Shadowing Practice: How to speak about Business in English - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or good night, depending on where you're watching this around the world.

Here in the UK, it's the morning.

I'm recording this at 10am, and I've already had quite a productive morning.

I woke up at half six, jumped in the shower, came downstairs, made myself a cup of coffee.

I downed the coffee to prepare myself for my first class bright and early.

It was a lovely class with a lovely student.

Then I got changed, went for a run in the rain as well,

because yes, it's been spitting all morning so far.

It's been raining just a little bit.

It's been drizzling, and I thought, well, before my next class, I'm going to record a podcast all about business.

So I hope you are into the topic.

I hope you like this podcast.

And on that note, let's get started.

The first question I have to ask you is, are you interested in business?

I assume if you've clicked on this video, this podcast, you must like the business world.

You must be relatively interested in shops, buying things, companies, entrepreneurship.

Because if not, what are you doing here?

I'm only kidding.

I'm only teasing you.

I'm only joking.

because this is a topic that, whether you like it or not, applies to everyone.

Because it is related to the world economy.

And it's related to the cost of living and your quality of life.

Because, you know, we all have to work.

If you are an adult watching this, of course, you could be unemployed.

You could be a student.

You could be living off benefits from the state whilst you're looking for another job.

But I reckon the vast majority of you work for a living.

Of course, how are you going to pay for everything if not?

How are you going to pay for the food in your fridge?

For the petrol that you need to fill up the tank to be able to drive from A to B?

or even if you don't drive, maybe to get the train or the bus or the tram to go wherever you want to go.

So even if you're not necessarily interested in the world of business, don't worry because this applies to everyone.

And I'm also going to be chatting quite a lot about work in general.

And And for me, this is a lovely topic.

I love business.

I listen to business podcasts.

I have my own business as well.

My business doesn't really have a name, but if it did have a name, it would be English with Lewis.

But it's not registered as a limited company.

in the future, if I'm extremely successful, I could register my company officially.

But for the time being, I am an individual, a freelancer,

a self-employed teacher, and I suppose content creator.

I don't like the word influencer.

Yeah, it doesn't sound very good.

But content creator, you know, it has a nice ring to it.

It sounds a lot better.

Or I just prefer to call myself an English teacher, an online English teacher.

But enough about me and more about some more generic questions related to the topic.

And each of these questions actually includes a phrasal verb or a nice piece of advanced vocabulary.

So let me read them and answer them.

And I want you to think about how you would answer them as well.

And as always, these are questions that I've been asking my students this week in the British English Internation Club.

If you want to join my group classes, there is, as always, a link in the description.

Thumbs up.

So number one, what makes a company stand out from its competitors.

If a company stands out from its competitors, it means it is different from its competitors,

usually in a good way, but not necessarily.

Well, I'd say that advertising,

marketing, quality, and customer service are some important factors to allow your company to stand out from its competitors.

I have an iPhone, I have AirPods, and I have a MacBook.

So I'm a bit of an Apple guy, to be honest.

So let's look at the case of Apple.

Because Apple stands out from its competitors because of the design and the attention to detail and the logo as well,

the logo of Apple.

I think it's beautiful.

And you can see always when somebody is using a MacBook because you've got that big Apple logo.

The same goes for an iPhone.

So the design and the brand recognition of Apple allows it to stand out from its competitors.

But let's think about other examples.

Which companies could we think of?

Let's go Tesla.

Tesla, Elon Musk's company of electric vehicles.

It's true that in the last year or so, the company hasn't been doing that well.

And part of the reason for that is,

well, China is very competitive when it comes to making electric vehicles much more affordable and essentially copying the design of Teslas.

But the thing that's been even more damaging for the brand reputation of Tesla has been its charismatic

and a little bit crazy CEO, Elon Musk, the richest man on planet Earth.

because he's got a little bit too much involved in politics.

And he started saying some kind of crazy things.

And that makes the company stand out, but for all the wrong reasons.

So I think profits of Tesla have been tumbling over the last year because of these two main factors.

but previously Tesla stood out from its competitors

because it was innovative forward thinking

and it was a little bit of a fashion statement so

if you were driving a Tesla other people would almost look at you

and think oh that's a Tesla that's cool so it'd give you

that kind of feeling and that profile whenever you were using that product.

