给自己打工
Working for yourself
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Georgina.
大家好。这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》节目。我是乔治娜。
And I'm Rob.
我是罗伯。
Rob, what's the best job you've ever had?
罗伯，你做过的最棒的工作是什么？
Err well, this one, of course!
呃，当然是这份工作了！
It's very creative, with lots of variety.
它很有创意，种类繁多。
OK, any other reasons?
好的，还有其他原因吗？
Well yes – it's a permanent job - a staff job - with regular income and a pension.
有的，它是一份永久性的工作，一份固定工作，有固定收入和养老金。
Yes, these things can be important, but have you ever been freelance
是的，这些事情很重要，但你曾经从事过自由职业吗？
– by that I mean, working for yourself and selling your skills and services to different businesses?
我的意思是，给自己打工，将你的技能和服务卖给不同企业。
Well, I worked as a paperboy once – delivering newspapers.
嗯，我曾经做过报童——送报纸。
But not really – it's a risky way to earn an income.
但它并不真的算自由职业——它是一种冒险的赚钱方式。
It can be Rob.
它可以是自由职业，罗伯。
But many people choose to, or have to work as a freelancer to survive.
但为了生存，许多人选择或者不得不做自由职业者。
And that's what we're talking about in this programme.
那就是在本期节目中我们要讨论的话题。
But let's start with a question for you, Rob.
但要先问你一个问题，罗伯。
OK.
好的。
This is about job titles – back in the 19th Century, what kind of job was a drummer?
这是一个关于职位名称的问题——在19世纪，“drummer”是做什么工作？
Were they… a) someone who played the drums, b) a travelling salesman,
是……a）打鼓的人，b）旅行推销员，
or c) a music publicist – who drums up – meaning encourages, support for a band?
还是c）音乐公关人员——招徕生意，也就是鼓励，支持乐队的人？
Well, it's got to be someone who plays the drums – that's my kind of job.
好吧，那一定是指打鼓的人——那是我想从事的工作。
OK, Rob, we'll find out if that's right at the end of the programme.
好的，罗伯，在节目的最后我们将揭晓你的答案是否正确。
But let's talk more about work now.
但现在让我们更多地来谈谈工作。
Long gone are the days of a job for life,
“一份工作一做就是一辈子”的日子已经一去不复返了，
where you spent your adult life working your way up the career ladder at the same company.
那种日子是指你成年后一直在同一家公司一步一步往上爬。
Yes, that's right.
是的，没错。
We work in many different ways now because the needs of businesses change frequently,
我们现在以许多不同的方式进行工作，因为企业需求经常变化，
and it needs to be agile – changing the size and type of work force in order to meet demand.
它需要灵活多变——改变劳动力的规模和类型以满足需求。
So, people need to adapt and some choose to work for themselves,
所以，人们需要适应，一些人选择给自己打工，
offering their skills to different businesses as and when they are needed.
在不同企业有需要的时候提供技能。
But it can also be a lifestyle choice, as we're about to find out.
但它也可以是一种生活方式的选择，我们马上就会了解到。
Yes, some people have chosen to become self-employed – working for themselves
是的，有些人选择了自主创业——给自己打工，
- but also, because of the recent coronavirus pandemic, some people have been forced into this situation.
但由于最近的冠状病毒大流行，一些人也被迫陷入这种局面。
Let's hear from Carla Barker, who set up her own business after giving up her regular job.
让我们来听听卡拉·巴克是怎么说的，她放弃自己的固定工作后创办了自己的公司。
She told BBC Radio 4s programme You and Yours how she felt…
她在BBC广播4频道的You and Yours节目中讲述了自己的感受……
You know the idea of giving up a solid, permanent, full-time, paid, comfortable, role is a bit petrifying…
你要知道，放弃一份稳定、永久、全职、带薪、舒适的工作的这个想法有点令人害怕……
It is super-scary because … you then have that fear of 'oh my goodness can we do this'?
那超级可怕，因为你会有那种“天啊，我们能做到吗”的恐惧。
You also have things creeping in that say you know like self-sabotage – are you good enough to do this?
你也会渐渐产生一些念头，比如自我否定——自己能胜任吗？
Are people going to want to take me on as a business?
人们会愿意和我做生意吗？
So, Carla decided to go it alone – an informal way of saying work for herself.
所以，卡拉决定自己单干——这是给自己打工的一种非正式说法。
She described giving up a full-time job as petrifying – so frightening you can't speak or move.
她形容放弃一份全职工作是一件令人害怕的事——如此吓人以至于你说不出话，也动弹不了。
She may have been exaggerating slightly but she also said it was 'super-scary'!
她形容的可能有点夸张，但她也说那“超级可怕”！
I guess working for yourself must be scary as you're solely responsible for your own success.
