Jobs

Hello, today we are going to talk about jobs.

You’ll learn the difference between notions “work” and “job”.

You’ll also listen to an interview about some unusual jobs in the world.

First of all, let’s read these wise quotations. Can you comment on them?

“Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is”. (Edgar Bergen)

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. (Unknown author)

“When work is a pleasure, life is joy. When work is duty, life is slavery.” (Maxim Gorky)

By the way, do you know the difference between the words “work” and “job”?

We use job to talk about a particular work activity that you do: What’s his job? He is a doctor.

It is a countable noun: He’s got a job as a waiter. NOT He’s got a work as a waiter.

We use work to talk about something you do as part of your job: I’ve got a lot of work to do today.

It is an uncountable noun: He’s looking for work. NOT He’s looking for a work.

Work is also a verb: I work in London. NOT I job in London.

Now it’s time to revise different kinds of jobs.

Listen to the sounds A to F. What are the names of these job?

How many other jobs do you know in English?

Match the jobs with the pictures.

1.                 a lawyer

2.                 an accountant

3.                 an engineer

4.                 a mechanic

5.                 a photographer

6.                 a nurse

7.                 a waiter/waitress

8.                 a sportsman/sportswoman

9.                 an actor/actress

10.            a businessman/businesswoman

Listen to the descriptions and guess the jobs.

1.                 This person takes pictures of interesting places and people for magazines.

a photographer

2.                 This person finds out about things that happen and then writes about them for newspapers and different television channels.

3.                 a journalist

4.                 This person makes delicious things for people to eat in restaurants.

a chef

5.                 You go to see this person if you are ill. If you are feeling sick or sore, he gives you the right medicine.

a doctor

6.                 This person can repair your car if there’s a problem with its engine.

a mechanic

7.                 These people act on a theater stage and people go to watch them.

actors

Choose the phrases you know from the list.

Match the phrases 1 – 11 to definitions a) – k).

I’d like …

1.                 a good salary                 a) a lot of money for doing your job

2.                 friendly colleagues         b) nice people to work with

3.                 my own office                c) an office only for you

4.                 long holidays                 d) a lot of days off a year

5.                 a good boss                    e) a good manager

6.                 job security                    f) you know you’ll have the job for a long time

I’d like a job with …

7.                 flexible working hours   g) you can choose when you start or finish

8.                 opportunities for travel   h) the chance to travel as part of your job

9.                 opportunities for promotion     i) the chance to get a better job in the company

10.            holiday pay                    j) you get paid when you’re on holiday

11.            sick pay                         k) you get paid when you’re ill

Choose the three things from the list that are important to you and three things that are not important to you.

Look at the photos and choose three phrases that you think are true for each job.

Harry: I’ve recently listened an interview with Michel Grey about his amazing book “What do you do?” This book is a collection of articles about people with strange jobs. He collected stories about unusual jobs from all over the world.

First, match these words to pictures A – C:

Let’s check your guesses:

A: chewing gum, The Statue of Liberty.

B: rubbish, worms.

C: washing up liquid, strawberries, paint, a sausage.

Interviewer: …. So you’re not talking about actors or shop assistant s.

Michel: No, all the people in the book have very strange jobs.

Interviewer: I see it’s organized into different industries, like the cleaning industry. But isn’t cleaning a normal job?

Michel: Normally, yes. But did you know there’s a man in America called Brad Fields and he cleans chewing gum off the Statue of Liberty? Well, actually, he’s got a company called Gumbusters. But that’s all they do – they clean gum off the streets and famous buildings of New York.

I: Oh, what a horrible job!

Michel: Yes, Americans chew 56 billion pieces of chewing gum a year. Then they throw most of it onto the street. That’s a lot of cleaning.

I: OK, that job is quite unusual. But what about in the food industry?

Michel: Well, when a company wants to advertise food they sometimes need a food stylist. Their job is to make food look good in advertisements.

I: I’ve never heard of that job before.

Michel: Well, there are only a few food stylists in Britain. For example, when we look at a picture of strawberries and cream we’re really looking at strawberries and white paint. And they paint sausages with washing-up liquid, then coffee, to make them look natural.

I: So what’s the strangest job in your book, do you think?

Michel: Well, how about vermiculturalist?

I: What’s that?

Michel: A vermiculturalist is a worm farmer. These people manage farms that only have worms. No other animals, only worms.

I: But why?

Michel: Well, worms like eating rubbish and that’s good for the environment. So companies pay a worm farmer to clean up their rubbish.

I: I see there’s also a chapter about artists. What strange jobs did you find in …

Now choose the true sentences. Correct the false sentences.

1. The jobs in the book are from different countries. – True

2. Gumbusters only clean gum from the Statue of Liberty. – False. They also clean gum off the streets and famous buildings of New York.

3. Americans chew 56 million pieces of gum a year. – True

4. Food stylists take photos of food. – False. Their job is to make food look good in advertisements.

5. They paint sausages with washing up liquid and coffee. – True

6. Worm farmers use pigs to eat rubbish. – False. Worm farmers use worms to eat rubbish

Well, there are no pointless jobs. Some of them are traditional, others are strange, but all of them should be respected.

As for me, I want to be a programmer. This job offers a good salary and opportunities for promotion. What do you think? Have you chosen your future job?

Remember the words by Ralph Marston:

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.