Learn English | Study Jobs in the US

Hey guys, I’m here with my niece, Molly,  

and today we’re starting a new series  where we talk about people’s jobs. So  

we’re going to learn some vocabulary related to  certain jobs and of course we’ll study idioms,  

American English pronunciation, and lots of  things about English conversation as we go.

Working in the US or with American companies,  what vocabulary is useful to know? We’re  

studying English, talking about jobs, and of  course we’re going to study idioms and level  

up your advanced vocabulary that’s relevant  to ALL conversational English. Molly’s job  

is photography. What other jobs do you  want me to explore? Let me know in the  

comments. And be sure to download my Sounds  of American English cheat sheet, it’s free,  

it’s an illustrated reference guide for  you for the sounds of American English,  

including the phonetic symbols you need to  know. Link here and in the video description.

Molly, how did you get into wedding photography?  How do you get gigs? How does all that work?

I studied photography in college. I did  not really expect that weddings would be  

the route I would take but I shadowed a wedding  photographer who had her own business and I was  

something that’s called a second shooter, which  is kind of like the assistant. I walk around and  

I help her. When she takes pictures of  the women, I take pictures of the men.

Let’s focus in on some verbs here.

Molly, how did you get into wedding  photography? How do you get gigs?

Get into. A phrasal verb. To start learning about  something. Begin doing a new activity or hobby.  

To express the opposite, we  say, “get out of.” For example,  

I got out of the restaurant business  because it was too stressful.

Another way to use ‘get into’ is to mean you  become very passionate about something, you  

realize you just love it. I’d always liked art,  but I got really into ceramics in high school.  

We can also use the phase “what’s gotten into  you?” to address someone who’s acting strange,  

or a child who is misbehaving a lot. For example,  if I take my kids out to dinner and they’re being  

really loud and obnoxious, I might say, “guys,  what’s gotten into you? Please quiet down.“

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Molly, how did you get into wedding  photography? How do you get gigs?

A gig is a noun that’s a single professional  engagement. You’re not an employee of a company,  

but you’ve gotten hired to do one particular  thing. You’re a contractor. Often we use this  

for musical performances. Our band has a  gig at a club tonight. It can be used for  

any job though, especially one that  has a short or uncertain time frame.  

He’s got a gig lifeguarding at the community pool  this summer. I’ve also heard gig used as a verb.

The singers gigged with some of  the biggest names in the industry.

Here, I’m asking about Molly’s individual events.  

How do people book you to take photos  of their wedding? How do you get gigs?

I studied photography in college. I did not really  

expect that weddings would  be the route I would take.

The route I would take. A route is a course,  a way, a road for travel. She says route with  

the OW as in “now” diphthong, although I do  sometimes hear it route with the OO vowel.  

Mail carriers have a regular route they  take. A city bus has a route you can look  

up. Molly said she didn’t expect that she  would end up photographing weddings. She  

thought she might do something more related  to fine art, but she went the wedding route.

But I shadowed a wedding photographer who  had her own business. I was something that’s  

called a second shooter, which  is kind of like the assistant.

You’ve heard shadow as a noun. When a source  of light is blocked by something, that thing  

casts a shadow. But have you heard shadow as  a verb? This is exactly what it sounds like.  

She shadowed a wedding photographer. Molly walked  around very closely observing this person at work,  

as if Molly herself were the photographer’s  shadow. We use it as a verb especially when  

talking about job shadowing. This is how you  would learn the tasks of a certain position.  

My nephew recently shadowed some  physical therapists since he was  

thinking of going into that field.  Let’s hear that one more time.

But I shadowed a wedding photographer who  had her own business. I was something that’s  

called a second shooter, which  is kind of like the assistant.

Now, as Molly is explaining her  experience being a second shooter,  

listen for the verb tense she uses.

I walk around and I help her. When she takes  pictures of the women, I take pictures of the men.

Did you catch it? Simple present. She’s  speaking in present tense to explain the  

job or tell a story even though she  actually did these actions in the  

past. This is a conversational strategy  we use all the time. It helps make the  

story feel more relevant–kind of like  you’re in it–like it’s happening now.

Then I asked her what her favorite thing  about being a wedding photographer is.

I love being part of people’s big day. I’m right  there. I’m right there when the bride, the groom,  

the grooms, whoever’s getting married, I get to  be right there. I get to see them when they see  

each other for the first time. I get to interact  with their family members. It’s so, so special.

Big day. This is essentially a synonym for  wedding day or graduation day. But you can  

also use it for any life-changing event–even for  a retirement celebration or the birth of a child.  

When’s the big day? The baby’s due October 29.

