Learn to inquire politely about a person's occupation in English and provide some English examples of different jobs people do every day
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi from New York. This is Sadia. |
| Keith: Hey and I’m Keith. “A Conversation Mistake You Don't Want to Make.” |
| Sadia: In the last lesson, Lesson 3 - “Do People Understand Where You're Coming From?”, you learned how to get to know someone and tell more about yourself. |
| Keith: You also learned how to ask Who and Where using interrogative pronouns--question words |
| Sadia: And you learned how to answer questions about yourself using affirmative and negative statements, saying yes or no. |
| Keith: Well, in this lesson you’re going to learn about... |
| Sadia: getting to know more about people and talking about yourself. |
| Keith: Ok, and this conversation takes place, where? |
| Sadia: It takes place on a plane. |
| Keith: And the conversation is again between... |
| Sadia: The main character Zo and the girl sitting next to him, Michelle. |
| Keith: They’re friends though, I think, right? |
| Sadia: Yeah, I think they are. |
| Keith: Alright, well let’s listen in to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Michelle: (to flight attendant) Excuse me, may I have some water, |
| please? |
| Flight attendant: Oh, certainly, ma'am. |
| Michelle: Sorry. So, Cape Town is nice. It seems so…interesting! |
| Zo : (laughs) Los Angeles is nice, too! So, what do you do |
| in Los Angeles? |
| Michelle: I'm a nutritionist and personal trainer. |
| Zo: Once again, slowly please. |
| Michelle: I'm a (enunciating) nu-tri-tion-ist, and a per-so-nal |
| trai-ner. |
| Zo: Sorry, I don't understand. |
| Michelle: Nutritionist and personal trainer. I help people eat |
| healthy foods and exercise the right way! |
| Zo: Oh, I see! |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Michelle: (to flight attendant) Excuse me, may I have some water, |
| please? |
| Flight attendant: Oh, certainly, ma'am. |
| Michelle: Sorry. So, Cape Town is nice. It seems so…interesting! |
| Zo : (laughs) Los Angeles is nice, too! So, what do you do |
| in Los Angeles? |
| Michelle: I'm a nutritionist and personal trainer. |
| Zo: Once again, slowly please. |
| Michelle: I'm a (enunciating) nu-tri-tion-ist, and a per-so-nal |
| trai-ner. |
| Zo: Sorry, I don't understand. |
| Michelle: Nutritionist and personal trainer. I help people eat |
| healthy foods and exercise the right way! |
| Zo: Oh, I see! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sadia: So, uh Zo is really cozying up to Michelle at this point, |
| huh? |
| Keith: Yeah, he is! He’s cozying up. He’s becoming a little more comfortable, I guess. |
| Sadia: Mm-hmm. |
| Keith: And he's doing a really great job of getting to know her! |
| Sadia: Right, a great job indeed-- he’s obviously has learned that |
| next to the weather, the second most popular topic of |
| conversation is jobs, or what people do for a living. Some people love talking about what they do. And others, I’d say most people, they hate it. Why do you think it's such a |
| popular topic? |
| Keith: Well, like the weather, EVERYONE can talk about their |
| jobs or jobs they've had in the past because they've |
| spent so much time working! |
| Sadia: Yeah, that's true. I know I've had my fair share of jobs |
| since I started working in high school. |
| Keith: Oh yeah? What was your first job? |
| Sadia: Actually, I was thinking about it and I never really had like a “job” job in high school. I interned at a magazine, so I wasn’t really getting paid. Is that still a job? |
| Keith: That’s still a job, I think. |
| Sadia: OK. |
| Keith: Intern at a magazine, so you were writing, right? |
| Sadia: Yeah, Getting coffee. [laughs] |
| Keith: [laughs] |
| Sadia: What was your first job? |
| Keith: Well, I worked at my aunt’s dry cleaner. |
| Sadia: Aah.. |
| Keith: It was fun. |
| Sadia: Yeah? |
| Keith: Yeah. And kind of boring too. [laughs] |
| Sadia: [laughs] You probably had a lot of free time too though, to read, or do your homework. |
| Keith: A lot of free time to just sit. [laughs] |
| Sadia: [laughs] Well, I bet we could go on and on about jobs, right? |
| Keith: Yeah, we could definitely go on and on, but instead how about we take a look at the vocabulary? |
| Sadia: Let’s. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Keith: The first word we shall see is... |
| Sadia: water [natural native speed] |
| Keith: clear liquid; rain, ocean, lake, stream; H2O |
| Sadia: water [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: water [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| please [natural native speed] |
| Keith: used for polite requests |
| please [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| please [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: ma'am [natural native speed] |
