Episode 06

Episode 06

Carolina wants a job to solve her money problems, but will she find one? Adam is surprised about your opinions of football!

Transcript

Adam

Adam: Hi everyone – I’m Adam. It's good to be back with you. My holiday was in Europe. I saw my family in Scotland, but I also visited Belgium and Germany for a couple of days. Rob is away this week, but he's not on holiday. He's travelling for work. In the last podcast Tess & Ravi talked about football hooligans and we asked you to tell us what you think about football. Well, I’m a bit surprised by your answers; so many of you don’t like football! Lyudmila in Russia, booky in Egypt, Angelo in Italy, Ana in Spain, Lamai in Thailand and Sankio in Poland. Guisouzarego in Brazil talked about football and money. He says it’s the ‘politics of bread and circuses’. One of you even said football is for donkeys! I’d better not say his name...

Not all of you hate football though. We had fans of Flamengo in Brazil, Galatasaray in Turkey, Santiago Wanderers in Chile and Wangmanhang in Taiwan is a big fan of Arsenal in England.

Thanks for all your comments about football. There are so many that we can’t mention them all but we love reading them. And we’re happy too that you’re still adding comments to the other questions we asked you. Sunghun, who’s from Korea but lives in Australia, told us a very nice ‘first job’ story and advised us, ‘I hope that everyone calls their parents today and says 'I love you'.’

It’s really great to hear all your comments and remember, you can join in and add your own comments by going to www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish. Or finding us on Facebook – look for 'Elementary Podcasts'.

Now, we’re back with Carolina this week. You remember that Carolina was worried about money and decided to get a job? Let’s see what happens next.

Carolina

Emily: Hi Jamie. I was just going out.

Jamie: Hi Emily. Is Carolina in?

Emily: Yeah, go on in. She's in the kitchen. But she's on the phone. She's found a job.

Jamie: Already?

Emily: Yeah. That convenience store at the university, you know, the one that's open all day Sunday. They want part-time staff. Well, she hasn't got it yet – she's speaking to the manager now.

Jamie: Hmm.

Emily: Anyway, I must go. See you.

Carolina: Yes that's right. I'm a student. From Venezuela. Yes, I think my English is OK …

Jamie: Say it's good – very good!

Carolina: Good actually, um, it's very good. Come in and talk to you? Yes, of course I can. I'm free tomorrow morning. Now?! Come and see you now? Um, I , um...

Jamie: Say yes! What's the matter?

Carolina: OK, um, yes, of course. Now. Half past ten. OK. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Oh, Jamie – he wants me to go and talk to him. Now!

Jamie: Well, of course he does.

Carolina: Well, yes of course. But now!? What am I going to wear? I need to print out my CV – oh dear, and I should write a list of questions.

Jamie: Whoa. Calm down. This isn't going to be a formal job interview. He won't want to see CV. He only wants to see you and talk to you before he decides.

Carolina: Are you sure?

Jamie: Pretty sure. And what you're wearing now is fine.

Carolina: Shouldn't I wear a suit?

Jamie: Carolina, it's the convenience store at the university – not an international bank.

Carolina: OK.

Jamie: How many hours is the job?

Carolina: He said fifteen hours a week.

Jamie: And which days? Is it weekends? Evenings?

Carolina: I don't know yet.

Jamie: Think about this carefully, Carolina. If you're working in the evenings and at weekends, when are you going to study? And when are we going to see each other?

Carolina: I have to get a job Jamie. Well, I'd better go. I mustn't be late.

Jamie: OK. I'll walk to the bus stop with you. And good luck, OK?

Carolina: Thanks.

Mr Spencer: So, Miss del Barco. You've never worked in a shop before.

Carolina: No, no I haven't. But I know I can do it.

Mr Spencer: It isn't easy in this shop. We sell food, cigarettes, alcohol, newspapers – everything. And it can get very busy – you need to be quick, think fast, be efficient.

Carolina: Oh, yes. I can do that. Definitely.

Mr Spencer: Are you good with money? Good with numbers?

Carolina: Oh yes. Very good.

Mr Spencer: And your visa says you can work here?

Carolina: Yes. I can show you. Here it is.

Mr Spencer: I need someone to start immediately.

Carolina: Yes. Of course.

Mr Spencer: OK. The job's yours.

Carolina: Oh! Thank you!

Mr Spencer: Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday from four till midnight. See you on Thursday at half past six.

Carolina: OK. I'll be here. Thank you very much.

 

Adam

Adam: So, Carolina got the job. Good news! When we think about job interviews we usually think about something quite formal. You have to wear a suit or smart clothes and answer lots of questions. But for this kind of part-­time job you usually don’t need to do a formal interview. The manager just asked Carolina one or two questions. Has she worked in a shop before? Is she good with money? And that was enough, she got the job.

