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  • - Hi, welcome back.

  • This is Jack from tofluency.com, along with me, Kate.

  • - Yeah, and today,

  • we are going to give you listening practice,

  • and we do this by just having

  • a natural conversation, in English.

  • And today our topic is going to be jobs.

  • - Yes.

  • - Jobs.

  • So be sure to check out the description

  • for the words and phrases that we use in this lesson.

  • And also check out tofluency.com,

  • because I have some great stuff there for you, too.

  • Okay, so today we're gonna talk about jobs.

  • We're gonna talk about the first jobs that we've had.

  • - Okay.

  • - Different types of jobs we've had.

  • And also, we're going to talk about our dream job.

  • So we can start thinking about that now.

  • But what was your first-ever job?

  • - So my first-ever job

  • was actually working at a sailing school.

  • So, eventually I became a sailing instructor

  • but in the beginning, I was just a helper,

  • so I would help move boats

  • and help people who wanted to rent the boats,

  • what to do and where to go.

  • So we rented kayaks and small sailboats

  • and small catamarans,

  • and that was the beginning of my working career.

  • - Very cool. - Yeah.

  • - How old were you?

  • - I was 15.

  • - Right.

  • Was that like a summer job?

  • - It was a summer job.

  • - And is that common around that age in America?

  • - I think that most, because we have a longer summer break

  • than a lot of other countries, I think it's pretty common

  • for American teenagers to have some kind of a summer job.

  • - Right.

  • So yours was working at a sailing school.

  • - Yes.

  • - But you didn't teach sailing at first.

  • - No.

  • - That came later. - That came later.

  • I had to work my way up to that.

  • And, well, of course, my very first job was as a babysitter.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Uh-huh, so I actually became certified to babysit,

  • and I babysat for our neighbor's children for several years.

  • - Yeah, growing up watching American movies,

  • that seemed quite a common thing, to babysit.

  • - Yes.

  • - And what age were you when you did that?

  • - I think that I got my certification when I was about 12,

  • so probably from the time that I was 12 until,

  • well, much later.

  • It was not a regular job, but every couple weekends or so,

  • I would do some babysitting.

  • - And before, did you know how to sail before

  • going to the sailing school?

  • - Yes.

  • So I actually started out as a student of the sailing school

  • which is how I learned to sail.

  • - Very cool, and I've been to that sailing school before.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Remember when you took me out on the, is it cata--

  • - Catamaran.

  • - Catamaran. - Yup.

  • - And I got soaked.

  • - You did. - Yeah.

  • - Did you like it?

  • - Oh, I loved it. - Yeah?

  • - Yeah.

  • You also took me sailing once in Athens, Georgia.

  • It was boiling.

  • - Yes. - That day.

  • But yeah, that's pretty cool.

  • And you were in sailing club, right?

  • - That's right.

  • - At university. - Uh-huh, yup.

  • - Or at college.

  • Very good, and how many summers

  • did you work at the sailing school?

  • - That's a great question.

  • I probably worked for four summers at the sailing school,

  • three or four.

  • - Cool.

  • Did you enjoy it?

  • - I loved it.

  • I still kind of miss it.

  • That's one thing that I think of

  • when the weather gets summery,

  • I think, "Oh, when am I gonna get out on the water?

  • "When am I gonna see my friends?"

  • (upbeat music)

  • Let me ask you a little bit about your first job.

  • - Okay.

  • - What was it?

  • - My first job was a paper round.

  • - [Kate] Okay.

  • - Do you call it paper route here?

  • - I think we would call it a paper round,

  • but it's a pretty uncommon job

  • for young people to have today.

  • - Right.

  • - I think that was something that people

  • older than our generation had.

  • - Right, well, yeah, it was very popular when I was younger.

  • We, my friend and I, we went to the local news agent

  • and we asked for a paper round job and we got one.

  • - Okay.

  • - And I think it paid around...

  • The first one I had paid nine pounds per week.

  • - That seems shockingly low.

  • - Well, yeah, it was a lot of money.

  • - Yeah, were you-- - When you're 12.

  • - When you're 12.

  • - Well, you had to be 13 to do it.

  • - Oh, were you 13?

  • - I think I might have been 12, I can't remember.

  • (Kate gasps) I was probably 13,

  • but it was, yeah, it was a cool job.

  • - Yeah? - It was fine,

  • 'cause I started off doing the afternoon round,

  • and mine was so easy.

  • - Okay.

  • - I think, 'cause they start you on the easy route,

  • to begin with, it might have only been 25 houses,

  • and you wore this paper bag,

  • I think that's what they called it,

  • or paper round bag, you put your newspapers in there,

  • the Lancashire Evening Post,

  • and you just deliver them through the mailbox.