The same goes for Apple.

There are many more examples, but you get the idea of how a company can stand out from the competition.

Now, number two, have you ever set up a business or thought about starting one?

Set up a business is to create, establish, or found a business.

Now, I guess in my case, I've had a couple of situations that are similar to this,

whilst not exactly being me setting up a business.

As you well know, I am my own boss.

I am a freelancer.

So I kind of set up my own business 18 months ago now,

when I embarked on this journey to only depend on myself to earn a living.

And so far, so good.

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It's gone really well, much better than in my previous job.

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So I have to give myself a pat on the back for that.

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But it's hard work.

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I work a lot.

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I work a lot more than the average person who has a nine to five job.

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Of course, it gives me a lot of freedom as well to travel, work remotely.

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But the number of hours I work, it is endless. So that's this experience.

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But before then, I had the experience of helping my friend and business partner to set up my old company, Teachify.

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And at Teachify, I had a small percentage of the profits per year.

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But I didn't set it up myself.

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I joined as the first employee after about six months of its existence.

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So yeah, you could say I have an entrepreneurial spirit and an entrepreneurial mind.

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But don't get me wrong.

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There are days when I think, what if I just got a simple nine to five job?

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Or what if I just got a job in a school to be able to take advantage of school holidays?

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This does cross my mind from time to time.

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But that's more of our long-term backup plan if my current company doesn't go according to plan.

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Now, what about you?

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Have you ever set up a business or thought about starting one?

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Let me know in the comments.

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Number three, have you ever had to deal with a difficult colleague or customer?

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Remember, to deal with is to handle.

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To, yeah, handle, to deal with, to manage.

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They're possible synonyms.

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Well, customers, I guess there have been a couple of students who have joined my classes

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and then never actually attended a lesson, but they've still paid.

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And then they've asked for a refund.

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And in that case, I'm like, but you have the possibility to join the classes.

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So I'm in my right to not give you a refund.

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And that is my policy.

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Of course, I will cancel any classes or reschedule them for students.

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But if they pay and they have the choice to join classes, but they don't, then it's their fault.

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So in that way, yes, I've had difficult customers, but not very many.

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And colleagues, well, in my last job where I was the head of studies

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and I was managing the teachers a little bit more,

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there were some teachers who weren't the best when it came to organizational skills,

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or they weren't very reliable.

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For example, I would wake up and I'd check my phone, I'd check my email, and then all of a sudden,

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I'd receive a message from one of the teachers saying, Oh, Lewis, I'm really sorry.

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I can't teach this class.

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Or I'm really sorry.

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I've got a bit of a cough.

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Can you cover for me?

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And this is absolutely normal and understandable if it only happens from time to time.

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But there were some of my colleagues where it happened every couple of weeks.

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So after a while, we had no choice but to say, I'm sorry, this isn't really working out.

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So we've got to let you go.

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And to let someone go is maybe a nicer way of saying we have to fire you.

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We have to sack you.

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No, number four.

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Do you think word of mouth marketing is still powerful?

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Word of mouth marketing is simply from recommendations.

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When an existing client or customer recommends a service or a product to a friend or family,

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and they buy it from that recommendation.

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That is word of mouth marketing or advertising.

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Don't confuse it with mouth to mouth.

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Because mouth to mouth is when somebody is unable to breathe.

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So you have to like give them the kiss of life.

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Where your lips touch and you have to blow oxygen into someone who is unable to breathe.

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I say this because in Spanish it is el boca a boca, which is mouth to mouth.

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But yes, in response to the answer, 100%.

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Word of mouth marketing is so powerful. So powerful.

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I think it is still the most powerful type of marketing.

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And that's why the best advertising and marketing that any business owner can do

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is by focusing on the product or service that they create or they give.

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Because if you do a good job, then the word is going to get out and lots of people are going to recommend other people.

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I say this for my own classes as well.

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I have a few regular students who've recommended my services to other of their friends,

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and now they have become regular students.

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So you know who you are if you're watching or listening to this.

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Thank you so much for recommending me, because word-of-mouth marketing is pivotal.

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It's critical.

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It is of the utmost importance.

