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

BBC Learning English

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Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

In this programme, we're going to be

talking about the world of work.

Ah yes, travelling to an office

five days a week, sitting at a desk

all day, and then going home.

Neil, it's not always like that.

Office work doesn't have to be such a

routine - the usual, fixed

way of doing things -

it is much more

flexible these days.

That's true. During the pandemic,

we've all had to have

a more flexible approach to work.

And it has, perhaps, changed our attitude

to working flexibly.

But even before coronavirus there was an

opportunity to work flexibly,

and we'll be discussing that soon.

But there's one thing that

can't be changed and that's you

setting a quiz question!

Ah yes, I hadn't forgotten.

So, Neil, I know you work very hard.

But according to data from

the Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development -

workers from which country work

the longest hours?

Is it... a) South Korea,

Well, as I'm not on the list,

let's go for c) Mexico.

OK, Neil, we'll find out if that's right

at the end of the programme.

But let's talk more about

flexible working now.

Different countries have different laws

about working flexibly...

but here in the UK, for last 14 years,

employees - workers -

have had the right to request

flexible working.

But what does it mean to work flexibly?

Sarah Jackson is a workplace

consultant and visiting professor at

Cranfield University School of Management.

She spoke to BBC Radio 4's

Woman's Hour programme

about what it means exactly...

Because of the pandemic, now

everybody thinks flexible working

means working from home -

it doesn't, it's about common sense,

what does the job need in terms of

when where, how long,

and what do you need and

what does your family - need

and how do the two match?

So, flexibility really means

having some choice and control

over when, where and how

long you work, and agreeing

that with your manager.

So, flexible working is not just

working from home -

something we've got used to

during the pandemic.

It is about common sense - using our

judgment to make sensible decisions.

So, requesting to work for two

hours a day is not sensible -

but being able to work

from 12 until 8 instead of 9 to 5

Of course, this depends on the needs of

And as Sarah said, you need to match

your needs with that of the business.

Match here means to work

equally on both sides.

Getting the working conditions

that suit you does require

some negotiation with your manager.

You need agreement from him or her -

and that can be difficult if

your manager is inflexible -

not willing to change.

But of course, in the UK at least,

an employee has a

right to request flexible working,

be considered by the employer.

This law initially was just for parents

with a child younger than

or a disabled child less than 18.

But since 2014,

everyone has the right to request

flexible working.

And that includes men.

Which is an important point, as

Sarah Jackson explains.

Fewer men seem to have their requests

for flexible working accepted -

let's find out why.

Men, when they do ask,

are more likely to be turned down,

so there's a real bias there in the system

and the most important thing

that needs to happen here, I think,

is for employers to

really actively start saying to their men,

'we know you want to be active fathers' -

because there's a whole generation of young men

who do want to be active fathers -

'please use the right to request

flexible working', work flexibly if you can -

because until men are

enabled to be active fathers,

we won't get equality at home and we

certainly won't get equality in the workplace either.

OK, so men are more likely to

have their request turned down - or rejected.

And Sarah says there is a

bias in the system - unfairness,

treating one group of people more

favorably than another.

And this is unfair because it can

prevent some men being active fathers -

actually being involved with childcare.

But having more active fathers can

lead to equality - or fairness - at

home and in the workplace.

It sounds like something that

needs to be looked at.

let's get the answer to my question.

According to official data,

in which country do workers work

the longest hours?

And I said Mexico.

Which is correct, well done!

According to the OECD,

the average Mexican spends

2,255 hours at work per year -

the equivalent of around 43 hours per week.

Germans, on the other hand,

clock up the fewest hours.

Well, my working day is nearly over,

so let's just recap some of the vocabulary

we've discussed.

Starting with routine -

the usual, fixed way of doing things.

Common sense is our judgment to

make sensible decisions.

When you need something to match it

has to work equally on both sides.

And when someone is inflexible,

they are unwilling to change -

sometimes we say they won't budge!

Bias is unfairness, treating one

group of people more favorably than another.

And being active with something

means being involved with it.

Well, there's no flexibility in our 6 minutes

so we're out of time.

We have plenty more 6 Minute English

programmes to enjoy on our website

at bbclearningenglish.com.

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Don't forget that

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We help you learn English on the move!

Grammar, vocabulary and interesting topics -

we have them all!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

Have you got a 'business brain', Sam?

Would you like to start your own business?

It sounds good, Rob.

I like the idea of being my own boss.

