Listen to Katie (player on the left): what is it about?
- How many part-time jobs has Katie had?
- Her worst job was .
- She did it .
Listen again: choose what Katie really says.
- The chocolate shop job was .
- Working for her dad, she typed seven hours a day.
- At first, she wanted a job in .
- There were no jobs left because .
- She found the cleaning job .
- The pay was .
- She worked .
- She cleaned .
- People criticised .
- She had to wear .
- She cleaned the house of a family whose daughter .
- At school, Katie was .
- People changed their attitude when they found out .
- She enjoyed cleaning for .
What does Katie really mean?
- « I wouldn't say this was my dream job as a child » : Katie is .
- The job was « mortifying » because .
- Katie thinks the people who judged her were .
- With old people, she thought they might .
Listen and drag the missing words. Point at the underlined words to see their meaning.
I have had 3 so far in my life. The first was working part-time at the weekends and holidays during school time, in a chocolate shop for a large confectionery in Britain called Thorntons (now this was a fun job!). Then, the summer before University, I worked for my Dad, along with my brother and his friend, inputing medical notes from paper form . This was 7 hours a day of sitting in front of a computer which wasn’t exactly . However, nothing is worse than my most recent summer job, the job I did just before coming to France: working as a house cleaner.
At the beginning of the summer, I desperately wanted a job in a cafe or restaurant, something that wouldn’t be too difficult or take up but would give me a good wage. , as it is every summer, all the students come back and are all doing the same thing, so in the end there is nothing left. I saw an advert in the local newspaper for a cleaning agency looking for students who would work the summer, with flexible hours, for above minimum wage. Now, I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t say this was my as a child but I wanted the money so I went for the job. I ended up getting the job and worked 5 days a week, cleaning 2-3 houses a day.
Sometimes the job would be a 4 hour clean, sometimes it would be 2 hours, it really did on the of the house and how much detail the customer wanted you to go into. I cleaned these houses on my own, lifting a basket of up and down stairs, hauling a huge hoover around everywhere and soaking myself with the mop and bucket which was not fun. I was regularly critiqued on my ‘mopping’ technique and would be told to clean a window again because there was a finger mark in the corner. But the most mortifying part of the job was that a pinafore to clean and I had to clean a family’s home whose daughter went to my school. Bearing in mind I was Head Girl at my school, it was knowing that this girl had seen me go from making speeches to 1200 students in assemblies, to scrubbing the insides of cupboards for a measly wage. All I kept thinking of was how much money I’d be earning and that it wasn’t for ever.
One of the things that really was the judgemental attitude that some people gave me, thinking that because I was working as a cleaner, I was presumed to be thick and have no life . The second they found out that I was actually studying at University and to go and live in France for the year, their attitude towards me . I didn’t like how people me just on the job that I was doing. Other than the money, I did really enjoy going to old people’s houses and cleaning for them because I loved speaking with them, making them a cup of tea, helping them with things because I kept thinking that they might not have any other that day and that when I get to that age, that someone would take the time and effort to come and speak to me and care for me, even if it was just for
At the beginning of the summer, I desperately wanted a job in a cafe or restaurant, something that wouldn’t be too difficult or take up but would give me a good wage. , as it is every summer, all the students come back and are all doing the same thing, so in the end there is nothing left. I saw an advert in the local newspaper for a cleaning agency looking for students who would work the summer, with flexible hours, for above minimum wage. Now, I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t say this was my as a child but I wanted the money so I went for the job. I ended up getting the job and worked 5 days a week, cleaning 2-3 houses a day.
Sometimes the job would be a 4 hour clean, sometimes it would be 2 hours, it really did on the of the house and how much detail the customer wanted you to go into. I cleaned these houses on my own, lifting a basket of up and down stairs, hauling a huge hoover around everywhere and soaking myself with the mop and bucket which was not fun. I was regularly critiqued on my ‘mopping’ technique and would be told to clean a window again because there was a finger mark in the corner. But the most mortifying part of the job was that a pinafore to clean and I had to clean a family’s home whose daughter went to my school. Bearing in mind I was Head Girl at my school, it was knowing that this girl had seen me go from making speeches to 1200 students in assemblies, to scrubbing the insides of cupboards for a measly wage. All I kept thinking of was how much money I’d be earning and that it wasn’t for ever.
One of the things that really was the judgemental attitude that some people gave me, thinking that because I was working as a cleaner, I was presumed to be thick and have no life . The second they found out that I was actually studying at University and to go and live in France for the year, their attitude towards me . I didn’t like how people me just on the job that I was doing. Other than the money, I did really enjoy going to old people’s houses and cleaning for them because I loved speaking with them, making them a cup of tea, helping them with things because I kept thinking that they might not have any other that day and that when I get to that age, that someone would take the time and effort to come and speak to me and care for me, even if it was just for
No help this time! Listen and write the missing words.
I have had 3 so far in my life. The first was working part-time at the weekends and holidays during school time, in a chocolate shop for a large confectionery in Britain called Thorntons (now this was a fun job!). Then, the summer before University, I worked for my Dad, along with my brother and his friend, inputing medical notes from paper form . This was 7 hours a day of sitting in front of a computer which wasn’t exactly . However, nothing is worse than my most recent summer job, the job I did just before coming to France: working as a house cleaner.
