Unfortunately, most of us have to work for a living. There again, many of us enjoy our jobs. It’s usually nice to meet other people and join together to achieve things. Can you talk about your job, or maybe ask others what they do for a living?
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) To talk about your job and some of its duties
(ii) How to explain something about the type of work you do
Dialogue:
Two friends are talking about their jobs:
- Female
- Male
（在咖啡厅）
(zài kā fēi tīng)
(at the cáfe)
A:你是做什么工作的？
Nǐ shì zuò shén me gōng zuò de?
What do you do?
B:我是广告公司的艺术总监。
Wǒ shì guǎng gào gōng sī de yì shù zǒng jiān.
I am the art director in an advertising company.
A:你喜欢你的工作么？
Nǐ xǐ huān nǐ de gōng zuò me?
Do you like your job?
B:又爱又恨吧。我喜欢需要有创造力的工作。但是我们这一行，忙起来真的是要命啊。
Yòu ài yòu hèn ba. Wǒ xǐ huān xū yào yǒu chuàng zào lì de gōng zuò. Dàn shì wǒ mén zhè yī háng, máng qǐ lái zhēn de shì yào mìng a.
I have mixed feelings. I like jobs that require creativity but, in our industry, when it gets busy, it nearly kills me.
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
广告公司：advertising company
艺术总监：art director
创造力：creativity
工作：job
喜欢：like
又爱又恨：having mixed feelings (i.e. I love it and I hate it too)
需要：require
一行：industry
要命：tires me out
Cultural/Grammar note:
‘要命’ is a common expression meaning something which brings extreme pain and stress. For example, ‘头疼的要命’ (the headache is killing me), and ‘热的要命’ (extremely hot/the heat is killing me).