Name: BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Work 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!
Uploaded: 2025-04-11T11:05:26.000Z
Duration: 30 min 30 s
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6 Minute English from BBC Learning English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

Have you ever had a horrible boss, not been paid enough or simply got tired of doing the same old boring jobs?

I love presenting 6 Minute English, of course, but some of my previous jobs have been pretty awful, Neil. When I waitressed in cafes, I was on my feet 10 hours a day. It was exhausting.

Most people have had bad work experiences at one time or another. Maybe a job that was boring, badly paid or just working too much and getting burned out, lacking energy or enthusiasm because of working too hard.

But does it have to be like this? Since most of our waking day is spent at work, how can we make sure our job doesn't make us unhappy? That's what we'll be discussing in this programme and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Sounds good, Beth, but first I have a question for you. The worst job I ever had was the summer

I spent working as a portable toilet cleaner at music festivals. But according to a recent survey by Forbes magazine, what was voted the worst job in the UK?

Was it… a. A call centre worker b. A bartender c. A traffic warden

I think the answer might be a call centre worker.

OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.

Now, it's interesting that survey was carried out in the UK because being unhappy at work could be related to the British working culture, which emphasises working at a fast pace.

Here's Damien Grimshaw, a Professor of Employment Studies at King's College,

London, speaking with BBC Radio 4 programme Analysis.

Really it's all about pace, cost efficiencies, you know, meeting targets, deadlines. So this is why when people do surveys of what we call work intensity, right, so how hard you work, are you driven on pace, is there a supervisor breathing down your neck, we score really badly compared to European countries.

Compared to some European countries, British workers have to meet more targets and deadlines, a time or date by which a particular job must be finished.

The pressure to work quickly means you might have your boss breathing down your neck – an idiom meaning that someone is watching you very closely and checking everything you do. Not a nice feeling to have at work.

That's right. A good job is about more than pay and conditions. It's one that uses your talents and gives you some choice over how and when you work. In 2022, Britain's biggest employer, the National Health Service, or NHS, lost more than 15,000 nurses, many quitting because of the long and inflexible working hours.

Another sector with long working hours is the construction industry. Low paid, dirty and physically demanding, construction workers also risk high levels of work-related injury. Here Emma Stewart, co-founder of social business TimeWise, tells BBC Radio 4 programme

Analysis about her trial project to help builders enjoy their jobs more.

In the work that we've done within the construction industry, we have trialled what we would call an output-based way of working, which means we shift away from this sense of presenteeism, this sense of you are paid by the day, you are on site from seven in the morning until the last person leaves, maybe seven in the evening, to a task-based way of working, which means you are going to do five tasks over the course of this day. When you've done those tasks and you've done them well, you can go home, but we will still pay you the same amount for the day.

They were able to deliver the projects that we worked on with them on time, on budget, but critically the feedback from workers was that work-life balance scores doubled and they were able to reduce the amount of overtime that they did. It's a win-win.

Emma describes the current working patterns using the word presenteeism, staying at work longer than usual or going to work when you're ill to show that you work hard. But this isn't an effective way to work. Emma thinks a task-based approach is better, both at getting the job done and for improving work-life balance – the amount of time you spend at work, compared with the amount of time you spend relaxing with your family and doing things you enjoy. In other words, flexible working is a win-win – a situation that's good for everyone involved. Maybe more flexible working would help some of the jobs I mentioned earlier in my question, Beth. According to a recent Forbes magazine survey, what was voted the worst job in the UK? I guessed it was a job I've done myself – working in a call centre. That was the correct answer, although I think my summer job cleaning toilets was even worse. Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme, starting with burnout – lack of energy or enthusiasm because of working too hard. A deadline is the time by which a particular job must be done. If someone is breathing down your neck, they're watching you very closely and checking everything you do. Presenteeism means staying at work longer than usual to show your employer that you work hard and are important to them. Work-life balance is the amount of time you spend doing your job, compared with the amount of time you spend doing things you enjoy.

And finally, a win-win is a situation or result that is good for everyone. Once again, our 6 Minutes are up. Join us again next time, but for now, get back to work. Goodbye.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice.

So, Rob, did you have a part-time job while you were at university?

Did you learn anything from the experience?

I wasn't good at doing sums in my head – you know, mental arithmetic – but I got pretty good at it as a barman. They didn't have computerised cash registers in my day, you see.

Oh, I didn't realise you were that old, Rob. Anyway, the subject of today's show is young business entrepreneurs. So, can you answer this question?

How young were the founders of Facebook and Microsoft when they first set up their companies?