Well, that's the dream for many

millennials - the name given to the

current generation of young people

aged between 24 and 38.

Some of the millennial generation are

dissatisfied with the old ways of doing things,

for example how big business uses

data from social media and the negative

impact of companies on society

and the environment.

In today's programme, we'll look

at why millennials are so attracted

to starting their own businesses

and asking whether this really is

the way to make the world a better place.

And of course, we'll be learning some new

vocabulary on the way.

But first, it's time for today's quiz question.

At 79 years old, Muhammad Yunus

is hardly a millennial but he's a hero

to many young business people.

In 2006 he won the Nobel Peace Prize,

Was it for: a) offering microfinance

to low-income businesses,

b) starting the first business

to earn £1m in under a week,

or c) developing a progressive

model of taxation.

Hmmm, I know millennials

like starting businesses

b) earning £1m in under a week.

OK. We'll find out later if you were right.

Now, whether it's TV shows like

'The Apprentice' or the big success of

companies in California's Silicon Valley,

the last decade saw a huge growth

in 20 and 30-year-olds starting their

own businesses.

BBC World Service programme

The Why Factor asked business professor,

Ethan Mollick to explain how

this situation came about...

There's all these platforms that let you

build entrepreneurial ventures

much more easily.

The growth of things like crowdfunding

have helped make entrepreneurship

more accessible and led to tons of

So there's a lot of new methods

for launching businesses and the cost of

launching new businesses dropped at

Ethan lists some of the reasons why it's

now easier to become an entrepreneur -

someone who starts their own business,

often after seeing a new opportunity.

Entrepreneurs see opportunities for

products and services not being supplied by

existing companies, so they create

start-ups newly formed businesses

intended to grow rapidly by

providing for a particular market gap.

One of the main problems to starting

up your own business

used to be getting the large

amounts of money needed,

but nowadays this can be solved

with crowdfunding -

getting the funding for a new business

by asking a large number of people to

give small amounts of money,

usually via the internet.

But while start-up success stories

have made going into business

a good option, for many millennials

it's not just about making money but also about

being socially responsible and doing good.

However, others argue that most big changes

for the better have come from governments

not millennial businesses.

Here, former World Bank economist, Charles Kenny,

cautions against over-emphasizing

individual business over governments...

If you are working in a place with a corrupt and

inefficient government, one of the best ways you

can push development in your country is to

try and make that problem a little bit better.

It's not something that any one individual

can do, it has to be a collective effort,

but the more we have young,

committed, smart people who want to make

the world a better place working in government,

the more likely government is

to start delivering the kind of services

we need in order to ensure a high quality of life

in that country.

So, Charles mentions the problem

that governments can be corrupt -

act in morally wrong or illegal ways,

often in return for money or power.

The talent and passion that millennials

put into starting their own business

could instead be used to improve governments

through collective effort -

a group of people acting together

to achieve a common goal.

It's this working together that can raise

people's quality of life -

level of personal satisfaction and comfort.

Something that Muhammad Yunus was doing.

Ah yes, that's today's quiz question.

I asked you why Muhammad Yunus

won the Nobel Prize in 2006.

I said that, b) he started

the first business to earn £1m

in under a week.

But in fact it was a) offering

microfinance to low-income businesses -

a way for anyone, rich or poor,

to run a business in a positive way.

Today, we've been talking about

why young people in the millennial generation

want to be entrepreneurs -

people who start their own business.

Many millennials create start-ups -

newly formed businesses intended to grow

rapidly using a method called crowdfunding -

getting the funding for their new business

by asking large numbers of people

on the internet to each

give a little bit of money.

But it's not only about making profits.

Millennial start-ups can help solve

many of the developing world's problems,

instead of governments which may be corrupt -

acting immorally or illegally

for money or power.

What's needed more than individual

businessmen and women is collective effort -

a group of people acting together

to achieve a common goal.

And one important goal is

to improve the quality of life -

the level of satisfaction

and comfort that a person or group enjoys.

That's all from us today.

But remember to join us again soon

for more topical discussion

and vocabulary.

Hello and welcome to

6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Now Sam, how would you define eSports?

eSports? Well this is essentially

competitive video gaming.

Individuals and teams take part in competitions

where they play video games.

So just like me and my kids

at the weekend?

Well, no! eSports is enormous

tens of thousands of people turn up to

watch these events.

The players are professional and get paid

huge salaries - the best ones are millionaires.

