Episode 04

Episode 04

Carolina is having some problems with money. What can she do to solve them? Adam and Rob talk about all the different types of weather you have in your countries.

Transcript

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!

Discussion

Language level

Topics

Average: 5 (4 votes)
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Submitted by Mohammedalbassami on Sun, 11/10/2020 - 19:10

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Hello everybody I worked in farm and sold vegetables when I was at secondary school. Actually I felt different to studied to get high marks. After I finished school I joined military technical college. So I graduated deploma as technician . However I decided to complete my study. Although I had worked as technician that time but I got bachelor in mechanical engineering from University. Really it was very hard-working to work and study. Everything will be easy with managing time and encouragement.

Submitted by Mazoon AL.Ghssani on Sat, 03/10/2020 - 10:37

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Hi I hope that I have a job ,but I am a student I can't study and work at the same time.
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Submitted by OlaIELTS on Fri, 11/09/2020 - 22:47

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My first job was a baker. Then, l earned 500 naira about 15 years ago, actually this was spent on my upkeeps and feeding. It was quiet difficult, but later I get over it. I got it through a friend.

Submitted by Ahmed 99 on Mon, 31/08/2020 - 20:14

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i got my first job withe a friend in a small resturant it was enjoy and tired i enjoy because i got to know friends and i learned how to dell withe the customers my work was serve the food tired because the resturant was busy . i got a good money

Submitted by Muhammad Erad on Sat, 22/08/2020 - 13:15

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Hello sir, we use 'been' with ing-form and non-ing form. For instance: 'meat has been cut' so can I say 'meat has been getting cut'?

Hello Muhammad Erad,

The meat has been cut (present perfect passive) tells us that the process has finished and the meat is ready.

 

The meat has been being cut would be the continuous equivalent (present perfect passive continuous) but I can't think of a situation when you would want to use such a sentence. Perhaps if the time taken were somehow noteworthy:

Where is the meat?

It's being cut.

It has been being cut for more than an hour now! How long does it take?

 

You can read more about the continuous aspect here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/continuous-aspect

You can read more about the perfect aspect here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/perfect-aspect

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Muhammad Erad on Sat, 15/08/2020 - 10:47

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Hello sir, if I have to mention two actions which had been taking place, not any more, so I use 'used to' and for second action, I use 'would'. For example: I used to swim in the ocean and I would surf on every Tuesday. I am confused whether it is correct or not.

Hello Muhammad Erad,

Provided you are taking about actions rather than states, you can use either used to or would. Stylistically, I think it would be more usual to use one for both actions in the same sentence, but grammatically there is nothing wrong with your sentence.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Em jouri on Thu, 30/04/2020 - 11:59

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My first job was a math teacher in charity school for grade 12( ministerial curriculum).I didn’t earn a lot of money but l liked my job. because I was teach students who is very need. But now I’m working in a new school ( British curriculum) so l want to improve my language and earn more money to help all people’s who needs