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Now, number five, is the consumer is always right a good philosophy?

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Ah, they say this a lot with bars and restaurants.

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And I kind of disagree, but I'm on the fence.

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Because, of course, you want to make the consumer, the customer, as happy as possible.

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And you should pull out all the stops to ensure that that happens.

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But there are also times when you have a very difficult customer.

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If you imagine somebody going into a restaurant and they're constantly finding even the tiniest error,

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the tiniest mistake in a dish that the chefs have made.

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At some point, you have to just be like, really?

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Come on.

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I'm doing my best.

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I'm trying to provide you with the best deal possible and the best meal possible.

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And some people, unfortunately, will just never be satisfied.

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So the customer is almost always right.

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Now, number six, is it worth taking out a loan to start a business?

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And take out a loan is to get a loan, to borrow money from the bank.

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Now, for my own business, I didn't need to take out a loan because I didn't need an initial investment because I don't have an office.

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I don't need to buy lots of products to then sell it for a profit.

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So that's one of the reasons why I was able to take the risk,

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quote unquote, of starting my own business because I didn't need to risk any of my own money up front.

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But of course, there are other models of business where it is absolutely necessary to make an initial investment.

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And I would feel very uncomfortable taking out a loan, borrowing money from the bank.

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Because even if I'm confident, anything could happen.

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You never know what could change.

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And if you take out a loan and you're unable to pay it back,

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then you could end up in serious trouble and your family could be in trouble.

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If you have assets like a house, then it could possibly be taken away from you, depending on the law and the country you live in.

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So I personally wouldn't feel at all comfortable taking out a loan in order to set up my own business.

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That's my opinion.

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We're all entitled to our own opinions.

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Now from there, let's read a short dialogue.

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But before I get on to that dialogue, family businesses.

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How do you feel about family businesses?

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Do you think it's a good idea to work with other members of the family or not?

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I think more often than not, as long as you have a normal family,

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then it's a good idea to do business with family members.

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Because it can bring you together.

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You can all be working towards a common goal.

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And you know each other like the backs of your hands.

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You know each other inside out.

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So for that reason, you can already critically think and know if it's going to go well or not.

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I mean, the business relationship.

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So I do think that family businesses are a pretty good idea.

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For me, you know, I record a lot of podcasts with my mom.

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And I'd be delighted if my mom wanted to teach some classes for me.

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I'd be over the moon.

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I don't think she'd want to though.

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You know, she's happily retired.

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And tell me, do you know anyone who works in a family business?

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Or maybe you actually work in a family business.

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So tell us what you think about it.

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Has it been successful for you or not?

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Because I have a couple of friends who work in family businesses.

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And generally speaking, they're quite successful.

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So my reference point is that family businesses, they're awesome.

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They're great.

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Now, I'm going to have a glass of water before I start reading this dialogue.

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You see, I forgot to make myself a cup of tea.

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Silly me.

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But it's always important to stay hydrated. So, ready?

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Listen carefully.

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This is a chat between Kate and Laura.

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And after that, we're going to review some of the difficult words and phrases that appear in this dialogue.

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Kate, how's your new job going?

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Have you got used to it yet?

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Laura, it's tough, to be honest.

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There's a steep learning curve.

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So, yeah, it's hard work.

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Kate, well, don't give up.

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Stay positive and keep your head down.

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I'm sure this time next month, you'll be really enjoying it.

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How about you?

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What's new?

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Laura, all things considered, I'm doing well.

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Since setting up my own company, a lot of things are up in the air, but I have some exciting projects in the works.

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Kate.

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Ooh, go on.

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Spill the beans.

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What have you got up your sleeve?

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Laura.

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Well, now I'm the boss,

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I call the shots, and I'm on the verge of signing a lucrative contract with a multinational

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that will help us expand abroad.

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Fingers crossed, it goes ahead.

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Kate.

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That's amazing.

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Congratulations.

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You must be so proud of yourself.

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Laura.

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I am.

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I've been working around the clock, but it looks like all the hard work is paying off.

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All the hard work is paying off.

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Okay, now let's recap everything.

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We have a total of how many?

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12 keywords or phrases that were packed inside this quite short dialogue.

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But some of them are relatively easy.

