5.7 Work and the office — Epoché
What you will be able to do Use fifty-five words of work: finding a job, the people of a workplace, pay and conditions, losing a job and disputes, and the working day. Avoid the false friends of the office: la formation , le stage , licencier , le délai , l'agenda . Understand the terms of French working life that have no English equivalent: le SMIC , les congés payés , the legal week of thirty-five hours, la grève . Choose between tu and vous with colleagues and managers. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Le syndicat est entré en grève pour une durée indéterminée. [1] The union went out on a strike for an indefinite period. Notre patron ne nous laisse pas prendre de pause-café. [2] Our boss doesn't let us take coffee breaks. Félicitations pour votre diplôme ! [3] Congratulations on your diploma. Nous avons organisé une équipe de projet. [4] We organized a project team. Il était en retard pour l'entretien d'embauche. [5] He was late for the job interview. Offrez-vous un cadeau de Noël à votre patron ? [6] Do you give your boss a Christmas gift? Je suis en congés payés. [7] I'm on a paid vacation. Prerequisites : 12.1 — the vocabulary of the second phase starts here, after the grammar and conjugation lessons. You need the words for professions from 6.2 Conversation , and the conditional for polite requests from 4.15 Grammar , because asking for a rise, a day off or a deadline is a job for je voudrais . The language of work is where English and French look most alike and differ most in practice. Many words are shared, from contrat to salaire to projet , and many of the commonest look shared but are not. A French job advertisement that asks for une formation wants your training, a stage is an internship, and if your employer wants to licencier you, you are about to lose your job. The institutions differ too. France has a national minimum wage with its own name, a legal working week that people refer to by its number, five weeks of paid holiday, and a tradition of strikes that every visitor meets sooner or later. These words appear in the news daily, and this lesson explains them along with the vocabulary. Word list Fifty-five words in five groups. Learn each noun with its article; where the gender cannot be seen from the article, as with l'emploi or l'équipe , the word list gives it. Finding a job Word Meaning Notes l'emploi fr job, employment Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs The neutral word; un emploi du temps is a timetable. Trouve un emploi ! [8] Find a job. le boulot fr job, work (informal) Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Everyday speech; au boulot! , back to work! C'est notre boulot. [9] That's our job. le CV fr CV, resume Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Pronounced say-vay ; American English says resume . Parlez de votre CV. [10] Discuss your resume. la candidature fr application Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs Not a candidacy only: any job application. J'ai retiré ma candidature. [11] I withdrew my application. postuler fr to apply (for a job) Gender / part of speech verb How English differs postuler à un poste or postuler pour un poste ; both are used. Je vais postuler aujourd'hui. [12] I'll apply for the job today. l'entretien fr interview; maintenance Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs A job interview is un entretien d'embauche . L'entretien est terminé. [13] This interview is over. embaucher fr to hire, to take on Gender / part of speech verb How English differs The noun is l'embauche , hiring . Elle l'a embauché. [14] She hired him. recruter fr to recruit Gender / part of speech verb How English differs As in English, but used for any hiring. Ziri aimerait recruter Rima. [15] Ziri would like to recruit Rima. le stage fr internship, work placement; course Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Not a theatre stage , which is la scène . J'ai postulé pour un stage d'été. [16] I applied for a summer internship. le stagiaire fr intern, trainee Gender / part of speech masculine or feminine noun How English differs Same form for both: un stagiaire , une stagiaire . Je suis stagiaire. [17] I'm a trainee. l'expérience fr experience; experiment Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs Both senses in one word. Avez-vous de l'expérience ? [18] Do you have any experience? la compétence fr skill, competence Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs Usually plural in job ads: compétences requises . Perfectionnez vos compétences. [19] Hone your skills. le diplôme fr qualification, degree, diploma Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Any qualification from school or university. Félicitations pour ton diplôme ! [20] Congratulations on your diploma. la formation fr training, education Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs A false friend: not formation in the English sense. Je n'avais aucune formation. [21] I didn't have any training. People at work Word Meaning Notes le patron fr boss; owner Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Feminine la patronne ; informal but common. C'est mon patron. [22] This is my boss. l'employé fr employee, clerk Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Feminine l'employée . J'ai quatre employés. [23] I have four employees. le salarié fr employee, wage earner Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs The legal term for anyone on a payroll. La société compte quatre-vingts salariés. [24] The business is comprised of eighty employees. l'ouvrier fr worker, labourer Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs A manual worker; feminine l'ouvrière . Il est ouvrier. [25] He's a labourer. le PDG fr CEO, managing director Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Short for président-directeu