STRANGE JOBS AROUND THE WORLD

Are you looking for work and hoping to find something unusual that will pay the bills? Here are eight examples of rather unconventional professions.


LIPSTICK READER

Some people read palms…some read cards…others have a crystal ball. And some people bring a lipstick reader to make their parties a little more interesting. The reader looks at a lipstick imprint on a piece of paper and tells people about themselves, their relationships and their future. 25-30€ per reading.

PROFESSIONAL QUEUER

Are you too busy to waste hours standing in line waiting to get the new iPhone, buy tickets for that Springsteen concert, or renew your passport? No problem: just hire a professional queuer to do the boring part for you! 15-25€ per hour.




QUEEN’S PIPER

Every morning at 9.00, he stands outside the Queen’s window (at Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle or Holyroodhouse) and plays the bagpipes for 15 minutes. The position is given to a serving member of the Armed Forces and was created in 1843. 60,000€ per year.

GOLF BALL DIVER

Lots of golf courses have lakes and ponds. Lots of golfers hit their balls into that water. The golf ball diver is the person who recovers those balls so they can be re-sold. If you’re not afraid of the dark, can carry a 30kg bag of balls, and don’t mind if there are snakes, turtles and maybe even the occasional alligator around, this might be the job for you!  As much as 100,000€ per year.



BED TESTER

Tired? Fancy a rest? Then why not apply for a job checking mattresses for their manufacturers or beds for hotels? Compare how well you sleep in different conditions (changes in lighting or temperature, after drinking water, coffee or alcohol) and write a blog about the experience. Around 50,000€ per year.

FACE FEELER

Or sensory scientist, if you prefer. If you have sensitive hands, and can tell the difference between baby oil and Vaseline, how about a part-time job feeling people’s faces to test the effect of cosmetic products on people’s skin? 25€ per hour.







TV WATCHER

If you have a degree in TV or film, or at least a lot of knowledge, there may be an opportunity for you at Netflix. The company has 48,000,000 subscribers, so leaves nothing to chance. “Taggers”, as they are called, sit at home watching films and series all day, analyzing and commenting on the content before the rest of us see it.  Pay? Hard to say, but a lot more than we get for watching television!

DOG WALKER

If you like dogs, and walking, this is perfect for you! By working just two weeks a month, and sometimes taking several dogs at the same time, dog walkers in the UK earn 20% more than the national average salary. 13€ per dog per hour.

Source: Oxfordculturemania

THE HOUSE

Vocabulary:

The house           The dining room           The kitchen           Buildings             Rooms in a house


Have you ever thought of matching a house with a celebrity??? Well, many people have done so, read this article by The Daily Mail about houses with a character and you will discover the similarities people find!

And now let's practise some listening. Watch this video about this Lego-style apartment, I'm sure you'll be surprised!

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Let's revise when to use an infinitive and when to use a gerund. If you want to see, download and/or print a document with an explanation,  just go to 'Grammar'

Do the exercises below. Watch the sentences and the verbs used, it will help you remember when a verb takes the gerund or the infinitive.

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
A page with many exercises

DESCRIBING PEOPLE

Watch these two videos to learn how to describe people. Not only you'll practise listening and grammar but also you'll learn vocabulary.

Video 1



Video 2

CHEATERS vs INSPIRING PEOPLE

Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat ... unless you are one of these athletes. Who are some of the biggest cheaters in sport history? Have a look at this video and you will discover! You will also find the stories you read in class, and probably, a surprise at the end of the video!

 

Fortunately, there are some inspiring people, like Rick Hyot and his father, Dick. What makes them especial is the fact that Rick suffers from cerebral palsy since birth. They have competed together in several events, including marathons and triathlons. During competition Dick pulls Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they ran. The Hyots did not finish the 2013 Boston Marathon, the last marathon they have run together. They had about a mile to go when two bombs exploded near the finish line, and were stopped by officials along with thousands of other runners still running the race. They were not injured.

This is their official page 

 Watch the video to know more about them, even though it's in original it has subtitles, remember that this is good listening practice!

SPORTS

Let's learn some vocabulary about sports. Watch this video and practice pronunciation at the same time that you learn how to name different sports. You can also go to 'Our Bits and Bobs' to see, download and/or print a document with sports vocabulary and exercises.There is listening too!




And now you can practise some listening on sports.

Listening 1 - You can read the transcript below the exercise, don't cheat!!!!

Listening 2 - You can read the transcript below the exercise, don't cheat!!!

ADJECTIVES -ED/-ING

Remember that we use -ed adjectives to talk about how a person feels and we use -ing adjectives to talk about the cause of that feeling. Go to 'Grammar' for a more accurate explanation. There you'll also find a list with the most common ones.

Watch this video to compare


And now try these exercises

- Exercise 1
- Exercise 2
- Exercise 3
- Exercise 4
- Exercise 5

GOOD MANNERS

Do you have good manners? Watch this video about good manners, what to say and do, polite English.

TELEPHONING

Useful telephone vocabulary and phrases in English.(If you want the document go to 'Vocabulary' to download it.

