The Nurse

 
 
 

Vocabulary

fluent	suggest	pay attention
earn	fiddle (2)	call center
device	run into	afterward
decide	oblivious	classmate
accept	graduate	housekeeper
attend	recruit	domestic (2)
renew	earnings	recruiting agency
apply	boom (2)	classmate
assist	involve	over the phone
cater	put away	holding (2)
hire	indeed	customer
grab	previous	all over the world

 
 
 
 

 
 

Homework

“Do your homework. Study hard. Go to university. Work hard . . . and you will be successful in life.

But if you don’t study, you will be a domestic housekeeper — like me.”

Mariana’s mother would always tell her this whenever she had been watching TV for more than 60 minutes.

And so she did as she was told.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

Medical Profession

Originally Mariana had wanted to become a doctor. But since she could not get accepted to medical school, she instead attended a nursing college.

After graduating, she sought work a at recruiting agency. It placed her in a hospital in Kuwait.

Mariana went there and worked hard. She sent most of her earnings back to her family.

After completing her second, one-year contract she decided to return to her home in Cebu.

The Park

Mariana relaxed for a while, then began looking for another job. But it wasn’t easy.

One day, while walking in a park, she ran into her former classmate, Esther.

Esther told her that she now worked at a call-center in Manila selling electronic devices over the phone to American customers.

She suggested that Mariana work there.

A few days later, she brought her to the center.

The Call Center

Since Mariana could speak English fluently, she got a position in the customer service department. This involved assisting callers who had difficulties with their smart phones, tablets, laptops, phablets or internet connection.

This went on for two years.
 
 

 
 

The Sign

Then during a visit to her aunt in the other side of the city, Mariana saw a sign on a building for a language center.

The following week Mariana applied for a teaching position there.

The school was owned and operated by a Korean holding and catered to Korean students wanting to improve their language skills.

As business was booming, she was hired and began teaching English.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

The iPhone

In her third year at the center, Mariana had a class of teenagers. One of them was always fiddling with his iPhone.

“Kenny, you need to put that away and pay attention! Kenny! Kenny!!!”

But the student continued with his activity, oblivious to her command.

So Mariana came to his desk and grabbed his smart phone and took it out of his hands.

“You need to stop playing World of Warcraft,” she said, then looked at the screen.

It indeed was a game — an English vocabulary game on an English teaching and learning website.

A Laptop

Now for the past eight years, Mariana has taught English through her laptop from her living room desk.

She has completed thousands of hours of online lessons with students from all over the world: Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine.

And she now earns more money than she did in her previous jobs.

 Questions

1. What did Mariana’s mother always tell her?

2. She had always wanted to become a teacher. True or false?

3. For her first job, did she work in her city?

4. Mariana must have loved her first job. Is this right or wrong? What did she do as a result?

5. Did she find another job through a help-wanted ad online? What was her second job?

6. Was Mariana completely satisfied and happy with her second job? Why wasn’t she completely satisfied with her second job?

7. How did she find her third job? Describe her new company.

8. She worked at the language center until she retired. Is this correct or incorrect?

A. Have you or your friends or colleagues changed careers or jobs?

B. Is it normal for people to work at the same company for their entire career, or to change companies or careers?

C. Which jobs are considered desirable or prestigious, and which are undesirable?

D. Would you or your colleagues prefer to work at a company, be a freelancer, or work from home with a computer and internet?

E. What will happen in the future?