Karamö, le prof virtuelLeçon 13 sur 15
Describing how someone earns money
Je sais décrire en anglais le métier de quelqu'un et la manière dont il gagne sa vie (salaire, bénéfice, horaires, conditions de travail), à l'oral et dans un paragraphe.
- 50 min
- 6 exercices corrigés
- 1 schéma
- QCM de 5 questions
À la fin de la leçon, tu sauras :
- Utiliser le vocabulaire du travail et de l'argent (earn, salary, wages, income, profit, self-employed)
- Employer les structures « earn a living by + V-ing », « work as a », « be paid »
- Poser des questions sur le métier de quelqu'un et y répondre
- Rédiger un paragraphe descriptif sur un travailleur guinéen
Avant de commencer : Le present simple et le present continuous, le passif, les pronoms interrogatifs, les comparatifs.
1Je découvre
Pour un devoir d'anglais, Mariama, élève de Terminale SS à Kankan, doit présenter trois personnes de son quartier et expliquer comment elles gagnent leur vie.
Son oncle Sékou est enseignant dans une école publique : il reçoit un salaire chaque mois. Sa voisine Hawa vend du poisson fumé au grand marché : elle achète le poisson, le revend et garde le bénéfice. Son cousin Ousmane est conducteur de moto-taxi : il gagne un peu d'argent à chaque course, mais il doit payer l'essence et l'entretien.
Mariama commence à écrire : « My uncle wins money with teaching. » Son professeur corrige : « My uncle earns his living by teaching. » En anglais, on ne « gagne » pas un salaire avec win (qui s'emploie pour un match ou une loterie), mais avec earn.
Au BAC, cette fonction de communication demande un vocabulaire précis et quelques structures fixes, très utiles aussi pour la rédaction.
Comment décrire en anglais le travail de quelqu'un et la façon dont il gagne son argent ?
2Je comprends
1. Le vocabulaire de l'argent gagné
| Mot | Sens | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| to earn | gagner (par son travail) | She earns a good salary. |
| to earn / make a living | gagner sa vie | He makes a living as a tailor. |
| salary | salaire (mensuel ou annuel, emploi de bureau, fonctionnaire) | Teachers receive a monthly salary. |
| wages | salaire (payé à l'heure, au jour ou à la semaine) | The workers are paid daily wages. |
| income | revenu (toutes sources) | Farming is the family's main income. |
| profit | bénéfice (commerce) | She makes a profit of 20 %. |
| fee(s) | honoraires, frais | The doctor charges a fee. |
| commission | commission | He earns a commission on each sale. |
| pension | retraite | My grandfather lives on his pension. |
| to be paid | être payé | He is paid at the end of the month. |
| pay rise / raise | augmentation |
Attention : win = gagner un jeu, un prix, un match (win a match, win a prize) ; earn = gagner de l'argent par son travail. Gain s'emploie pour un avantage ou du poids (gain experience, gain weight).
2. Les statuts de travail
| Statut | Anglais | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| salarié | an employee, to be employed by | He is employed by a mining company in Boké. |
| fonctionnaire | a civil servant | My mother is a civil servant. |
| employeur | an employer | |
| indépendant | self-employed, to run one's own business | Hawa is self-employed; she runs her own shop. |
| travailleur du secteur informel | to work in the informal sector | |
| chômeur | unemployed, jobless | He has been unemployed for a year. |
| à temps plein / partiel | full-time / part-time | She works part-time. |
| retraité | retired |
3. Les structures clés
- work as + a / an + métier : He works as a mechanic. (on n'oublie pas l'article : ~~He works as mechanic~~)
- earn / make a living by + V-ing : She earns her living by selling fish.
- earn / make a living as + métier : He makes a living as a farmer.
- live on / off + nom : They live on what they grow.
- be paid + adverbe de fréquence / by + unité : He is paid monthly / weekly / by the hour.
- earn + montant + a / per + période : She earns about … GNF a month. (on donne un montant réel ou on reste général)
- What do you do (for a living)? = Que faites-vous dans la vie ? — I'm a nurse. / I work in a bank.
- works for an employer
- earns a salary or wages
- is paid monthly or daily
- e.g. teacher, nurse, miner
- works for himself or herself
- makes a profit
- income changes every day
- e.g. trader, tailor, farmer
4. Décrire les conditions de travail
Pour une description complète, on parle aussi :
- des horaires : He works long hours. She works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He works night shifts.
- des tâches : Her job consists of… / He is in charge of… / She is responsible for…
- des avantages et inconvénients : The job is well-paid / badly paid. It is tiring but rewarding. The income is irregular.
- des dépenses et de l'épargne : He spends part of his money on fuel. She saves money in a tontine. (tontine est un mot que les anglophones d'Afrique de l'Ouest comprennent ; on peut ajouter a savings group.)
5. Questions utiles pour interroger un travailleur
*What do you do for a living? — Where do you work? — How long have you been doing this job? — How are you paid? — Is your income regular? — What do you like about your job? — What are the difficulties?*
Méthode
Pour décrire comment quelqu'un gagne sa vie :
- Je présente la personne et son métier : He / She works as a… / is a…
- Je précise son statut : employee, civil servant, self-employed.
- J'explique comment il ou elle gagne l'argent : earns a salary / wages, makes a profit by + V-ing, is paid monthly…
- Je décris les conditions : horaires, tâches, avantages, difficultés.
- Je conclus par une appréciation : It is a hard but useful job…
- J'emploie surtout le present simple (habitudes) et je vérifie le -s de la 3e personne.
