ENGLISH FOR WORK. How to Ask For a Raise

ENGLISH FOR WORK

How to Ask For a Raise

I Lead in.

a)    Do you think it is easy to ask a boss for a raise (higher salary)? Why is it easy or difficult?

b)    How would you ask your boss for a raise?

c)    What are the right things to say when you ask your boss for a raise?

II Watch the videos. Pei, a recent arts undergraduate, works as a designer. She wants to ask her boss, Chris, for a raise.

A) Look at the phrases below. Decide if they are parts of dialogue 1 or dialogue 2. How does the designer ask for a raise? What arguments (if any) does she give in dialogue 1? How does she start her speech in dialogue 2?

1.    We originally discussed a higher hourly rate and I feel like I've met the criteria for that. So can I have a raise?

2.    I’ve been 100% awesome.

3.    We didn't talk about criteria actually, but I think the criteria were being awesome and getting things done.

4.    Chris, I think I'm an awesome designer and I show up on time, and I get things done.

5.    And I want the 100% hourly rate.

B) Which dialogue is a better version of a talk with a boss? Do you think the boss will give her a raise? Why do you think so?

III Vocabulary focus. Key words. Read the sentences (1-14). The words in bold are used in the video. First guess the meaning of the words. Then match the words in bold with their definitions (a-n).

1.    We originally discussed a higher hourly rate and I feel like I've met the criteria for that.

2.    But I think the criteria were being awesome and getting things done.

3.    I think I'm an awesome designer and I show up on time.

4.    I get things done, and they're very turnkey.  

5.    Otherwise I'm gonna fire you.

6.    I think you're gonna get a higher chance of getting the raise without straining the relationship.

7.    Does that sound like it's threatening or too aggressive?  

8.    I think the first thing that's gonna happen, is you're gonna catch them off guard.

9.    So you have to take on more responsibility if you want to make more money.

10.And the problem there is that those responsibilities aren't viewed as being valuable to the company.  

11.If you can teach two new designers that are underneath you…,  I'd be happy to consider giving you a raise

12.We don’t need to use vague language.

13.We need to make goals more tangible.

14.If you win two awards within the categories that matter to me, I'm gonna give you a raise.

a)    extremely good

b)    not clearly expressed

c)    something that you have to do as part of your job

d)    worth a lot of money

e)    to tell someone that you’ll cause problems if they don’t do what you want

f)     in lower position

g)    prize

h)    to remove a person from their job when they did something wrong

i)      to put pressure on something

j)     finished and ready to use

k)    to come to work punctually

l)      to surprise someone by doing something that they are not expecting or ready for

m)  real

n)    the amount of money that is paid for every hour worked

IV Watch the video. Answer the questions.

1) What do most people say when they ask for a raise? What do they talk about?

2) Why is it a bad idea to describe what you do in your job or say that you show up on time? Why doesn’t it impress your boss?

3) What is a different way of looking at raise? Whose point of view is important n this dialogue?

4) What are the good questions to ask your boss without sounding aggressive or demanding?

V Watch the videos. Pei, a designer, asks her boss, Chris, for a raise. What tips from the previous task does she use? Do you think this talk will be successful? Read the sentences. Then watch the the video and complete the sentences with one word per space.

1) I think I've been doing an ____ job being a designer here, and I hope you think so also.

2) But I want to ____ more money.

3) And so I want to ask you what can I do, what ____ can I fill here to earn more and be a better ____ to you?  

4) And if I fill those requirements, can I have a ____?

VI Watch the video. Put the sentences from the talk in order (1-14).

a)    The first thing that's gonna happen, is you're gonna catch them off guard.

b)    Everybody comes in and asks for more money, they give a lot of reasons and describe what they're doing, but those are their job responsibilities.

c)    So you know you can take those courses, you know you can read that book, you know you can work towards that certification.

d)    Try not to use vague language.

e)    A good question is: “What steps would I take personally to become a better designer?”

f)     So you have to take on more responsibility if you want to make more money.

g)    The boss can say: “If you take two of these courses on lynda.com, if you read this book, if you're certified by this thing, and if you win two awards within the categories that matter to me, that’s real. Then I'm gonna go do that”.

h)    And it could be that simple and that gives you something really tangible goals to work towards.

i)      The employee (the worker) wants to follow it up in an email saying: “Boss, we talked. These are the four things I'm gonna work on. And how will we know we get there?”

j)     The boss can say: “If you can learn to talk to the clients, if you can deliver jobs on X percentage or you only spend X % versus the money that's coming in, if you can teach two new designers that are underneath you, you're showing an expanded role within the company, I'd be happy to consider giving you a raise.”

k)    It is important to take responsibilities that are helpful or valuable to the company.

l)      The example of vague language is: “I want you to be a better designer”.

m)  Winning the two awards is just another external objective point of view to help gauge if the work is that good.

n)    So it's important that you share that in writing.