  • - Were they heavy?

  • - Those weren't, but then my next one was

  • I had to do it on a bike,

  • so you put your bag on your back, fill it with newspapers.

  • It was really heavy, and I went on a bike,

  • and the Saturday morning edition, especially,

  • was very heavy,

  • 'cause they have those extra magazines in them,

  • and that was the morning one.

  • And I think that paid 14 pound a week.

  • It was more than any other paper round

  • because it was the hardest one, but I enjoyed it.

  • - So you got paid about two pounds a day?

  • - Yeah. - How long--

  • - No, well, six days a week,

  • I don't think I did the Sunday one.

  • - Okay. - But yeah, I was 14 and 15.

  • - How long did it take you?

  • - 45 minutes.

  • - Okay. - Yeah.

  • About 45 minutes, and then, yeah, after the paper round,

  • I know you want me to talk about this.

  • I had the milk round.

  • - I know!

  • You had a milk round.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Okay, I think that there is no one in our generation

  • in the United States who had a milk round.

  • - I wonder if they still do it in the UK?

  • - I don't know.

  • - It's not as...

  • I did read that they're trying to bring it back,

  • and if you're a little bit confused,

  • a milk round is when there's a milkman,

  • and he has a milk van (laughs)

  • and he fills the milk van with milk.

  • - With milk. (laugh)

  • - But bottles of milk,

  • and instead of going to the store to buy milk,

  • every morning, you have milk delivered to your doorstep

  • in these little glass bottles,

  • and they had different colored tops,

  • silver, red, and blue, I think,

  • and silver was whole milk, I think red was skimmed,

  • and blue might have been half and half

  • or something like that,

  • and we used to stand on the back of the milk van,

  • I think it's a milk van. - This is crazy to me.

  • This seems so dangerous.

  • - Well, it was, and at five a.m., we get picked up.

  • It took us two hours. - Wow.

  • - And yeah, so he'd shout out, "Two silver!"

  • So you grab two silvers, you run to the,

  • run, you can't walk, run to the door, put the silvers down,

  • take the empty bottles, and then put them back in the crate.

  • - Wow. - The milk crate.

  • And I did it, I only lasted a few weeks,

  • because it was the middle of winter.

  • (Kate shivers)

  • And my friend was small, so he could duck under the van.

  • My head was sticking out.

  • - Oh!

  • - And your hands were frozen,

  • because you're collecting those empty milk bottles

  • that were freezing.

  • - I cannot imagine that.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I can't imagine it.

  • - But that wasn't my dangerous job.

  • - What was your most dangerous job?

  • - At the driving rage.

  • - (gasps) Oh.

  • - Did I ever tell you about that job?

  • - I think you might have told me a little bit,

  • but clearly there's more to talk about.

  • - Well, so, at the golf driving range, I think I was 15,

  • and then I was doing the milk round

  • and then we realized that we could get paid

  • five pounds an hour, so two pounds fifty an hour,

  • to work at the driving range,

  • but they started all the new people in the wrong way.

  • - Uh-oh, what did they do?

  • - Well, they gave you one of those tubes to collect,

  • which you had to stab on the ball and go up.

  • I think it held probably 20 balls, this little tube,

  • and they'd say, "Okay, go to the 150 yard line,"

  • which is the most popular range to hit

  • when you're practicing golf, and go collect the golf balls.

  • And they did it, they put us out there at peak hours,

  • and they gave us a helmet, so like a motorcycle helmet,

  • and if you go to the driving range

  • and you see some kid with a helmet on collecting golf balls,

  • that's an immediate target.

  • - Oh no.

  • - So everyone would just aim for you,

  • (Kate gasps) and it was dark,

  • and you just didn't see these balls coming,

  • and they'd just hit you in the back, hit you in the leg.

  • - Was it really painful?

  • - Yeah, I mean, getting hit by a golf ball.

  • - Yeah.

  • - It's incredible that they did it.

  • - (laughs) Yeah.

  • - Before health and safety went crazy.

  • - Oh no.

  • - You could ban those kinds of jobs.

  • So yeah, that was a job I did for a little while,

  • but it got a lot better,

  • because I only worked Sundays after a while,

  • and the Sunday job was easy,

  • because nobody went to the driving range on a Sunday,

  • because they were playing golf.

  • - Right.

  • - But then you get in one of those carts.

  • What do you call that, the quad?

  • - We call them golf carts.

  • - Well, it wasn't just a golf cart.

  • It was more like a buggy.

