Unit 21: Welcome to your new job
Indirect questions
Select a unit
- 1Nice to meet you!
- 2What to wear
- 3Like this, like that
- 4The daily grind
- 5Christmas every day
- 6Great achievers
- 7The Titanic
- 8Travel
- 9The big wedding
- 10Sunny's job hunt
- 11The bucket list
- 12Moving and migration
- 13Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
- 14New Year, New Project
- 15From Handel to Hendrix
- 16What's the weather like?
- 17The Digital Revolution
- 18A detective story
- 19A place to live
- 20The Cult of Celebrity
- 21Welcome to your new job
- 22Beyond the planets
- 23Great expectations!
- 24Eco-tourism
- 25Moving house
- 26It must be love
- 27Job hunting success... and failure
- 28Speeding into the future
- 29Lost arts
- 30Tales of survival
Session 1
Everybody remembers the feeling of being new - either the first day at school or university, or starting a new job. In this session, we're going to watch Amith's first day at work with BBC Learning English. He's quite nervous, and some things don't go according to plan! You'll hear some useful language for politely asking for information.
Activity 2
Being polite at work
How to have a good first day at work
We've seen some pictures from Amith's first day at work, and we've found out about his problems. How is he going to solve them? You can find out in this video. While you're watching, listen out for the expressions Amith uses to ask for information and help.
Here's a question for you to answer about the video: Has Amith still got any problems at the end of the day?
Watch the video and try the activity

Voiceover
Young, up-and-coming actor Amith Rahman is today working with the Learning English team at BBC Broadcasting House. He's sure it's going to be an interesting day.
Interviewer
Amith. Hi. How are you this morning?
Amith
Yeah. Good, good. Not bad. It's a bit unusual really. I'm normally acting, but today I'm working with the BBC Learning English team. I hope they're nice.
Interviewer
So, could you tell us if you're feeling nervous at all?
Amith
Nervous? I'm always a little bit nervous when I start a new job. We'll see. We'll see.
Interviewer
OK. Good luck. Have a nice day.
Amith
Hello. I'm trying to get to the sixth floor. Do you know where the lift is?
Security guard
Yes. It's through this door and it's on your left there.
Amith
Thank you.
Amith
Hi. Er, sorry, it's my first day. Do you know if this computer is free?
Harry
Yeah. Sure. You can sit there.
Amith
Thanks. (Sits down) Er, what was your name?
Catherine
Catherine.
Amith
Could you tell me what I do to log on to the computer?
Catherine
Yeah. Just put your username and password in.
Amith
How do I log on again?
Harry
You type your name there and type your password there.
Interviewer
Amith. How's it going so far?
Amith
They got my name wrong on the computer system. Look at this email address. I mean, it's Amith with an 'i' and Rahman with an 'h'.
Interviewer
Well. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Amith
(On the phone) Well, I mean, I've been trying to sort this out for ages. Have you any idea how long it will take? How long will it take?
Interviewer
So, Amith. How are you getting on with things?
Amith
Yeah, it's been a great day. And I managed to fix my computer problem. Er, do you know where the printer is? Thanks.
Amith found the lift, logged on and sorted out his computer problems. He also found the printer, so all his problems were solved!
To do
Now let's look at how Amith asked for information and help. Here are some of the questions that he asked - but was he being polite?
Polite or not?
6 Questions
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Watch what Amith says to the security guard in receptionድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
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Amith says 'excuse me' just before asking this question, so do you think it's polite?ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Catherine, who Amith asks this question, is his boss - would he be polite?ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Compare this question to 'What do I do to log on?'ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Amith is trying to sort out his problem on the phone - would he be polite or not?ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Is Amith getting annoyed by this point? Is he less likely to be polite?Question 1 of 6
polite
not so polite
Excellent!Great job!መጥፎ እድል ነጥብ አስመዝግበዋል :
Polite or not?
6 Questions
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Watch what Amith says to the security guard in receptionQuestion 1 of 6
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Amith says 'excuse me' just before asking this question, so do you think it's polite?Question 2 of 6
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Catherine, who Amith asks this question, is his boss - would he be polite?Question 3 of 6
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Compare this question to 'What do I do to log on?'Question 4 of 6
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Amith is trying to sort out his problem on the phone - would he be polite or not?Question 5 of 6
ድጋፍ
Activity
Decide whether the questions Amith asked were polite or not so polite
ፍንጭ
Is Amith getting annoyed by this point? Is he less likely to be polite?Question 6 of 6
Excellent!Great job!መጥፎ እድል ነጥብ አስመዝግበዋል :
Next
Amith asked polite questions... most of the time! We'll take a closer look at polite questions in Session 2. Now it's 6 Minute Vocabulary. This time it's all about phrases like 'look for' and 'log on': Rob and Catherine take a look at the wonderful world of multi-word verbs.
Session Vocabulary
up-and-coming
making good progress soon after starting something, and likely to become successfullog on
start using a computer, usually by typing a special name and passwordusername
a name you use to identify yourself on a computer, network or online service