Happy Halloween!

The History of Halloween

Instructions: Go to the bottom of the page!

Step 1: You will listen to an article about Halloween (don't read the script). The article is about four and a half minutes long. Listen only, and don't worry about understanding everything.
Step 2: Read and understand the questions, then listen again. As you are listening, try to answer the questions in your head. Don't write the answers yet. Next, listen again and write the answers this time. Check your answers with a partner.
Step 3: Read the article. Check in your dictionary any unknown words. Now listen again. Can you understand more?
Step 4: Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen to the article on the train or in your free time. Each time you listen, you will slowly improve!

Glaswegian accent

As you know, our conversation assistant this year (Louise) is from Glasgow. Although she doesn't have a strong accent, she sometimes pronounce things in a little bit different way. Here are some of the differences you can hear.

How I became an entrepeneur at 66

It's never too late to reinvent yourself. Take it from Paul Tasner. After working continuously for other people for 40 years, he founded his own start-up at age 66, pairing his idea for a business with his experience and passion. And he's not alone. As he shares in this short, funny and inspirational talk, seniors are increasingly indulging their entrepreneurial instincts -- and seeing great success. 

Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the sentences below. You'll find the answers as a comment to the post. You can also turn on the subtitles and watch it again after doing the task.

1. Paul used to work as a _______________________________ at a consumer products company.

2. Although he had been fired he was not so worried as he had a good _________________ and _________________ .

3. For the next couple of years he turned to ___________________ but without any passion.

4. Then, and idea began to take root, born from his ________________________.

5. He had a lot of issues to deal with: manufacturers, outsourcing, _____________, patents, partnerships, _______________, etc.

6. He had to compete for funding with very young people from _______________.

7. Five years later, they have won ___________________________.

8. He's now doing the most __________________ and ____________________ work in his life.

9. The Small Business Administration states that _________________ of new jobs created in the private sector in the USA are thanks to small businesses like his.

10. According to CMI, the older entrepreneurs in his country have a 70%  _______________  starting ventures and that number plummets to _____________ for younger entrepreneurs.

The toughest job in the world

This is the video we watched in class. You can see part of the script below.

The title that we have going right now is director of operations, but it's really kind of so much more than that. Responsibilities and requirements are- are really quite extensive. First category for the requirements would be mobility; this job requires that you must be able to work standing up most or really all of the time, constantly on your feet, constantly bending over, constantly exerting yourself--- a high level of stamina.

Okay

That's a lot.

For how many like for how many hours?

135 hours to unlimited hours a week. It's basically 24 hours a day,  seven days a week.

Sure you have a chance from time to time to maybe just sit down here and there.

You mean a break -- no there are no breaks available.

Is that even legal? Oh yeah of course -- -- --

no lunch?

you can have lunch but only when the associate is done eating their lunch.

I think that's a little intense

No! No! That's crazy! –

This position requires excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills. We're really looking for someone that might have a degree in medicine, in finance and in culinary arts. You must be able to wear several hats. The associate needs constant attention. Sometimes they have to stay up with an associate. throughout the night and be able to work in a chaotic environment. If you, if you had a life we'd ask you to sort of give that life up; no vacations- in fact Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and holidays, the workload is gonna go up and we demand that with- with a happy disposition.

That's almost cruel how -- it's almost a very very sick twisted joke.

When there's time for sleep or –

No time to sleep.

all encompassing almost

That's exactly right

360 days a year

yes --.

No! That's inhumane!

That's very insane.

The meaningful connections that you make. The feeling that you get from really helping your associate are immeasurable.

Also let’s cover the salary. The position is gonna pay absolutely nothing.

Excuse me?

No!

Reinforcement Lessons

This year there will be a reinforcement lesson on Tuesdays from 20.00h to 21.00h in classroom 307.



From 6th November

LIBRARY

HORARIO PRÉSTAMO BIBLIOTECA                   Curso académico 2017-2018

IMPORTANTE: Para acceder al sistema de préstamo es imprescindible presentar el carné de biblioteca de esta EOI.*1

LUNES	De 21:00 a 21:30
MARTES	De 16:30 a 17:00 De 20:00 a 21:00
MIÉRCOLES	De 13:00 a 14:00 De 18:00 a 19:00
JUEVES	De 11:00 a 12:00

 NOTA: El servicio de préstamo de esta biblioteca es atendido  únicamente por profesores de esta EOI.

*1  Instrucciones para conseguir el carné de la biblioteca de la EOI.

1- Los alumnos deben mandar un correo electrónico a bibliotecaeoi@gmail.com con su nombre completo, y su NIF.

2- Los alumnos recibirán un correo de confirmación cuando el carné esté hecho (no antes).

3- Una vez recibido el correo de confirmación deberán recoger el carné en Secretaría y adjuntar en el momento una fotografía de carné.Una vez sellado en secretaría el carné estará listo para ser utilizado.

Handy tips for redundancy

Listen to what happens when you're made redundant (you lose your job because you're no longer needed). It's usually not a very enjoyable experience. But, as we find out, it doesn't always have to be bad news. 

In this programme, we hear from a famous business expert and writer, Charles Handy. He has lots of useful advice about coping with redundancy.