  • - Like a dune buggy?

  • - Yes. - Okay.

  • - And then it had this thing on the front

  • where it would collect the golf balls,

  • so we'd collect the golf balls, no one would come,

  • and I would hit the golf balls.

  • - Yeah. - So it was a fun thing to do.

  • - Did your golf game get a lot better?

  • - A lot better. - I would imagine so.

  • - Yeah, a lot better.

  • I bought some golf clubs then,

  • started to play a lot of golf, yeah.

  • - Do you miss golf?

  • - I'm gonna start playing again. (laughs)

  • - Great.

  • - (laughs) So yeah, that was an interesting job.

  • (upbeat music)

  • What other jobs have you had after sailing school?

  • - After sailing school, to be honest,

  • most of my jobs have been teaching jobs.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So I've been an ESL teacher abroad and online.

  • I have also been an English language teacher

  • to American students, so I've taught English language arts,

  • which is like literature and reading and writing,

  • and I've done that in public schools,

  • and then I'm about to be an assistant teacher,

  • so most of my jobs have been teaching in one way or another.

  • - Yeah.

  • Yeah, we lived in Spain for a couple of years,

  • and we both taught English there.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Which then led to all of this now.

  • - All of this, yeah. - Yeah.

  • Did you have any jobs at college?

  • - I mostly would focus on studying,

  • and I was the captain of the sailing club.

  • and I had-- - Sailing club.

  • - Sailing club.

  • Well, it was like a sport

  • but it was also kind of an intramural--

  • - Yeah. - Recreational sport.

  • So we competed, but it was also

  • a lot of just more relaxed activity.

  • - Right.

  • - We weren't college competition.

  • - No, and that's important because, in the UK,

  • if you'd say, "I'm on the football team or the rugby team,"

  • it doesn't mean that much.

  • - Yeah.

  • - People don't watch this, but in America,

  • when you think of the football team.

  • - Team.

  • - Then 100,000 people are watching.

  • - Yeah, it's huge. - But the sailing club,

  • you only had, what, 20,000 watching?

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • - 20,000, no!

  • It was all very relaxed,

  • but we were competing against some schools

  • that had very competitive programs.

  • - Right.

  • - They beat us.

  • - Yeah.

  • - They beat us.

  • - Yeah. (laughs)

  • - So that was one thing.

  • I was doing some freelance editing.

  • So at the same time. - Oh, yeah?

  • That's right, you used to write books.

  • - Uh-huh, yeah. - Yeah.

  • I remember that.

  • Yeah, so I did a lot of,

  • I did some ghostwriting and editing

  • and that kind of work, too.

  • (upbeat music)

  • What has been your most challenging job?

  • - Most challenging?

  • The first thing that comes to mind

  • is teaching teenagers in Spain.

  • - Yes.

  • - Challenging in the sense of

  • it caused me the most amount of stress and frustration,

  • and it was quite difficult to keep them in line.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I'd say.

  • - Yes, I could see that being the case.

  • I would say that teaching has been my favorite job

  • and that it definitely has its moments of stress

  • and pressure from a variety of sources.

  • And then you mentioned

  • that we were gonna talk about dream jobs.

  • - Yes.

  • - What's your dream job?

  • - You know what it is, don't you?

  • - Is it this?

  • - Well, the idea of the dream job

  • is what you're not doing now, but you could do.

  • - You could do. - Yeah.

  • - Okay, so if you weren't doing this dream job,

  • what dream job would you be doing?

  • - A football manager.

  • - Okay.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And why do you think that would be your dream job?

  • - Well, I would say football player,

  • but that's not gonna happen any more.

  • - Okay.

  • - Not because of my technical abilities,

  • but because of my age, and then, yeah, football manager.

  • Well, I actually grew up playing a lot of computer games

  • where you are the football manager.

  • - So like a soccer manager.

  • - It was called,

  • the first one was called Championship Manager,

  • and they rebranded it to Football Manager.

  • - Okay.

  • - And it's just where you're the manager of a team,

  • you buy players, you talk, you organize training,

  • you have the tactics going on, and then you play a game,

  • which usually is just text on the screen

  • telling you what's happening.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And I love it.

  • I used to play that for hours and hours and hours.

  • But I'd love to be a football manager

  • because firstly, I love the sport.

  • - Right.

  • - I think I'd be pretty good at it

  • if I applied myself. - I think you would, too.

  • - And I just find it really interesting,

  • trying to problem-solve all the time

  • and come up with tactics to beat a specific team.

  • I think the management would be really interesting,

  • to talk to specific players in specific ways.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - And just to try and win things.