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Starting with the first one.

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The first phrase is one that a lot of people get mixed up.

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And it is get used to.

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When you start a new job, you need to get used to the environment.

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You need to get used to collaborating with new people.

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So get used to is a synonym of become accustomed to.

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And if we use a verb, it's always with ing.

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Get used to working in a team.

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The second phrase is a steep learning curve.

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So your learning curve is your ability to learn.

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And if it's steep, it's very, very difficult.

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Therefore, this is a difficult process of learning, more or less.

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The third phrase is keep your head down.

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Come on, keep your head down, keep studying, keep working.

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So if you keep your head down, you work hard or study hard.

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It means you're not being distracted by other people.

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You're just keeping your head down.

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The fourth phrase is all things considered.

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I think she said that all things considered, it's going well.

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So what is a synonym for all things considered?

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Well, it means taking everything into account.

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So it's a way of saying like overall, in general, all things considered.

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The fifth phrase is in the air or up in the air, we could also say.

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If something is in the air, it means it's uncertain.

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It's undecided.

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It hasn't been sorted out yet.

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Then number six is in the works.

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She said she has some great projects in the works.

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If something is in the works, it is being prepared or it is being worked on.

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The project is in the works.

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The seventh phrase is spill the beans.

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But we can also say spill the tea, especially if it's focusing on gossip.

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So if somebody tells you to spill the beans, they're saying, like, come on, tell me about it. Where is it?

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Tell the secret or information.

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Come on, spill the beans.

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Then we have, have up your sleeves.

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If you have something up your sleeves, it means that you have a hidden plan or a backup plan.

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You can always have an ace up your sleeve.

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Then, I can't remember if it was Kate or Laura, but one of them said she is the boss now.

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So she calls the shots.

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That means that she's in charge.

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She makes the decisions.

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Then we have number 10, I think, which is on the verge of.

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She was on the verge of signing a lucrative contract.

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On the verge means you're at the point of doing something.

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You're just, just, just about to do it.

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You're on the verge of doing it.

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Then the penultimate one is around the clock.

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If you work around the clock, you work non-stop.

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Think about taxi drivers, Uber drivers, or doctors who work night shifts.

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They work around the clock.

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And lastly, we have the phrasal verb, pay off.

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If something pays off, the hard work pays off.

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It means that it was worth it.

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All of the hard work will surely pay off.

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Good. So how was that?

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Were you comfortable with these words?

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Were they familiar to you?

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What do you reckon?

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Well, hopefully you were familiar with them and hopefully you remember them because,

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of course, I stopped sharing for a second.

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But now I'm going to start sharing again and we're going to go over all of these words.

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So do you have a good memory?

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Do you reckon you can guess all of these words just based on the synonyms?

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Let's find out.

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Let's put you to the test.

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So the first one, at the point of happening, this is on the verge of.

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Next, non-stop is around the clock.

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After that, we have a difficult process of learning.

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This is a steep learning curve.

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Then we have become accustomed to,

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which means get used to plus ing if it's followed by a verb.

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work hard is keep your head down when I have to look at my PowerPoint I am literally keeping my head down

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after that we have tell a secret tell me the information come on

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spill the beans if something is uncertain or undecided It is in the air or up in the air.

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If something is worth it, you know, all the hard work pays off.

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If you have a hidden plan or something prepared, just in case you have something up your sleeve.

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A boss makes the decisions, but you could also say they call the shots.

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If something is being planned or worked on, it is in the works.

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And last but not least, taking everything into account, you could also say all things considered.

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All things considered, this is a very useful podcast, isn't it?

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And if you think this is a useful podcast, thank you so much.

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And don't forget to leave a thumbs up.

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Thumbs up!

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Now, I'm not going to use these phrases in conversation.

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I think I've already reviewed them more than enough.

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But now we're going to move on to some interesting questions slash debates.

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Because I love having little debates in class and I love hearing people's opinions and sharing opinions.

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That's something that we should all do.

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Whether you agree or disagree, it's nice to hear the other person out and get their point of view.

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So, for that reason, we're going to move on to some debates.

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And they're all related to work or business.

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The first one is, should people work a four-day week?

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Should people work a four-day week?

