliddin12 in Uzbekistan sees temperatures of 45 degrees and Saandari in Mongolia told us about weather that was hot, but not quite as hot as Oman, 35 degrees. The big difference in Mongolia is that in winter it reaches -35 degrees! That’s a huge difference between summer and winter.
Rob: That’s very cold. Many of you also wrote to us about cold weather in your countries. Kosovac in Serbia says it can be -20 degrees. ValiantSpirit in Pakistan says it can be -15 degrees. But what is cold? In other countries, maybe it’s a bit different. In El Salvador, Daxrosales says 15 degrees is a cold day, while in Malaysia, Shokmin says 24 degrees is a cold day. You also told us about other weather conditions in your countries. For example, in China Diqiudashi told us about the typhoons that come to the mainland and bring heavy storms.
Adam: Tkazerooni in Iran told us about weather called ‘Wolf & Ewe’. (A ewe is a female sheep.) ‘Wolf & Ewe’ weather is when dark clouds and white clouds are in the sky at the same time. The ‘wolf’ (the dark clouds) chases the ‘ewe’ (the white clouds) and Iranians say that this is very changeable weather, with a very high chance of rain. Remember, you can write to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or via Facebook – look for ‘Elementary Podcasts’.
Rob: Now, do you remember what happened last time with Carolina, the student from Venezuela at Newcastle University? She returned from her summer holiday and talked with Emily about her new clothes, about missing English and, of course, about her boyfriend Jamie. Let’s see what’s happening this time!
Carolina
Carolina: Let me see. Oh dear. No, that's not right. Emily, what's seventy times twelve?
Emily: What?
Carolina: What's seventy times twelve?
Emily: Err, ten times seventy is seven hundred and two times seventy is a hundred and forty, so that makes erm, eight hundred and forty.
Carolina: What's seventy divided by fifty-two?
Emily: I don't know! I'm trying to read my book! Haven't you got a calculator on your phone?
Carolina: Oh, yes. Oooh. Oh dear!
Emily: What's the matter, Carolina?
Carolina: Nothing.
Emily: It doesn't sound like nothing. I can't read my book with your {big sigh} and {big sigh}. What's the problem?
Carolina: Well, I'm trying to work out my money. My money for the year.
Emily: Your money for the year. Mmm…
Carolina: And it's not very good.
Emily: It's not very good?
Carolina: Well, I haven't got enough.
Emily: You haven't got enough?
Carolina: Stop repeating everything I say!
Emily: Sorry.
Carolina: I don't know what I'm going to do.
Emily: Well, you did spend a lot of money in the summer, didn't you? You bought a lot of clothes and things.
Carolina: Yes. I did. And presents for my family and friends in Venezuela.
Emily: Oh dear. So, how bad is it?
Carolina: A disaster. After I've paid my rent for this room and the electricity and water, and my phone, and my travel card, well - there isn't very much left.
Emily: How much?
Carolina: About 20 pounds a week.
Emily: Twenty pounds a week!
Carolina: You're doing it again.
Emily: Sorry. But twenty pounds a week - you can't live on that. You have to buy food and books…
Carolina: And go out sometimes.
Emily: Can you ask your parents for some money?
Carolina: Oh, no. They've already given me a lot. I can't do that.
Emily: What about…
{doorbell}
Carolina: I'll go. It's probably Jamie.
Carolina: It’s so good to see you.
Jamie: It’s good to see you too. You been OK? Oh, hi Emily!
Emily: Hi Jamie. How's it going?
Jamie: Good, thanks. And you?
Emily: Yep.
Carolina: I'm going to get a job.
Emily and Jamie: Get a job?
Carolina: Now you're both doing it. I have to do something, Jamie. I can't live on the money that I've got for this year.
Jamie: Are you allowed to work here? Don't you need a special visa?
Carolina: No, I can work on my student visa - part-time. I'll check but I think I can work up to 20 hours a week.
Jamie: I'm not sure about this. You need time to study. And to go out and enjoy yourself - with me.
Carolina: I can't go out and enjoy myself if I haven't got any money, can I?
Jamie: I’ve got some money, I can pay.
Carolina: That's it. I've decided. Tomorrow morning I'm going to start looking for a job.
