Jonathan: In this lesson, you'll listen to a job interview and learn a few common questions you can expect during a job interview in English, and about irregular adjectives in comparison. |
Dede: The conversation takes place between our new characters, Mark and Sheila. Sheila is a university student about to graduate and Mark is the boss for a job that she is applying to. |
Jonathan: They’re speaking together over the phone during a job interview. |
Dede: Since the speakers are discussing a business matter, they'll be speaking formally. Ready to go? |
Jonathan: Alright, let’s listen to the conversation! |
Dede: |
Lesson conversation
|
Mark: Hello, may I ask who's calling? |
Sheila: Hello, this is Sheila, I have a phone interview with this office scheduled for now. Can I please speak with Mr. Mark Cantor? |
Mark: Ah, of course. Hello Sheila, this is Mark, it's nice to meet you. Thanks for calling. |
Sheila: It's my pleasure. |
Mark: All right then, let's get started, shall we? Can you tell me about why you are interested in working at our office? |
Sheila: Well, I've been studying politics at university and am graduating this May, I'm looking for a job that has me intimately involved with the legislative process. I'd like to do research, write speeches, and interact with Congressional Members. Working in politics and getting to talk with Senators and Representatives sounds really exciting to me. |
Mark: Great, and can you tell me a little about your previous experiences? |
Sheila: Well, my most recent job was working at the school's newspaper as a politics columnist. It wasn't the best in terms of pay but it was better than my other jobs and gave me a good chance to practice writing about something I liked. |
Mark: Fair enough. What can you say about your strengths and weaknesses? |
Sheila: I think that my best trait is that I am very dedicated and driven. However, at the same time, this can be my worst characteristic—sometimes I have a hard time knowing when to quit. |
English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
Mark: Hello, may I ask who's calling? |
Sheila: Hello, this is Sheila, I have a phone interview with this office scheduled for now. Can I please speak with Mr. Mark Cantor? |
Mark: Ah, of course. Hello Sheila, this is Mark, it's nice to meet you. Thanks for calling. |
Sheila: It's my pleasure. |
Mark: All right then, let's get started, shall we? Can you tell me about why you are interested in working at our office? |
Sheila: Well, I've been studying politics at university and am graduating this May, I'm looking for a job that has me intimately involved with the legislative process. I'd like to do research, write speeches, and interact with Congressional Members. Working in politics and getting to talk with Senators and Representatives sounds really exciting to me. |
Mark: Great, and can you tell me a little about your previous experiences? |
Sheila: Well, my most recent job was working at the school's newspaper as a politics columnist. It wasn't the best in terms of pay but it was better than my other jobs and gave me a good chance to practice writing about something I liked. |
Mark: Fair enough. What can you say about your strengths and weaknesses? |
Sheila: I think that my best trait is that I am very dedicated and driven. However, at the same time, this can be my worst characteristic—sometimes I have a hard time knowing when to quit. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Jonathan: Wow, are those the kind of questions that you get during a job interview in the States? |
Dede: A lot of the time, yes. These kinds of questions about why you want to apply, your experience, and your strengths and weaknesses are very common for job interviews in the US. |
Jonathan: It really sounds like she’s boasting about her skills though. |
Dede: Yeah, a lot of people who hear job interviews in the United States feel the same way. In general, it’s perfectly acceptable to talk about your experiences and accomplishments in as positive a way as possible. In a job interview, you are essentially a salesperson; you are selling yourself so you have to convince the company to buy you! |
Jonathan: Hmm, I see. And it’s not considered rude to talk about yourself in such positive terms? |
Dede: Not at all. But you have to be honest about what you have done and what your skills are. You must never lie about your experiences and skills during an interview. |
Jonathan: I certainly wouldn’t want to do that! |
Dede: Ready to move onto the vocab? |
Jonathan: Sure thing! |
Vocabulary and Phrases |
Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
: The first word we shall see is: |
Jonathan: politics [natural native speed] |
Dede: the science and art of government and law-making |
Jonathan: politics [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: politics [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: to graduate [natural native speed] |
Dede: to finish school |
Jonathan: to graduate [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: to graduate [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: intimately [natural native speed] |
Dede: very closely |
Jonathan: intimately [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: intimately [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: legislative [natural native speed] |
Dede: law-making |
Jonathan: legislative [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: legislative [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: Senator [natural native speed] |
Dede: Member of the upper house of the US Congress |
Jonathan: Senator [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: Senator [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: Representative [natural native speed] |
Dede: Member of the lower house of the US Congress |
Jonathan: Representative [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: Representative [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: previous [natural native speed] |
Dede: the one before |
Jonathan: previous [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: previous [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: shall we [natural native speed] |
Dede: when used with “let’s” a suggestion to do something |
