6 Minute Vocabulary - Male and female job words

This is the BBC . This podcast is supported by advertising outside the . Six minutes from BBC Learning English dot com . Hi , welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary . My name's Katherine and I'm here with Rob . Hello , everyone . Today , we're going to be talking about different words for jobs and especially how those words change , depending on whether a man or a woman is doing the job . Yes , I'm listening carefully because we're going to give you a quick quiz and then you'll get a tip to help with your vocabulary learning . Right . So let's get started . First , we're going to listen to Joe talking about how he met his girlfriend , Judith , while you listen . Here's a question for you to think about . What is Judith's job now ? Listen carefully . Well , I used to be an actor and I met Judith at work , we were doing a play about a policeman who falls in love with a waitress . I played the policeman and Judith played the waitress . And sure enough , we fell in love . Later , I quit acting and now I'm a businessman , but Judith has a successful acting career . Right now she's on a film shoot . She's playing a firefighter . So the question was , what Judith's job now ? And the answer is Judith is an actress right now . She's making a film . The first job that Joe mentioned was actor . Now , this is one of those jobs where the word changes depending on whether a man or a woman is doing the job . So we say that a man is an actor , but a woman is an actress . That's right . When Joe met Judith , she was playing a waitress . Again , we can say a man is a waiter and a woman is a waitress . Yeah . So we've got actor , actress , waiter , waitress . You can hear the pattern , Connie . I can , yes . Judith is playing a waitress in the play . But can you remember what Joe was playing ? Listen again . We were doing a play about a policeman who falls in love with a waitress , right ? So Joe was playing a policeman and we say that a man is a policeman and a woman is a policewoman . Now , Joe is a businessman because he's a man . But for a woman , we can say businesswoman . Yeah . So policeman , policewoman , businessman , businesswoman . Easy , isn't it ? Well , maybe it's not quite so easy because we know that Judith is making a film right now . But do you remember what sort of character she's playing ? Listen again and check . But Judith has a successful acting career . Right now , she's on a film shoot , she's playing a firefighter . OK , so Judith is playing a firefighter , but wait , hold on a minute , Catherine , there's something strange about that word . Firefighter . Yes , indeed . A a man and a policewoman is a woman . What about a firefighter , man or woman ? Well , in fact , the word firefighter is the same for a man or a woman . More and more in modern English , people prefer to use words for jobs , which are the same for both sexes . They do . For example , some people prefer not to use the word actors . They just like to use the word actor for a man or a woman . And instead of policeman or policewoman , we can say police officer , that's good for a man or a woman , too . And that's why we say firefighter . We don't say firemen , . We just use firefighter these days for everyone . Six minutes from BBC Learning English . And we're talking about job words that change depending on whether a man or woman is doing the job and job words that are the same for both men and women . Those are my preferred options . What about Europe ? I think it's easier and less complicated . Yes . To use those sort of generic words . Yeah , like presenter , like presenter or anything . Yes . And in fact , some job titles that used to be different for men and women are now being replaced by a single job title for both sexes . So , for example , on planes in the past , we had stewards and stewardesses looking after the passengers . But now , Rob , we just have we just have flight attendants . Yeah . And instead of a chairman or chairwoman in charge of a formal meeting these days , we often hear the word chairperson . Yes . Or even just a chair . Okay . Right . So now it's time to see how much you can remember . And we've got three quick questions for you . Number one , if the word Farman is businessman , what's the word for a woman ? And the answer is businesswoman . Second , if the word for a woman is waitress , what's the word for a man ? Waiter , right ? I'm just one more question , if a man can be a policeman and a woman can be a policewoman . What's the word that's equally good for a man or a woman ? It's police officer . Did you get the right well done if he did . And before we go , here's a top tip to help you learn your vocabulary more effectively when you're out and about walking down the street or sitting on the bus . Notice the people you see and say the words for them to yourself in English , like a waitress or police officer or presenter . Indeed , there's more about this at ABC Learning English dot com . Join us again soon for more six minute vocabulary by .