Exemple
Describe how Hawa earns her living, using these notes:
Hawa / self-employed / smoked fish / buys from fishermen in Kamsar / sells at Kankan market / profit / irregular income / saves in a tontine.
Hawa is self-employed. She earns her living by selling smoked fish. She buys the fish from the fishermen in Kamsar and sells it at Kankan market. She makes a profit on each sale, but her income is irregular because it depends on the season and on the number of customers. Every week, she saves part of her money in a tontine.
Exemple
Complete with earn, win, salary, wages or profit.
a) Civil servants receive a monthly … .
b) The team hopes to … the cup.
c) Farm workers are often paid daily … .
d) The shopkeeper buys rice at 300 000 GNF a bag and sells it at 330 000 GNF: his … is 30 000 GNF per bag.
a) salary (salaire mensuel fixe) b) win (un match, une coupe) c) wages (payé au jour) d) profit : 330 000 − 300 000 = 30 000 GNF de bénéfice par sac.
3Je retiens
Je retiens
Earn = gagner par le travail ; win = gagner un match, un prix.
Earn / make a living by + V-ing ; earn / make a living as + a / an + métier ; work as + a / an + métier.
Salary = salaire mensuel fixe ; wages = paie à l'heure, au jour, à la semaine ; income = revenu ; profit = bénéfice ; pension = retraite.
Employee, civil servant, self-employed, unemployed, retired ; full-time / part-time.
Be paid monthly / weekly / daily / by the hour.
What do you do (for a living)? — I'm a… / I work as a…
4Erreurs fréquentes
- Utiliser win pour un salaire : on écrit « She earns a good salary », pas « She wins a good salary ».
- Oublier l'article après as : « He works as a driver », pas « He works as driver ».
- Mettre la base verbale après by : « She earns her living by selling fish », pas « by sell fish ».
- Confondre salary et wages : un fonctionnaire reçoit « a monthly salary », un ouvrier payé à la journée reçoit « daily wages » (presque toujours au pluriel).
5Je m’exerce
1Exercice 1
Match each worker with the way he or she is paid.
a) a civil servant b) a trader c) a lawyer d) a farm worker e) a retired teacher
(1) a pension (2) daily wages (3) a monthly salary (4) fees (5) profit
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) → (3) a monthly salary b) → (5) profit c) → (4) fees d) → (2) daily wages e) → (1) a pension
2Exercice 2
Complete with the correct word: earns, living, as, by, self-employed, unemployed.
a) My father works ... a nurse at the regional hospital.
b) Ibrahima makes a ... as a carpenter.
c) Fatoumata ... her money by teaching English in the evenings.
d) Lansana lost his job last year; he is still ... .
e) Kadiatou doesn't have a boss; she is ... .
f) My aunt earns her living ... sewing clothes.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) as b) living c) earns d) unemployed e) self-employed f) by
3Exercice 3
Ask the questions corresponding to these answers.
a) I'm a mechanic.
b) I work in a garage in Kindia.
c) I've been doing this job for ten years.
d) I'm paid by the day.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) What do you do (for a living)?
b) Where do you work?
c) How long have you been doing this job?
d) How are you paid?
4Exercice 4
Correct the mistakes.
a) My brother wins a lot of money with his shop.
b) She works as teacher.
c) He earns his living by drive a taxi.
d) Farmers win their life by growing rice.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) My brother earns / makes a lot of money with his shop.
b) She works as a teacher.
c) He earns his living by driving a taxi.
d) Farmers earn their living by growing rice.
5Exercice 5
(BAC format) Read the text and answer.
*Alpha is 35. He lives in Siguiri. For eight years, he worked as a gold miner in a traditional mine. The work was dangerous and his income was irregular: some weeks he found nothing. Three years ago, he decided to change. He took a training course and now he runs his own welding workshop. He makes gates and windows for the new houses of the town. He employs two young apprentices, whom he pays every week. His income is more regular now, and he saves part of his profit to buy new tools.*
a) How did Alpha earn his living before?
b) Why did he decide to change?
c) Is Alpha an employee or self-employed? Justify.
d) How does he pay his apprentices?
e) Find in the text a word meaning « the money you make from a business after paying the costs ».
f) Compare Alpha's two jobs in two sentences, using a comparative.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) He earned his living as a gold miner in a traditional mine.
b) Because the work was dangerous and his income was irregular.
c) He is self-employed, because he runs his own welding workshop (he even employs two apprentices).
d) He pays them every week (weekly wages).
e) profit
f) Example answer: His new job is safer than his old job. His income is more regular now than when he was a miner.
6Exercice 6
Write a paragraph of 8 to 10 lines describing how a member of your family or of your neighbourhood earns his or her living.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
Example answer:
*My aunt Mariama lives in Labé. She is self-employed: she earns her living by making and selling soap. Every morning, she buys palm oil and other products at the market. In the afternoon, she makes the soap with the help of her two daughters. She sells it to shops and to neighbours. She is not paid a salary; she makes a small profit on each piece of soap. Her income is irregular, especially during the rainy season, when customers are fewer. However, she saves part of her money every week in a tontine. Her job is tiring, but she is proud to support her family.*
Cherche d’abord seul, sur ton cahier, puis ouvre le corrigé pour comparer.
6Je vérifie
Choisis une réponse pour chaque question : la correction s’affiche aussitôt.
Crée ton compte élève gratuit pour cocher les leçons terminées, suivre ta progression et gagner des points au QCM.