At the beginning of the summer, I desperately wanted a job in a cafe or restaurant, something that wouldn’t be too difficult or take up but would give me a good wage. , as it is every summer, all the students come back and are all doing the same thing, so in the end there is nothing left. I saw an advert in the local newspaper for a cleaning agency looking for students who would work the summer, with flexible hours, for above minimum wage. Now, I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t say this was my as a child but I wanted the money so I went for the job. I ended up getting the job and worked 5 days a week, cleaning 2-3 houses a day.
Sometimes the job would be a 4 hour clean, sometimes it would be 2 hours, it really did on the of the house and how much detail the customer wanted you to go into. I cleaned these houses on my own, lifting a basket of up and down stairs, hauling a huge hoover around everywhere and soaking myself with the mop and bucket which was not fun. I was regularly critiqued on my ‘mopping’ technique and would be told to clean a window again because there was a finger mark in the corner. But the most mortifying part of the job was that a pinafore to clean and I had to clean a family’s home whose daughter went to my school. Bearing in mind I was Head Girl at my school, it was knowing that this girl had seen me go from making speeches to 1200 students in assemblies, to scrubbing the insides of cupboards for a measly wage. All I kept thinking of was how much money I’d be earning and that it wasn’t for ever.
One of the things that really was the judgemental attitude that some people gave me, thinking that because I was working as a cleaner, I was presumed to be thick and have no life . The second they found out that I was actually studying at University and to go and live in France for the year, their attitude towards me . I didn’t like how people me just on the job that I was doing. Other than the money, I did really enjoy going to old people’s houses and cleaning for them because I loved speaking with them, making them a cup of tea, helping them with things because I kept thinking that they might not have any other that day and that when I get to that age, that someone would take the time and effort to come and speak to me and care for me, even if it was just for
At the beginning of the summer, I desperately wanted a job in a cafe or restaurant, something that wouldn’t be too difficult or take up but would give me a good wage. , as it is every summer, all the students come back and are all doing the same thing, so in the end there is nothing left. I saw an advert in the local newspaper for a cleaning agency looking for students who would work the summer, with flexible hours, for above minimum wage. Now, I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t say this was my as a child but I wanted the money so I went for the job. I ended up getting the job and worked 5 days a week, cleaning 2-3 houses a day.
Sometimes the job would be a 4 hour clean, sometimes it would be 2 hours, it really did on the of the house and how much detail the customer wanted you to go into. I cleaned these houses on my own, lifting a basket of up and down stairs, hauling a huge hoover around everywhere and soaking myself with the mop and bucket which was not fun. I was regularly critiqued on my ‘mopping’ technique and would be told to clean a window again because there was a finger mark in the corner. But the most mortifying part of the job was that a pinafore to clean and I had to clean a family’s home whose daughter went to my school. Bearing in mind I was Head Girl at my school, it was knowing that this girl had seen me go from making speeches to 1200 students in assemblies, to scrubbing the insides of cupboards for a measly wage. All I kept thinking of was how much money I’d be earning and that it wasn’t for ever.
One of the things that really was the judgemental attitude that some people gave me, thinking that because I was working as a cleaner, I was presumed to be thick and have no life . The second they found out that I was actually studying at University and to go and live in France for the year, their attitude towards me . I didn’t like how people me just on the job that I was doing. Other than the money, I did really enjoy going to old people’s houses and cleaning for them because I loved speaking with them, making them a cup of tea, helping them with things because I kept thinking that they might not have any other that day and that when I get to that age, that someone would take the time and effort to come and speak to me and care for me, even if it was just for
Listen to the words and learn them.
Click ▶ to hear each word, and say it out loud. These are Katie's words.
Jobs and money · Le travail et l'argent
| part-time job | petit boulot |
| so far | jusqu'à présent |
| confectionery | confiserie |
| input | saisir (sur ordinateur) |
| stimulating | stimulant |
| advert | petite annonce |
| wage | salaire |
| minimum wage | salaire minimum |
| earn | gagner (de l'argent) |
| measly | misérable, maigre |
Cleaning houses · Faire le ménage
| house cleaner | femme de ménage |
| lift | soulever |
| haul | traîner |
| hoover | aspirateur |
| mop | serpillière |
| bucket | seau |
| soak | tremper |
| scrub | frotter |
| cupboard | placard |
| pinafore | tablier |
People and feelings · Les gens et les sentiments
| desperately | désespérément |
| lie | mentir |
| mortifying | humiliant |
| embarrassing | gênant |
| bearing in mind | étant donné que |
| judgemental | qui juge les autres |
| thick | bête |
| get on my nerves | m'énerver |
| find out | découvrir |
| care for | prendre soin de |
Careful! thick = épais… but also bête! hoover (UK) = vacuum cleaner.
Jobs and money: drag each English word next to its French translation.
- gagner (de l'argent)
- confiserie
- jusqu'à présent
- salaire
- stimulant
- petite annonce
- salaire minimum
- saisir (sur ordinateur)
- petit boulot
- misérable, maigre
Cleaning houses: drag each English word next to its French translation.
- tremper
- aspirateur
- femme de ménage
- serpillière
- placard
- soulever
- traîner
- seau
- frotter
- tablier
People and feelings: drag each English word next to its French translation.
- étant donné que
- mentir
- bête
- désespérément
- humiliant
- gênant
- prendre soin de
- qui juge les autres
- m'énerver
- découvrir
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