Well, maybe i'm not quite in that league yet!

But the business of eSports is our

topic for this programme.

Before we press 'play' on the subject

though, a question.

Approximately how much was generated

by eSports and video games in the last year?

Was it... a) $130 million?

b) $13 billion?

or, c) $130 billion?

What do you think then Sam?

I'm going to say $130 billion.

It's a huge amount, but I think it's that

successful at the moment.

OK, we'll find out if you're right

at the end of the programme.

Not so long ago the idea of

making a living playing computer games

would have seemed impossible.

However, times have changed as technology

eSports are even going to be included in

the 2022 Asian Games.

So it might not be long before they

make an appearance at the Olympics.

Gabriël Rau is a pro-eSportsman.

He was interviewed for the BBC

programme In Business.

He thinks eSports are going to grow

and grow, but does he think that's

It's becoming more of a normal

sports thing with this generation

about to have children and moving forward

I feel like it might even become a staple.

Might become as normal as sports

I don't think it

necessarily has to be a bad thing.

it is time-consuming though,

so I feel like, if you do want to

introduce anybody, especially children,

in the video games, discipline

is the way to go.

So is the growth of eSports a bad thing?

Not, according to Gabriël.

He thinks that people having children

now have grown up with computer games

and these are beginning to be seen

in the same way as traditional sports.

In fact, he thinks they will become a staple.

And what does he mean by that?

Something that is a staple is a

basic element, something we expect.

For example, in the UK

we talk about potatoes

being a staple food

and football being a staple of the

school curriculum.

But he does mention a disadvantage,

Yes. He speaks quite quickly

but he says that it is time-consuming.

It eats up a lot of time!

Oh yes, I know that from my

own experience.

I can start playing a game and then

find that many hours have passed

and it's the middle of the night.

And that's why Gabriël goes on to

talk about the need for discipline.

This is having strict controls

and restrictions and importantly

sticking to them.

So, for example if you say

you're only going to play for an hour

every day, you have to stop playing

after an hour, even if you want to carry on.

That's discipline.

And he makes the point that

this is important if you're introducing

children to video games.

Not everyone involved in eSports

wants to be a player.

It's now possible to study the

business of eSports university

where you can learn how to

manage eSports events.

These are the thoughts of a student

on one of those courses talking about

her response to seeing a big eSports event.

When you look at the background of

how it all comes together

and the the people that spend

all that time getting into it,

for me I would love to put something

like that together, not so much

play it but to put that together

and create that

experience for other people

and that was just my main

aspiration really.

So she doesn't want to play does she?

No she doesn't.

She seems more interested in

putting together an event,

which means setting up

and managing an event for others

to take part in.

That she said, was her aspiration,

Right, before we review the vocabulary,

let's have the answer to our quiz question.

Approximately how much was generated

by eSports and video games in the last year?

a) $130 million?

b) $13 billion? or c) $130 billion?

What did you say, Sam?

I thought $130 billion.

And, for once, you're right so

The actual figure was approximately

$137 billion, which is more than the

music industry when you include music

sales and concerts.

Right on now to remind ourselves of

some words and phrases

from today's programme.

Yes, we've been looking at eSports,

the world of competitive video gaming.

We heard that it was becoming so normal

that it might become a staple,

an expected basic activity in the

same way sports like football are.

playing video games is very

time-consuming.

It eats up a lot of time.

So you need to have discipline.

That means you need to have

and keep to restrictions such as the

length of time you play or the

time of day you play.

That is particularly important for children.

If you organize an event,

you can say that you put it together.

And your ambition, your hope for the future

is an aspiration.

And my aspiration is to beat my

high score on my favourite game,

so are we done now, Neil?

Yes, it's game over for today.

We'll see you again soon and don't

forget to look out for more from the BBC

Learning English team online,

on social media and on our app.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

And I'm Georgina.

If you've ever done shopping

online, then you may well have

used the internet giant, Amazon.

From its origins as an online bookstore,

Amazon has grown into grocery deliveries,

TV and music streaming and

even space exploration, making its founder,

Jeff Bezos, the richest person on earth.

Amazon is so successful it affects

how many of us live our lives,

so in this program we'll be taking a look

inside the brain of Jeff Bezos

to find out how he thinks.

When Jeff Bezos's friends talk about him,

three words they often use are:

invention, risk-taking

and long-term vision.

These are qualities which Bezos

admired in his grandfather, Lawrence,

who from an early age taught

Jeff that by careful thinking,

any problem can be solved.