Today I want to look at prepositions, in particular prepositions of time. Listen to these bits again:

Mr Spencer: Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday from four till midnight. See you on Thursday at half past six.

Carolina: OK, I’ll be here.

Jamie: Think about this carefully, Carolina. If you're working in the evenings and at weekends, when are you going to study?

Carolina: Come in and talk to you? Yes, of course I can. I'm free tomorrow morning.

Adam: The manager said ‘See you on Thursday at 6 o’clock’ – why is it ‘on Thursday’, but ‘at 6 o’clock’? And ‘at weekends’ and ‘in’ the evenings’. Does it seem a bit confusing? 

Well – we use ‘at’ with times – ‘at 6 o’clock’, with ‘the weekend’ and with ‘night’.

We use ‘on’ with days – ‘on Monday’, and with dates ‘on the twenty fifth of April’.

And we use ‘in’ with months – ‘in September’ ­ with seasons – ‘in summer’ and with parts of the day – in the morning’.

There are also times when we don’t use a preposition at all – with ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’ – 'I’ll see you tomorrow morning’ – and with ’next’ and ‘last’ – ‘see you next time’.

If you find it difficult, try the exercises with this podcast – they’ll help you practise.

You might need to use some of these prepositions when you write to us this time. I’d like you to tell us about your favourite time of day. I like getting up late, but not in the afternoon! I don't want to have breakfast at 2pm. I also like to stay up late at night when it's quiet, but I don't think it's very healthy.

What about you? Are you happiest in the morning or at night? Or maybe in the afternoon? Write and tell us, here’s where you can send your answers: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or on Facebook, look for Elementary Podcasts.

Well, that’s all for this time. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back with Tess and Ravi in the next podcast. See you soon!

Discussion

Language level

Topics

Average: 5 (5 votes)
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Profile picture for user Oksi1001

Submitted by Oksi1001 on Mon, 26/11/2018 - 16:47

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Definitely I like at night. But it's not spread at work.I use to work at nights, and it seemed quaite difficult for me .As to having a fun at night-i'm also ready! Moreover night is inspires me. It can be unexpected and interesting ideas. So i dont go to bad early and can afford wake up after 10 a.m even at work. I'm really happy about that.

Submitted by Mahougbe on Tue, 06/11/2018 - 14:09

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Hi! My favourite time is the evening when I am back home after my work. I can take rest, see my joyful child and play with him. I am no longer under stress.
Profile picture for user Kukul

Submitted by Kukul on Thu, 18/10/2018 - 16:05

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Hi guys I am very happy all the time if it is night or morning or evening! But I am better after midnight and in the morning early. When people sleep at night I do better maybe because I am very sociable. I sleep late at night and don't use to sleep in the evening or afternoon . Also I wake up early in the morning everyday. At the weekend I don't sleep as long as others in our home. Thanks
Profile picture for user Kostya B

Submitted by Kostya B on Thu, 27/09/2018 - 18:37

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Both of this periods of the day equal for me on respect of the work.
Profile picture for user hamad

Submitted by hamad on Sun, 16/09/2018 - 15:07

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Hello everyone my favorite part of day in the morning because all my family get up to go work or go to school and I saw everybody wear the uniform different from school or work

Submitted by MNahid on Tue, 04/09/2018 - 18:21

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hi there , just wrote it here in hope of getting any suggestions to my question , question is - i read about its having some chemicals causing cancer - is here should be it or its

Hello MNahid,

In the clause 'I read about its having some chemicals causing cancer', 'its' is the correct form and not 'it's'. 'it's' is an abbreviated form of 'it is', whereas here 'its' is possessive -- 'it' refers to whatever substance is being talked about and so 'its' makes a link between the substance and the carcinogenic chemicals.

Another common way to express an idea like this is with 'how': 'I read about it and how it contains some carcinogenic chemicals'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by fatemeh on Sat, 28/07/2018 - 05:14

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There are two times in a day I like them. Early morning because everywhere is quite specially streets and I do exercises which makes me energetic. Morever I listen to the birds singing in the spring and summer while preparing breakfast. And I like afternoon because I read my favorite books, talk to my family and sometimes walk in a park near my apartment with my husband and son.

Submitted by manarise on Fri, 20/07/2018 - 09:48

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It's nice to hear that Carolina got a job. i also write a personal blog post about e-cig, favorite time for me is in the evening, where everyone is fall asleep i can find a true silence that i could write something about my blog. Thanks for this page , it will help me through grammar mistake that i always find in writing. From Japan

Submitted by Hal55 on Tue, 12/06/2018 - 15:23

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Hello everyone. My favorite time of day is morning. Because I feel good when it is quiet in the morning. I like taking a breath with clean air. I always get up early in the morning like five o'clock. and I do some exercise and go running. then I make breakfast by myself. and I study English after breakfast.