---

Making contact :	Hello / Good morning / Good afternoon ... This is John Brown speaking Could I speak to ......... please? I'd like to speak to ..... ..... I'm trying to contact ..........
Giving more information:	I'm calling from Tokyo / Paris / New York / Sydney ... I'm calling on behalf of Mr. X ...
Taking a call :	X speaking. Can I help you?
Asking for a name / information :	Who's calling please? Who's speaking? Where are you calling from? Are you sure you have the right number / name?
Asking the caller to wait :	Hold the line please. Could you hold on please? Just a moment please.
Connecting :	Thank you for holding. The line's free now ... I'll put you through. I'll connect you now  / I'm connecting you now.
Giving negative information :	I'm afraid the line's engaged. Could you call back later? I'm afraid he's in a meeting at the moment. I'm sorry. He's out of the office today. / He isn't in at the moment. I'm afraid we don't have a Mr./Mrs./Ms/Miss. ... here I'm sorry.  There's nobody here by that name. Sorry.  I think you've dialled the wrong number./ I'm afraid you've got the wrong number.
Telephone problems :	The line is very bad ...  Could you speak up please? Could you repeat that please? I'm afraid I can't hear you. Sorry. I didn't catch that.  Could you say it again please?
Leaving / Taking a message :	Can I leave / take a message? Would you like to leave a message? Could you give him/her a message? Could you ask him/her to call me back? Could you tell him/her that I called? Could you give me your name please? Could you spell that please? What's your number please?

ON THE PHONE - PHRASAL VERBS

ITCHY FEET

 VOCABULARY

Go to these links and do the exercises to reinforce your vocabulary about travelling and tourism.


related to means of transport

travel related vocabulary

travelling, planning a trip

tourism related vocabulary

more tourism related vocabulary

travel related terms and expressions

STRONG ADJECTIVES

Watch this video to learn about strong adjectives. You can also go to Vocabulary to get a document with an explanation and a list of strong adjectives.


And now you can practise:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2 (A page by the Brisitsh Council with a series of exersises)

Exercise 3 (Includes an explanation)

MONEY VOCABULARY

Watch the videos below to revise and / or learn vocabulary related to money. Apart from enriching your vocabulary you will improve your listening skills! Remember you can activate the subtitles if you get lost!

VOCABULARY: Money

VOCABULARY: Prepositions related to money

KA-CHING!

Ka-ching! An imitation of the sound made by a cash register;  expression used when someone's action will result in more money; and also a song by Canadian singer Shania Twain.  

Here you have some facts about the song: 

- The song deals with America's consumer culture through the boom years of the 1990s and early 2000s. The line "all we ever want is more" is the general theme of the song.

- The music video for "Ka-Ching!" was shot in Mexico City and Madrid in January 2003.

This is one of five official videos of the song. Why don't you follow the video with the lyrics?  It's good practice for money vocabulary!



We live in a greedy little world,
That teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly,
Then turn around and
Spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money that we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shopping every Sunday at the mall
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
Can you hear it ring
It makes you want to sing
It's such a beautiful thing, ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings
The happiness it brings
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can afford
To go and spend some more when
You get bored
All we ever want is more
...

MONEY

 VOCABULARY:

- Crossword

- Wordsearch

- How important is money for you? Take this quiz

LISTENING:

- Listening 1 - Are you good at saving money?

- Listening 2 - Money love

- Listening 3 - Expenses

PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES

Studying Zodiac signs and the personality traits that are associated with these signs is a great way to quickly improve your vocabulary related to personality. Each sign begins with a short overview of the main characteristics of the sign.

For Example:
Capricorn is the tenth sign of the Zodiac and associated with hard work and business affairs ...

This section is then followed by a listing of the positive and negative traits.

For Example:
Positive
Practical and prudent ...
Negative
Pessimistic and fatalistic ...

Here adjectives are paired up in synonym and related word pairs.

Start with your own sign, or read the Zodiac signs of your friends. By studying these signs you'll quickly increase your ability to describe other people's personalities!

Click on the image to go to the page

The descriptions used in this reference are taken from the Zodiac resource at Wikipedia.

FAMILY - VOCABULARY

1. Do you need to revise the members of the family? Try these exercises ...

Family 1

Family 2

Go to this BBC page to read about modern families, with audio too!

And now, why don't you listen to this crazy song about a strange family? It's fun!
 


You can read the lyrincs here or you can download the document, in case you want to make any annotations here.

Many many years ago when I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her and soon they too were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law and really changed my life
My daughter was my mother ’cause she was my father’s wife
And to complicate the matter even though it brought me joy
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad
For if he were my uncle, then that also made him brother
Of the widow’s grown-up daughter who was of course my stepmother

Father’s wife then had a son who kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter’s son
My wife is now my mother’s mother and it makes me blue
Because although she is my wife, she’s my grandmother too

Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I’m her grandchild
And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa

Oh I’m my own grandpa
I’m my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know,
But it really is so
Oh I’m my own grandpa

Aromatic herbs and spices

 Specifically these are food or drink additives of mostly botanical origin used in nutritionally insignificant quantities for flavouring or colouring. You can click on the image to make it bigger, you can save it to your device or print it.

ENGLISH FOOD

What do you know about English food? What is their traditional dish? What do they usually eat? Is fish and chips as popular as you think? What if I told you curry is one of their favourites, would you believe me? You can go through this presentation to learn about it!!!


Were you surprised about curry??? You can then read the article 'How Britain got the hots for curry' by the BBC here

Enjoy your meal!!!!

WAYS TO COOK FOOD

Peel	Remove the outer covering from a fruit, vegetable.
Slice	Cut a thicker piece of food into slices.
Grate	Rub food against a grater so it is cut it into a lot of small pieces.
Pour	Pour the milk, water ext. into the bowl
Mix	Combine food / liquid together so it becomes one.
Whisk	A utensil needed for whipping eggs or cream. very quickly
Boil	Heat a liquid until it boils.
Fry	Cook food in a very hot oil.
Roll	Rolling pin used for making pastry flat and making cake shapes.
Stir	Move a spoon around in a pan in a circle.
Simmer	Liquid or food just below boiling point and bubbling only gently.
Poach	Cook an egg in or over boiling water. Fish can also be poached.
Bake	Cook food without a flame, in an oven.
Roast	Cook meat a long time an oven or over a fire
Grill	Cook food under heat from a metal bar or flame.