Discussing Future Employment

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Part 1 Preparation

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Learning Objectives

In this lesson you will:

Practice answering questions based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test.
Learn and practice some different ways to talk about work, language for hypothetical situations, and phrases you can use to ask someone to repeat or rephrase a question.
Practice pronouncing /m/ as in "mine" and /n/ as in "nine."

Exercise 1

Warm-Up: Pronunciation Practice

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat after your tutor.

A) mine

B) nine

A) mice

B) nice

A) meat

B) neat

A) gum

B) gun

A) mile

B) Nile

Quiz

Your tutor will choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Quiz Your Tutor

Choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, your tutor will say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Tongue Twister

Practice saying these tongue twisters with your tutor. First say them slowly, then try to speed up.

Nine nice mice meet nine mean mice.
Nanny Annie's many mean enemies.

Exercise 2

Helpful Vocabulary

Job Synonyms

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor. If you don't know a word, ask your tutor to read the definition and example sentence.

position

Noun

role

Noun

employment

Noun

occupation

Noun

post

Noun

profession

Noun

career

Noun

vocation

Noun

Listen and repeat these phrases with your tutor.

Job Benefits

creative work
flexible working hours
recognition
a high salary
meaningful and rewarding work
job security
a company car

Tell your tutor which of these would be important for you in a future role and which wouldn't be important.

For example:

"Doing creative work isn't really important to me."

"Having a high salary is important to me."

Exercise 3

Speaking Test Part 1 Dialogue

Read the dialogue based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test with your tutor. You will be the examiner. At the end, you will need to answer 3 questions.

	Examiner In this first part of the IELTS test, I'd like to ask you some questions about what you do. Do you have a job right now or are you studying?
	Zach No, I'm not in employment right now. I'm currently studying to become an engineer.
	Examiner What job appeals to you most?
	Zach Well, I know I just told you that I'm studying to become an engineer, but if I could choose any career, I'd actually like to become an actor. I've always enjoyed being in front of people, and my mom says I'm as handsome as George Clooney.
	Examiner What qualifications are required for this role?
	Zach I guess I'd need to take some kind of acting course, and perhaps get an agent. I'd probably also need to learn how to sing and dance!
	Examiner How many hours would you like to work each week?
	Zach Well, I'd imagine the hours would be quite flexible. If I had the choice, I'd only work about 10 hours a week. I'm sure if I were a famous actor, then I'd make more than enough money in those ten hours.
	Examiner What do you think is important to consider when choosing a career?
	Zach For me, I think high salary and job security are the most important factors in choosing a career. To be honest though, I'd rather not work. Perhaps I could marry into a rich family!

Questions

What is Zach's job?

What job would Zach like to have?

What does Zach think is important when choosing a career?

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Read the dialogue based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test with your tutor and fill in the blanks. Your tutor will be the examiner.

	Examiner In this first part of the IELTS test, I'd like to ask you some questions about work. Do you have a job right now or are you studying?
	Ling Yes, I'm currently (1). I work for a tech company as an office manager.
	Examiner What job appeals to you most?
	Ling While I have a good (2), and the salary is fairly (3), I don't see myself staying in this position forever. I (4) like to be involved in more creative work. I've written a lot of short stories and poems, so if I had the (5), I'd like to become a writer.
	Examiner What qualifications are required for this job?
	Ling Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I think you don't need any (6) to become a writer. Perhaps I (7) need to study creative writing at university if I wanted to write a novel.
	Examiner What do you think is important to consider when choosing a career?
	Ling I think it's important to be able to support yourself financially, so a high (8) is useful. Doing meaningful work that is creative and has (9) hours is also very important to me.

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 9

Answer Pool (Questions 1-9)

would
high
would
role
qualifications
flexible
salary
choice
employed

Exercise 5

Part 1 Test Practice

Useful Language

Ling and Zach use these phrases to talk about hypothetical situations. Listen and repeat them with your tutor.

If I could choose, I'd ...
If I had the choice, I'd ...
I would need to ...
Perhaps ...

Questions

Use the phrases above to answer these questions based on Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test.

Do you have a job right now or are you studying?

What job appeals to you most?

What qualifications are required for this job?

How many hours would you like to work each week?

What do you think is important to consider when choosing a career?

Exercise 6

Test Strategies

In an IELTS test, you might need to ask the examiner to rephrase or repeat their questions. Here are some useful phrases to do this.

Useful Language

Listen and repeat these phrases with your tutor.

Would you mind saying that again?
Sorry, I didn't get the question.
Sorry, I'm afraid I didn't catch that.
Could you repeat the question, please?

Questions

Use the phrases above to answer these questions.

What do you enjoy about your current job?

What are your responsibilities in your current job?

What do you normally do after work?

Are there any jobs that don't appeal to you at all?