Episode 182

EPISODE 181
LEVEL A1

READING COMPREHENSION

Scandinavian workplace – people and business
Scandinavian capital is represented in Poland by over 2,000 companies that play an important role on the Polish labour market, and are, at the same time, sought-after and desired employers. The number of jobs created by companies from Scandinavia is estimated at approximately 170,000. 50 largest Nordic employers hire, in total, about 105,000 employees in Poland.

This is one of the pieces of information included in the report prepared by the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce (SPCC) entitled “Scandinavian Workplace”. “Scandinavian countries are a source of interesting solutions in many aspects of the labour market, including work activity, employment flexibility, institutional solutions for activating different social groups, providing them with equal opportunities on the labour market, attracting talent and fostering innovation”, said the SPCC Director.

 

Ex.1 Match these words with their English equivalents from the text:
1. miejsce pracy
2. pracodawca
3. handel
4. źródło
5. rozwiązanie
6. możliwość
• commerce
• employer
• opportunity
• solution
• source
• workplace

 

Ex.2 Match these words from the two boxes to form collocations:
activate / create / employment / foster / institutional / labour / play / social
+
flexibility / group / innovation / jobs / solutions / market / role / talent
1. ________________________________ 2. _________________________________
3. ________________________________ 4. _________________________________
5. ________________________________ 6. _________________________________
7. _________________________________ 8. _________________________________

 

 

Ex.3 Say these sentences in English using some expressions from the previous exercises:

1. Przyjazne (friendly) miejsce pracy odgrywa istotną (important) rolę.
2. Pracownicy mają teraz coraz więcej możliwości na rynku pracy.
3. Naszym celem (goal) jest aktywować talent i promować innowację.

 

I know English idioms!

This lesson’s text informs us about job possibilities in Scandinavian companies. It might be useful then to learn this job-related idiom:
• to hold down a job = to manage to keep a job for a period of time (= utrzymać pracę)
➢ I didn’t meet my sales targets three months in a row but, fortunately, I managed to hold down my job..

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

Staying in the topic of work, let’s have a look at this phrasal verb:
• to sweat over sth = to work very hard using or doing something (pocić się nad czymś)
➢ She’s been sweating over this report all afternoon.

 

Grammar corner

Complete this fragment of the text with the missing prepositions (at / by / in / for / on):

Scandinavian capital is represented _____ Poland _____ over 2,000 companies that play an important role _____ the Polish labour market, and are, _____ the same time, sought-after and desired employers. The number of jobs created _____ companies from Scandinavia is estimated _____ approximately 170,000. 50 largest Nordic employers hire, _____ total, about 105,000 employees _____ Poland. This is one of the pieces of information included _____ the report prepared _____ the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce (SPCC).

 

GLOSSARY

Scandinavian – skandynawski
workplace – miejsce pracy
capital – kapitał
to be represented – być reprezentowanym
to play a role – odgrywać rolę
important – ważny
labour market – rynek pracy
at the same time – jednocześnie
sought-after – poszukiwany
desired  – pożądany
employer – pracodawca
to create – (s)tworzyć
to be estimated – być szacowanym
approximately – w przybliżeniu
largest – największy
to hire – zatrudniać
in total – ogółem
employee – pracownik
piece of information – informacja
included – zawarty
report – raport
prepared – przygotowany
Chamber of Commerce – izba handlowa
entitled – zatytułowany
to be presented – być zaprezentowanym, przedstawionym
source – źródło
solution – rozwiązanie
in many aspects – w wielu aspektach
work activity – działalność zawodowa
employment flexibility – elastyczność zatrudnienia
institutional – instytucjonalny
to activate – aktywować
social group – grupa społeczna
to provide sb with sth – dostarczać, zapewniać coś komuś
equal opportunities – równe możliwości
to attract – przyciągać
to foster – promować
innovation – innowacja

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