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.