我猜想给自己打工一定很可怕，因为你要对自己的成功全权负责。
It's no surprise Carla had feelings of self-sabotage – having doubts and fears that stopped her achieving something.
卡拉有自我否定的情绪也就不足为奇了——自我否定是指持怀疑和恐惧的态度，那会阻碍她取得成就。
Luckily, she persisted and things went well.
幸运的是，她坚持下来了，一切进展顺利。
And many other people who have become self-employed or freelance have overcome the fear and discovered the benefits.
而许多其他自主创业或从事自由职业的人已经克服了这种恐惧，并发现了其中的好处。
Like Fiona Thomas, who's the author of a book called 'Ditch the 9 to 5 and be your Own Boss'.
比如菲奥娜·托马斯，她是《抛弃朝九晚五，做自己的老板》一书的作者。
She also spoke to the BBC's You and Yours programme
她还做客BBC的You and Yours节目，
and explained why she gave up the 9 to 5 – the regular, full-time staff job – and how it helped her…
并解释了她为什么放弃了朝九晚五的固定全职工作，以及那对她有什么帮助……
A kind of combination of wanting some creative fulfilment from a job, compared to the job that I was in before,
与我之前的工作相比，我想从一份工作中获得一些创造性的成就，
which was very much customer based and working face-to-face in hospitality.
我之前的工作很大程度上是以客户为基础，要面对面热情服务。
But I also wanted the flexibility to accommodate my mental health,
但我也想要弹性工作来调节我的心理健康，
because I suffer from depression and anxiety,
因为我患有抑郁症和焦虑症，
and I found working in a rigid schedule and being in front of a lot of people all the time really exacerbated a lot of my symptoms.
而且我发现，按照严格的时间表工作，总是面对很多人真的使我的很多症状加重了。
And I also wanted the financial freedom to be able to, over time, increase my income
而且我也希望实现财务自由，能够随着时间的推移增加我的收入，
without just having to wait on being promoted or getting a pay rise in traditional employment.
而不必在传统雇佣模式下等待升职或加薪。
So, working for herself gave Fiona a good feeling that she achieved something she wanted to do – it gave her creative fulfilment.
因此，给自己打工让菲奥娜感觉良好，她实现了自己想做的事情——这给了她创造性的成就感。
It also meant she could work more flexibly and that helped her with her mental health,
这也意味着她可以更弹性地工作，那对她的心理健康有帮助，
because she didn't have to follow a fixed rota of tasks.
因为她不必遵循固定的任务轮值表。
And it gave her financial freedom – meaning the money she earned was not controlled by someone else,
而且那让她实现了财务自由——那是指她挣的钱不受别人掌控，
and she didn't have to wait for someone else to give her a pay rise.
她不必等着别人给她加薪。
Of course, that can be risky too.
当然，那也有风险。
Let's get back to my quiz question now, Rob.
现在让我们回到我的测试问题上来，罗伯。
Earlier I asked you if you knew what job a drummer used to do back in the 19th Century?
早些时候我问你，你知不知道19世纪“drummer”是做什么工作？
And obviously, a drummer plays the drums!
很明显，“drummer”是打鼓的人！
Well, you are sort of right but a drummer also used to be an informal way of describing a travelling salesperson
嗯，在某种程度上你是对的，但“drummer”也曾是用来形容旅行推销员的一种非正式方式，
– because their job was to drum up business for a company – meaning they tried to increase sales.
因为他们的工作是为公司招徕生意，那是指他们努力提高销量。
Ahh very interesting, although I know which drummer I would rather be – a freelance drummer in a rock band!
啊，很有趣，虽然我知道我更愿意从事其中哪个职业——一个摇滚乐队的自由鼓手！
And freelance is one of the words we've mentioned today.
“从事自由职业”是我们今天提到的单词之一。
To freelance means to work for yourself, selling your skills or services to different businesses.
“从事自由职业”是指给自己打工，将你的技能和服务卖给不同企业。
Becoming self-employed can be petrifying – frightening, so you can't speak or move.
自主创业可能会令人害怕——很吓人，所以你说不出话，也动弹不了。
And starting out on your own can lead to self-sabotage – having doubts and fears that stop you achieving something.
而开始自己的事业可能会导致自我否定——持怀疑和恐惧的态度，那会阻碍你取得成就。
But it can also give you fulfilment – a good feeling of achieving something for yourself.
但它也能给你成就感——为自己实现某事而产生的一种良好感受。
And having financial freedom means being able to control how you earn and use your money.
实现财务自由意味着能够掌控自己如何赚钱以及如何使用你的钱。
That's it for this programme.
以上就是本期节目的全部内容。
Bye for now.
再见了。
Goodbye.
再见。