Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.
Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 63 of the Listening Time Podcast.
This is a special episode because today I'm releasing an advanced episode.
This episode that you're listening to is actually going to be an episode where I speak at normal speed.
I speak fast.
I don't speak slowly and clearly like I usually do in my other episodes.
I wanted to give you guys a sample of an advanced podcast episode because I know a lot of you, or most of you.
I've never even heard one of my advanced episodes before and you always hear me talking about my advanced podcast and How good it is and how it's going to help you train and become a more advanced listener.
So I decided to release a free episode where I speak at normal speed, just so you can get an idea, you can get a feel for how it is.
And, of course, if you like it, if you feel like it's helpful for you and you want to challenge yourself a little bit more, then of course you can become a Listening Time family member to receive my advanced podcast episodes.
So if you can already understand the normal listening time podcast really well and you don't really need to use the transcript that much you already understand 95, 99 of what I'm saying without even using the transcript then really it's time for you to use more advanced content.
And this is why I made this advanced podcast so that you can have the perfect tool to help you transition from the listening time podcast to real native content.
So the only difference between this type of content and real native content is that in this advanced episode, you get the transcript, and so you get this tool that helps you understand everything that I'm saying.
And usually when you listen to native content, you don't have the transcript or the subtitles.
So it might be a little bit harder for you to use to help you understand and train your listening.
But with this advanced podcast, you have the transcript, and so it's the perfect tool to help you.
So these advanced episodes are a little bit shorter than my normal episodes, probably between 10 and 15 minutes usually, because if I did a full 25-minute episode, speaking at this speed, I think it would be a little bit much.
In English, when we say it's a little much, we're saying that it's a little too much, right?
We just kind of leave out the word too and just say it's a little much.
So it's easier for me, and I think it's easier for you, to have a shorter episode that you can use to practice your listening and get to an advanced level, because it's a lot that I'm saying right.
There are a lot more words when I speak at this speed than when I speak slowly in the normal listening time podcast.
And so I also wanted to announce that I'm going to start releasing two advanced episodes every month.
So up to this point, I've only released one advanced episode a month, just on the fifth day of each month.
But I know that a lot of you really want more advanced content.
You want more advanced episodes.
So I decided to start releasing two per month for listening time family members.
So I'm going to start releasing one on the fifth and one on the 20th of each month.
So if you become a listening time family member, you're going to start to get more advanced episodes than you did before.
So I hope that this helps a lot of you make the decision to actually sign up to become a family member, because I know that some of you are probably on the fence and thinking is it worth it or no?
I hope that this kind of helps give you that push to sign up in English.
When we say that you're on the fence about something, it means that you're not entirely sure which decision to make.
You don't know if you should say yes or no.
You're kind of doubting what decision you should make.
You're on the fence.
So hopefully, after listening to this episode, you think that it's helpful for you and you think that it'd be a good challenge for you to use two of these episodes every month to try to reach a more advanced level.
And I'm sure this will be a great tool for you.
All right.
Today, we're going to talk about remote work.
This is a very popular subject nowadays because a lot of people are working from home.
So I thought that this would be a good one to talk about.
Before we start, remember to give this podcast a five star rating if you like it.
Do that on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening.
All right, let's get started.
Are your ears ready?
You know what time it is.
It's listening time!
All right, so we're going to talk about remote work.
So a few years ago, this wouldn't have been that big of a subject.
It wouldn't have been that hot of a topic, I would say.
In English, when we say that a topic is hot, this means that it's a very popular topic to talk about.
It's something that causes division or people have different opinions about it, maybe.
Or it's something that's just very popular to speak about.
So now this is a pretty hot topic because people are divided in terms of should we continue doing remote work into the future or should we go back to the more traditional style and get everyone back to the office and do things like that?
And I think there are a lot of different attitudes when it comes to this.
So let's talk about the shift that's happened in the last couple of years towards remote work.
In English, the word shift just means change.
So if I say there's a shift that's happened, I'm just saying that there's a change that's happened.
So of course, nowadays, a lot of people work remotely or they have a hybrid work style.
When we say that someone has a hybrid style, that means they're working some days at home and some days in the office.
So some people, for example, work three days at home and two days at the office.
And so that's kind of a hybrid style.
Or complete remote work means that you're just working 100 percent from home.
Nowadays, it's possible to do this.
And so maybe five, 10 years ago, of course, people could do this, but it wasn't so popular.
People didn't use all these different apps and other technology to do this type of work.
I think people just maybe didn't view it as a very viable method of working.
In English, when we say that something is viable, we're saying that it's possible to do.
We're capable of doing it.
It's viable.
So maybe five or ten years ago, a lot of people didn't think that this was a viable way of working.
But nowadays, a lot of people have actually started working like this.
We see that the technology is actually good enough so that we can work from home in a lot of different industries.
Obviously, not every industry.
There are some industries where you have to be there in person.
But a lot of industries allow for this type of remote work and we have the technology to do so.
So what does it look like when people work from home when they work remotely?
Well, this depends on the worker.
It depends on the person.
Some people, they just work from their couch and they're in their pajamas all day.
