jueves, 16 de mayo de 2013

My first job

The YouTube Whitehouse channel features a number of videos where the staff currently working for the Whitehouse talk about their first job experience.

The videos are on the short side, ranging from thirty seconds to two minutes, and they also vary in difficulty. Needless to say the bulk of these videos will be appropriate for intermediate students, but some of them, as that of chef Chris Comerford featured here, will also be suitable for strong Básico 2 students.

If you view the videos on YouTube, the interactive transcript will give you an accurate transcription, which makes me think the transcript has been cleaned.

Lesson idea:
The videos lend themselves to a nice class about first-job experiences, summer jobs and occasional jobs we used to do to earn some extra money.

Chef Chris Comerford



My very first job, you might want to know, is that, you know, back in Chicago, when my family moved here from Manila in 1983, my first job was a salad bar girl. And at that time when I was working it wasn't one of those glamorous job or anything that, you know, you might really aspire for, but being a culinary laureate now and looking black I've learn so many things from that very first job.
I've learned how to organize myself. I've learned how to work with other people and I've learned to really love what I do. So even though like you know at the time being it might not seem very important, every job is important.
You know, like as a chef right now I rely on this salad bar girl, really take care of my needs, take care of everything that I need to have to ensure that, you know, an event that I have or a menu that I have worked very nicely. So you know, looking back it was a very great experience for me.



My first job was actually when I was 13 years old, and it was, I was technically a volunteer but I did get a pay check of five dollars a week that made me really proud and just gave me a sense of kind
of responsibility at a good age. I worked with my cousin. And we were actually responsible for answering phone calls for people that were interested in more information about the impact that pesticides was having on farm workers and farm worker children.
And so we would send them out a little information video and for me it was again the sense of responsibility, but also I think I got a little excited and felt like I was in charge. And would try to boss my cousin around all of the time which she didn't really like since we were the same age, but she was much taller than me. And so everyone thought that she was obviously older than I was. You know, through that summer again, I, it just gave me an opportunity to really contribute and to show that even though I was 13 years old, I could do something to inform others about you know issues that they cared about or you know that I could also take a part in helping to improve the lives of, in that case, it was farm workers. And so for me, it was again that sense of really having meaning and purpose in whatever it is that I chose to do. And chose to take on.




My first summer job was pretty unique in that I was 14 years old living in the Republic of South Korea where my dad was stationed as a member of the Army. And for a summer employment option, they gave us the option of working on a military base. And so my first summer job was working with a group of Korean men in a supply warehouse at a supply base outside of Tagu South Korea.
It was very challenging for one because I didn't know the language, and I had to work with people, obviously, of a different culture and a different background than me. I was only 14, and so these gentlemen were much older than me. And it required me to, one, not only learn the ins and outs of just showing up for work on time but also how to communicate and work with people that I would not otherwise interact with on a regular basis and how to form coherent teams to get the basic things done that you need to do to be productive.