Name: Learn English with 925 English Lesson 5: Talking about your Work in English | English Conversation
Uploaded: 2026-01-15T17:06:24.000Z
Duration: 8 min 8 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Present continuous

You're learning with nine to five English Business English for the workplace.

Hi, Tim here with another 9 to 5 English lesson.

Future simple

In today's lesson, we're going to learn how to talk about the work you do in your job.

Last time we looked at how to talk about your job, which might include stating your position and company and what you are responsible for.

But what if someone wants to know more about what you actually do?

For example, someone might ask what your daily routine is like.

Or they might ask about your current or past projects.

How can you describe these kinds of activities?

Well, let's start with talking about your current work or projects.

By current I mean things that are happening now.

When we talk about things happening right now, we normally say we are doing something.

You might use we if you mean your company or team is working on something.

Or you might use I if you are talking about just what you are doing.

Let's practice some examples of talking about your current work in this way.

Listen to each example, then repeat it yourself.

We're busy designing a new housing development in California.

Right now we're doing a big website project.

At the moment I'm overseeing the installation of a new machine.

And you'll notice that it's always good to use strong or specific verbs such as design and oversee when you talk about what you're doing.

What if someone asks you about what you've done in the past?

Well, to talk about your past work, it's still a good idea to choose a strong verb.

Just remember to put it in the past tense.

You can just use the simple form did because it's completed.

Let's try a little practice talking about your past work.

I want you to repeat the examples after you hear them.

I chaired the fundraising committee last year.

My colleagues and I designed the new elementary school in Clifton.

I used to work on site as an engineer, but now I've moved into management.

One really useful expression you might have noticed is used to when there's an activity in the past that you did many times or was ongoing, you can say you used to do it.

Now, what if someone wants to know your current rules routine?

I mean, how you usually spend your time during your workday?

Well, you can certainly use that exact expression I just used.

You can say you spend your time doing something, or you can say your work involves Some type of activity.

And when you mention the activity, use the ING form like I spend a lot of time writing reports.

Let's practice talking about your daily routine with a few examples.

I spend a lot of time answering the phone and emails.

My work involves talking with customers and solving technical problems.

I put in a lot of time visiting customers every day.

Most of my day is spent calling clients and handling orders.

So that's how we talk about our daily routines.

But how might this sound in a real live conversation?

Let's listen to a short conversation between two people who have just met.

The first person is asking the other person, John, about his work.

Listen to how John answers the questions.

So, do you guys have any new projects on at the moment?

Actually, we've just started work on a new factory.

Most of my day is spent testing new machines and checking on deliveries.

John is asked about new projects, so he mentions something his company has just started.

And when he is asked about his day to day routine, he explains how his day is spent.

And notice those verbs testing and checking on.

We'll repeat the dialogue, but this time we're going to beep out the second speaker's words.

You will have to say those parts yourself.

Remember to start by mentioning your current work.

Then you'll talk about your daily routine.

So do you guys have any new projects on at the moment?

So now you've practiced talking about your work.

But another part of talking about your job is involves talking about your company.

You'll have to tune in to our next lesson to learn how to do that.