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!

Check your understanding

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Task 2: GapFillDragAndDrop_NzI4OQ==
Task 3: GapFillDragAndDrop_NzI5MQ==

Discussion

Tell us about your first job. What did you do? How much did you earn and what did you spend your pay on? Was it difficult or enjoyable? How did you get it?

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Language level

B1 - Intermediate

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Thank you.

In 1993 that's the year of my first job at the Algerian Water Services Company, in Bechar city, located in the southwest of Algeria, when I took a trade framework, and I have got 10.000 Algerian Dinar about (45 Euro) in month. it's very easy work for me and l was very happy in my job,but sorry I left it in 1995, because I didn‘t do the duty of national military service.

Hello sir, I want to know whether I use 'of' or 'to' after 'ask'? Here are two examples: 1) I want to ask question of you. 2) I want to ask question to you. One more thing, what is best to use 'he' or 'they' when gender is neutral and when gender is unknown?

Hello Muhammad Erad

The most common structure for this is actually 'I want to ask you a question.' But 1 is also correct (though 'a' is needed before 'question'). My students say 2 and it may be used in some varities of English, but is non-standard in British and American English.

Traditionally, 'he/him' was used to refer to unknown genders, but most people don't see it that way any longer. It is much more common to use 'they/them' instead, which makes it clearer than either gender could be referred to. You can see a little more about this on our Personal pronouns page.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

my first job was as a computer programmer at a local mobile phone reseller.i think i would earn 300 $ for a month.it was both enjoyable and hard for me,it was my first job and i didnt have enough experience so i couldnt manage things properly,and also my boss was angry most of the times,although i love programming so it was enjoyable too.

Hello The LearnEnglish Team. When I was a student at the university, I used to work as a waiter at café. My working shift consisted of 3 to 6 hours, and there were 3 to 4 times when I could work. All the rest time I dedicated to study and to my friends. Also, while my leasure time I used to go gym or play the guitar. My duties as a waiter were inviting new customers and asking for what they were going to order. After I took an order, I had to take it to the kitchen to chef who was responsible for cooking. After the dish was ready, all was left for me to do is just take it to customer and wish him or her Bon appetite. From time to time there were shifts which were especially hard for me. At weekends there usually much more customers come and it means more job for waiters. Those times I got tired a lot. But on the other hand, this job can be interesting and enjoyable cause you have to communicate with people and that’s really good to feel when they thank you and smile. I can’t say I earned much but all these money plus money that had given to me from University for good study, I mean stipend, all these were enough for me. My parents were also giving me moneys, of course. I had to take a part time job because I thought I need a bit more money to have fun after study.

Hello when I was at 10 years old I sold our garden fruit in yard of our house. That was fantastic.

How are things? My first job was fascinating to me. I was a chef's assistant in a cafe. U

My first time job was a vet at a pet clinic. That was also my major in university. I got it when I was a final-year student. I had worked there around 1 year. My works were to diagnose and give the treatment to animals. I had to work more 10 hours a day even dealt with the emergencies at midnight sometimes. It was a bit much of stressful but the wonderful things are that I had chances to play with cute animals and follow their recovery day by day. My salary was not much actually, I spent to pay for living partly and gave the rest to my family.

Sir I want to know about 'I wish' structure. Where, how and when to use it.