Tag: work

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The business of renting has been proved to be very profitable. You can have a house rented out, a car and also some services. But, wedding guests?

Read the article below about a specific business in Korea that’s all about hiring friends for your wedding.

In a sharing economy, people rent out goods, services, and expertise, and the trend has grown in recent years. Many of the successful companies begin in the US, but soon expand around the world. After all, there are resources everywhere, and everyone wants to earn more cash if they can fulfill a need.

Airbnb is one recognizable example. People rent out their homes or spare rooms to vacationers on a nightly, weekly, or even monthly basis. Uber, which is an Internet taxi service, is also very popular, and anyone with a car, accident insurance, and a driver’s license can become a taxi driver or chauffeur. There’s Elance too, where professionals can freelance their skills as a writer, web designer, translator, accountant, and so on. However, perhaps one of the more unique examples of the sharing economy comes from South Korea, where weddings hire fake friends to attend the ceremony.

It might seem that hiring fake friends on such an important occasion is inconceivable. Weddings are a big deal in South Korea, though. There is a lot of pomp in the ceremony, such as musical numbers, skits, and several hundred guests in attendance. According to Korean tradition, the immediate family, extended family, and family friends must all be invited. As such, it can be a problem if, for example, the groom has two hundred guests and the bride has only fifty guests. In order to save face, the solution is to hire actors.

Fake guests get reimbursed roughly $20 per ceremony, and the actors might attend several weddings in one day during the busy season. The service that offers wedding guests contains a database of 20,000 actors, and these people can also be hired as fake bosses, office employees, family members, spouses, and even mistresses.

Source: headsupenglish.com

Discussion Questions:

1. How would you feel about working as a fake guest to attend a wedding or another important event?
2. How would you feel about working as a fake boss? How about as a husband or wife?
3. Do you think that hiring fake wedding guests shows a problem with society? Why/not?
4. What do you know about the sharing economy and companies like Airbnb and Uber? Please explain.
5. What sort of jobs would you be able and willing to do in a sharing economy?

B2 – Upper intermediate

Fridays are awesome. Fridays are the best. It reminds us that we survived the week and that the weekend is coming. Yet, for some employees, Thursdays are what they look forward to.

Read the article then express your thoughts about different work schedules.

Although the workweek varies from country to country, the majority of people in the majority of places around the globe work five days per week. Some cultures maintain an older, six-day workweek. A few countries and/or businesses have reduced the number of days work to four, but instead require employees to work longer hours. The four-day workweek has begun to demonstrate massive positives. This suggests that people may soon say, “TGIThursday!”

With a four-day workweek, companies immediately reduce energy costs. The buildings are closed for three days. This saves millions of dollars for the largest employers. Employees also feel more refreshed after longer weekends, which lead to less stress, fewer health problems, and a drop in absenteeism. Productivity increases too.

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “TGI” stand for in “TGI Thursday“? “This suggests that people may soon say, “TGI Thursday!” Use the expression in a sentence.
2. What does “around the globe” mean? “Although the workweek varies from country to country, the majority of people in the majority of places around the globe work five days per week.” Give two (2) synonyms or similar expressions and use ‘around the globe’ in your own sentence.
3. What does “absenteeism” mean? “Employees also feel more refreshed after longer weekends, which lead to less stress, fewer health problems, and a drop in absenteeism.” Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your thoughts on a four-day workweek?
2. What are the positives and negatives of a four-day workweek?
3. Would a four-day workweek likely be adopted in your country? Would it work? Why or why not?
4. For you, what is the ideal number of working days a week and why?
5. Do you think longer days off could help decrease absenteeism and increase productivity? Share your opinion.

B2 – Upper Intermediate

We’ve all seen ads of odd jobs for big bucks. Getting paid to watch videos or to answer surveys. But most of them turn out to be hoaxes. Too good to be true.

Read the article below and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

David Storey of Australia purchased a private island for $26,500. The sum may sound like a ridiculously cheap price. However, the island cannot be reached by any boat or plane because it’s virtual. In other words, the place doesn’t exist in the real world. It’s part of a computer program for players in the role-playing game, Entropia. The island was recently recognized as the priciest virtual object ever purchased with real money by Guinness World Records.

You now may wonder if Storey is a little bit crazy. However, don’t judge him so quickly because the twenty-seven-year-old graduate student currently earns more than $100,000 per year from the game. He is able to mix recreation and work. He runs the island like a rare game preserve, where hunters are taxed to use the land. He then exchanges the virtual money, known as Entropian dollars, for real cash. There are similar businesses online, like an asteroid space resort and a space station. If either of these properties were sold, they could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars!

People who are unfamiliar with online role-playing games may see the whole concept as ridiculous. Yet you have to give kudos to the gamers who have been able to succeed in an often competitive virtual world. David Storey and others like him don’t just live from paycheck to paycheck. If they did so, then the money would suddenly dry up if they quit playing to take a vacation or deal with a personal crisis. Instead, these individuals are making a lot of money. Even the most cynical individual has to respect the money earned. Gamers like Storey are getting paid to play.

Source: headsupenglish.com

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you want to get paid for playing a video game? Why/not?
2. Would you want to get paid for doing something you really love? Why/not?
3. How is buying a virtual object different from buying luxury goods you don’t really need?
4. Are people like Storey just very lucky, or do they have some special quality?
5. If someone you knew wanted to make money online, what sort of advice would you give?