Vocabulary from the programme

to be made redundant
to lose your job because you're no longer needed

to reinvent yourself
to change the way you are and what you do

to re-educate yourself
to learn new skills and gain new knowledge

to invest (in something)
to put time, money or energy into something in order to make it a success

to do an internship / to do an apprenticeship
to work for an organisation for a while to learn how to do a particular job

to be an individual
to be different from other people

to get a lump sum of money
to get a certain amount of money all in one go (often offered if you've been made redundant)

to blow it
to waste it
Example: Don't blow all your money on a car!

a business card
a small card with your name and contact details which you give to people you meet 

Click here to read the script of the programme.

Working as a housekeeper

Listen to Margaret telling us what it's like to be a housekeeper and look after a family and their guests. She explains what made her stop working as a 'professional' and become a 'Mrs Mop.' 

As you listen, try to answer these questions: 

1: What did Margaret do before she became a housekeeper? 
2: Why did she decide to change her job? 
3: Why was she once embarrassed when people asked her what she did? 

Vocabulary from the programme 

a housekeeper 
someone who looks after a house, makes sure it's clean and the people in it have what they need 

the most enjoyable aspect 
the thing you like the most 

it gives me a buzz 
it makes me feel good or excited 

to be made redundant 
to lose your job because you aren't needed any more 

to give it a go 
to try it 

your soocial status 
your social position e.g. whether others see you as important or educated 

to give it a go 
to try it 

to be insecure 
to feel unsure about yourself and lack confidence 

Click here to read the script of the programme.

WORK

 VOCABULARY/ COLLOCATIONS

Adjectives describing a job:

challenging                        tedious

monotonous                      boring

repetitive                           time-consuming

rewarding                          full-time

motivating                         outdoor

demanding                       tough

well-paid                           part time/ full time

Other words related with job:

employer                           employee

qualifications                    career

skills                                  staff

freelance                           self-employed

work experience               Run a business

marketing strategy            Good opportunities

happiest employees          Relevant experience

Retired people                  A working day

Salary/ wages

Collocations/ sentences:

The world of work is changing.

Be in charge of

Deal with very difficult clients

He is off work at the moment

I am on maternity leave.

I am a part of a successful team

Get promoted to head of department.

I am on a short-term contract.

The Company was losing money.

Out of work: I have been out of work for 3 months.

Get a better job

Get a promotion/ be promoted.

On the dole.

I was sacked

More rewarding than....

Interpersonal skills.

Under pressure

Take a drop in salary

Work abroad

What makes people happy at work:

     

Doing something rewarding

·        Doing varied work

·        Earning a competitive salary

·        Doing enjoyable work

·        Having a good boss or manager

·        Having a good working-life balance.

·        Having supportive, friendly colleagues.

·        Having your achievements recognized.

·        Relaxed atmosphere

·        Getting promoted.

·        Learning from my mistakes.

·        Being part of a successful team.

Active Listening

Watch the video and answer the questions (one word in each gap). Check your answers in "comments".

1. What was she doing while her friend Tom was talking about a really cool idea?

-
-

2. What did she realise?
3. What's she trying to implement in her life now?
4. What three words come to her mind?
5. How does she do it?
- Put away _______________  _______________ .
- Use _______________ and _______________ to convey that you're _______________and _______________ in what this person is trying to _______________.
- Wrap up their thought saying 'so what you're _______________  _______________...'
6. How does she describe 'listening'?
7. What does she promise?
- When you implement this, it will _______________  _______________  _______________  _______________ in seizing the moment.
8. How does she describe the process?
9. What do you need to do it?

Apps and Websites to help you learn and practise

The 7 Best Free Language Learning Apps

17 Free Language Exchange Websites

More resources here

Voscreen: listen to short extracts here and practise both listening comprehension and pronunciation.

Foreign language audio on demand here.

Four ways to get better at languages

Script:

Sometimes, when we're learning a language, we can feel very frustrated. Despite all the hours that we're putting in and all of the hard work that we're doing, when it comes to actually speaking the language, it can sometimes come out stuttered, full of mistakes, and sound like we're not really that good. This can lead to a lot of self-doubt. It can lead us to ask questions like: 'Can I really learn this language?' Or 'Have I perhaps reached my limit?' 

The way to start speaking a language more fluently and more proficiently is just to practise speaking it. Practise, practise and practise again. Here are some tips that you can use to get more practice at speaking the language.

[1. Get a language partner]

So, the first one is: Get a conversation partner. You can find a lot of people who will be happy to practise languages with you online. Or, otherwise, if you go to a meetup group or a student event, I'm sure you will find plenty of people who you can practise your languages with.

 [2. Talk to yourself]

If you don't know where to find a conversation partner, the other thing you could do is start to talk to yourself. Or, if you're not comfortable talking to yourself in public, just think to yourself. Start narrating to yourself what you're doing and working out what things you're comfortable describing and what things you're not yet comfortable talking about. Then, when you go home, you'll be able to fill in those vocabulary gaps, and the next day try again.

[3. Learn vocabulary in phrases]

The third thing you can do is to learn vocabulary like you want to use it So, instead of just learning the word for 'door', why not learn it in a phrase like 'open the door', 'close the door' or 'behind the door'. That means that, when you need to talk about things like that, you're immediately going to have phrases that you can start using. 

[4. Imagine how you will use the language]

Finally, whenever you learn a new grammar point or anything really in the language, always think about how you could use this. Imagine a scenario in which you'd use it naturally, with friends, as part of your normal life, and then immediately you'll find that what you're learning theoretically will be much more applicable to your speaking of the language.

Share your language-learning tips and experiences by leaving a comment below, and  make sure you check out the other videos in this series.