Episode 0253

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My name is Catherine and today we've got one more episode in our series about interview skills. This is an elementary level series and we're here today to talk about things that you might not be very good at.

That's right. Today we're going to talk about weaknesses and that is our word for vocabulary preview. So let's take a look at it now.

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Vocabulary preview.

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Okay, so what is a weakness?

A weakness is a thing or an activity or something that you're just not very good at or something that you think you can improve.

Okay, so obviously no one is perfect and like we saw in the previous lesson, we had a lot of good things about ourselves, key strengths. And now we're going to talk about our weaknesses, maybe you're a little bit lazy, that might be a weakness.

That's right. So weakness is the opposite of strength and that is the topic today. So let's take a listen to today's dialogue.

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Okay, Rebecca. Well, I think you've given me a clear impression of your positive qualities, but let's talk a little bit about your weaknesses.

Okay. Well, it's always more difficult to describe them, isn't it?

Definitely. But if you had to pinpoint one weakness, what would it be?

Well, as I mentioned before, I do tend to get frustrated if I don't see progress in my work or career. I suppose I'm quite a restless character. My father always taught me to be a high achiever, so...

So would you say if things don't go your way at work, it could easily get you down?

Well, in a way, yes. But I must say that even if I'm not completely happy in my work, I always give 110%. I would never shirk my responsibilities. I suppose sometimes I expect too much too soon.

Well, you know, journalism is a highly competitive world, so you do need to keep pushing yourself. It's true.

Okay, well, let's move on and talk about the job position here, shall we?

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All right, we're back. So obviously Rebecca did a very good job at talking about her weaknesses in a very positive way. So, before we get into analyzing that, why don't we take a look at a couple of words she used on language takeaway?

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Language takeaway.

One of the first words that Mr. Parsons used was a clear impression. So impression.

All right, so I think this is a very common word when people talk about first impressions or I get the impression. So what is an impression?

Well, an impression is like an idea or a feeling. So I can have an impression about something. It means that I don't necessarily understand it really well or I don't have experience with it, but it's it's an idea that I have about something.

That's right. So for example, maybe you meet somebody new and you say, I get the impression that he is a liar.

But maybe then you get to know him and he's not. So this is your this is your idea about something or the way you feel about something. So, in this case, Mr. Parsons has a clear impression of her positive qualities. That means that he has an idea or an understanding of the things that Rebecca is good at, but he wants to know more about her weaknesses.

That's right. And Mr. Parsons asked her to try and pinpoint one of her weaknesses. So this word to pinpoint.

This is a great word. I'm not really sure where it comes from in English, but I think it's very visual. You can see what the word means. Uh pinpoint means to to locate or identify or really be specific about something.

That's right. So maybe if you go to the doctor and you say that your back hurts, the doctor might ask you to try and pinpoint where on your back you have the pain.

That's right. So it's a way to be specific or very exact about something.

Okay, so if she had to pinpoint something, she said, well, I do get a little bit frustrated.

Okay, so frustrated is a way you feel. I feel frustrated. He is frustrated. It's a it's basically a feeling that you get when you have to do something, but you don't think you can do it or maybe something annoys you and you get frustrated. Um, for example, when people tap like this. And I'm working, I get frustrated because it's a distraction. So everyone has different things that frustrate them.

Now, if we take a look at this word, it is actually an adjective and we usually use it, you get frustrated or as you said, you feel frustrated. So remember, it may look like a verb, but it's actually an adjective that ends in ED, frustrated to get frustrated.

He got frustrated or we feel very frustrated.

Okay. And uh well, apart from being frustrated, she also said that she is a restless character.

Okay, so someone is restless if they don't like to stay in one place all the time. That means someone who wants to move around or to go places or to travel or to see new things is restless.

That's right. So she has a restless character, that means she likes to move around. She doesn't like to stand still in one place.

Maybe she gets bored very easily.

Mm-hm. Okay, so that's somebody that would be restless. But uh moving on, she also said that she doesn't like to shirk her responsibilities.

Okay, you often hear these words go together. So responsibilities are things that we need to do, right? Uh things that other people expect us to do. Uh to shirk a responsibility means to to not do something that you're supposed to do. It means to avoid responsibility or to to push it away.

Okay, so it's a verb to shirk your responsibilities. You shouldn't shirk your responsibilities.

That's right.

All right, so a lot of interesting keywords there. Why don't we listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back with fluency builder.

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Okay, Rebecca. Well, I think you've given me a clear impression of your positive qualities, but let's talk a little bit about your weaknesses.

Okay. Well, it's always more difficult to describe them, isn't it?

Definitely. But if you had to pinpoint one weakness, what would it be?

Well, as I mentioned before, I do tend to get frustrated if I don't see progress in my work or career. I suppose I'm quite a restless character. My father always taught me to be a high achiever, so...

So would you say if things don't go your way at work, it could easily get you down?

Well, in a way, yes. But I must say that even if I'm not completely happy in my work, I always give 110%. I would never shirk my responsibilities. I suppose sometimes I expect too much too soon.

Well, you know, journalism is a highly competitive world, so you do need to keep pushing yourself. It's true.

Okay, well, let's move on to talk about the job position here, shall we?

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So we've picked out three key phrases for you on fluency builder. Let's take a look at those now. Uh starting with Mr. Parsons saying, so would you say if things don't go your way at work, it could easily get you down? Two great phrases there.

That's right. So the first phrase, if things don't go your way. So this is kind of a funny phrase when you think about it because they go your way, like to me or what is my way? This basically means if things do not happen in a way that makes you happy or in a way that you expect.

Mm-hm.

Okay, so we could say, he lost his job, he couldn't pay his bills. Things just didn't go his way.

