BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Business & Work 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocabulary!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. 

I’m Neil. And I’m Sam - still working from home, 

as you can hear. But for many, 

the return to the office has begun.

And to make things safe, 

new thermal cameras are being installed in some workplaces. 

They measure body temperature to screen for coronavirus.

After weeks of working at home the return to the office is slowly 

getting underway in a number of countries.

But workplaces are having to change in this coronavirus era. 

Lots of companies are rushing to install technology to 

make offices and workplaces safer. Sensors that monitor our movements, 

smartphone apps that alert us if we get too close to workmates 

and even devices that take our temperature could all 

become the new normal – that's a phrase we hear 

a lot these days, meaning a previously unfamiliar 

situation that has become usual and expected.

In this programme, we’ll take a look at how this 

technology works and ask if it really is the answer 

we’re looking for.

But first, today’s quiz question. The thermal cameras I mentioned 

screen for coronavirus by recording skin temperature 

in the area of the body which most closely resembles 

the internal body temperature - but which area is that? Is it:

a) the eye b) the ear, or 

c) the nose?

I’ll say a) the eye.

OK, Sam. We’ll find out later if you were right. 

Now, as employees slowly return to work, tech companies are busy finding ways for 

them to do so safely. One such company, ‘Microshare’, 

is managed by Charles Paumelle. He spoke to BBC World Service programme 

Tech Tent to explain a possible solution.

The technology that we are offering is using Bluetooth wristbands or 

tags that people are wearing within the workplace which detect 

proximity events. When the proximity event has been recorded, it's been 

saved by the company in case they need to, further down the line, 

retrace the steps of a certain person who has been declared as 

infected and inform anyone else they may have been in contact with.

One important way to control coronavirus involves contact tracing. 

This means that someone who tests positive for the disease informs everyone else 

they’ve been in contact with. Microshare’s system for 

this uses Bluetooth - technology that allows computers, 

mobile phones and other devices to communicate with each other without 

being connected by wires.

Employees wear Bluetooth wristbands which register when workers 

come into close proximity – how near a person is to another person.

Anyone who has been close to a workmate will then know they have to take action 

if that person is found to have 

coronavirus later down the line – in the future.

Wearing wristbands, monitoring data on smartphones 

and being recorded by cameras – it all feels like quite a big 

invasion of privacy, doesn’t it?

It certainly does, and although some argue 

that such measures are necessary in these unprecedented times, 

others are worried about the possible consequences. 

Here’s human rights lawyer, Ravi Naik, with a warning:

From a human rights perspective, you have to try to ask, 

are you trying to use tech for tech’s sake is this actually going to facilitate 

an understanding of who is safe to go back to work or not? 

And if not, what’s the necessity 

of this because it’s such a significant interference with basic human rights. 

There has to be a high level of evidential justification to deploy 

this type of technology and I just don't think it's there.

Ravi questions whether these devices will actually help identify who can 

return to work, or whether the technology 

is being used for its own sake – an expression meaning doing something 

because it is interesting and enjoyable, not because you need to.

Ravi’s work as a lawyer involves finding proof that 

something is right or wrong. If people’s human rights are being 

interfered with, he thinks there has to be evidential justification – 

explanation of the reasons why something is the right thing to do, 

based on evidence. Like the evidence from screening body temperature…

…which bring us back to today’s quiz 

question. Remember I asked you which part of the body is scanned 

by thermal cameras to measure body temperature.

And I said a) the eye.

And you were absolutely right! There’s a small area of the eye 

close to the tear ducts which is the most accurate part of the 

skin for measuring body temperature.

Well, there you go.

We’ve been discussing how thermal cameras 

and other workplace devices being used to prevent coronavirus are becoming 

the new normal – a previously unfamiliar situation that is becoming normalised.

Some of these devices are wristbands with Bluetooth – technology allowing 

computers and smartphones to communicate remotely without wires. They can 

identify work colleagues who have been in close proximity – in other words, 

near to each other.

That will be helpful if one of them tests positive 

for coronavirus further down the line – at some point in the future.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused massive changes 

in workplaces around the world 

but some critics are concerned that contact tracing technology 

is being used for its own sake - because it is interesting and 

enjoyable to do, rather than being absolutely necessary.

And since much of the new tech invades personal privacy 

it should only be introduced with evidential justification – 

explanation of why it is the right thing to do, based on evidence.

Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time for, 

but remember to join us again. Bye for now!

Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. 

I’m Georgina.

And I’m Rob.

Rob, what’s the best job you’ve ever had?

Err well, this one, of course! It’s very creative, 

with lots of variety.