I get to capture it how I see it. And  the emotions I’m feeling. It’s really  

personal and I like that. And I love the  artistic side of it too. Taking pictures  

of really small details like the flowers  and the rings, and interacting with guests.

Have you used this word?

I get to capture it how I see it.

In the visual arts, like photography,  drawing, filmmaking, “capture” means  

to represent or record something in lasting  form. The movie succeeded in capturing the  

atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s. The  painting captured the subject’s mood.  

Another meaning of this verb is to take by  force. Or gain control over something or  

someone. The police captured the suspect. The army  captured the town. The ad captured our attention.

And I love the artistic side of it too.

She uses the adjective of “art” here. That -ic  ending is the suffix ending that makes a noun an  

adjective. Artist–artistic. Fantasy–fantastic.  History–historic. Economy–economic. Noun,  

adjective. Let me know if you think of others;  write them in the comments below. Also,  

I have an entire course on how suffixes like  -ic affect word stress. Come study with me at  

your own pace at Rachel’s English Academy.com if  you really want to train your American English.

Here’s another use of artistic.

It’s just a cool way to like use like an artistic  eye as kind of a gift to give to other people.

An eye, a way of seeing things. He has a great  eye for fashion. Or, my sister-in-law has a  

good eye for thrifting. She sees something  for sale cheap that she knows she can sell  

for a nice profit online. An artistic eye means  an artistic way of seeing things. She’s able to  

get more artful, beautiful shots than someone  like me, who doesn’t have an artistic eye.

Then I asked Molly what the  hardest part of her work is.

Hardest thing is it is very physical. I’m  on my feet for eight hours. I’m always on.

On my feet. Standing, walking, up  and active. If you’re on your feet,  

you’re moving around. You’re standing all day.

Hardest thing is it is very physical. I’m  on my feet for eight hours. I’m always on.

I’m on all day. This implies on-duty, work,  or doing something official. My husband and  

I also use it to talk about parenting. Hey,  can you be on from 4-5? I’d like to work out.

Now, we’ll hear 5 phrases that you  can use to describe pretty much any  

job where you’re putting in 110%. That is,  you’re working hard and doing your best.

It is high-pressure. You don’t want to miss  anything. And you want to do your best. You’re  

giving a client a product, and you want it  to be up to your own standards of delivering  

a product that you think is good and captures  the mood of the certain event that you’re at.

Right, and there are no  redos; you can’t do it again.

Um-m. Do the cake cut again? No. I’m always  really, that’s the part that I think is the most  

emotionally stressful is I have to get it. And if  I don’t get it, they’re not getting it captured  

by me. Like, maybe a guest has a cell phone out  and they’re taking a picture, but it’s up to me.

it’s high-pressure. It’s stressful. The  outcome depends very much on me and how I  

perform. Something that’s high-pressure  also implies that you have to get it  

right the first time. If you can try  something as many times as you need to,  

then there’s not much pressure. But in  this case, when things only happen once,  

you have to capture it right the first time,  the only time. There is no second chance.

Up to your own standards. Your own level of  quality. Everyone has their own standards.  

They might be high, they maybe not so high, but  you want to make sure you’re meeting your own  

standards so you can feel good about what you’re  doing. We use this with things like work and  

products, but also with relationships. If someone  is always ending relationships because of finding  

flaws, you might say, her standards are too high.  She’s never going to find a perfect partner.

Delivering a product. To finish a task or  product and get it to the person purchasing.  

My video editor should be delivering  the next round of edits by Tuesday.

No redos. Redo, do again. You can’t do it  again, there are no redos. If you mess up,  

that’s too bad. This is where that  high-pressure feeling comes from.

It’s up to me. It’s my job. It’s my  responsibility. If I don’t do it,  

it won’t get done. It’s up to me.

Now, we’re going to move quickly. I’ve  pulled 14 vocabulary terms, phrases,  

or idioms that you can use to discuss  any field of work. I’ll put the phrases  

on-screen as they happen in the conversation,  and then give a brief definition at the end.

So, I have a website. And  it’s kind of word-of-mouth.

Word-of-mouth. Informal, oral communication.  Her advertising is mostly word of mouth.  

She doesn’t pay to run ads. But  people use her for their weddings,  

and then they tell friends  about it. Word of mouth.

I’m not super great at like sharing  beyond that. Marketing yourself.

Marketing yourself. This includes everything  from building your own personal brand to a  

list of potential customers to showcasing what  you do online and in person. Getting your name  

out there. It’s very proactive. This is different  from word-of-mouth where other people are telling  

potential clients about you, you yourself  have to do it. You’re marketing yourself.