That's right. So things are not uh happening as he planned or as he expected.

Okay, very good. So if things are going your way, it's good. If things aren't going your way, then it's bad.

That's right.

Okay, and uh so if things aren't going Rebecca's way, does that mean that it could easily get her down?

Okay, so to get you down or to get someone down means to make you sad, upset, or frustrated like that, where we just heard. So, um you could ask someone like, Marco, what gets you down?

Uh rainy days.

So it's kind of a way of saying what makes you sad or depressed or what makes you unhappy?

Or in this case, if something doesn't happen as you planned it, if it doesn't go your way, does that make you sad? Does that get you down?

Okay. Very good. So a very good question there. And uh she responded that kind of yeah, that does happen, but she always tries to give 110%.

Okay, so this is a really funny phrase because you think, I can give everything I have. I can work really hard and that's 100%. But we say 110% means you do more than you can. It's like pushing yourself more than is possible.

That's right. So, uh this is a very common phrase in sports and business. People are saying, for example, I always remember uh my coach saying, I want you guys to give me 110% out there. That means like I really want you to try very hard to do as much as possible.

Even more than your best, more than you think you can do.

Exactly. So again, it refers to the effort that you put into something. It can be in business, sports, anything.

And she's basically saying, I always do more than my best. I do as much as humanly possible.

That's right. Okay, so a lot of great stuff there from Rebecca. Why don't we listen to our to her one last time and we'll be back in a bit.

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Okay, Rebecca. Well, I think you've given me a clear impression of your positive qualities, but let's talk a little bit about your weaknesses.

Okay. Well, it's always more difficult to describe them, isn't it?

Definitely. But if you had to pinpoint one weakness, what would it be?

Well, as I mentioned before, I do tend to get frustrated if I don't see progress in my work or career. I suppose I'm quite a restless character. My father always taught me to be a high achiever, so...

So would you say if things don't go your way at work, it could easily get you down?

Well, in a way, yes. But I must say that even if I'm not completely happy in my work, I always give 110%. I would never shirk my responsibilities. I suppose sometimes I expect too much too soon.

Well, you know, journalism is a highly competitive world, so you do need to keep pushing yourself. It's true.

Okay, well, let's move on to talk about the job position here, shall we?

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All right, so talking about weaknesses, um I think one of the common mistakes when people talk about weaknesses is they say they work too much, and everyone says you should never say that in an interview.

Yeah, I think it's a it's a bad way to uh to talk about yourself because a boss or an employer really wants to hear a real weakness. And I work too hard is a way of saying, ah, I have no weaknesses. I'm actually really, really perfect. I just think it's a lazy answer. So maybe you should avoid saying, I work too hard and really focus on things that you um you do have to to work on. And then I think the key is to say that I know this is something that I have a hard time with. I know this is a weakness and I'm trying to improve it.

Mm-hm. Yeah, I remember in some of the interviews I've had, I think my common answer was uh I'm uh sometimes I'm very late. I'm not very punctual.

So, uh but you know, it's a it's a it's a real weakness and well, it may seem like difficult, but then you give it a little spin by saying, yeah, sometimes not very punctual, but then I try to make up for it, maybe staying more time at the office or sometimes I I try to wake up a little bit earlier and make it on time. I don't know something like that.

Right. So the key there is just to show that you know it's a problem and that you're trying to work on it.

Yeah. So uh this is actually the hardest part for me of an interview talking about yourself in a negative way because obviously, you want to get the job, so you want to make sure that uh the employer has a good idea of yourself, but uh it's hard.

Yeah, it's hard. So this is an interesting topic. Why don't you practice and come to our website Englishpod.com and on our comments section, why don't you tell us what your weaknesses are?

That's right. We hope to hear from you. Of course, you can also share with us your strengths on our lesson about strengths, but in this one, I I recommend everyone practice this because it will come up at some point and it's good to get the practice in. So Englishpod.com, we hope to see you there.

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The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A personal defect or failing.

Weakness.

To locate or describe exactly or precisely.

To pinpoint.

Proceed according to one's plans or wishes.

Go someone's way.

To exhaust, discourage, or depress someone.

Get someone down.

To avoid or neglect.

To shirk.

The feelings one has after a specific event.

Impression.

Upset.

Frustrated.

Let's try that faster.

To avoid or neglect.

To shirk.

To locate or describe exactly or precisely.

To pinpoint.

A personal defect or failing.

Weakness.

Upset.

Frustrated.

To exhaust, discourage, or depress someone.

Get someone down.

Proceed according to one's plans or wishes.

Go someone's way.

The feelings one has after a specific event.

Impression.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Weakness.

I have a weakness for chocolate.

Weakness.

Let's discuss the program's strengths and weaknesses.

Weakness.

Impatience is a weakness that I'm working to overcome.

To pinpoint.

Can the tech team pinpoint exactly where the problem lies?

To pinpoint.

Let's try to pinpoint the areas where we need to improve.

To pinpoint.

I need to prioritize my to-do list. Would you help me pinpoint the items that are the most important?

Go someone's way.

Jessica can be immature at times. She gets upset if things don't go her way.

Go someone's way.

Your alarm didn't go off and your taxi got in an accident. Things just aren't going your way this morning.

Go someone's way.

I'm so frustrated. Nothing is going my way.

Get someone down.

Oh, don't let Cheryl get you down. She can be critical at times, but she means well.

Get someone down.

Man, this weather is so gloomy. It's really getting me down.

Get someone down.

All the pressure at work got her down and she became depressed.

To shirk.

Derek does as little work as possible and often shirks his responsibilities.

To shirk.

You can't shirk your duties. You're the master of ceremonies. We need you.

To shirk.

He left his wife and family, shirking his parental responsibilities.