Helia Transcript
E = Examiner H = Helia
Part 1
E: Lets talk about what you do. Do you work or are you a student?
H: I work and I’m studying English as well.
E: And what’s your job?
H: Er … I work in a hairdressing and I do … er … manicure. I do nails. Er … I work part-time … and …
E: And how long have you done this job?
H: Er … I’ve been doing this job almost, for almost … um … one year.
E: And, do you like it?
H: Er … actually I don’t like it very – very much. The part that I like is that I … er … can communicate with people and … er … its good for … because I’m living in Portugal and it improves my Portuguese. I can speak Portuguese with people … um … but I don’t really like the - the job. I prefer other kinds of the job more … um … maybe I like … er … interior designer and … er … I like to do some handicrafts, this kind of jobs.
E: Ok and what job do you hope to be doing in about ten years time?
H: Er … in ten years time … um … I’d like to do, I’d love to have my own shop and to do handicrafts like (jewelleries) like … um … necklace, earrings and sell them.
E: OK. Lets talk about free time. How much free time do you have?
H: Um … as I told you, I work part-time so I have pretty much free time. Um … I work just three days a week so …
E: And what do you usually do in your free time?
H: Um … I usually study English and sometimes study French as well and … um … I read books. I like to watch movie. Um … I walk at the beach. I like to go shopping.
E: And do you think people these days should have more free time?
H: I think so because people are working a lot and they - they are not with their family. They can’t take care of their child - their children and … um … yeah I think they have to have more free time.
E: Lets move on to talk about learning languages. What languages can you speak?
H: I speak … er … Farsi, which is my language. I speak English, a little French, a little Portuguese.
E: And, and how much do you enjoy learning English?
H: I enjoy a lot. I like learning - learning language. I like … um … er … to know other peoples, other cultures. I enjoy.
E: And what activity do you find most useful for learning English?
H: Um, I think … er … writing is very useful for me because I have to concentrate. I have to use the new words that I - I’ve learnt and … erm … talking as well is very useful.
E: And what do you find most difficult about learning English?
H: For me it’s vocabulary. It’s very difficult because every time I learn new words … erm … I memorise it but because I don’t use it a lot I forget it in a couple of weeks and um … especially more advance words … er … that we don’t use in our communicate, in our … um … speaking in our, um communications. It’s difficult to memorise.
Part 2
E: Ok. Erm, next I’m going to give you a topic and I’d like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk you have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make notes if you wish. Do you understand?
H: Yes.
E: Here’s some paper and a pencil. And I’d like you to describe someone you know about who works hard.
E: Alright, remember you have one to two minutes, so don’t worry if I stop you. Can you start please?
H: Yes. Um …. someone I know who works hard is … er … one of my relatives. Er … he’s not a very close relative. He’s one of my husband’s family, that … um … he’s almost 60 years old and he still works very hard, maybe he sleeps … er … three to four hours at night. He has … um … er … 3 restaurants and bars and … er … he’s doing …um … a new job which is a commercial rule (role?) between Portuguese - Portugal and Iran, import and export things between Iran and Portugal and it’s … um … actually a huge task and … um … he flies once a month from Portugal to Iran and he’s always busy. Um … he doesn’t have time to be with his family … um … but I think he’s satisfied because he likes his job and … um yeah, because he’s used to working hard. Um … yeah I think that’s it.
E: OK, thank you. Do you work hard?
H: No, (laughs) no. I don’t like to work hard.
Part 3
E: OK. We’ve been talking about someone you know about who likes to work hard and now I’d like to ask you one or two more general questions related to this. Lets consider first of all different kinds of jobs. Which kinds of jobs do you think are the hardest to do?
H: Hardest to do, I think labours work very hard and … um … mean (manual?) workers. I think they work very hard and … er … people who build building construction. Um … more, more physical works I think they are more difficult.
E: And why do some jobs require people to do long periods of training to qualify them?
H: Um, I don’t understand, sorry.
E: Yes, why do some jobs require people to do long periods of training to qualify them?
H: Um … I think because they are more … um … sensible jobs, they need more … er … practice, more training, more … um … they have to know, the people have to know … er … more details about the job and um … yeah.
E: And do you think some people’s working hours are too long?
H: (pause) I didn’t understand, sorry.
E: Do you think some people’s working hours are too long?
H: Some people workings hour are too long, um. Yeah, maybe. Some people works for example 15 hours a day. It’s very long and it’s not normal. They can’t rest and yeah.
E: OK, lets now consider work and technology. Do you think that technology increases or decreases the number of jobs available?
H: Uh, I think technology decrease the jobs because … um … for example robots do jobs, do - do works … um … more than people. They don’t need, for example factories, they don’t need many people to work because they have machines, they have robots to do the jobs, to do the - the works and it decrease the number of jobs for people.
E: And, er, what are the main ways in which technology helps people in their work?
H: Mm, I think communication. Technology helps communication between people, for example, internet, cell phones are very important in these days … er … people can get in - be in touch … er … every time, and … um … they can get ... er … information from internet about their job … er … they have to, they can improve their knowledge.
E: And, how do you think technology will affect the work, affect work in the future?
H: In the future I think it … um … its going to … um … affect a lot … er … because it’s … um … um … er … improving - technology is improving a lot and … um … in our life, lifestyle, in our job as well … um … yeah.
E: Ok. Thank you that’s the end of the speaking test.
