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)

Hello Muhammad Erad

Yes, that is a grammatically correct phrase, though, depending on what you mean, it might be best to avoid wording it this way.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by ettore982 on Tue, 22/01/2019 - 16:18

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My first job was a technical support (IT) to users. At least it was what I thought :) I was excited because I liked very much to resolve issues with computers but given that my knowledge was limted, my team leader began to make me write just computer' serial numbers to create a local database. So, It was very boring but in the meantime I tried to steal with eyes everything I can from other technicians' experience. I got it after my accountant diploma...yes, I know, it's totally different but I had a big passion for computers. I was a self-taught. I worked in different cities of Italy and my salary wasn't very high but I was 22, so it was enough to be able to go out sometimes with friends, buy something, etc.

Submitted by Muhammad Erad on Wed, 09/01/2019 - 11:00

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1) May God bless him! 2) May! God bless him! 3) God bless him! 4) May he be blessed by God! 'Exclamation mark' is common in all four sentences but I am confused with usage. Which one is correct and is there any better way to write same sentence. Kindly guide me.

Hello Muhammad Erad,

The exclamation mark should come at the end of the sentence, so (2) is not correct.

I think the most common form for this would be (3). This is something that religious people often say. (1) is also fine, but (4) sounds very formal and old-fashioned to me. It might be appropriate in certain contexts (a poem, a prayer or a literary work, for example), however.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Muhammad Erad on Tue, 08/01/2019 - 12:47

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Hello Sir, I want to ask what are 'gerents'

Hello Muhammad Erad

It's difficult to say without knowing the context, but I suppose 'gerent' is another way of saying 'manager'. I don't see the word on this page; does that make sense for the context you saw it in? Please note that this word appears to no longer be in common use.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by STC on Wed, 26/12/2018 - 06:22

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My first job was a workman of food processing industry in my fifteen’s summer vocation.The factory’s products are many types of fried shredded squids.The smell of the factory’s around was very terrible. I worked eight hours one day from monday to friday. When I came home, what I want to do most was go to take a shower and lying in me bed as soon as I could. That makes me get about fifteen thousand a month. I think it was a little hard work for a junior high school student, but it was a precious experience for me to know making money by self is not simple.

Submitted by Yury Taborsky on Thu, 06/12/2018 - 19:37

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When I earned first money my job was a mason. And I worked through only two weeks.

Submitted by Nancy Nguyen on Thu, 06/12/2018 - 13:10

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My first job was a waitress in the restaurant when I was a student. It was so hard and tired work, I had to stand and move all time (from 4 PM to 11 PM). The salary was small. And I spent it on my studying. Now I have a better job but I can't forget that time.

Submitted by Zaur on Sun, 02/12/2018 - 16:39

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Hi everyone! Firstly, I'd like to thank British council and all its members for such a wonderful site! I've got my first job when I was also a student. It was a sausage company and I was a merchandiser. My colleagues and I organised degustations in supermarkets. Of course the salary was very small, but we tasted a lot of sausages...)) P.S. Carolina's voice is so pleasant!!!