Jonathan: shall we [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: shall we [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: in terms of [natural native speed] |
Dede: referring to, to talk about a specific characteristic |
Jonathan: in terms of [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: in terms of [natural native speed] |
: Next: |
Jonathan: dedicated [natural native speed] |
Dede: never giving up |
Jonathan: dedicated [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Jonathan: dedicated [natural native speed] |
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
Dede: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Jonathan: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
Jonathan: That’s all of our vocab for this lesson. Let’s take a closer look at some of the phrases from the dialogue. |
Dede: Sure thing. The first phrase we'll look at is… |
Jonathan: “It wasn't the best in terms of pay” |
Dede: Sheila says this about her first job. We can use “in terms of” in order to talk about a specific aspect of something even if it’s not true about the whole. Here Sheila is saying that her job, while interesting, did not pay very well. |
Jonathan: Hmm, so in terms of fun while learning a language, EnglishClass101 is the best! |
Dede: That’s right! What’s our next phrase? |
Jonathan: Mark says “Alright then, let's get started, shall we?” |
Dede: Sometimes we can say “shall we?” at the end of a sentence as a way to transition to a new action or topic. We often use it with “Let’s” and then “shall we” comes at the end. We can use it as a very polite imperative. |
Jonathan: Let’s continue on to the grammar point then, shall we? |
Dede: Sure! |
Lesson focus
|
Jonathan: The focus of this lesson is using irregular adjectives in comparison. |
Dede: Now, you probably already know how to use most adjectives, most either follow the “big, bigger, biggest” pattern if they are short or the “beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful” is they are complex. |
Jonathan: Right, but there are a few adjectives that don’t follow these rules. |
Dede: Sheila says “It wasn't the best in terms of pay but it was better than my other jobs and gave me a good chance to write about politics and government.” |
Jonathan: Can you find any irregular adjectives in this sentence? Let’s listen again. |
Dede: “It wasn't the best in terms of pay but it was better than my other jobs and gave me a good chance to write about politics and government.” |
Jonathan: Did you guess “good, better, or best”? If so, congratulations! You found a very important irregular adjective. |
Dede: That’s right, most irregular adjectives are ones that you probably already know- like good, better, best or many, more, most. If you want to review these adjectives, check out the lesson notes for this lesson. |
Jonathan: What about less common irregular adjectives? |
Dede: There aren’t very many, but one important one is “far”. |
Jonathan: Oh yeah… Far… farther… farthest? |
Dede: Yup! When we are talking about physical distance we use farther, or farthest. |
Jonathan: Hmm, so let’s take the examples of Hawaii, California, New York and Washington, D.C. to illustrate this. |
Dede: OK! New York is far from Washington D.C., but California is farther, and Hawaii is the farthest. |
Jonathan: I see. |
Dede: We have to be careful though when we are talking about non-physical distances or abstract concepts with “far” |
Jonathan: Ok… how so? |
Dede: Well, in that case, we don’t use farther and farthest, we use “further” and “furthest” |
Jonathan: Oh – like how? |
Dede: let’s say I’m falling behind in my Math class, then I can say I’m falling “further and further” behind the rest of the class. It’s the same idea as farther, but because it’s not physical distance, we use “further” |
Jonathan: OK, that’s a bit complicated but I think I understand. |
Dede: Don’t worry too much about it – even many native speakers don’t know the difference between farther and further. |
Jonathan: Phew! What about other irregular adjectives? |
Dede: Well, this one is easy, when I have a sister who is older than me, what’s she called? |
Jonathan: Uhh… Your elder sister. |
Dede: Exactly! When we talk about family members, we don’t say older or oldest, we say elder or eldest! |
Jonathan: Oh yeah! |
Dede: There are a few more irregular adjectives but we don’t have time to talk about them right now. If you are interested in studying them… further… check out the lesson notes! |
Jonathan: Haha, thanks for listening and we hope you can join us soon for Lesson 2! |
Dede: Take care! |
Jonathan: See you soon! |
370 Comments
HideWelcome to the Upper Intermediate series! How did you enjoy this first lesson?
Hello Pitoyo,
You’ve come to the right place to learn English!
We have a great team of teachers here at EnglishClass101.com and we are happy to help you with your learning needs including working on your pronunciation so you can be understood by native English speakers.
If you ever have any questions, please let us know! 😉
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
nice and helpful. I am not only reading, writing, and listening but also trying to say something. But, I wonder, if my sound can understand by natives?
Hello Mohamed,
Thanks for taking the time to post. 👍
Please stay tuned, as we’re always updating new content on our website! 😄❤️️
Over and out!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Nice, useful, and simple. I've been through my first lesson and I like its pace and content 👍
Hello David and Vova,
Glad to hear this lesson has been so helpful to you!
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
It was very helpful for me, thanks a lot 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for very interesting and useful lessons!
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Thank you so much for your positive message! 😇❤️️
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Levente
Team EnglishClass101.com
It’s very useful to know
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Thanks for the feedback!
I hope we can help you to achieve your English language goals!! 😄😄
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