VII OVER TO YOU.

A) What tips did you find useful? Are there any recommendations you disagree with? Add one more recommendation (your own idea).

B) Role-play dialogue following the scheme below. Use the phrases from tasks V and VI.

DESIGN. LINES AND SHAPES IN COMICS DESIGN

DESIGN

LINES AND SHAPES  IN COMICS DESIGN

I Lead in.

A) Take 1 minute to write down your associations with the word ‘comics’. Compare your lists with the words other students wrote. Do you have the same or similar associations? What are the biggest differences?

B) Do you like to read comics? What comics do you know? Who is your favourite character in comics?

C) As a designer would you like to draw comics? What will be difficult to draw in comics?

D) How do artists show words and sounds in comics? How do they represent dialogues and noises?

II Vocabulary focus. Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold italics. Then match the words with their definitions (a-p).

to whisper; to interact;  rough; spiky;  blow someone out of the water; to perceive;  lightning bolt; wobbly; uneven;  to emphasize; to cram; angular; to scallop; raggedy; motion; to hop

           A.   to communicate with

B.   to have an opinion about something

C.   the process of movement

D.   having angles or sharp corners

E.    not regular or smooth

F.    to speak very quietly, using the breath but not the voice

G.   having uneven ‘torn’ outline

H.   unsteady and not stable

I.      having sharp points

J.     to give special importance to something

K.   to defeat someone easily

L.    having irregular or uneven surface

M.  to move by jumping

N.   a flash of light in the sky

O.   to completely fill the place

P.    to cut and shape something making it look more round

III Design vocabulary in focus. Types of lines.

A)  Look at the images below. Find the examples of:

a)               spiky line

b)              dotted line

c)               thin line

d)              bold  line

e)               rough line

f)                smooth line

  

B)  What are your associations with the different line types? What lines would you use in your comics to show that a character:

a)       is nervous?

b)      is angry?

c)       is talking quietly?

d)      is whispering?

e)       is scared?

f)       is shouting?

IV Watch the video. Check your answers to task IV and answer the questions.

1. Did you name all line types correctly?

2. What functions of different lines did the artist describe?

3. What are word balloons in comics? What do they show the readers?

4. What do bold lines in word balloons show?

5. How can words balloons show the reader that the character is sick? How can an artist choose to show that that the character is speaking very quickly?

6. What word balloons can artists use to show that a character is dreaming?

7. What word balloons can be useful for robotic characters or words from TV and radio?

8. Look at the word balloons below. Which would you use to show that a character is:

a) yelling?

b) speaking?

c) thinking?

d) whispering?

V Watch the video. Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

1.    The interesting thing about stand/sounded/sound effects is the quality of your line/vine/feline can determine what kind of sound it is.  

2.    For cloud/loud/load sounds you might want to use bold thick lines, very create/straight/strangers, dark.

3.    For softer sounds you might want to use a lighter, thinker/thing/thinner lines.

4.    You see that this is very loud and this is very puffed/soft/off when you look at the two with the loud tones, boulder/bold/gold thick lines, raggedy musical banknotes/notes/noted versus small thin lines, tiny musical notes.

5.    For example, using very thick lines for the text and ladylike/jaggedy/yelling lines for the balloon really makes it clear that this person is telling you/yelling/yellow.

6.    You'll see sound affected/effects/effective all the time in comic books; the classic one is a ‘phew’/‘pow’/’dow’.

7.    You can use lines to show motivate/motion/notions.

8.    Another way to do it is speed/seed/reed lines.

9.    So, for example, just this car alone looks like it's landing/stand/standing still.

10.The next time you pick up a comic book, look at the different ways that comic artists use sound effects and word balloons to tell the story.

VI OVER TO YOU.

A)Find two examples in of sound effects in English language comic books (in the video the example was ‘pow’, another example can be ‘zzz’ to show that a character is sleeping and snoring). If possible compare how the sound effects in English language comic books are different from the sound effects in the comic books in your native language. For example, what letter do artists use in comic books in your native language to show that a character is sleeping and snoring?

B)Look at the comics below. Choose one of them to add the character’s words and/or sound effect. Imagine what people can be discussing. Use the ideas from the video to modify lines, text, and shapes in your word balloons.

C)                Go to the comic artist’s website and compare your version of the comics to the original idea.

D)                Draw your own comics character (or find an example online) and add the character’s words and/or sound effect.