📕 Part 1: Places of work/study

Do you prefer to work at home or in the workplace?

In the main I really like working from home. I don't follow a dress code, and I can keep my own schedule. I do like to go into schools from time to time, though. It's good to move around to classrooms and interact in real life from time to time.

Do you prefer to work alone or in a group?

Usually alone, I feel like I get more done that way. When you work in a group, there's always someone who does more and people who do less, and I'm almost always the one that works the hardest, and I really don't like that. Similarly, coordinating with others can be a real drag, because, well, someone always lets the side down.

What part of your workplace or study place do you like the most?

I love my desk. It's a standing desk, so I can change its elevation at the touch of a button. That's really good when I want to sit down for work or stand. I'm a bit worried about my posture these days, so it's good to have options.

What's your favourite place to study?

I like my couch for that. It's quite comfy, so I usually just curl up there with my books or my laptop and get down to business. It's a big open space with lots of pillows, so you can really relax there.

Hey, dear listener! So a place of work or a place of study. You should decide to talk about a place where you work or a place where you study. Well, you can say that you do both. You work and you study there. We work at home, or we study at home, or we work in the workplace or in the office. Okay? Articles. In the office. Or you work at work.

But some of us work from home.

Yeah, true. I work from home, and then you can say I work in the kitchen, or I work in the bedroom. If I work when I'm in bed, Rory, what do I say? Like I'm just, I wake up and I work.

I am lazy.

No, but I do some work. But just in bed, lying down.

I work remotely?

No, but if I'm physically in bed. So do I say I work from bed?

Oh, well, you can work from your bed.

Okay. You can say I really like working from home, or I enjoy studying at home, and then explain why I don't follow a dress code. So I just...

Yes.

I may not even put anything on at all. Just naked, you know, at home.

Oh, look at you, Maria, talking about nudity, if any of that's going in the episode.

I can keep my own schedule or timetable. So I create my own schedule and I stick to it.

And if you stick to your schedule, then you keep to your schedule, or you follow your schedule.

Or you can say that I enjoy working in an office, because it gets me more organized. I get to chat with my colleagues. We can work or study alone or in a group. To study or work alone? You can also say to work by myself or to work on my own, on my own. I prefer to study on my own. And Rory usually studies and works alone. Why? Because I get more things done. So to get things done? When you do certain things. So I get more done if I study or work alone. I'm usually the one who works the hardest, so I'm usually the one who does all the hard work. So you can say I don't enjoy working in a group, because I usually work hard, and other people just like, do less, do less work. So the phrase is, I'm always the one, like the person, that works the hardest. Yeah... What does it mean if you say it's a real drag?

Just that it doesn't do good things for your mood. So if something is a drag, it puts you in a bad mood.

Yeah. Or, for example, you can say, like, oh, working alone is a drag. It's kind of like, I don't want to do it.

What other things are a drag?

A film, a film could be a drag. What a drag! Like it moves slowly. There's nothing going on. It's boring. It's a drag. And actually it's C-2.

Is it?

Yeah, proficiency, band nine word. So if you want to say boring, don't say it's boring. Say it's a drag. This film was a drag, or, like my work as a drag.

Or you could say it's a real drag, which means it's a big problem.

Oh, it's such a drag, like writing essays is such a drag. Oh, so boring, unpleasant...

Unless you're me and you do it for fun.

So maybe you have your workplace, okay? So my workplace, a place where I work. Or my study place, it sounds a bit strange. Rory, do I really say, like, oh, my study place?

I wouldn't say study place. No.

What would you say?

I don't know, actually. I'd probably just say the place I like to study.

I usually study in the kitchen, or, just like, a place where I usually study, okay? And you can say that I love my desk, so it's not a table. If we talk about studies or work, you have a desk, okay? A special desk. And Rory has a standing desk.

I do.

So he stands while he's working.

I suppose, actually, I should call it an adjustable desk, because you can change it from standing to sitting. So it's not always standing.

