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Ana Transcript

E = Examiner A = Ana

E: Good afternoon Ana. Let's talk about what you do. Do you work or are you a student?

A: I'm working.

E: OK, and what's your job?

A: I'm working in a shop. I'm a manager. So, I'm selling furnitures for kids...beds...um...coats...everything.

E: Right, OK, and how long have you done this job?

A: Less than a year. (less than a year) It's a new job for me. Before, I was working in the cinema....and I just change everything to work in a shop.

E: OK. And why did you decide to change?

A: Because the cinema work is something you can work for 1 month, 2 months...and then not doing anything for 3 months, so it's like irregular, and I wanted to be in a stand-up job to just work and organise my life...better.

E: And what do you like about your job, your new job?

A: I like...the same that I was doing before, is like the relationship with the people, so with the client in the shop, and selling things and helping people to find the best things they need for their home. And the contact with the kids because, er, it's a shop, the parents come mostly to buy everything for the kids and the babies.

E: Is it a popular shop?

A: Er, yeah, yeah, since we opened it, it's like really working well, so we're very happy.

E: OK, good. What job do you hope to be doing in 10 years time?

A: I like to do this job, but I like to open more shops and then managing all of the shops (right) would be great. If I could have 3 or 4 shops within 10 years and just be in charge of all of them.

E: So at the moment there's only one?

A: Yeah, I'm working in one and we have...In the future we would like to open more.

E: OK, good, thank you. OK, let's talk about free time. How much free time do you have?

A: I have my mornings. So, it's like...I'm lucky in a way because I can do things on mornings and then I go to work on the afternoon.

E: So, what time do you start work then usually?

A: I start working between 3 and 4 until 10 o'clock, six days a week, but because I have all of my mornings I have time to enjoy doing lots of things.

E: So, what kind of things do you enjoy doing in your free time?

A: I like to go swimming, I like to see friends, and I like to walk my dog in the park, and just have, have time to relax.

E: OK, and do you think people these days should have more free time?

A: I think people should have free time. More, it depends, because if you can have, er, enough time to relax, you don't need to have lots of time, but, er, some time is important yeah, because you need to disconnect from your work.

E: Do you think you have enough free time?

A: I have, yes. Yeah, I'm lucky. In a way, I'm lucky because I have.

E: OK, good. Let's move on to talk about food and eating. When do you eat your main meal of the day?

A: Er, lunch-time, before I go to work.

E: And do you usually eat your meals alone or with somebody else?

A: No, I eat my meal with my boyfriend. He's the one who's cooking, so I'm just waiting for him to come back and cook and then I'm eating and then I leave for my job.

E: OK, and do you prefer eating at home or in restaurants?

A: I like to go to restaurants, but I prefer stay at home and eat than if I had to choose between restaurant and home, I will choose home but it's nice to go to restaurants from time to time.

E: Why would you choose home?

A: Because, er, when you go to restaurant, the food is different, and er, it's nice, but it's, you relax more if you're home because you can cook and have the time and decide what you want to eat... so I prefer, I prefer to eat at home. If I go on holidays, and I have to eat in the hotel, I don't like it. I would rather rent a flat and cook, than to have to go to the restaurant every meal.

E: OK, and what occasions in your country do people eat special meals?

A: In what occasion? (yeah) Like, what do you mean, like for Christmas?

E: Yeah, for example.

A: We have the crepes party, in...er...February or March. I don't remember, but it's like a very big party, where everybody, it's called 'La Chandeleur', and then everyone is making crepes, so the French crepes. And it's nice because everyone is calling everyone, it's like...it's not a funny thing, it's like a French thing, and everyone is cooking crepes and eating together. Or we have like, for Christmas too, we have like this big meal, like everyone have. And for New Year's Eve, it's more like with, um, the friends. So we have a big meal with friends.

E: So Christmas is for family and New Year's more for friends.

A: Yeah.

E: OK. Alright. Thank you. Next, I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for 1 to 2 minutes. Before you talk, you'll have 1 minute to think about what you're going to say and you can make some notes if you wish. Do you understand?

A: Yes.

E: OK, here's some paper and a pencil. I'd like you to describe a piece of technology you find useful.

A: OK.

E: On the card, it says you should say:

What it is
When you use it
What you are able to do with it

Alright? Remember, you have one to two minutes, so don't worry if I stop you. Can you start please?