As a boy, Jeff and his grandfather

repaired an old broken down truck.

When interviewed today,

Bezos sometimes compares Amazon

very heavy, but impossible to

stop when it rolls downhill -

which is exactly what accidentally

happened one day!

But do you know how the story ends, Georgina?

That's my quiz question.

What happened when the young

Jeff Bezos's car accidentally rolled downhill?

Was it: a) Jeff jumped in and

pulled the handbrake?

b) Jeff's grandad lost a thumb?

or, c) Jeff's hair fell out?

Well, Jeff Bezos is bald so maybe

it's c) his hair fell out.

We'll find out later.

As a company, Amazon has been

remarkably strong: it survived the

dot com crash of 2000

and saw profits jump during the Covid

pandemic as more and more people

started shopping online.

Retail analyst, Natalie Berg,

thinks Amazon's success is due

to its customer strategy

as she explains to BBC

Radio 4 programme, 'Seriously':

Jeff Bezos applied this concept

to Amazon by relentlessly focusing on

customers, by putting them at the

heart of the business - that that

would attract more customers,

more traffic to its site

which would in turn attract more sellers,

which would mean a greater selection

for customers, which again

would enhance the customer experience.

Natalie thinks that Amazon put

customers at the heart of their business -

in other words, they make customers

the most important part.

This improves Amazon's customer

experience - a customer's total perception

of their experience with a business,

including such things as the quality of

service and support if something goes wrong.

Customers can write reviews on

Amazon's website and happy customers

means more web traffic -

the number of people visiting

a particular website.

In the difficult years following the

dot com crash, Jeff Bezos started

Market Place where other sellers compete

with Amazon's own products.

More sellers brought more customers

which in turn brought down prices.

Then in 2013, Bezos bought The

Washington Post.

And in 2019 he launched his

space exploration company, Blue Origin,

to explore mineral resources on Mars.

Most recently, Jeff Bezos

has set his sights on even bigger

things - saving the future of the planet!

Bezos chose Tom Rivet-Carnac

of the environmental group, Global Optimism,

to help Amazon meet climate initiative

goals aimed at slowing climate change.

Here is Tom Rivet-Carnac

telling David Baker, presenter of BBC

Radio 4's Seriously, about

his conversation with Jeff Bezos:

It did seem to me that it was a

legacy issue for him, that

he wanted to be on the right side of history.

And you don't think it's just

greenwashing in the end?

How do you define that?

I mean, would you define greenwashing

if you said somebody got into this issue

because they wanted to improve

a reputation of a company or an individual?

Actually, that's fine. Right?

As long as they do something

meaningful and deliver a major outcome.

Protecting the planet is what

Jeff Bezos wants to be part

of his legacy - the achievements of his

life that will continue after he dies.

In other words, Bezos wants to be

on the right side of history -

judged to have acted correctly

or morally by future generations.

Ultimately though, it's real

action on climate change

that counts, not just greenwashing.

Do you know this new expression, Georgina?

Well, I know that whitewashing

means trying to hide the truth

about something.

Right - so greenwashing means

trying to make people believe that

your company is doing more to protect

the environment than it really is.

Well, with so many achievements

already behind him, I'm sure

Jeff has made his grandparents

very proud - which reminds me of

your quiz question, Neil.

Ah yes, I asked Georgina

what happened when the car

Jeff Bezos and his grandad, Lawrence were

fixing accidentally rolled downhill.

I thought it was c)

that Jeff lost all his hair.

No, you were wrong, I'm

afraid Georgina.

The correct answer was that b) -

his grandfather lost his thumb.

let's recap the vocabulary,

starting with customer experience -

a customer's feelings about their

experience with a business.

If you put something at the heart of

things, you make it the most important part.

Web traffic is the number of people

visiting a website.

Your legacy means all your life

achievements that will continue after

Someone who is on the right side

of history will be judged positively

by future generations.

And finally, greenwashing is when you

pretend that your company

is doing more to protect

the environment than it really is.

That's all for our peek

inside the brain of the world's richest man.

Join us again next time

when we'll be discussing another

trending topic. Bye for now!

Hello and welcome to

6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

This is programme where in just

six minutes we discuss an interesting topic

and teach some related English vocabulary.

Joining me to do this is Rob.

Now Rob, we know your main job

is to work here at BBC Learning English

but do you have a second job?

