📘 Part 3: Working abroad

This episode's vocabulary

Childminding (noun) - the job of a person who takes care of other people's children in his or her own home.

Seasonal (adj.) - relating to or happening during a particular period in the year.

Barrier (noun) - anything that prevents people from being together or understanding each other.

Hurdle (noun) - a problem that you have to deal with before you can make progress.

Liability (noun) - the fact that someone is legally responsible for something.

Bountiful (adj.) - large in amount.

At the drop of a hat - if you do something at the drop of a hat, you do it immediately without stopping to think about it.

Corporate ladder (noun) - a series of increasingly important jobs that someone can do within a company.

To the fore - to public attention or into a noticeable position.

Contingent on/upon sth -  depending on something else in the future in order to happen.

Etiquette (noun) - the set of rules or customs that control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or social situations.

Ingrain (verb) - to establish something such as a belief so firmly that it is not likely to change.

Portable (adj.) - possible to take with you if you move to a different place or job.

Considerate (adj.) - kind and helpful.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, what jobs can people do in another country for a short period of time?

R: Well, you can do just about anything these days. Can't you? Especially with the gig economy. I think the most common jobs involve like childminding and teaching, especially in the summer. And there are always lots of summer camps. You could apply the same logic to any seasonal job, though, like fruit pickers in Scotland, for example.

M: Will it be beneficial for young people to work in another country for a short time?

R: Well, it would be useful for them to do any kind of work anywhere for any period of time. Work helps you develop a sense of routine and meaning and responsibility. I suppose it would develop subjects specific knowledge if it's connected to a particular area that they're interested in. This is true of most people, but young people in particular, since they have exams and schoolwork to think of as well, so a little stint somewhere might do them some good.

M: What are the difficulties that people might face when working abroad?

R: Well, the language and cultural barriers might be the most significant hurdles to overcome, though they can't be overcome, so it shouldn't put them off. And of course, for young people specifically, staying in control of themselves might also be a problem.

M: Let's talk about working for an international company. What are the benefits of working for an international company?

R: Well, such organizations tend to be more stable since their liabilities and risks are more spread out across markets. Oh, and there are more opportunities for travel and meeting new people if you're into that. Lastly, it seems the opportunities to develop a personal brand are more bountiful, again, if you're into that kind of thing.

M: What personal skills do people need to work for an international company?

R: Aside from the language skills, I imagine flexibility and reliability. You're being asked to work between and across cultures, and you need to be ready to change plans and arrangements at the drop of a hat if something goes wrong. That kind of thing could potentially wreck a business opportunity.

M: Do you agree that practical experience is more useful than qualifications when working for an international company?

R: I think that will depend entirely on the company culture and at the level of which you're asked to work. There are some companies that will only hear you out if you carry the relevant degrees. And why wouldn't they? You can sort of see the logic there. However, as you progress up the corporate ladder, pieces of paper tend to matter less, then character comes to the fore.

M: Is it difficult for people to get the job at an international company?

R: It's a challenge for anyone to get a job doing anything these days. However, if you've got the relevant qualifications, experience, and the right character, life will generally be easier in this sense.

M: Let's talk about international companies in the future. How important would it be in the future for an international company to understand the cultures of other countries?

R: Well, that's contingent on where they operate. In Japan, for example, etiquette and cultural knowledge are as key to the success of anything as a good organization. Elsewhere in Russia, you can sort of let the money do the talking more often, cultures ingrained into people and changes very slowly. So I don't see this becoming any more or less of an issue anytime soon.

M: Will the location of the workplace become increasingly irrelevant because of the advances in technology?

R: Well, I hope so though, there are some traditionals, who believe you're only teaching if you're in a classroom. And I used to think the same thing, but it seems we really can pack up our jobs in a laptop and take them with us as long as there's an internet connection. Of course, some jobs are essentially fixed, like the work of a plumber or an electrician. But service jobs seem to be increasingly portable these days.

M: Do you think international companies should become more environmentally friendly?

R: Oh, well, we could all afford to be a bit less wasteful and more considerate to the environment, even just out of consideration for others and the planet. I'm not sure why international companies should be singled out in this regard, to be honest.

M: So should McDonald's be more environmentally friendly?

R: Not if it means my dinner is going to be more expensive this evening.

