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Julia |
Todd |
Outsource on the Small
Todd and Julia talk about how now many things can be outsourced around the world.
Julia: So Todd, we were talking about outsourcing and how you use these kind of services when you do your website.
Todd: Uh-uh.
Julia: What kind of careers do people follow?
Todd: You know, you can do anything. It's amazing. If you go to oDesk or if you go to Freelancer, anything. I mean they have accounting services, legal services, people that do writing, proof reading, photo editing, video production, voice actors, there's so many jobs that you can buy online or people you can hire online.
Julia: Wow.
Todd: Yeah. And I think it's really cool if you want another career or if you want to travel the world, you know it's an easy way to work from anywhere in the world. So a lot of jobs where you just work from a computer, you know you can do it anywhere. You can go live in Vietnam or you can go live in Argentina and you can do your work there if you can get the work together. So I think it's a great opportunity for a lot of people.
Julia: Yeah, it sounds so flexible and yeah, brilliant. My mother is a tailor, she's a qualified tailor, could she do that? Could she outsource or does it have to be an online service?
Todd: Yeah, I think it pretty much has to be any white collar job. It has to be basically something that you would do with a computer. You know you might be able to, like you might be able to get a contract and then maybe ship people the work or whatever. I think if you were going to do that, what you would want to do is you probably can get stuff by using Google, Google AdSense, you know, or AdWords, I can't remember which is which, but you can place ads let's say in Google so you can drum up business anywhere in the world. So like for example if your mom wanted to go live in Cuba what she could do is place ads, Google ads, and maybe she can get tailoring work and do it from Cuba and then maybe send, you know, send the products to people around the world via shipping. So, yeah, I guess you could. So how about you? Would you be into that? Would you be interested in having a digital life and just living anywhere in the world?
Julia: Well, I'm a yoga instructor so my work involves being generally in the same room. I guess you could do something online with it but I like, I'm a people person, I like to interact with people so I think I'd find it quite lonely working. I appreciate that it would be good for traveling, like if you wanted to go live somewhere really exotic and not do a nine-to-five job, I could imagine it for short term maybe but I like working with people face-to-face so I'd find it a bit lonely I think.
Todd: Yeah. I know what you mean. I know what you mean.
voice actor
You can find voice actors online.
A 'voice actor' is a person who records his voice for commercials or something where you don't see his face. Notice the following:
- You have such a great voice that I think you could be a
voice actor.
- He's a voice actor for commercial, so that's why you recognize his voice.
brilliant
It sounds flexible and brilliant.
'Brilliant' is a very common word in British English to mean great or fantastic. In U.S. English it means intelligent. Notice the following:
- His parties area always brilliant.
- That's a brilliant idea. Why didn't I think of that?
tailor
My mother is a qualified tailor. Is outsourcing something
she could do?
A 'tailor' is a person who makes new clothes or makes changes to already made clothes. Notice the following:
- Can you recommend a great tailor in the area'
- A tailor actually made this dress.
ship
You might be able to get a contract and then ship people
the work.
You are 'shipping' something when you send it in the mail or using a package company. Notice the following:
- It takes a few days for the shoes to be shipped here.
- It must be really expensive to ship a box like that home.
interact
I'm a yoga instructor, so I have to interact with people.
'Interacting' with other people involves having a conversation with them. Notice the following:
- The best way to learn about a different culture is to
interact with the people.
- Facebook is a good way for people to interact on the internet.
lonely
It might be quite lonely working with a computer all the
time.
You feel 'lonely' when you are by yourself, but you want to be with other people. Notice the following:
- Do you ever get lonely when you are traveling?
- My cat gets lonely when she is left alone all day.
face-to-face
I like working with people face-to-face.
Working with people 'face-to-face' means physically being in the same room and being able to see each other. Notice the following:
- We've talked many times on the phone, but it's very nice
to meet face to face.
- It's difficult for me to speak another language on the phone. I prefer to be face-to-face.
Vocabulary Quiz
ship • interact • lonely
face-to-face
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About the Teacher / Creator
Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
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