061_What_is_your_line

061_What_is_your_line

The blending of words and reductions in English sometimes makes it difficult to understand. In the episode we help Yoshiko understand the reduced phrase “What do you do?” and the word “line”, as in the phrase “what line of work are you in?”.

Kevin:

Hello again and welcome back to Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin Podcasting. A quick and easy way to review English words and phrases. I’m your host, Kevin Jones.
This episode we take a question from Nichibei student, Yoshiko. Hello Yoshiko how are you today.

Yoshiko:

Very well thank you.

Kevin:

What question do you have for the podcast?

Yoshiko:

Well, last week I went to a party and I met a nice American man.

Kevin:

I see.

Yoshiko:

I started to chat with him but I really couldn’t understand some of what he said.

Kevin:

Do you remember what he said?

Yoshiko:

Here. Listen to this recording.

Kevin:

You have a recording?

Yoshiko:

Yes. Here. Listen to this.

Man:

Hello. Nice party, isn’t it.

Yoshiko:

Yes, I’m having a nice time.

Man:

By the way. I’m Jack, Jack Thomson.

Yoshiko:

Nice to meet you Jack. I’m Yoshiko.

Man:

So Yoshiko, whadayado? (What do you do?)

Yoshiko:

Excuse me?

Man:

Whadayado? What line of work are you in?

Yoshiko:

My job?

Man:

Right

Yoshiko:

I’m a classical pianist and composer.

Man:

Oh really! That’s interesting.

Yoshiko:

So, what was he saying anyway?

Kevin:

You mean when he said whadayado?

Yoshiko:

Yes. What is that?

Kevin:

Well, it’s quite simple really. He said “What do you do?” This question means, “What is your work?”, or “what is your job?”

Yoshiko:

What do you do?

Kevin:

Yes, that’s right. But he was linking and blending the words together like this ” Whatdoyoudo” and then he was reducing the sounds.

Yoshiko:

Reducing the sounds?

Kevin:

Yes. This means making some syllables shorter, quieter and lower in pitch. One of the most common reductions in American English is “Want to” which is reduced to “wanna”

Yoshiko:

“Girls just wanna have fun”

Kevin:

Yeah, that’s right. So when he said “What do you do?”, he changed the what to “wha” and do to “da” and you to “ya”. So all together it sounds like this “Whadayado?” Understanding linking and reduction is very important to listening.

Yoshiko:

OK. “What do you do”. Now what was the other thing he said? He said, “What line of work are you in?”.

Kevin:

When he said “line of work”,”line” means “area” of work. A line of work might be teaching or cooking or engineering. Another way to say this is field . You could say “What’s your field?” or “what field are you in?” Yoshiko, please ask me what field I’m in.

Yoshiko:

What field are you in?

Kevin:

I’m in English teaching. What line of work are you in?

Yoshiko:

I’m in classical music.

Kevin:

Good Yoshiko. I think you’ve got it.

Yoshiko:

Thanks for you time Kevin.

Kevin:

My pleasure. Now let’s review the phrases from this episode.
What do you do ?
What do you do?

Man:

I’m a salesman.

Kevin:

What line of work are you in?

Man:

I’m in computer sales