There's no time for two jobs

Neil, but if there was, I think I'd

take photographs and sell them.

I do love photography so i might as well make

some money from it.

Good thinking, Rob!

And having a second job,

particularly one that involves using your

skills and allows you to follow

your interests, is called a side hustle.

Yes, a side hustle.

It's something more and more of us are

involved with these days.

And that's what we'll be talking about

Well, my side hustle should

be quiz master,

because i'm always asking questions

and today is no exception.

According to the employee ratings website

Glassdoor, which job is thought to be the

best to have in the UK this year?

Is it a) a software engineer,

b) a teacher, or,

c) an audit manager.

Hmm, well, I suspect b) a teacher.

Well, you'll just have to wait until

the end of the programme to find out.

But let's talk more about side

hustles - or a second job.

For some people having two

jobs is a necessity - a

way to make ends meet.

That means 'having just enough

money to pay for the things you

That's true but it now seems that

more people want to put their skills and

passions into practice to make

According to research by Henley Business

School around one in four

workers run at least one side-hustle

business, half of which were started in

the past two years.

Those aged 25 to 34 are most likely

to be involved with 37%

thought to run a sideline of some kind.

A sideline also describes an extra

job you do alongside your main job.

BBC Radio 5 Live spoke to someone whose

side hustle was so satisfying

that it turned into her day job.

Here is Elspbeth Jackson,

founder of Ragged Life, to explain why:

It's a different environment entirely because

you're leaving essentially a very

regular wage that you'd get

the same amount in month after month,

you can put aside savings,

the same amount every month

and you have that certain amount of security.

But now I don't think I could go back

to one of these big companies because

you'd essentially be sacrificing the flexibility,

which is something I've become very

accustomed to now.

Things have worked out well for Elspeth.

But there were risks - for example,

leaving behind the security - the safety -

of a regular job and of course, a regular income.

Elspeth liked making rag rugs.

This has given her flexibility in her life

and returning to work at a big company would

be sacrificing that.

That means 'giving something up

or going without it'.

And for Elspeth, her side hustle

has become a full-time job

and she's become accustomed to

It's become familiar or normal.

The BBC also spoke to Becci Mae Ford,

who works some of the time

for a telecommunications company

to pay the bills, but spends the rest

of her time developing her own

crafting company Ellbie Co.

How did she find having two jobs?

I think it just gives me creative balance,

and obviously working for the telecoms firm,

it gets me out of the house

and gets me to meet people in a

social environment.

It can be difficult to juggle the

two though definitely.

It's definitely a grind.

It's a lot harder than people think

it's going to be.

So Becci implies that it's not

always easy to have a side hustle.

The benefit for her is the creative

balance - a good mix of doing

office-based work, regular tasks and

a routine with working creatively, making

things and getting pleasure from it.

But juggling - or balancing these two

things is difficult and she described her

side hustle as sometimes being a

grind - hard work, tiring

and occasionally boring.

But overall, it does make her happy.

Now something that would make me

happy is to give you the answer to today's

Earlier I asked you, according

to the employee ratings website Glassdoor,

which job is thought to be the best

to have in the UK this year?

Is it... a) a software engineer,

b) a teacher, or, c) an audit manager?

Yes and I said b) a teacher -

always the best job in the world!

Sadly not, Rob.

Apparently, it is c) an audit manager

that is considered to be the best job to

have this year.

Audit managers are responsible

for organizing and overseeing internal audits.

The result was based on three factors:

average annual base salary,

the current number of job openings,

and job satisfaction, according

to ratings shared by employees on

the website over the past 12 months.

So sounds like an interesting job

for a side hustle, but

before I head off for a career change,

let's remind ourselves of the main vocabulary

we've discussed, starting with

to 'make ends meet'.

When we make ends meet we

have just enough money to pay for the

things we need.

Next, we mentioned a sideline,

which describes an extra job you do

alongside your main job.

Then we had sacrificing that means

giving up something important or

'going without something'.

Accustomed is a word to mean

'usual or normal'.

If you get accustomed to doing something,

it becomes the normal way of doing it -

it becomes familiar.

We also talked about the expression

'creative balance'.

That describes getting the best mix of

doing creative and uncreative tasks.

And finally, 'grind' describes doing

something that is tiring, difficult,

sometimes boring and involves lots of effort.

Well this program has not been

It's been six minutes of pleasure.

Don't forget you can learn more

English with us on our website

bbclearningenglish.com.