002 - Job Interview | ESL Podcast

Dialogue

Andrews monologue about a job interview.

Andrew Yesterday afternoon I went for that job interview.
It was the worst experience in my life.
For some reason I put on my resume that I could speak
Japanese, which is a total lie.
The job had nothing to do with Japanese so I guess I thought I
would just put it down to make myself look more well-rounded.
I never thought that they would actually test me on it.
It turns out that the guy interviewing me had lived in Tokyo
for 8 years.
His Japanese was great.
The first thing he said to me was something in Japanese,
which I obviously didn’t understand.
I felt so nauseous.
I had absolutely no idea what to do so I just replied in English,
“hey, your Japanese is pretty good”.
He said “thanks, but what about you? It says here on your
resume that you speak it.”
I said, “what can I say” he shook his head and said “get the
hell out of here!”

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

"For some reason"

if you don’t know why you did something, that was usually a mistake, you
can say "for some reason"

Example: I was holding my money in my left hand and the garbage in my

right. For some reason I threw my money in the garbage instead of the
garbage bag.

"I put on my resume that I could speak Japanese, which is a total

lie."

By saying it was a total lie, you are saying that it is completely untrue. In
this case you don’t speak any Japanese at all. If it was a little lie we often
say that you embellished a little or you stretched the truth. Most people
embellish a little on their resume. They stretch the truth to make
themselves sound better.

"The first thing he said to me was something in Japanese, which I

obviously didn’t understand"

Why does he say obviously?

Because the speaker already said that he didn’t understand any Japanese
so it is very clear that he didn’t understand Japanese. It kind of gives the
listener some respect because the speaker knows that the listener is
smart enough to already know that.

The idea is that it should be clear or obvious to the listener.

One person could say, “I found a wallet with 1000 dollars in it so I

obviously kept it”.

Another person could say “I found a wallet with 1000 dollars in it so I

obviously tried to find the owner to give it back”

These are obviously different kinds of people.

"Well rounded"

Well rounded is a term to describe someone who is good at many things.

Most employers want to see that you have more than one skill and lead a
balanced life. You don’t just do only one thing. So if you are good in
school, play sports, and do other hobbies you are well rounded. If you just
study you aren’t very well rounded.

"Nauseous"

The feeling you get when you are almost going to throw up. Sick stomach.

“What can I say?”

It’s a question to use when you really have nothing to say. It’s a rhetorical
question meaning that the other person doesn’t need to answer you. It’s
almost like saying. “There is nothing for me to say”.