  • You know, to be successful at it.

  • - Sure, yeah.

  • - What about you?

  • - I think that, in many ways,

  • I am doing my dream job already,

  • because I'm continuing to teach,

  • I get to spend time with kids,

  • so all of that are things that I love,

  • but I think that if I was going to add

  • something into the mix,

  • I would like to work on my writing more

  • and be professionally recognized for that,

  • so that would be my goal, to write some books.

  • - Is it your goal?

  • - Yeah. - Yeah?

  • - Yeah, still very much so. - Cool.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Have you had any other jobs in the past?

  • - I think that more or less covers it.

  • I've done various things.

  • I've worked at an exercise studio,

  • I've done different permutations of teaching.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So teaching corporate clients,

  • teaching one-on-one lessons in English,

  • but yeah, there's a thread of teaching

  • kind of woven through it.

  • - Yeah.

  • I've had, I think I've probably had about 30 jobs--

  • - Wow. - In the past.

  • - Wow.

  • - Some of them have been temporary,

  • where I've been doing a lot of data input and admin

  • for three weeks at this company,

  • three weeks at a different company,

  • but I had that marketing manager job--

  • - Okay.

  • - For a couple of years before we met.

  • Call centers, I've worked in bars.

  • That was interesting.

  • I worked at the student union nightclub

  • when I was at university.

  • - I bet you would have some stories from that.

  • - Yeah, that was definitely an interesting time,

  • and I didn't really enjoy it.

  • - No?

  • - No, because you're sober and everyone's really drunk.

  • - Yeah, that sounds terrible. - And they're just, you know,

  • trying to get free drinks from you,

  • they never tip in England.

  • - Oh yeah. - Yeah.

  • - That's another conversation.

  • - I've done some cold calling, which is quite frustrating

  • because people don't want to answer the phone

  • and talk to you. - Yeah.

  • - What else have I done?

  • I was a porter in a hospital.

  • - Oh, yeah.

  • That one also is an interesting--

  • - There's some stories there. - Yeah.

  • - It was crazy.

  • Porter is basically where you transport patients

  • around the hospital, and then you tasks here and there,

  • and if people are getting aggressive,

  • then the porters go.

  • - Really?

  • So you were like the hospital bouncer?

  • - Well, I don't know why they asked me to go one time,

  • because I was really young, and very skinny,

  • and there were bigger guys than me,

  • and there used to be a couple of security guards,

  • but then they asked porters to go with them

  • if there was any trouble,

  • and some people are just crazy.

  • - Really? - It was--

  • - Aggressive? - Very aggressive.

  • - Maybe having a mental health crisis?

  • - Well, that, too, but I mean,

  • there was someone that I used to see at the gym,

  • and she used to work out for hours and hours

  • and then she was in the hospital once

  • and she started to get very aggressive with people.

  • - Uh-oh.

  • - And she threatened to put needles in my eyes or something.

  • - Oh my gosh.

  • - And then I saw her at the gym the next day

  • and she just came over

  • and she was my best friend all of a sudden.

  • - So you've been hit by golf balls.

  • - Yeah.

  • - You've been almost dropped off the back of a milk truck,

  • you have had to be a bouncer in a hospital,

  • and the hardest job that you've had

  • was dealing with teenagers. (laughs)

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • - You've had some experience.

  • - Well, I'd say the most challenging one, actually,

  • was when I was the marketing manager,

  • because we used to run expensive campaigns

  • with very tight deadlines that had to get results.

  • - Right.

  • - And we were constantly advertising

  • in newspapers and magazines,

  • and I was in charge of getting the ads together,

  • choosing the right ad for the right magazine,

  • and doing all that kind of stuff.

  • That was very challenging, because of the deadline.

  • - But probably, now that I'm thinking about it,

  • that was probably the job where you built your set of skills

  • to be able to do the other things that you've accomplished.

  • - Yeah.

  • (upbeat music)

  • I wanna just quickly talk about time off.

  • - Oh, yeah.

  • - So to take some time off, which means to not work,

  • and this might be for vacation, for sickness,

  • for national holidays. - Yes.

  • - I think one of the biggest differences is

  • the amount of time off you get in America versus in the UK.

  • - Yes.

  • To be honest, there are many wonderful things

  • about living in the United States.

  • Paid time off is not one of them.

  • So I think that the average job, nine to five,

  • full-time job comes with about 10 days off a year.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And that doesn't include national holidays,

  • which there are a few national holidays,

  • but that's it. - Yeah.

  • - So 10 days off.

  • So if you get sick or if your children get sick,

  • or anything like that, it's really easy to eat through

  • the time off that you have-- - Do you get sick days?

