EnglishPod - What Do You Do?
M: Hello English learners and welcome back to another great lesson with EnglishPod! My name is Marco.
M: And today we're bringing you a great intermediate lesson with some really useful vocabulary.
E: Some vocabulary you can use to describe your job.
M: Yes, this is a really common situation when you… someone asks you what you do and you have to tell them.
E: Exactly, so, today's lesson is all about that.
M: So, before we jump into our dialogue, let's start with our “vocabulary preview”.
E: We have two simple phrases today that you'll hear in our dialogue for our vocabulary preview. The first one is VP.
M: VP.
E: VP.
M: So, the VP of a company is…
E: The Vice-President.
M: The Vice-President, exactly.
E: Yeah, simple little acronym.
M: Right.
E: And the next word is Fortune 500 (five hundred) company.
M: So, a Fortune 500 company is…
M: Hehe. Well, Fortune Magazine ranks the five hundred biggest companies in the U.S.
E: So, a Fortune 500 company basically is…
M: One of the five hundred biggest companies in the U.S.
M: Yep.
E: Alright, well, with those words it sounds like we're going to be talking to some important people today.
M: Yes, we are gonna be talking to some important people, so, let's listen to our dialogue for the first time. Now, it's gonna be a little bit fast, but you don't have to worry about it.
E: Cause we'll come back and explain all of the important vocabulary.
M: Alright, great music for our dialogue again, ha?
E: Of course.
M: Yeah, Top Gun is one of my old time favorite movies and Top Gun pilot, what a cool profession?
E: An excellent profession, much cooler than being like a VP.
E: Yeah.
E: Yeah, anyway, this guy was a bit of a jerk, don't you think?
M: Yeah, you can tell a little bit of, uh, the sarcastic tone he had in his voice.
E: Definitely, but he did use some interesting phrases and we can talk about those now.
M: Right, so, let's take a look at “language takeaway”.
E: Our first word for language takeaway is implement.
M: Implement.
E: Implement.
M: Implement.
E: Let's listen to some examples of this word to help us understand its meaning.
A: Our company has to implement this sales strategy.
B: Sarah will be responsible for implementing the plan.
C: I implemented several new policies.
M: Okay, great examples, and just in case to implement means to…
E: Exactly.
M: Our second word for language takeaway – policies.
E: Policies.
M: Policies.
E: Policies.
M: So, policies are basically rules and regulations.
M: For a company or an organization.
E: Exactly.
M: Oversee.
E: Oversee.
M: Oversee.
E: Oversee.
M: So, when you oversee operations, it means…
E: Like you watch it to make sure it's okay.
E: This is an excellent word to use when you wanna talk about your job responsibilities.
M: Right.
E: Oversee.
M: Uhu, great. And our last word for language takeaway. It's kind of tricky, so, let's listen to how it was used in our dialogue.
Example: That alone means I have fifteen hundred employees under me. Hehe. That alone means I have fifteen hundred employees under me. Hehe.
E: So, this guy has fifteen hundred (1500) employees under him meaning he supervises fifteen hundred employees.
M: Right, he manages fifteen hundred employees.
M: Yes! For fifteen hundred employees… How many employees do you have under you, Erica?
M: Yeah, not quite as much as fifteen hundred.
E: Yeah, because I'm not a VP ???… for yet, hey?
M: Hehe. Not yet, but you will.
E: Okay.
M: Alright, so, with this in mind, we are ready to listen to our dialogue for a second time and this time it's gonna be slower.
M: Okay, great stuff! With this, now we can start with our “fluency builder” for today.
E: We heard some excellent phrases in this dialogue, some phrases that sound really natural, hey?
M: Yes! Especially the first one that we have today is… Whenever someone talks and talks and talks and just… and continuously talks without stopping, you would say…
Phrase 1: She's always going on about him at the office. She's always going on about him at the office.
E: This is a really natural way of saying “keeps talking about”.
M: Right, keeps talking about him.
E: Yep, so, we have a few examples of how this phrase works. Let's listen.
A: My boss is always going on about how we need to save money; it's all he talks about.
B: Gary is always going on about his kids; he's always talking about how smart they are.
C: My mom is always going on about how I should get married.
M: Okay, excellent! It's clear now.
E: Yes.
M: Okay, so, let's move on to our second phrase for today and this is a great one to use whenever you meet someone for the first time.
E: Or when you start to talk to someone for the first time.
M: Great.
Phrase 2: Hey, how's it going? Hello. Hey, how's it going? Hello.
E: So, this is a really relaxed and natural way of saying “How are you”.
E: Yeah.
M: So, yeah, you can just say “Hey, how's it going?”
E: Yep!
M: Great.
M: Now, our third phrase is the most important one of our dialogue.
E: Yes!
M: And it's a really common situation.
E: When someone asks you about your job, they might say this.
Phrase 3: Arthur, what do you do for a living? Arthur, what do you do for a living?
M: So, this is a really great way of asking “What work do you do?” or “What is your job?”
E: Yes, and now… I know a lot of students sometimes say “What is your job?”
M: Yeah, and that is… well, it's kind of correct, but not really.
E: It doesn't sound very natural.
M: Right.
E: So, you wanna use “What do you do?” or…
M: “What do you do for a living?”
M: That's the way you ask someone what is their job.
E: And that's how you sound supper natural.
M: Hehe. Okay, so, we're ready now to listen to our dialogue a last time and now you are ready to understand everything.
M: Okay, so, I have a little challenge for our listeners today. I have…
M: Two challenges, actually.
E: Okay.
M: The first one – who performs the song that you heard and what is the song called?
E: Okay, I don't know the answer, so, I'm looking forward to seeing what users do.
M: And the second one is what is the number one company in the Fortune 500?
E: Oh, I also don't know this answer.
M: Hehe. Two great questions, so, I expect to see your answers on the comments page, but also we want to know about your profession.
E: Yes! Tell us about your job, tell us what you do and use some of the great phrases you learned today to describe your answer.
M: Great! So, we hope to see you there, but we're out of time now. So, we'll see everyone at englishpod.com, leave all your questions and, of course, all the comments.
E: And Marco and I are always around to answer your questions.
M: Well, until then it's…
M: Bye!