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well i remember perhaps during the pandemic

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or just before the pandemic this was a hot topic it was a topic

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that many people were discussing

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and considering implementing in big companies like even the biggest companies in the world

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and the idea was that you would work an extra two hours on Monday,

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Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in order to have Friday off.

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So your initial nine to five would become a nine to seven or an eight to six.

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But then on Friday, you're free.

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Everybody would have a three-day weekend, which, I mean, it's pretty good, isn't it?

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But I'm not the biggest fan of a four-day working week.

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Yes, having a three-day weekend is fantastic.

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It's amazing, obviously. But at what cost?

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At what price?

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because let's take the example of a nine to five.

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If you're working from nine to seven,

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you literally don't have any time to do anything really in the evening when you finish work.

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And even less so if you have a long commute.

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So if your drive to work and back from work takes you an hour,

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you're spending the entire day working.

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And some of these hours aren't paid for, I know.

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But it just means that the majority of the week, Monday to Thursday, you can't really go to the gym,

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you can't really meet up with too many friends.

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You can't go out for dinner that much.

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And you're just exhausted.

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So, Thursday evening would be amazing.

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You'd be so happy.

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You'd be absolutely buzzing that the weekend is beginning.

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But on Friday, you're probably going to be too tired to want to do anything

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because your four-day week would have worn you out.

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It would have absolutely knackered you.

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And then Saturday, perfect.

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You'd have a good day.

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You'll have rested overnight.

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But then on Sunday, you're already thinking ahead to the next day and

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you're dreading it you're thinking oh no tomorrow's monday

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and i've got to wake up at half seven

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and i won't get home until eight o'clock i'll cook something watch a series

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and head to bed so

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that for me isn't quality of life i would actually rather work every single day but only work mornings, for example.

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So that's what I think, but let me know.

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Should people work a four-day week?

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I'm not sure.

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I'm not sure.

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Now the next one, I am absolutely a huge supporter of this.

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The debate is, is remote work better than working in the office?

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For me, yes.

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Absolutely.

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I love working remotely.

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And maybe at times it can get a little bit lonely.

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At times I'm home alone with my own thoughts, busy doing a lot of work

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because I don't have distractions in terms of colleagues who I can chat to and brainstorm with.

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So yes, It can get a little bit lonely at times if you work fully remote like me,

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but I still wouldn't change it for working 100% in the office.

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No chance, no way.

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But maybe a nice balance for me

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would be working from home four days a week

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and then having one day a week when I see real people and socialize a little bit more.

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Perhaps that would be the right balance.

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But I'm a bit of an introvert and at work I'm speaking to people all of the time.

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So that prevents me from getting too lonely.

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And the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

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The freedom I have to cook, to clean, to go out for a run when I want,

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to avoid spending a lot of money on transport and different food.

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I just think remote work is the way forward.

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And if more and more people work remotely,

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then I think it cuts costs for the rest of society.

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And it means that a lot of empty office buildings can be turned into flats.

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Because in most of the world, at least in Europe, we have a bit of a housing crisis.

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But there are plenty of office buildings that are practically empty all the time.

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So why don't we use these buildings and this space to provide more affordable housing?

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Vote Lewis.

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The next debate.

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Now we get to the elephant in the room.

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The big thing that is affecting businesses and work in the 21st century and, of course, now in 2026.

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So the bait is, artificial intelligence is going to be positive for businesses.

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Well, is it?

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What do you think?

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I think AI has opened up so many possibilities and so many ways in which young people,

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above all, can become their own bosses.

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and they can try to do business with other people thanks to AI.

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Because nowadays, if you have a really good idea,

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you don't need to be an expert in a certain topic because AI is the expert in every topic.

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So the key is to learn how to use AI and to use it effectively

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to really squeeze all the juiciness out of this technology.

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So I think AI is going to be positive for most businesses,

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but I don't think it's going to be a positive for most employees.

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I think that at least for a period of time, unemployment will rise, and we're already seeing this,

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with people who've just graduated from university,

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young graduates, the unemployment rate among recent graduates is really, really high.

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And that's because a lot of entry-level jobs,

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so the jobs that you would do in an organization without having a lot of experience, well, they're being taken over by robots, by AI.

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And that is a worry because it means that young people today are struggling to get experience.