  • - That's a great question. - Or does it depend?

  • - And to be honest, to be honest,

  • I'm not sure about it.

  • I think it's a different company policy--

  • - Right. - Depending on where you work.

  • - Right, and in the UK,

  • I remember it was 28 days paid leave.

  • Is that the right way to say it, paid leave, here?

  • - I guess so. - Yeah.

  • - Or paid days off. - Paid days off.

  • Yeah, 28 days, and I remember, actually,

  • when I was working in that marketing manager job,

  • by the way, they didn't give me the title

  • of marketing manager but I was marketing manager,

  • (laughs) I don't know what to say.

  • - I can call you marketing manager.

  • - So you'd look at your calendar for the year

  • and you'd have to get in there quick

  • to get the days that you wanted,

  • because you couldn't clash with somebody else

  • or with more than two people in a department,

  • and I remember I got them off for the World Cup in Germany,

  • which was well worth the time off.

  • - Sure.

  • - And that same year, the Leeds Festival,

  • and then I can't remember what else,

  • but yeah, you used to have to plan ahead

  • and say this date, this date, and get in early.

  • - So you would basically have about four weeks off?

  • - Yeah.

  • - That's pretty good.

  • - And more than that,

  • 'cause the work, 28,

  • five, the five days out of seven.

  • - Oh, okay.

  • - So more like five weeks and three days.

  • - That's, yeah, that's amazing.

  • - Yeah, and then, but where we worked,

  • the factory used to shut down

  • between Christmas and New Year,

  • and you had to take those days off.

  • - Oh.

  • - That was one thing,

  • so you didn't have as much flexibility there,

  • but it was good to be off between Christmas and New Year.

  • - Do you think, and there are lots of studies

  • about productivity in the workplace and holidays,

  • do you think that your time off

  • helped you be more productive?

  • - Probably.

  • I think it's always good to get a break.

  • I might have been more...

  • Well, to be honest, I think for me,

  • it was more important about the working day,

  • and not taking breaks during the working day,

  • and not standing up, getting away from your computer,

  • getting a little bit of exercise.

  • I think that's more detrimental.

  • - That's hard.

  • Yeah, I could see that.

  • And I haven't had, really, an office job

  • where I was stuck in one place for all day,

  • but I know that when I have had a full work day,

  • just psychologically, I really prepare rewards for myself

  • throughout the day. - Yeah.

  • - So I'm like, oh, it's nine o'clock.

  • It's muffin time.

  • Time for some coffee and a muffin,

  • or like, oh, it's 11 o'clock-- - Yes.

  • - Gonna take that little walk around the building,

  • or whatever it is.

  • - Yeah, we did that when I was working in the office.

  • I mean, it's a very British example, but a cup of tea.

  • - Yes.

  • - You know, someone would brew up at 9:30,

  • and everyone would get a cup of tea.

  • And someone else would brew up again at 11.

  • - You do drink tea every two hours?

  • - Yeah, and that's what,

  • you know, that's the reward you're talking about,

  • to brew up and get a cup of tea.

  • - And to be honest, I miss that a little,

  • and I definitely miss having regular co-workers

  • over the summer. - Yeah, yeah.

  • - You know, just a couple of people

  • that you can really share jokes with,

  • and, you know, get to have that experience.

  • - I think it's important.

  • Yeah, and in the space that we're in,

  • there were some, I think you waved to somebody before?

  • - Yeah, I did.

  • - So there are other people who work here

  • in the different offices, so I do get that interaction.

  • - Yeah. - And it's important.

  • You know, working on your own sometimes,

  • especially when, you know,

  • when you're just talking into a camera on your own?

  • - Yeah.

  • - It feels really strange.

  • - But it's also amazing knowing that there are

  • all those people out there who are gonna watch you and--

  • - Yes. - Yes.

  • - But you don't feel that in this moment.

  • - Yes.

  • - It's a strange thing.

  • - But it's fun to talk to you, too.

  • - Yeah, it's all right.

  • - We're like co-workers right now.

  • - Yeah, we need to do this more often.

  • - Oh, yeah.

  • - So yeah, I think we can wrap it up there.

  • - All right.

  • - It's the beautiful time of the video.

  • - Woo-hoo!

  • - Kate's question.

  • - Okay, so my question is,

  • what is the most interesting job that you've had?

  • And also, what is your favorite part about working?

  • - Great.

  • Great, most interesting job you've had,

  • and your favorite park, part, about working.

  • Perfect.

  • - All right.

  • - All right, well, again, thank you so much

  • for spending this time with us.

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