| Keith: polite way to address a woman |
| Sadia: ma'am [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: ma'am [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| sir [natural native speed] |
| Keith: polite way to address a man |
| sir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| sir [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: everyone [natural native speed] |
| Keith: every person; each person |
| Sadia: everyone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: everyone [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| be [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to exist or to exist as |
| be [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| be [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: also [natural native speed] |
| Keith: in addition; besides; too |
| Sadia: also [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: also [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| happy [natural native speed] |
| Keith: filled with joy; joyful |
| happy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| happy [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: what [natural native speed] |
| Keith: used as an interrogative about the identity, nature, or |
| value of something |
| Sadia: what [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: what [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| to do [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to perform; to make happen |
| to do [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| to do [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: you [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the one(s) being spoken to |
| Sadia: you [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: you [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: in [natural native speed] |
| Keith: place where |
| Sadia: in [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: in [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: understand [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to grasp the meaning of; comprehend |
| Sadia: understand [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: understand [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: Alright, well let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrases we’ll look at are, |
| Keith: "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, sir." |
| Sadia: So after Zo and his new friend, Michelle, are settled |
| into their seats, they ask one of the flight attendants |
| for some water. To Michelle, the flight attendant |
| says, "Certainly, ma'am," and to Zo, she says, "Yes, sir." These |
| sound fancy, very fancy. Why? |
| Keith: Well, you're definitely right. They’re fancy words, because "Certainly, ma'am" (which is the same as "Yes, ma'am") and the phrase "Yes, sir" are very formal |
| ways of showing you agree or you will do something. |
| Sadia: Maybe if you’re at a restaurant or something, and I say, “Can I order now?” |
| Keith: And the waiter, because he wants to be polite, he’ll say, “Yes ma’am.” Well, what about when Michelle tries to explain her job to Zo, he says, "Sorry, I don't understand." Why does he |
| apologize? Why does he say he’s sorry? |
| Sadia: Good question. This is a useful phrase to use when you're in a |
| conversation, but don't understand what is being said. The "sorry" bit is a way of apologizing for making the person you're speaking to repeat herself. |
| Keith: So, "Sorry, I don't understand," is a very polite way |
| of asking someone to repeat herself. If your teacher said something in class but you didn’t hear it, you have to hear it one more time, what can you say? |
| Sadia: You’d say, “Sorry, I don’t understand.” Finally, let's take a look at "I see!" What's "I see!" |
| used for, Keith? |
| Keith: "I see!" is a nice, lively phrase that indicates that the person speaking understands what’s being said. It's usually said after the person speaking has trouble understanding what he or she is hearing and then, all of a sudden, that person understands. |
| Sadia: So it's a phrase that shows that the person speaking understands what’s being said. “I see” is usually said after the person speaking has trouble understanding what they were hearing and suddenly does understand. |
| Keith: Exactly. |
| Sadia: I see! So it’s an expression of surprise and of relief-- the speaker is happy that he or she can continue the conversation, right? |
| Keith: Right. When Michelle first tells Zo what she does for a living, the main character, Zo, doesn't understand. And after she explains her job slowly and clearly, Zo finally understands |
| what Michelle is saying-- |
| Sadia: so he says, "I see!" |
| Keith: Precisely! |
