Work
Carolina writes an email to her friend about work:
"Hi Cristina, I am sorry I haven’t called you for so long. How are you? How is your new
apartment? I have been very busy at work. I arrive at the office at 7 am and leave at
around 6:30 pm. I just get half an hour for lunch and a five-minute break in the morning
and in the afternoon. I am very tired when I get home so I just eat, watch some television
and go to bed. In the office, I am on the phone all day, listening to customer complaints
and entering them into our computer system. At the end of the day I have to write a
summary of all the calls I received during the day and give my boss a status on the
complaints that are not yet resolved. I do not know how much longer I can do this. I need
a vacation, or even better, I need another job! I’ll call you this weekend. Carolina”
Questions and answers
1. At what time does Carolina usually arrive at the office?
2. At what time does she leave?
3. What does she do almost all day at work?
4. What does she have to give her boss at the end of each work day?
5. Does it seem like she likes her job?
Phrases to use in everyday conversations
1. My job is very stressful.
2. I don’t make enough money.
3. My company has laid off 30 employees.
4. That company doesn’t offer good benefits.
5. We are allowed two weeks of vacation for the first ten years.
6. Some employees take more than an hour for lunch.
7. I need to take the day off tomorrow.
8. My project does not make sense.
9. All of us have to reboot our computers.
10. We have to share cubicles.
11. The restrooms are down the hall.
12. Let’s meet in the cafeteria at noon.
13. Ramón works from home once a week.
14. I am not able to connect using the wireless network.
15. You can connect remotely.
16. She remembers her user ID but she does not remember her password.
17. The office is being renovated.
18. The Air Conditioning doesn’t work.
19. He was fired.
20. I was hired.
Languages
This is John and Rachel’s first date. John is anxious to impress her so he brings her to an
expensive French restaurant. He orders a glass of wine for each of them and exchanges a
few words in French with the waiter. The waiter compliments him on his French and returns
with the wine and the menu.
“Wow, I am impressed! Where did you learn to speak French?” Rachel asks.
“Well, I took a few classes at the French Language Institute and spent a few weeks in
France after that. But it was a few years ago and my French is a little rusty” replies John
blushing. “I could order for us in French if you like.”
“That would be cool! I’ve never been to a French restaurant with someone who was fluent
in the language. Order a chicken dish for me. I don’t know much about French food but
anything in a cream sauce would be great.”
“Alright” says John. “There’s a chicken in mushroom and asparagus cream sauce that I
think you will like, and I’ll have the rack of lamb.”
“Sounds perfect!” says Rachel as the waiter approaches the table to take their order.
John speaks to the waiter in French, who smiles and nods politely. About ten minutes later
he returns with their order. “Anything else I can get for you?” he asks after placing the
plates on the table.
John and Rachel look at their plates and then look at each other.
John looks embarrassed. “I guess my French is more than 'a little rusty'.”
Questions and answers
1. What kind of restaurant does John take Rachel to and why?
2. Why does John try to speak French with the waiter?
3. What did John try to order for them in French?
4. What did the waiter actually bring?
5. Is John’s French a little rusty?
Phrases to use in everyday conversations
1. I am fluent in Portuguese, French, German and Italian.
2. My first language is Hindi. I learned English as a second language.
3. We can understand a little bit of Arabic.
4. Dutch is spoken in Holland (the Netherlands) and northern Belgium.
5. There are some dialects of Italian that are hard to understand.
6. You can learn colloquial expressions from native speakers.
7. Young people here use a lot of slang.
8. I am taking a class in conversational Russian.
9. This book has a list of common idioms with examples.
10. I am taking a course in advanced Japanese.
11. Your Hebrew is still at an intermediate level.
12. This Spanish class is for beginners.
13. Korean grammar is extremely difficult.
14. My sister is bilingual.
15. I can get by in about five languages.
16. I find their accent a bit hard to follow.
17. They have a different pronunciation.
18. Your grammar doesn’t have to be perfect. We all understand what you mean to say.
19. I misunderstood. That expression sounds very funny in Vietnamese.
20. Could you please repeat that? My knowledge of Thai is very basic.
