📖 What is Muse English?
Muse English is a free English learning app with daily lessons across all 6 CEFR levels (A1 Beginner to C2 Proficient). Every day brings new vocabulary, a real podcast conversation, shadowing practice, grammar and quizzes — all at museenglishapp.com.
📚 Vocabulary
10 new words Learn new words with real examples and audio.
Podcast: Work & Career
Listen to today’s conversation.
📝 Podcast Transcript
Welcome back to Word Kitchen. I'm Maya.
And I'm Lena. Today's theme is work and careers, and Maya has big news.
I do. After three years at the company, I finally got a promotion.
A promotion! Tell me everything. What changed with the promotion?
The promotion moved me from team assistant to team leader. My salary is higher, and I no longer work the night shift. My manager talked about the promotion for months, and I had to finish one big project before the deadline to earn it.
So a deadline stood between you and the promotion, and you made it. Impressive. Did your salary change too?
Yes. The promotion came with a higher salary, and I also get a bonus at the end of the year if our team does well. A bonus is extra money on top of the salary, and ours depends on results.
A higher salary and a possible bonus. I would love that. Did you think about the salary before you accepted the promotion?
I did. I compared my old salary with the new salary and thought about the hours. The old job had a lot of overtime, and I was tired of the overtime every single week.
Tell me about the overtime. Was it really that bad?
Some weeks I worked ten hours of overtime. Overtime means extra hours after your normal work time, and we had so much of it before every deadline. When I saw another deadline coming, I knew more overtime was coming too.
The new job has much less overtime, and I work the day shift now. The night shift was hard because my sleep was always wrong.
The day shift is a big win. Right now I work the evening shift at the cafe, and my shift ends at eleven o'clock at night.
That evening shift sounds rough. Have you thought about changing jobs?
Funny you ask. I have a job interview tomorrow morning for an office job. An interview is a formal meeting where they ask you questions to decide if you get the job.
A job interview! I am excited for you. Have you prepared for the interview?
I am preparing today. My colleague from the cafe did a practice interview with me. An interview is easier when you practise first. He asked me interview questions about my experience, and he gave me tips for the real interview.
A practice interview with a colleague is smart. What kind of questions came up in the practice interview?
They asked about my salary expectations. The salary matters because my commute is long. My commute is about forty minutes by train, but the new office has a shorter commute, only twenty minutes. A shorter commute plus a better salary would be perfect.
A twenty-minute commute sounds lovely. Mine is thirty minutes, and that feels long enough. Did the interview questions mention anything about the shift?
Yes. The job is a day shift, Monday to Friday. One shift, five days, no evenings. That is very different from my current shift at the cafe, where the shift changes every week.
A stable shift would be wonderful. Did you ask about overtime during your interview practice?
I did. My colleague told me to ask about overtime in the real interview too. Too much overtime ruined my last year at the cafe.
Good thinking. What about a bonus?
The job description mentions an annual bonus. A bonus at the end of the year would be great, and even a small bonus is nice. I asked my colleague if his office job pays a bonus, and he said they pay a bonus twice a year.
A bonus twice a year! That sounds like a great company. What about the deadline culture? Every job has deadlines, but some are worse than others.
My colleague said the deadlines are fair. Each project has a clear deadline, and when you meet the deadline, everyone is happy.
A clear deadline for each project is what you want. At my old job, the deadline moved all the time, and a moving deadline meant more overtime.
I hate a moving deadline. Should I resign from the cafe if I get this job?
To resign means to officially leave your job, and yes, I think you should resign if the new offer is good. When would you resign?
I would resign as soon as the interview goes well and they make an offer. I will not resign before I have the new job in writing. That is my rule.
Smart. Never resign without a written offer. Did your colleague resign from the cafe recently too?
Yes, he resigned last month for the same reason. He resigned because his salary was too low and the overtime was too much. After he resigned, he found the office job in two weeks.
It sounds like the cafe cannot keep people. Low salary, too much overtime, a difficult shift. No wonder people resign.
True. And a promotion is almost impossible there. I have worked at the cafe for two years, and a promotion has never even been mentioned. A real promotion, like yours, is what I want one day.
You will get your promotion one day too. First the interview, then the job, and then you work toward a promotion. Every promotion starts with a good job.
Thanks, Maya. One more question for my interview practice. If they ask about my salary, what should I say?
Research the normal salary for the role first. Then state your salary expectations with confidence. A salary is a number, and you can negotiate it.
And if the commute is longer than they said?
Then the salary needs to be higher. A long commute costs time and money, so the salary should cover that.
It taught me that. Should I ask about the bonus in the interview?
Yes, ask politely. A bonus is part of your total pay, so ask when the bonus is paid and how big the bonus can be.
Okay. Salary, bonus, shift, overtime, commute. I think I am ready for this interview.
You are ready. And remember, even if this interview does not work out, keep applying. An interview is just one step in a career.
True. And thank you for sharing your promotion story. A promotion after three years of hard work gives me real hope.
Hard work pays off. Good luck at the interview tomorrow, and tell me about the salary and the bonus when you get the offer.
I will. And I will tell my colleague all about it too. He helped me with the practice interview, so he deserves the good news.
That is all for today on Word Kitchen. Good luck with your interview, Lena, and thank you all for listening.
Thanks, everyone. See you next time.
🎙 Try Shadowing free sample
Listen and repeat along with the studio audio. Full shadowing practice with pronunciation scoring is in the app.
Omar's New Job
1. When Omar started his new job, his commute was very long.
2. His commute took almost an hour by bus every morning.
Train your speaking
Shadow every sentence with studio audio and get your pronunciation scored — only in the Muse English app.
📝Grammar: Present simple and continuous, action and non-action verbs
Use the **present simple** (I work, she works) for things that are always true. It also describes habits and regular routines, like your shift, your salary, or your daily commute. In the third person (he, she, it), add -s or -es to the verb. Watch the spelling: **lives**, **studies**, **watches** — the same rule gives us resigns and commutes. For questions and negatives, use **do** or **does** plus the base verb. ASI order (Auxiliary, Subject, Infinitive) keeps questions about salary or overtime clear. Adverbs of frequency (always, usually, never) go **before** the main verb but **after** b
Master this grammar in the app
Get clear explanations, more examples and interactive exercises.
Keep learning every day
New lessons, podcasts and quizzes daily — free in the Muse English app.