Adam and Rob
Adam: Oh dear. I hope Carolina manages to find a job or some other way to get more money.
Rob: It will be a lot easier for her if she has some experience, if she has done a job before. What was your first job, Adam?
Adam: I worked as a paperboy. That means I delivered newspapers to people’s houses early in the morning. It was quite interesting, although I didn’t have time to read anything more than the headlines. The real problem came when it was raining. What about you?
Rob: I worked as a waiter in a restaurant. It was quite hard work, but I didn’t earn a lot of money, unfortunately. Tell us about your first job. What did you do? Remember, you can write to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or via Facebook – look for ‘Elementary Podcasts’.
Adam: Now, do you notice anything about these sentences? Have a listen:
Emily: How much?
Carolina: About twenty pounds a week.
Emily: Twenty pounds a week!
Carolina: You’re doing it again!
Jamie: Are you allowed to work here? Don't you need a special visa?
Carolina: No, I can work on my student visa - part-time. I'll check but I think I can work up to 20 hours a week.
Rob: Carolina says she has about twenty pounds a week. She also says she thinks she can work up to twenty hours a week. ‘A week’ means ‘every week’. We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ with other words, too. For example, ‘hour’. I earned three pounds an hour when I was a waiter.
Adam: And I see my family three or four times a year. There will be some exercises about this and other language areas on LearnEnglish. That’s all we’ve got time for today – remember to write to us and tell us about your first job at LearnEnglish or on Facebook.
Rob: We’ll be back next time with Tess & Ravi. So, until then…
Adam and Rob: Bye!
Comments
Yes dear
you are right. English language is needed everywhere..
You are back again !! That´s great !!
I do missed you a lot !!
Welcome back !!
My first job was doing some surveys. I was 17 and it was my first way to earn money. It was easy and I remainded that people were kind with me.
Hi can you please tell me what verb do we use do describe the sound we produce by easing our joints.
Hi british council council team .i hope you all are doing well.i am so happy that adam mentioned my name in this podcast .well it is not actually my name but i quite like it so i kept it as my username.as the question this time is about the job so i must say something about it.well i am just a student from pakistan who is about to take his GCSE exam next year so i don't work not even a part time.i am quite comfortable with my life without a job nor i need to
My regards.
Hi every one
we have in Iraq the temperature reach to 53 degree centigrade at same there is no
electricity most of day really it is joking
oh.my first job was in my form 4 summer holidays .i was a waiter to service anyone came to eat .The restaurant was near my home so i haven't late one time case i could easy to arrive. why i found this jobs .It is because my mother didn't let me always play computer games at home all the time.So i did .when i wrote down the form.I think i am haven't any experience about society work so my wages only have $28 hk.I can earn about $4000 for a mouth.I spent all this to buy a new phone.Why? Because i haven't change my phone about 3 years.I couldn't wait anymore and i had look for a new one so i buy it.I think this job was very hard because all the time it was always bustling .I couldn't have a break in my working .But there have many kind colleague always take care for me when i have problems.i wish when i was free or some holiday i will do it continue to do it
Hi everybody!
Hi Adamand Rob!
How interesting Carolina was! Living away from home and facing with the finance problem, it is usual with VietNamese students.
I mysefl experimented her condition when I was a medical student at the university. So I had to do a part-time job to deal with my poket lacking of money. VietNamese students usually do a part-time work, most of them want to earn more money, some of them want to have experiment before their main job after graduate. And my first job was tutor, purpose for money only. I taught Mathematic and Chemistry. I had 2 or 3 high-school pupils, I taught them at their home 2 times per week, 2 hours per time. I was paid 30.000 - 40.000 VietNam dong for 2 hours (At that time it was about 2 - 2.5 dolars). It was really interesting, not hard working but quite well pay. Now I am a doctor.
But I found my real problem. It wasn't the money but managed it. My parents still pumbed money and with my extra teaching money, I still felt hard at the end of the month. So I think manage your money well is the best way to be comfortable with your earning.
A did my first job in 1985. I had just finished the military service (In Spain was obligatory to do this for every men) and I started to work like engineer in an international big company. My first salary was around 100.000 pesetas (600€). I was very happy because I was able to help to my family.
I liked this job very much. It was a great experience.
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