M: Rory, thank you so much for your answers. That's the end of the speaking part three.

R: Bye!

M: No. Yeah, we're going to continue with vocabulary and grammar.

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Discussion

M: So, Rory did use a lot of topical vocabulary. And, dear listener, topical vocabulary is specific vocabulary about the topic, obviously. So, we talk about jobs, work international companies. And Rory did use, for example, a seasonal job. A seasonal job is a job for a season.

R: Yeah. So for example, in summer, lots of fruit comes into fruition. No, fruition. That's a good pun for anyone who likes puns. Anyway, so we have lots of fruit in the summer. So we need people to pick this and that's why people come every summer to pick the fruit. They used to get children to do it.

M: Children? Oh, child labor in Scotland? Aya-ya-ya-yay.

R: Oh, get a grib, it's just picking some strawberries.

M: Yeah, we have something like that in Russia. When you go somewhere and you pick

strawberries, yeah, strawberries or potatoes. You don't pick potatoes. You dig up potatoes?

R: Yes.

M: Right. Okay.

R: You harvest them. If you're not sure what phrasal verb to use, then...

M: Oh, there he goes, there he goes.

R: Not in the premium podcast, these people do not pay to listen to adverts. If you're not sure

what phrasal verb to use with whatever crop we're talking about, then just say harvest.

M: Yeah, but when you harvest potatoes, and then you should dig them up from the ground, they

also harvest?

R: Yes. Harvesting is just bringing the thing in in order for you to use it in whatever function you

want.

M: Harvest potatoes. All right. Right. You also said childminding as a job.

R: Childminding - caring for children. Childminding.

M: So it's like a babysitter?

R: Yeah. childminding, though I think is actually a more Scottish expression than it is a British one

to be honest with you. Childminders are the same as nannies, for example.

M: Yeah, it's British, childmind, childminding, British. Look after children in one's own home for

payments.

R: I have only heard Scottish people say childminding. I've never heard an English person say it.

M: So yeah, they say British. Anyway, you also said the gig economy. The gig?

R: Yes.

M: Like a concert?

R: Like a concert. Temporary thing. You can have a gig in a school, for example, if they give you

a few hours to work. You can have a gig in a hairdressing salon, if you rent a chair, for example, and you pay for it by pair dressing there.

M: Oh, wow, nice. Work helps develop a sense of routine, meaning and responsibility. That's a

nice one.

R: It is.

M: Do you have a sense of routine, Rory?

R: I do have a sense of responsibility.

M: No, I think you do have...

R: My routine is like fixed.

M: Yeah. Wow. So do you still eat tuna for breakfast?

R: Every day.

M: Oh, my God, and you get up at 5am?

R: Not every day. I get up at 5am on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

M: Dear listener, he's crazy. He's crazy.

R: No. I have boundaries. I do that only on these three days and that's all.

M: Oh my God, 5am. Okay. Anyway, yeah, the language and culture barriers. So what

difficulties Can people have? So they may have culture barriers. So we say barriers.

R: But you overcome the barriers. Barriers and overcome usually occur together.

M: Hmm. Overcome difficulties, overcome barriers and also overcome hurdles.

R: Yes.

M: Beautiful.

R: Hurdles and barriers are very similar things in this sense.

M: Tell us about liabilities, which spread out.

R: Liabilities are just things that will create risk or could potentially do some damage. So for

example, well, people can have liabilities. If we think about a car usually depreciates which just

means loses value over time. That is a liability. You have to pay for it. For a business a liability

might be an unprofitable aspect of it like hiring cleaning stuff, for example.

M: If I buy a castle in Scotland with ghosts, and this castle is kind of rundown with ghosts and

dirty, so is it a liability?

R: It's a liability if you don't do anything about it.

M: No, I don't do anything about it. So it's kind of, it's in poor condition.

R: It just sits in there and does nothing?

M: Yeah, with ghosts flying around.

R: If it might cost you money, then it's a liability. If it's just sitting there then it's a sort of, what's the

word? It's just sort of sitting in limbo.

M: A monument?

R: No, a monument is something that can memorate something. A castle is just a castle.

M: I'd like to buy a castle in Scotland.

R: Why?