How do you make a living at  that kind of photography?

Make a living. To earn the money you need  to pay for housing, food, transportation,  

healthcare and so on. I’m a writer, but  to make a living, I work at a restaurant.

Also, to kind of sustain and support  photographers, a lot of photographers do wedding.

Sustain and support. Here, these words are  synonyms for the idiom, “make a living.”  

Paying for life’s necessities. Their passion may  be nature photography, but they can’t make enough  

money doing that to live, so they pick up wedding  photography to sustain and support themselves.

Or portraits, engagement sessions. A headshot.

A headshot is a photo of someone’s face–especially  

taken for the purpose of promoting that  person in some way professionally. I had  

headshots taken back when I was a singer  going out for various opera auditions.

Wedding photography is a  way to keep yourself going.

Keep yourself going. Another  synonym for “make a living” in  

this case. Pay the bills. You may  have also heard, “make ends meet.”

Wedding photography is a way to  keep yourself going so that you  

can also do some more artistic things on the side.

On the side. Maybe you’ve used this when  ordering food. I’d like the dressing on the  

side. This means I want a salad but I don’t want  the salad dressing mixed in, you want it separate,  

in its own container, on the side. Or, a side  dish. Not your main entree. I’d like a burger  

with a side of onion rings. With work it means,  in addition to, not your main thing. I teach  

kindergarten, but I also babysit a little  on the side. She takes photos at weddings,  

but she also has a photojournalism blog  on the side. It’s not her main work.

I am currently an elementary arts teacher,  so when I’m not shooting weddings, I’m  

teaching children art.

Here, shooting means taking pictures. It  can also mean taking video. In other uses,  

it refers to firing a weapon.

I’ve been able to incorporate a lot  of photography into my elementary  

art lessons. Teaching kids how to hold  cameras, how to use the basic functions,  

that’s been a fun way to kind  of merge both of my interests.

Merge. Combine. Unite. Blend. I love creating  videos and I love accent training. Teaching  

you through Rachel’s English allows  me to merge these two interests.

So when you, I mean at this  point, you’re experienced enough,  

you know exactly what to put in your contract.

Experienced enough. Lived through doing something.  You’ve done it, and you’ve learned through things  

that have gone well, things that have not gone  well. You’ve learned from all of these. It’s  

a way to say that you’re qualified to do  something. You know what you’re doing. Her  

contract covers all the bases–it legally protects  her because she knows what to include in it now.

Do you find it hard pricing stuff and asking for,  

like, what is probably the right  compensation but it feels like a lot?

Pricing stuff. Knowing what to charge,  knowing the market value. Being familiar  

with your competitors’ prices.  Putting a dollar amount on the  

goods and services you offer. This can  be hard. I know for me, starting out,  

it was really hard to know how to price things  like lessons. How do I factor in all my expenses?

Do you find it hard pricing stuff and asking for,  

like, what is probably the right  compensation but it feels like a lot?

Compensation is the noun from the verb  “compensate.” This is the payment or  

reward you receive for putting in work or for  taking a loss. When you’re hired for a new job,  

you’ll get a new compensation package, which  would include things like salary and other  

benefits, like your health insurance  coverage or retirement funds, so on.

It’s definitely a learning curve.  It’s just like any other business.  

You just have to be in it and  you have to talk to your peers.

Right.

Learning curve. The rate of a  person’s progress in gaining  

new skills or experience. The newest  operating system has a steep learning  

curve. It’s taking me a while to  figure out how to use everything.

If you have a regular 9 to 5, you can still  do this on the weekend to make good money,  

and granted you don’t have a life because  now you’re doing this on the weekend.

A regular 9-5. This means a job with  traditional work hours. From 9am until 5pm,  

Monday through Friday. This might be  your schedule if you work in an office,  

for a company. But that’s not at all the  normal schedule for an actor, who works  

mostly nights and weekends, or for someone who  works at a restaurant, for example. 9 to 5.

Awesome! We dug up so many useful terms  to enhance your conversations. Let me  

know which are your favorite. Shout out to  Molly for giving us so much to work with!

Molly, thank you so much for being in my video! I  

really appreciate you sharing  your knowledge and your story.

You’re welcome. It was so fun!

I absolutely love teaching you English here  on YouTube and Facebook. Keep your learning  

going now with this video, and don’t forget to  subscribe with notifications here on YouTube  

or to follow my page on Facebook. If you want to  go beyond learning and move into training, check  

out my online courses at RachelsEnglishAcademy.com  where I take you step by step, through everything  

you need to know to master spoken English  and develop your American voice. I would love  

to have you as my student. That’s it and  thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.