OK, any other reasons?

Well, yes – it’s a permanent job - a staff job - with regular 

income and a pension.

Yes, these things can be important, but have you 

ever been freelance – by that I mean, working 

for yourself and selling 

your skills and services to different businesses?

Well, I worked as a paperboy once – delivering newspapers. 

But not really – it’s a risky way to earn an income.

It can be Rob. But many people choose to, or have to work as 

a freelancer to survive. 

And that’s what we’re talking about in this programme. 

But let’s start with a question for you, Rob.

OK.

This is about job titles back in the 19th Century, 

what kind of job was a drummer?

Were they… a)  someone who played the drums,

b) a travelling salesman 

or c) a music publicist – who drums up – 

meaning encourages, support for a band?

Well, it’s got to be 

someone who plays the drums - t hat’s my kind of job!

OK, Rob, we’ll find out if that’s right at the 

end of the programme. But let’s talk more about 

work now. Long gone are the days of a job 

for life, where you spent your adult life working 

your way up the career ladder at the same company.

Yes, that’s right. We work in many different ways 

now because the needs of businesses change frequently and 

it needs to be agile – changing the size and type 

of work force in order to meet demand.

So, people need to adapt and some choose to work 

for themselves, offering their skills to different 

businesses as and when they are needed. But it can 

also be a lifestyle choice, as we’re about to find out.

Yes, some people have chosen to become self-employed – 

working for themselves - but also, because of the 

recent coronavirus pandemic, some people have been forced 

into this situation. Let’s hear from Carla Barker, who set up 

her own business after giving up her regular job. 

She told BBC Radio 4’s programme You and Yours how she felt…

You know the idea of giving up a solid, permanent, full-time, 

paid, comfortable, role is a bit petrifying… It is super-scary 

because … you then have that fear of ‘oh my goodness can we 

do this’? You also have things creeping in that say you know 

like self-sabotage – are you good enough to do this? 

Are people going to want to take me on as a business?

So, Carla decided to go it alone – an informal way of saying work 

for herself. She described giving up a full-time job as petrifying 

– so frightening you can’t speak or move. She may have been 

exaggerating slightly but she also said it was ‘super-scary’!

I guess working for yourself must be scary as you’re 

solely responsible for your own success. It’s no surprise 

Carla had feelings of self-sabotage – having doubts 

and fears that stopped her achieving something.

Luckily, she persisted and things went well. And many other people 

who have become self-employed or freelance have overcome the 

fear and discovered the benefits.

Like Fiona Thomas, who’s the author of a book called ‘Ditch the 9 to 5 

and be your Own Boss’. She also spoke to the BBC’s You and 

Yours programme and explained why she gave up the 9 to 5 – the regular, 

full-time staff job – and how it helped her…

A kind of combination of wanting 

some creative fulfilment from a job, compared to the job that I was 

in before, which was very much customer based and working face-to-face 

in hospitality. But I also wanted the flexibility to accommodate my mental 

health because I suffer from depression and anxiety and I found working in a 

rigid schedule and being in front of a lot of people all the time really 

exacerbated a lot of my symptoms. And I also wanted the financial freedom 

to be able to, over time, increase my income without just having to wait 

on being promoted or getting a pay rise in traditional employment.

So, working for herself gave Fiona a good feeling that she achieved something 

she wanted to do – it gave her creative fulfilment. It also meant she 

could work more flexibly and that helped her with her mental health 

because she didn’t have to follow a fixed rota of tasks.

And it gave her financial freedom – meaning the money she earned was 

not controlled by someone else, 

and she didn’t have to wait for someone else to give her a 

pay rise. Of course, that can be risky too.

Let’s get back to my quiz question now, Rob. Earlier I asked you 

if you knew what job a drummer used to do back in the 19th Century?

And obviously, a drummer plays the drums!

Well, you are sort of right but a 

drummer also used to be an informal way of describing 

a travelling salesperson – because their job was to 

drum up business for a company – meaning they tried 

to increase sales.

Ahh very interesting, although I know which drummer I 

would rather be – a freelance drummer in a rock band!

And freelance is one of the words we’ve mentioned today. 

To freelance means to work for yourself, selling your 

skills or services to different businesses.

Becoming self-employed can be petrifying – frightening, so you can’t speak 

or move. And starting out on your own can lead to self-sabotage – 

having doubts and fears that stop you achieving something.

But it can also give you fulfilment – a good feeling of achieving 

something for yourself.

And having financial freedom means 

being able to control how you earn and use your money.

That’s it for this programme. We have plenty more 6 Minute English 

programmes to enjoy on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. 