M: So I can have ghosts and I'm gonna call them Rory ghosts. Yes, I'm also going to establish

Museum of Rory. It's going to be called the Rory's Museum.

R: It's going to be the smallest museum in the world.

M: No-no, we've talked about Rory's museum. Remember, dear listener? No? So, now, as we've

talked about wallets and now I know that Rory keeps 25 wallets in his special drawer. So all 25

wallets are going to be on the wall.

R: You can but you cannot remember my full name.

M: No, I can't remember your full name because you have five names, four names. I have only

two names. My name and surname.

R: Ужасный человек!

M: He is giving me Russian now, wow. Right, so also in Rory Museum, I'm going to have Rory's

solution shower. If you listen to our early episodes, we talk about Rory's solution shower, he goes

to the shower and all of his problems are solved.

R: Ужасная человека?

V: Ужасный человек.

R: Oh...

M: So I really enjoy the expression, you should be ready to change plans at the drop of a hat.

Beautiful.

R: So have you do something at the drop of a hat, you do something very quickly with little to no

warning, little to no time to prepare.

M: Be ready to change your arrangements at the drop of a hat. Beautiful. International

companies can hear you out.

R: Yes, if you hear someone out, it just means that you, well, listen to them talking or explaining

about how they're the ideal person for something instead of just dismissing them or not paying

attention to them. So companies can hear a person in this sense. You can hear or the person if

you choose to listen to them when the situation tells you you really shouldn't bother. Like a

salesperson. Some people like listening to salespeople, because they're completely insane. So in

this case, you hear them out.

M: Yeah, please hear me out. Please hear me out, Rory. Listen to everything I say.

R: No.

M: Yep. Another topical phrase that you've used about work is progress up the corporate

ladder?

R: Yes. You climb the corporate ladder, which just means you get promoted from one position to

the next. My mother climbed the corporate ladder. She started off as... Let me see if I can get this

right. She started off as a typist and she became the editor in chief.

M: Oh, nice. Where?

R: DC Thompson & Co. Ltd

M: Yeah, I know this company. Well, no, no, I don't. I have no idea what it is.

R: If anyone, f you're familiar with Dennis the Menace then you know who DC Thompson are?

M: All right. Cool. You can say...

R: That was not hearing me that was being dismissed. You're like cool story, bro.

M: Yeah. Next. Whatever. You can say climb up the corporate ladder. Or you can say progress

up the corporate ladder. There's a question about cultures and etiquette, you mentioned. Etiquette

is important in Japan, for example.

R: Oh, it is extremely important in Japan, I don't know how people get anything done.

M: Hierarchy and etiquette, right, are important?

R: Yeah. Well, yeah. But apparently Japan's got a very simple hierarchical structure. It's all based

on age. The older you are, the more senior you are. I have a friend Michael, who lives there. He's American. And I think he's one of the only Americans in the world that can speak fluent

Japanese.

M: Whoa, wow. Well done you, Rory's friend, who is American and can speak Japanese.

R: It's awesome. He's so good at it.

M: And you said culture is ingrained into people?

R: Yes. Yes, I did. Let's move on. No. If something is ingrained into someone. It's just like it's a key

part of them. It's very difficult to separate them from this thing. You look very skeptical, Maria.

M: Oh, yeah. No, I really enjoyed this. Like...

R: Asking me questions about...

M: The future, the future is that culture is ingrained. That's why international companies pretty much

going to be focused on culture and etiquette. When we talked about technology, I mean, when you talked about technology, you said like we really can pack up our jobs in a laptop. That's a nice one. Pack up your jobs.

R: It's also a very good piece of pronunciation when I say we really can do this thing.

M: We really can.

R: We can do it. I love the fact that I can take my job anywhere in a laptop. It's awesome.

M: Yeah. So it pretty much means that you can work only using your laptop or with your

smartphone. So everything is there. Right. You don't need to go to the office and work offline. And

some jobs are really portable, or it seemed increasingly portable. Portable -you carry your job on

you. Okie-dokie, super-duper. Thank you very much for listening.

R: That brings us to the top of the corporate vocabulary ladder.

M: Corporate vocabulary ladder. Wow.

R: Yeah. How's that for a mixed metaphor? We'll see you next time.

M:Thank you. Bye!

R: Bye!

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