My First Job – English Language Bits

Choose the best word to match.

Check your answers by clicking Submit at the end.

recommend – accommodating – lifeguard – mention – particularly – enough – compressed – experience

a job to help swimmers in danger at a beach or in a swimming pool –

helpful and willing to do what somebody else wants –

knowledge or skills you get from doing an activity for some time –

to advise somebody to do something, especially because you have more knowledge or experience –

especially; more than usually, more than others –

shorter or smaller –

as much as necessary or wanted –

to talk or write about something quickly, without many details –

Fill in the missing words in the text. You can type them or copy & paste them.

You can check your answers by listening or by clicking Submit at the end.

recommend – accommodating – lifeguard – mention – particularly – enough – however – compressed – experience

Yuliya: So, Sofiya, you are a university student, and may I ask, how many jobs have you had?
Sofia: Lots.
Yuliya: Like, three, five, ten?
Sofia: Closer to ten.
Yuliya: And when did you get your first job?
Sofia: I would have been about 16 years old, and in grade 11, high school.
Yuliya: And did you really want to start working so early?
Sofia: I think a lot of my friends were working, and I wanted to gain work , and also wanted to have spending money and start saving for university.

Yuliya: And what helped you get that first job?
Sofia: So my first job was teaching swimming, and I think, having all of the certification by then… So I had my National Lifeguard, as well as my Swimming Instructor licenses by then, and I had had experience volunteering with children in the past, and I think that helped me a fair bit.
Yuliya: And you mentioned the certificates, where did you get them?

Sofia: So I got them through the city of Toronto, and I basically looked through what courses I would need to take beforehand to then be able to go for my lifeguard certification.
Yuliya: And how long does it take, like a year, a few months?
Sofia: You can do it in a few months, if you do courses.

However, generally, I would taking longer.

Yuliya: And did you like that first job as a lifeguard or swimming instructor?
Sofia: Honestly, not particularly, but then I started to work for the city of Toronto after that, and I enjoyed that a lot more.
Yuliya: I see. Thank you! You -ed that you started working when you were 16. Is it common in Canada to start working so early?

Sofia: I would say so. If anything, I think some people start working even earlier. In Ontario, the lowest age that one can be to get a job is 14, and I have friends who started working at 14. , by 16-17 most people I went to high school with had a part-time job.

Yuliya: Was it difficult to work after school? Like, did you have time to study?

Sofia: I think so. I guess it would be important to manage time and make sure to still make time for school work, but considering the job I worked was predominantly students and either high-schoolers or University students,

everyone was pretty understanding and .
Yuliya: You mean, teachers at school?
Sofia: No, at work, supervisors.
Yuliya: I see. Thank you!

These questions can help you practice speaking or writing.

Did you work when you were in high school?

What would you like to share about the job?

What was your favourite part of it?

What was the least favourite?

Would you want to work if you were a high school student?

Would you want your child to work if you were a parent?

Would you want to hire a student if you were an employer?

What could be good about it for the student/ their family/ businesses/ the society?

What would be some disadvantages?

What jobs do high schoolers usually get?

How can it impact their studies?

How common is it for high school students to work in your culture/(part of the) country/city?

What can it depend on? (e.g., socio-economic background, occupations of the family members, family relationships, economic situation, season of the year, etc.)

Have you ever needed a swimming instructor?

What would you like to share about that experience? (When, where, how did it go?)

Why would one want to learn how to swim? (Try to mention and explain all possible reasons).

What age group would be the most interested in getting this skill? Why?

How common is it to learn swimming for other age groups, such as adults or seniors?

How common is it for very young people (high school students) to be swimming instructors?

Find the best sentence for each of these words. You can type the words or copy & paste them. Check your answers by clicking Submit at the end.

recommend – accommodating – lifeguard – mention – particularly – enough – compressed – experience

I do not have a lot of with young children, but I have taught teenagers for a few years.

Our administrators are very , always asking if we need anything.

I would love to work as a ; it sounds like an easy job, unless something happens.

This brand is popular with young people.

courses seem attractive because they are shorter, but they can be very difficult.

I do not make money to buy lunch every day. I have to pack one from home, it is much less expensive.

Did they your name? – No, they didn’t.

My friend -ed this restaurant, and I really liked it, too.