And check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Bye for now. Goodbye.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Sam.

And I'm Rob.

Before you got your first job, Rob, did you do any work experience?

I think I may have done a day or two at some companies, 

just shadowing, watching how they did things – but nothing 

much more than that.

Some companies offer students or recent graduates what they call 

internships. These are extended periods of work experience where 

someone can be working full-time without an actual contract and 

in many cases without even being paid.

Ah – yes. This is a bit of a problem, isn’t it? Some companies are being 

accused of using students and graduates as cheap or free labour.

Yes, although the counter argument is that internships are valuable experience 

for people who need it before they can get a ‘real’ job. Well, we’ll look 

at this topic a little more after this week’s quiz question. On the topic of 

business and companies, which is the oldest stock exchange in the world?

Is it: A: Bombay 

B: New York C: Amsterdam

What do you think, Rob?

Tricky, because I was expecting London on that list. I’m going to take a guess 

then at Amsterdam.

OK. Well, I will reveal the answer later in the programme. James Turner is the 

chief executive of an education charity. Recently he took part in a discussion on the 

BBC radio programme You and Yours, on the topic of internships. What does 

he think is a big issue with unpaid internships?

In many careers we’re now seeing that it’s almost as an expectation 

that a young person does an internship before they stand a chance of getting 

that first full-time job in that profession, and the issue with that 

from a sort of social mobility point 

of view is that a substantial proportion of those internships are unpaid and that 

effectively rules out those who can’t afford to work for free.

So what is the problem with unpaid internships, Rob?

Well, if you can’t afford to work for free, it makes it very difficult to 

do an internship – particularly in expensive cities like London. 

This excludes, or rules out a lot 

of people from the benefits of an internship.

This is bad for social mobility, which is the ability of people to move 

to higher, better paid levels in society. So the poorer you are the more 

difficult it can be to get a good job, even if you have the ability.

Could you afford to work for free here in London, Sam?

No, I can barely afford to live in London as it is, so the idea 

of doing an unpaid internship would not appeal to me at all. 

Turner goes on to talk about other issues that are also 

problematic in internship programmes.

Too often internships are open to those with established connections 

in the professions and again that rules out those young people who 

don’t have the well-connected families 

or friends who can open those doors for them.

So what are these other issues? Rob In many cases he says that 

internship opportunities are only available to those with 

established connections to the company or industry. This means they have some 

pre-existing link with the 

company, for example, through family or friends’ families.

Yes, it’s a lot easier if your family is well-connected, 

if it has a lot of contacts and links to a particular company 

or important people in that company.

These links make it easier to open doors to the opportunity. 

To open doors is an expression that means to get access to.

So it seems that to be able to do an unpaid internships 

you need to have a fair bit of money and to get an internship 

in the first place you may need to have a previous link 

to the company through a family connection, for example.

So the system would seem to be difficult for poorer families and make it more 

difficult for students without those resources or connections 

to get on the job ladder. Here’s James Turner again.

Too often internships are open 

to those with established connections in the professions and again that rules 

out those young people who don’t have the well-connected families 

or friends who can open those doors for them.

Right, time now to answer this week’s question. which is the oldest 

stock exchange in the world? Is it: 

A: Bombay B: New York 

C: Amsterdam Rob, what did you say?

I went for Amsterdam.

Well done, that’s correct. 

Congratulations to everyone who go that right and 

xtra bonus points if you know the date. Rob?

Haven’t a clue! 1750?

Actually it’s a lot earlier, 1602.

Wow, that’s much earlier than I thought.

Right, let’s have a look again at today’s vocabulary. We’ve been talking about 

internships which are periods of work at companies as a way for students 

or new graduates to get experience in a particular field.

If they are unpaid it can make social mobility very difficult. 

This is the movement from a lower social level to a higher one and 

it’s difficult as poorer candidates can’t afford to work for free.

Yes, the cost rules them out, it excludes them from the opportunity.

What helps is if you have established connections with a company. 

This refers to previous or pre-existing links with a company.

And also if your family is well-connected, if it has 

good connections, 

for example if your father plays golf with the CEO, 

it can open doors, or in other words, 

it can make it easier to get into the company.

So Sam, are you well-connected?

No, only to my smartphone!

Same here – but we still made 

it to BBC Learning English and you can find more from us online, 

on social media and on our app. But for now, that’s all 

from 6 Minute English. See you again soon. Bye bye!

Bye everyone!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. 

I’m Neil. And I’m Georgina.

After working together at BBC Learning English for many 

years, Georgina, you and 

I have a good working relationship, don’t we?

