This is a sample chapter from a potential Flocabulary TOEIC project. The goal with this content is to get EFL learners engaged with English in a fun and socially relevant way. Through the combination of aural, visual, and kinesthetic memories (rhyme), Flocabulary makes TOEIC vocabulary acquisition as easy as the ABCs.
"It’s Jimmy!" (15 Vocabulary Words)
Lyrics
Yes.
Back once again.
Flocabulary for the TOEIC, so you know it.
Ok, let me tell you about a guy named Jimmy,
We called him Slim Jim, ‘cause he was so skinny.
He was unemployed for many weeks.
He didn’t have a job, it was hard to eat,
He applied for a job at a bookstore.
It was just what Jim was looking for.
It was the biggest book store in the nation.
He walked in and filled out the application.
The bookstore was busy like a three-ring circus.
Jimmy was sweaty ‘cause he was so nervous.
But he was ready for whatever was thrown his way.
He had experience from working back in the day.
He handed in his resume, which stated
all of the previous places that he had worked.
He gave a list of references, people the
bookstore could call to make sure he wasn’t a jerk.
It’s Jimmy!
He’s looking for a job.
It’s Jimmy!
He’s working very hard.
Hey! It’s Jimmy!
You know he loves to rock,
sit back, relax, listen to some hip-hop.
The management looked over all the applicants.
The most impressive resume belonged to Jim!
Plus the managers liked him; they really liked Jim.
They told Jim that they wanted to interview him.
The interviewer asked him questions:
“Do you know about books? Can you use a computer?”
“Sure,” said Jim, “that’s a piece of cake.
I use a computer every day.
When I read books, I read every page,
but I have one question: what is the pay?”
"Well, we won’t put you on a salary.
We won’t pay you yearly, but hourly.
$10 an hour, we might give you a raise,
a bump in your pay if the work is great.
We offer health insurance and other benefits,
not a bad perk, when you’re feeling sick, Jimmy…"
It’s Jimmy!
He’s looking for a job.
It’s Jimmy!
He’s working very hard.
Hey! It’s Jimmy!
You know he loves to rock,
sit back, relax, listen to some hip-hop.
Definitions
Unemployed adjective - not having a job
Employed adjective - having a job
Employ verb - to give someone a job
Employer noun - a person who hires workers and pays them
Employee noun - a person who works for a company
Employment noun - a job
To Apply verb - to ask for a job
Application noun - a request or a form filled out to apply for a job
Applicant noun - a person who applies for a job
Experience noun - something that happens to you; past events that you have learned from
To Experience verb - to have something happen to you
Resume noun - a sheet that lists past business and school experience that you give to a company when you apply for a job
Reference noun - a person who knows you and can describe you to a prospective employer
To Reference verb - to refer to something else, to mention
Management noun - the people or person in charge of a business, the people who are managing
Manager noun - the person who manages
To Manage verb - to control something like a project, company or group of people; to be in charge
Managerial adjective - relating to managers or management
To Interview verb - to ask someone questions to get information from them
Interview noun - a talk between an interviewer and an interviewee
Interviewer noun - the person asking question in an interview
Interviewee noun - the person answering questions, being interviewed
Salary noun - a fixed amount of money that someone is paid; what they make per year
Raise noun - an increase in the amount paid to an employee
To Raise verb - to make something higher
Benefit noun - something that makes something else better; something given to an employee in addition to money
To Benefit verb - to profit
Beneficial adjective - producing benefits
Perk noun (short for ‘perquisite’) - a benefit of a job
Exercises
Exercise 1 – Fill in the Blanks
Directions: Replace each underlined word with the word from the word bank that has the closest meaning. Each word can be used only once.
Benefit
Unemployed
Salary
Interviewer
Applicants
Experience
Resume
Raise
Managers
Application
1. Jim had worked in stores before, so he had lots of knowledge. _________________ .
2. The people who ran the company talked to Jim when he came in. _________________ .
3. Besides his pay, Jim was also offered additional services such as health insurance. _________________ .
4. Of all the people who tried to get the job, Jimmy was the luckiest. _________________ .
5. Jim was happy to work at the bookstore, because before that he had been without a job. _________________ .
6. The person asking him questions had a thick accent, and it was hard to understand everything he said. _________________ .
7. Jimmy brought a list of the places that he had worked to the bookstore when he went looking for a job. _________________ .
8. Since Sarah had worked so hard at her job, her boss decided to give her a greater amount of pay. _________________ .
9. When Jimmy was filling out the form to apply for the job, his pen ran out of ink, and he had to ask for one. _________________ .
10. While the booksellers were paid $10,00 an hour, the managers were paid a certain amount of money per year. _________________ .
Exercise 2 – Parts of Speech
Directions: Change each of these nouns into verbs by adding the endings
Noun Form Verb Form
1. Interviewer _______________
2. Applicant _______________
3. Management _______________
4. Employee _______________
5. Experience _______________
Exercise 3 – Matching
Directions: Match the word or phrase in column 1 with a word or phrase in column 2 that has the closest definition.
Column 1 Column 2
1. Employ ____ A. a benefit
2. Interviewee ____ B. to mention something
3. Apply ____ C. a person being asked questions
4. Perk ____ D. to apply for a job
5. Reference ____ E. to give someone a job
6. Experience ____ F. past events and knowledge
Contact:
Alex Rappaport
Flocabulary, LLC
315 W. 39th St.
Studio 1610
New York, NY 10018
415.516.8242 (t)
646.514.5853 (f)
alex@flocabulary.com