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And if you can't get experience, then you're not going to be very hireable.

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Recruiters are not going to want to offer you a job if you've only ever studied and not worked.

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So for that reason, again, I think it's very important to think a little bit like an entrepreneur.

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And if you are a young, recent university graduate, and you're struggling to get employment,

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I think you should consider setting up a little project.

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I don't mean depending 100% on yourself forever,

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but staying busy, training yourself with active skills to try

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and generate an income so that when you have an important job interview,

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well, you can explain what you've been doing during this time of unemployment.

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And you can prove the skills that you've learned during this period of time.

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That's my advice to those young people.

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I don't know if anybody in that situation is listening to me right now, but I think it is solid advice.

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Now, this one is a little bit of a controversial debate.

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Becoming your own boss is riskier than working for a company.

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Huh?

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I guess you've got to read it again.

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So let me repeat.

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Becoming your own boss is riskier than working for a company.

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Most people will probably think immediately, no, Lewis, what are you on about?

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What are you talking about?

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Of course, having your own business is way riskier.

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But I'm not that sure.

477

I'm not convinced that that is the case.

478

Because working for a company, you might be on a temporary contract and from one day to the next,

479

you might be sacked overnight.

480

And you're not really in control of this.

481

And I think that's the key element, that if you're working for a company, then you don't have as much control.

482

if the company doesn't do very well for a period of time, you will suffer the consequences.

483

And the amount of work and impact that you can make to be able to revert this situation is limited.

484

While on the other hand, if you are your own boss, it's much harder to get started.

485

It's much harder to get your first client.

486

And it's really hard to maintain clients as well.

487

And having a system to make all of this work is so complicated.

488

But you know that the work you do today should, in theory, pay off in the long run.

489

So it's always going to be a risk.

490

Life is a risk.

491

But it's a risk that you have a little bit more control over.

492

So do you see where I'm coming from?

493

Can you get my point?

494

Obviously I'm biased because I am my own boss and I like it.

495

But I think that being your own boss gives you more control and more power to make an impact,

496

make a change and prevent your job security and your income being risky.

497

All right.

498

And the final one, the final question, I kind of discussed it in the last podcast,

499

speaking about conditionals, about how I would invest if I won a hundred thousand euros.

500

I think in the last podcast, I spoke about 10 million euros.

501

So I'm not going to repeat myself and answer again.

502

And in this lesson plan, there were also some business English idioms that we haven't covered.

503

So if you want me to go over those expressions with you in class

504

and discuss all of these things whilst correcting you and improving your English, you can sign up to my classes and that'll do for today.

505

thank you so much for watching and listening and i'll see you in the next episode bye

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What You’ll Achieve with This Business English Practice

This video targets real-world fluency in discussing work, business, and daily professional life. Whether you’re a freelancer, employee, or student, you’ll learn to talk about careers, finances, and even casual work-related anecdotes with confidence—key for english speaking practice in global settings.

Essential Phrases for Business & Work Conversations

Downed the coffee: To drink quickly (e.g., "I downed my tea before the meeting").
Spitting/Drizzling: Light rain (useful for small talk in business calls).
Living off benefits: Receiving government support (for discussing employment contexts).
Has a nice ring to it: Sounds good (e.g., "Your business name has a nice ring to it").
Freelancer/Self-employed: Common terms for independent work (critical for introducing your career).

Master Rhythm & Pronunciation with Shadowing

The video’s casual, conversational tone is perfect for practicing natural speech flow. Many learners struggle with linking words (e.g., "I’m recording this at 10am, and I’ve already had…")—the shadowing technique fixes this. Repeat lines aloud *immediately* after the speaker, mimicking their pace and stress. Use a shadowing app or shadowing site to slow down tricky parts. This isn’t just about pronunciation—it’s about sounding like a native in real time. Pair this with other learn english with videos resources to build consistency. By focusing on the video’s rhythm, you’ll turn awkward pauses into smooth, confident speech.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	it's been spitting · It's been raining · It's been drizzling
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've already had · you've clicked · that's been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	could be unemployed · be taken · were packed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	person who has · students who have · teachers who weren

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: How to speak about Business in English - Learn English Speaking with Video

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