Sure, I think we make a great team!

But have you ever had a boss who you just couldn’t work with?

Oh, you mean a bad boss – someone you just can’t get on with, 

no matter how hard you try. 

Yes, I’ve had one or two over the years – not you of course, Neil!

I'm glad to hear it, Georgina! Often this happens because 

workers feel they aren’t listened to by managers. 

Or it might be because most 

companies are hierarchies - systems of organising people 

according to their level of importance.

Managers on top, workers down below.

But in this programme we hear from companies who’ve got rid 

of managers and say it has helped them do a better job, 

made them happier and saved money.

We’ll meet a self-managing company which isn’t hierarchical and has 

no boss. And of course we’ll be learning some new vocabulary 

along the way.

But first, today’s quiz question. One of the biggest problems 

in hierarchies is the excess cost of management and 

bureaucracy. But how much is that estimated to cost the US economy 

every year? Is it:

a) 3 million dollars, 

b) 3 billion dollar, or c) 3 trillion dollars?

I’ll say c) 3 trillion dollars – that’s one followed by  

twelve zeros - a lot of money!

OK, Georgina, we’ll find out later if you’re right. Now, one of 

the first companies to experiment successfully with self-management 

was Californian tomato grower Morning Star. 

Here’s one of their employees, Doug Kirkpatrick, talking to Dina 

Newman for the BBC World Service programme, People Fixing the World:

The first principle was that human beings should not use force or coercion 

against other human beings. And the second principle was that people should 

keep the commitments they make to each other and so we adopted 

them as pretty much the entire governance of the enterprise.

Because Morning Star has no bosses, decisions are made by all employees 

equally without coercion – the use of force to persuade 

someone to do something they do not want to do.

As self-managers, employees can’t tell other employees what to do. 

Everything is based on requesting someone to act and them responding.

This motivates and empowers workers but also means they must keep 

their commitments - promises or firm decisions to do something 

when requested.

This way of working is great for some – they feel 

listened to and have a voice in how the company is run.

But Dina questions whether this is true for everybody 

working at Morning Star:

Would it be true to say that a self-managed company like 

yours empowers people who are already very good and it 

leaves behind those who are not so good?

I’m not sure I accept the phrase ‘left behind’. There are some 

people who take full advantage of this environment; others 

take less advantage but they do benefit because 

their voice is respected, when they do propose something 

it must be listened to, they are not subject to 

force and coercion and if they don’t act according 

to their commitments they can be held accountable by anyone.

Having no bosses sounds great, 

but the extra responsibility can create more work and stress. 

Different workers respond to this in different ways 

and some employees may be left behind - remain at a lower level 

than others because they are not as quick to develop.

However other workers enjoy managing themselves and take 

full advantage of the system - make good use of the opportunity 

to improve and achieve their goals.

No matter whether employees are good self-managers or not, 

ultimately they are held accountable for their work 

performance – asked to accept responsibility for the 

consequences of their actions.

So, although having no boss sounds good, if things 

go wrong, there’s no-one to blame but yourself!

So maybe we do need those managers after all – which 

reminds me of our quiz question.

You asked me to estimate how much the US economy loses 

in excess bureaucracy and managerial costs every year.

And you said?

c) 3 trillion dollars.

Which was absolutely right! Well done!

And the cost keeps rising because, of course, the more managers 

there are, the more managers you need to manage the managers!

Today we’ve been looking at the world of self-management - 

companies run without bosses, which, unlike most businesses, 

are not based on a hierarchy – system of organising people 

according to their level of importance.

Instead companies like San Francisco’s Morning Star allow employees to 

make their own commitments – promises to act, rather than 

using coercion – or forceful  

persuasion – to get results.

Many employees react positively to this working environment 

and take full advantage of it - make good use of the 

opportunity to progress or achieve their goals.

However, there is a risk that others who are more comfortable 

being managed may get left behind - remain at a lower level than 

others because they are not as quick to improve and adapt.

But whatever their job role or feelings about self-management, 

all workers are held accountable – asked to accept responsibility 

for their performance at work.

Meaning they take can the credit for when things go well…

…but have nobody to hide behind when things go badly!

That’s all from us today, but remember to join us again 

soon for more topical discussion and related vocabulary here at 

6 Minute English, from BBC Learning English.

Bye for now.

Bye.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English with me, Neil.

And me, Sam.

Today, we’re talking rubbish.

Ooh, that’s a bit harsh – I thought it was 

going to be interesting.

I mean our topic is about rubbish, not that we are rubbish.

I see. Do go on.