Were they… a. Junior high school students b. High school students or c. University students

And Alice, in case you think I don't know, Facebook is an online social networking service and Microsoft is a computer software company, OK?

Well, I'm going to say they were b. High school students.

Well, we'll find out if you chose the right answer later on in the programme.

But let's talk now about what drawbacks – or disadvantages – there are for young entrepreneurs.

Well, I suppose one of the drawbacks of being young and your own boss is that everyone who works for you is older than you.

Well, let's consider a real case. Young British entrepreneur,

Suleiman Sakkani, started his first company when he was 17, followed by another business shortly afterwards. Then, while studying chemistry at university, he started his third company, an online version of the Pound Shop, or dollar store in the US, where everything in the shop is priced at one pound.

Let's listen to Suleiman Sakkani talking about his company.

I'm actually quite fortunate now compared to what I was six months ago because now I've got two additional directors of grey hair and actually commercial meetings are excellent now, you know.

But before that, I think I came across quite professional, but you could still tell they were thinking in the back of their heads, I've got a kid sitting in front of me.

So, young entrepreneur Suleiman Sakkani has got two grey hair directors working with him now.

That's right. But how does having grey-haired executives on board help, Rob?

Well, executives are people who run a business and on board means being part of a team. Well, to answer your question, Alice, they bring experience to the table.

I have a few grey hairs, you know. You could learn a lot from me.

Oh, I do, Rob. Every day. And if you bring something to the table, it means you provide something useful. What do you bring to the table, Rob?

Well, bad jokes, peanuts, crisps, cups of coffee, that sort of thing.

I was going to say a keen mind – in other words, a well-developed mind – and great business acumen.

You're right, I wasn't. Acumen means good judgment. But don't worry, you have an abundant enthusiasm that makes up for it. But moving on now, do you think that school prepared you well for working life?

No, not really. I studied Latin at school and I don't use that much.

And maths, well, I never used trigonometry or calculus, so I'm not sure how useful maths lessons were.

Yes, and you only learn to add up in the university bar, after all.

Ah yes, but I'm very good at it. And the point is that I've got a fantastic job now, and if you're really interested in something, you can always acquire or get the skills you don't have. Let's listen to successful young entrepreneur, Jessica Rose, talking about her experience. She works with jewellery.

I didn't need all these previous skills and experience to go out there and start on my own.

When I first started I had no business training whatsoever, no jewellery training whatsoever, but I kind of woke up one day and thought I'd really love to be a jewellery designer, which is kind of a tricky position to be in because it's, you know, a lot of people would say and did say, well, you're, you know, you're mad.

So Jessica Rose used her savings to learn jewellery making and then set up her own jewellery making business.

And despite setting out with no business experience and no jewellery training, her enthusiasm for the article paid off.

Yes. OK, I think it's time for the answer to today's quiz question. I asked, how young were the founders of Facebook and Microsoft when they first set up their companies?

And you were wrong, I'm afraid, Rob. Sorry.

Yes. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were both university students when they started their companies. Zuckerberg was studying at Harvard in the US when he launched Facebook in 2004.

And Bill Gates took a break from Harvard to launch Microsoft in 1976, but never returned to his studies.

Both at Harvard. That's a coincidence. I wonder if the bar there was any good.

Now, can we hear the words we learned today?

Yes, OK. They are drawbacks, executives, on board, bring something to the table, keen, business acumen, acquire, paid off.

Thanks, Alice. Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English. We hope you've enjoyed the new vocabulary that we brought to the table.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Sophie.

And I'm Neil. Sophie, did you go to the corporate away day last week?

Yes, you didn't miss anything. A team-building guru lectured us on how to work more effectively with each other. We gave some presentations, had a few drinks after.

Right, OK. An away day is a day that employees spend together away from their usual workplace.

And a guru is an expert in something. So, did this guru teach you anything new, Sophie?

Shame. I was hoping for some tips on how to work more effectively with my co-presenter.

I think you work very effectively already, Neil. Now, today's show is about team-building, or encouraging employees to work well together as a team by getting them to engage in different types of activities.

And apparently some companies in the UK are offering their employees activities such as

Hunger Games-style combat days, where teams must work together to kill as many of the opposing team as possible. Have you seen the Hunger Games movies, Sophie?

There are also zombie boot camps, where military instructors train you on how to fight zombies – that's dead people who have come back to life. For the more cerebral, or brainy among us, there are crime investigations modelled on popular TV dramas like Sherlock

Well, I'm not sure about the zombie boot camp. A boot camp is a short course of hard physical training. But the Sherlock Holmes away day sounds like fun.