Some people are a little more serious and still get dressed and try to look nice and sit down at a desk and try to replicate the office environment a little bit more.
And some people, they just don't even want to get out of bed.
They just grab their computer and start working from there.
So it could look very different depending on who the person is.
There are a lot of different ways that you could do this.
People's remote work style could look very different depending on what their preferences are and how they want to work remotely.
And talking about this shift and the different attitudes towards it, I think we see a lot of different opinions in different parts of the world.
Employers feel differently about this.
Workers feel differently about this.
Governments feel differently about this.
So, for example, in the West, this is becoming more and more common.
I think that a lot of people now are actually demanding this work style.
A lot of people.
When they apply for jobs they want to know that they have this flexibility to work from home or at least to work in a hybrid style.
And a lot of Asian countries, I think that this is not very common.
A lot of employers don't want their employees to just stay home all day and work from home.
They actually want to see them at the office and have this work environment where everyone is actually in the same place.
So I've talked to a lot of students about this topic and really it depends on the country that you're living in.
You might see a very big shift and employers are really adopting this method, or there might be a lot of resistance to it.
So it just depends on the country.
So now let's just talk about the pros and cons of remote work.
So one of the biggest pros is that you don't have to commute to work.
In English, when we say that you commute to work, we're saying that you have to go to work either driving or using public transportation, or whatever.
So you don't have to commute to work and you don't have to commute back home.
And this is awesome.
And I know a lot of you live in big cities and normally when you have to commute to work it takes an hour, an hour and a half even, and so if you have this remote work style, it could even save you two hours, three hours even in your day, and you don't have to worry about the traffic and all the people on the subway and getting there on time and everything like that.
So this is a big relief for a lot of people.
In English, when we say that something's a relief, we're saying that it makes you feel good at after you were anxious or nervous about something.
So before you were more anxious about this commute and now you feel relieved that you don't have to do it anymore.
Another pro is that you could spend more time with your family.
This is something that I love.
So of course, I'm just a few steps away from my family.
So that's awesome, because if I have a break or something like that, I can simply go in the other room and and hang out with them and just have a good time and I feel closer to them, I feel more connected to them because of how how I'm working in this style of work and, of course, it's comfortable right, you can work however you want.
Like I said, you could be in your pajamas right, you could be in your bed, you could be on the couch, whatever.
You can choose the style that's most comfortable for you, the place in your house where you feel most comfortable, and this can probably help you be more efficient and help you work better.
And, And I think overall, a lot of people are more efficient when they work from home, because it cuts out a lot of waste.
In English, when we say that something is cut out, it means that it's eliminated.
So now that a lot of people work from home, we don't do the same type of meetings every day maybe, or there's not a lot of small talk at the office, where people aren't working and they're just talking with each other and they're just taking up company time to do things that aren't work-related, for example.
When you're working from home, you really just work, right?
You just do what you need to do.
And so this can definitely be good for the employer and for the employee, because you can be more productive.
You don't have to do unnecessary things, etc.
And some of the cons of remote work.
So I think that a lot of people, when they work remotely, they feel less connected to their coworkers.
So, of course, you don't see them very often.
Maybe you just have some video calls or maybe not even that.
And so there might not be the same team atmosphere, team spirit if you work from home.
And I think that's why some employers, some companies, want their workers to be together in the same space so that they can develop this team environment and they can benefit from that.
Another con is that there are a lot of distractions, of course.
When you work from home, you have the neighbor's dog barking.
You have your baby crying in the other room.
You have all kinds of things that might distract you.
You have your phone, because now you have no boss that's watching you and so maybe you respond to every message that you get on your phone, or you have social media right there and you get distracted with that.
So there are a lot of distractions.
And another con is that there's not a lot of separation between professional and personal life sometimes.
So, if you work from home, you kind of don't know when to stop working, because you're already home and it's not like you've left your office and now you're done working.
You could still probably work more in the evening.
And, of course, sometimes you feel like your family life is kind of encroaching upon your work life.
In english, when we say that something encroaches upon something else, it just means that it invades that space, it invades that area.
So a lot of people can feel like that because they have their family very close by in the other room, and it might feel a little bit weird like you don't know if you're supposed to be working or hanging out with your family or what, and so i think that this can sometimes be an issue right, dividing your personal life from your work life.
And one more negative is that you might feel cooped up in your house.
In English, when we say that you're cooped up, it just means that you're kind of trapped somewhere.
You can't really escape.
You have to be there for a long time.
So sometimes you can feel that you're cooped up in your house and you don't really leave your house a lot because you don't have to go outside to go to work.
So that could be a negative.
But overall I think most people that I've talked to, most of my students, overall they have a positive attitude when it comes to remote work.
They really like this.
And so I think that in the future, this is going to become more and more popular, and a lot of people are going to demand this.
All right.
Why don't we stop there for today?
Hopefully this was good practice for you and hopefully it was a great challenge for you.
And if you like this type of episode, if you like practicing with me speaking at full speed, then click on the link in the episode description below this episode.
That's patreon.com slash listening time and become a listening time family member.
And you're going to get two advanced episodes every month.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.