Yeah. So I prefer studying standing up, so I have a standing desk, and I can change its elevation. So elevation, when it kind of moves, like... Higher, lower. You know? Just move the desk. Or I prefer to sit down to work, I prefer to sit down to study. And you can say that I have a special chair, and I don't worry about my posture. Posture? Is like the way you hold your back. My posture. Like the way you hold your shoulders, neck and back in a particular position. So kind of you... I prefer to sit down to have a good posture.

Oh, no, don't sit down. That's bad for your posture.

No, if you sit down the proper way, your back is like straight, and you have something against your back like a pillow.

Yeah, but how many people do that?

No, no one does it. Okay, let me adjust my posture now. Okay? Yeah, there we go.

I think even as we talk about this, everyone is adjusting their posture. They're not looking over their phone now, they're looking up.

Adjust your posture, dear listener, you should have a your back straight, like sit down nicely. My favourite place to study is my kitchen, for example, or my bedroom, or my bed. In Rory's case, it's his couch, his like sofa. It's really comfy, comfortable. So Rory can curl up there. So if you curl up, what do you do?

Well, you just fold your body in on itself. So the legs are on the couch and the arms are close to the body.

Yeah, you don't have a formal position like in the office, so you just sit there. So I can curl up on my couch. I can curl up in my bed with my books, with my laptop, and get down to business, dear listener. When you get down to business, you start working or studying.

You focus on your work. Or what must be done.

I have lots of pillows. It's really comfortable and relaxing. So I can relax while I'm studying or while I'm working. So nice... Where else do people usually work? Maybe in a cafe. So if you work online, you can say that, ooh, I usually go to a cafe, to a nice cafe to work or study. Or in a park, dear listener. In summer, I prefer working in a park. I sit on a bench, or I sit on some green grass. I'm surrounded with trees. Beautiful. Or in a forest. And you kind of, you study there, you work there.

Do people do that?

Yeah. Why not?

I mean, I would find it very distracting.

Actually, lots of people prefer working in the cafe. There are even like special cafes where you just go and you work. Free Wi-Fi, hey, and coffee. You know? You have your coffee, you have your Wi-Fi, you have other people. Yeah, but it could be noisy. So dear listener, you can say like, well, sometimes I work in a cafe, but if it's too noisy, I work from home, and now Rory's show time. Vocabulary.

Yes, this is the part of the show where I ask Maria questions about vocabulary I used, and she must identify what I'm talking about. We'll pick one from every question. So let's start with question number one. Maria, are you ready?

Yes, I am.

Question number one was, do you prefer to work at home or in the workplace? What was the phrase that I used to describe the rules for what people wear in their workplace?

A dress code. Follow a dress code.

Do you like dress codes?

No.

Why not?

They restrict my freedom.

Oh, no, we need freedom.

Scotland freedom!!!

That was not question number two. Question number two was, do you prefer to work alone or in a group? And I used a word that describes planning and communicating with other people to work together in an orderly way. But what was that word?

Coordinating.

Yes, coordinating with others. It's coordinating with. Question number three was, what part of your workplace or study place do you like the most? And I said that I could change something about the position of my desk, whether it's high or low, but what was the word that I used to describe this?

I can change its elevation at the touch of a button.

Yes. The elevation. It's whether it's high or low. And question number four was, what is your favourite place to study? And I described it as spacious, the place where I study. But I didn't say it was spacious. I used a different word or a different phrase. What was that phrase, Maria?

It's a big open space.

Nice, yes. Oh, but we have a surprise.

Ooh...

Oh no, that's not, that's not the surprise. That's, that's the dramatic piano. I actually thought that the, I actually thought that dramatic piano would be something more dramatic. But we have a surprise. There is a bonus question for Maria and a bonus question for you. So, Maria, I'm not going to tell you the question, you will have to work it out this time. I used an expression or a word to describe something that negatively or describe how something negatively affects the mood. But what was that word?

It's a real drag. It's boring.

Nice.

Nice.

So, four out of four, plus the bonus question. Well done, Maria!

Yay! Band nine, band nine.

Hopefully, you got five out of five too.

Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next super episode! Bye!

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