Dialogue
In this lesson, your tutor will help you go over this topic: jobs. First, read the following dialogue out loud with your tutor, then switch roles and try again.
Dorothy and Kevin are talking about their jobs.
Dorothy:
Kevin, do you work a lot of overtime?
Kevin:
Yes, I do. However, my salary doesn’t include overtime.
Dorothy:
Have you ever been unemployed?
Kevin:
Yes, one time. I was laid off from my job.
Dorothy:
Have you ever been fired from a job?
Kevin:
I have never been fired, but I resigned from a job to take another one.
Dorothy:
Do you prefer a desk job or one where you are active?
Kevin:
Since I’m a white-collar worker, I usually have desk jobs, but I don’t like sitting a lot.
Dorothy:
Have you ever been a blue-collar worker?
Kevin:
Before my current job, I was a warehouse worker. I earned an hourly wage. We were always busy, but I didn’t like it.
Vocabulary
Go over the following vocabulary and expressions with your tutor. Read the word/expression and definition out loud, and your tutor will go over anything you do not understand. Practice creating a sentence or two to make sure you know how to use the word/expression properly.
Vocabulary/ Expressions
| overtime | (n) additional work beyond normal hours He has too much to do so he is going to work overtime. |
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| salary | (n) an amount of money an employee is paid monthly or yearly Her salary is $50,000 per year. |
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| unemployed | (adj) not having a job He has been unemployed for three months. |
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| laid off (past tense) Lay off | (v – phrase) to stop employing someone, usually because there is no work to do The company laid off 50 workers. |
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| fired | (v) to remove someone from a job, usually because they did something wrong or badly I was fired from my job for being late too many times. |
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| resigned | (v) to give up a job in a formal or official way She resigned from her job to take care of her children. |
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| desk job | (n) a job that someone does while primarily sitting Being a construction worker is not a desk job. |
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| white-collar worker | (idiom) a person who works in an office type position White-collar workers usually sit at a desk to work. |
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| blue-collar worker | (idiom) a person who does manual labor for work You can find a lot of blue-collar workers in factories. |
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| hourly wage | (n) to make money at work by the hour His hourly wage is $15.00 per hour. |
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Exercise
Practice answering the following questions with your tutor. You can use the sample answers to help come up with your own answer.
- Why do some companies lay off their workers?
- Sometimes companies lay off their employees because they don’t have enough work for them.
- Sometimes a company lays off its workers to cut costs.
- Your answer:
- What are some reasons that people get fired?
- An employee can be fired if they have poor work performance.
- A company can fire an employee if they do not get along with their co-workers.
- Your answer:
- What are some desk jobs?
- Accountants have desk jobs.
- Receptionists work from a desk.
- Your answer:
- What are some jobs that blue-collar workers do?
- An auto mechanic does manual labor.
- A construction worker is considered a blue-collar worker.
- Your answer:
- Why would someone resign from their job?
- Someone could resign from their job if they are sick and cannot work anymore.
- I would resign from my job for a better job.
- Your answer:
Conversation
Use the following questions as a guideline to form an interesting conversation with your tutor. Feel free to diverge from these suggestions if anything interesting comes up.
- Do you like to work overtime? Why or why not?
- What’s your job? Describe what you do at work.
- Do you like, or dislike your job? Why?
- Should workers get paid for overtime? Why or why not?
- What is your dream job? Why?
Wrap-up
Go over any new expressions or vocabulary that you learned today.
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