Thank you. So the amount of waste 

we produce around the world is huge and it’s a growing problem.

But, there are some things that we can do, like recycling. 

Where I live, I can recycle a lot, and I’m always very careful 

to separate - to split my rubbish into paper, 

metal, food, plastic and so on.

But is that enough, even if we all do it? We’ll look a 

little more at this topic shortly, but first, 

as always, a question. Which country recycles 

the highest percentage of its waste? Is it:

A: Sweden B: Germany 

C: New Zealand

What do you think, Sam?

I’m not sure, but I think it could be 

Germany so I’m going to go with that - Germany.

OK. We’ll see if you’re right a little bit later on. 

The BBC radio programme, Business Daily, recently 

tackled this topic. They spoke to Alexandre Lemille, 

an expert in this area. Does he think recycling 

is the answer? Let’s hear what he said.

Recycling is not the answer to waste from an efficient point of 

view because we are not able to get all the waste 

separated properly and therefore treated 

in the background. The main objective of our model 

is to hide waste so we don’t see as urban citizens, 

or rural citizens, we don’t see the waste, 

it is out of sight and therefore out of mind.

What’s his view of recycling?

I was a bit surprised, because he said recycling 

wasn’t the answer. One reason is that it’s 

not always possible to separate waste you can 

recycle from waste you can’t recycle, and that 

makes treating it very difficult. Treating means handling 

it and using different processes, so it can be used again.

And the result is a lot of waste, including 

waste that could be recycled but which is 

just hidden. And as long as we don’t see it, 

we don’t think about it.

And he uses a good phrase 

to describe this – out of sight, out of mind. 

And that’s true, at least for me. 

My rubbish and recycling is collected and I don’t really 

think about what happens to it after that. Is as 

much of it recycled as I think, or is it just buried, 

burned or even sent to other countries? 

It’s not in front of my house, so I don’t really 

think about it – out of sight, out of mind.

Let’s listen again

Recycling is not the answer to waste from an efficient 

point of view because we are not able to get all the waste 

separated properly and therefore treated in the 

background. The main objective of our model is to hide waste 

so we don’t see as urban citizens, 

or rural citizens, we don’t see the waste, it is out of 

sight and therefore out of mind. One possible solution 

to this problem is to develop what is called a circular economy.

Here’s the presenter of Business Daily, Manuela Saragosa,  

explaining what that means.

The idea then at the core of a circular economic and business 

model is that a product, like say a washing machine 

or even a broom, can always be returned to the manufacturer 

to be reused or repaired before then sold on again. The point 

is the manufacturer retains responsibility for the 

lifecycle of the product it produces rather than 

the consumer assuming that responsibility when he or she buys it.

So it seems like a simple idea – though maybe very difficult to do.

Yes, the idea is that the company that makes a product, 

the manufacturer, is responsible for the product, not the 

person who bought it, the consumer.

So, if the product breaks or reaches the end of its 

useful life, its lifecycle, then the manufacturer has to 

take it back and fix, refurbish or have it recycled.

I guess this would make manufacturers try to make 

their products last longer!

It certainly would. Let’s listen again.

The idea then at the core of a circular economic and business 

model is that a product, like say a washing machine or even a 

broom, can always be returned to the manufacturer to be reused 

or repaired before then sold on again. The point is the 

manufacturer retains 

responsibility for the lifecycle of the product 

it produces rather than the consumer assuming 

that responsibility when he or she buys it.

That’s just about all 

we have time for in this programme. Before we recycle the vocabulary …

Oh very good, Neil!

Before we - thank you, Sam - before we recycle the vocabulary, 

we need to get the answer to today’s question. 

Which country recycles the highest percentage of its 

waste? Is it: 

A: Sweden B: Germany 

C: New Zealand Sam, what did you say?

I think it’s Germany.

Well I would like to offer you congratulations because 

Germany is the correct answer. Now let’s go over the vocabulary.

Of course. To separate means to divide or split 

different things, for example, 

separate your plastic from your paper for recycling.

Treating is the word for dealing with, for example, 

recycled waste.

The phrase out of sight, out of mind, means ignoring 

something or a situation you can’t see.

A manufacturer is the person or company that makes something 

and the consumer is the person who buys that thing.

And the length of time 

you can expect a product to work for is known as its lifecycle.

Well the lifecycle of this programme 

is 6 minutes, and as we are there, or thereabouts, 

it’s time for us to head off. Thanks for your company and 

hope you can join us again soon. Until then, there is 

plenty more to enjoy from BBC Learning English online, 

on social media and on our app. Bye for now.

Bye!