A: Yes, I'm going to talk about a digital camera. I just...I got one for Christmas last year and er, since I got it I love it, because I use it all the time. I'm very fond of taking pictures and in this digital camera I can even make films so it's great because I can even remember the things we've done, like doing little movies. And because I love taking pictures, er, I take a lot. And then I make albums of it and because I live faraway from my family and my friends I like to, to make lots of pictures when they're with me and then I can remember when I'm watching all of the pictures, what we did, where we went and all of this. So, that's why, you know, since I had this digital camera, I'm making much more photos, than when I had a normal camera before. And since I discovered you can make little movies too, I'm just enjoying making funny movies, just to have fun and these kind of things. Erm, pretty much, that's what I love about the digital camera, because you can ... it keeps you in photos of all the experiences you have.

E: OK. Thank you. Do many of your friends have a digital camera?

A: All of them. Now, it's like something like normal. Before, it was like very slow, at first, but now it's like everyone is showing 'Oh, what is yours?' and 'What can you do?' and 'I don't know how many pixel you have' and I don't know anything about the digital camera. I have one, which is great, but they're always talking about the technical things about the camera, so yeah, everyone is interest of having one if they don't and most of the people I know have one.

E: Right. OK. Thank you. OK, we've been talking about a piece of technology you find useful and now I'd like to ask you one or two more general questions related to this. Let's consider, first of all, technology and communication. What are some of the main uses of technology for communication?

A: What are the main...?

E: The main uses of technology for communication?

A: So you have the main technology for communication you can use, you have like, the phone, it's like, the cell phone, the mobile. You can text people and then you ... you can even use the internet. Internet is very important for work, you can even ... now, you can even work from home and doing everything through internet. You don't even need to move to an office, so that's, er, mainly, the most use of technology, in the last few years you can see, that the big move internet has made.

E: Do you agree that some people use technology to communicate too much?

A: Yes. Yes, yes, because, er, for example, the teenagers, they used to go outside, they used to see their friends, and now they're spending all their time in MSN and, er, they're talking to everyone through the computer. They're not even taking the phone to talk directly and when they're writing it's terrible because they're not writing in a very good, er, way, because they're just, they put shortner all of the words and they don't have anymore contact. They stay at home and they talk the whole night and they don't go outside. They don't have anymore like, the social life they used to have.

E: OK. What differences are there between the attitudes of older and the attitudes of younger people to technology communication?

A: The older people are more willing to use it, but still use the old-fashioned way, that if they want to. It depends, how old, but, er, for example, if you want to send a mail to someone, a younger one will send an email, an older one will send a real, real mail through the post office. So, that's the main difference, the youngest, they just love to use all of the technology.

E: Alright. Thank you. Now, let's consider technology and work. Would you agree that technology has had a positive impact on the world of work?

A: Yes, it has, because with internet, er, there is always good things and bad things. So, the good point is that everything is going quicker, much more quicker, er...we...on the world of work, it has changed a lot, because we can do much more with internet, but there is always bad points and the negative impact that you can always use, for example, internet as a bad view.

E: Do you use technology at work, in your work?

A: Yeah, because we all connected, from all of the cities in the country who have this shop, we were connecting to each other, and we all talking to each other through internet. We don't call, we have to leave messages, so that's the main way to communicate.

E: OK. And how has technology affected the way people relate to each other at work?

A: At work, but they don't talk anymore to each other, they just, er, send messages, and they just leave and then you have to wait for the answer, but they don't. If you have a direct question, you have to leave a message. And before, you had a direct question you took the phone and you ask it. Now, no-one is answering anymore the phone. They just following what they doing and when they have time they look at the computer and they answer and that's it. So, you always have to be waiting for the answer.

E: OK. What about in the future? Do you think that technology will change our understanding of the nature of work, in the future?

A: It has changed already, a lot. So, I don't know in the future how will it be, because it has changed a lot since the last five or six years already, a lot, a lot. So, I don't know what's next. But I'm sure it's going to be different.

E: Right. Could you imagine working from...or doing the job you're doing, but working from home, actually kind of doing your job from home?

A: But, the terrible thing is that, er, sooner you won't have to move out of your house to do most of the things. You will have, for my example, you will have to leave someone in the shop to still selling, but all of the work with behind selling, to organise everything, to get the furniture, er, until the...the client's house. Then, yeah, you will, you can do it from house.

E: OK. Thank you. That's the end of the speaking test.

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