| Sadia: I see! |
| Keith: [laughs] |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus of this lesson is asking, “What do you do?” and talking about jobs. |
| Keith: Yeah. In this dialogue, Zo asks Michelle, “What do you do in Los Angeles?” |
| Sadia: And she responds, “I’m a nutritionist and a personal trainer.” |
| Keith: Pretty fancy jobs. |
| Sadia: Uh-huh. |
| Keith: Well, “What do you do” is probably one of the most commonly used phrases in the English language, particularly among those who have just met. |
| Sadia: For sure. In many English-speaking countries, especially America, I think, talk about jobs and work can steer, they can drive, entire conversations. Luckily, asking what someone does is quite easy. |
| Keith: It’s very, very easy. You simply say, “What do you do?” |
| Sadia: Mm-hmm. After Zo discovers that his new friend Michelle is from Los Angeles, he asks, “So, what do you do in Los Angeles?” |
| Keith: But actually adding the place name is not really necessary. You don’t have to say the place. |
| Sadia: If Michelle had said she was from Detroit, say, or Miami, Zo could’ve asked, “What do you do in Detroit?” or “What do you do in Miami?” |
| Keith: Right. You can always change the place name. But you can always just say, “What do you do?” |
| Sadia: That’s true. Let’s take a look at how Michelle responds. She says she’s a nutritionist and a personal trainer. Pretty snazzy work. |
| Keith: Very, very snazzy, but what’s the deal? What does “snazzy” mean? |
| Sadia: “Snazzy” means kind of fancy or maybe glamorous or exciting to some degree. |
| Keith: Yeah, pretty exciting, I think. |
| Sadia: Zo doesn’t understand at first, so Michelle explains that a nutritionist helps people kind of figure out what foods to eat and that a personal trainer helps people exercise the right way. |
| Keith: Yeah, that’s not a bad way to make a living. |
| Sadia: Not bad at all. |
| Keith: If someone asks, “What do you do?” answering is very, very easy. |
| Sadia: Yeah, it is pretty easy. |
| Keith: And of course the list of jobs is endless. There’s so many. |
| Sadia: Yeah, there are so many jobs. So there are so many answers to the question, “What do you do?” |
| Keith: So you may hear or you may say, “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a bartender.” |
| Sadia: Right. Or even, “I work with children,” or “I teach,” or even, “I’m a professional wrestler.” |
| Keith: [laughs] You, Sadia? I don’t think so. [laughs] |
| Sadia: [laughs] |
| Keith: Maybe you can also hear, “I clean houses,” “I’m a writer,” or “I sell wine.” |
| Sadia: It’s endless. But tell us, what do you do? |
| Keith: Yeah. Now you, our listeners, know how to answer the question. |
| Sadia: And you also know how to ask others, so get ready for some pretty interesting conversation. |
Outro |
| Keith: That’s right. Alright, that’s going to do it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Sadia: Thanks for listening. Buh-bye. |
88 Comments
HideIn the dialogue for this lesson, the two characters are introducing themselves to one another; perhaps this is the start of a long friendship? What do you think? Have you ever met anyone on a plane that you've "kept in touch with"-- someone you're still friendly with today?
Hello Thora,
Thanks for taking the time to post and share. 👍
No need to apologise, you are here to learn!
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Yeah! This can the start of the long friendship for them. But it also can be the casual conversation when travelling. Michelle and Zo seem easy to communicate types, enjoy making friend, and comfortable in informal conversation.
I've never met someone on a plane who are friend with me till today. I said just greeting, and a little have conversation, then that was all. Maybe my thought about the two characters' conversation are compared to mine. LoL
P.S Sorry for grammar mistakes.
Hello Mario,
Thanks for sharing about all you've learnt in this lesson.
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
In today's lesson - A Conversation Mistake You Don't Want to Make - I learned about to ask for someone about what's it like your life. It's very cool to know where the people are from and what they do to live in professional ocuppation.
In dialogues it's recommended to be polite both in the question or answer. I also added the formal use of term "ma'am and sir" for some future cases.
Thanks so much for the class.
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Levente
Team EnglishClass101.com
Nice class
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😈 I dont like this concersation to much simple
Hello Kirvrer,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. 😄
It's always great to hear from our students.
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
great