TOPIC 09. 직장 / 학교 | Work / School #
직장/학교는 ‘기능(Function)’을 보여주기 좋은 주제입니다: 설명, 서술, 의견, 문제 해결. AL은 업무/수업을 단순히 나열하지 않고, ‘내 역할’과 ‘하나의 에피소드(난관-해결-교훈)’로 깊이를 만듭니다.
자주 나오는 질문 패턴 #
- Describe your job/school and what you do there.
- Tell me about a challenging task or project.
- How do you communicate with coworkers/classmates?
- Compare working/studying alone vs in a team.
답변 플롯 템플릿 #
[S] I work/study at ________ as a(n) ________.
[D] My main responsibilities are ________ and ________.
[D] A challenging moment was ________. I handled it by ________.
[E] I felt ________, but afterwards I felt ________.
[R] It taught me ________ / Now I try to ________.
실전 질문 1 #
OPIC 스타일 질문
Describe your job or school life. What do you do, and what does a typical day look like?
IH 샘플 (짧고 무난하지만, 디테일/감정/연결이 부족한 버전)
I work at a company. I usually do office work and I
have meetings. On a typical day, I check emails and I
do my tasks.
AL 샘플 (장면 + 디테일 + 감정 + 리플렉션까지)
I work at a tech company as a marketing assistant,
and my job is mainly about communication. (pause)
On a typical day, I start by checking emails and
campaign metrics, and then I join short meetings to
align with the team. A big part of my work is writing
- for example, social media posts and short product
descriptions. It sounds simple, but I have to be
careful with tone and timing. What I like is that the
work is dynamic, so I rarely feel bored. However, it
can be stressful near deadlines, so I rely on planning
and checklists.
AL 버전 B (같은 질문, 다른 각도–버전 2로 확장)
If I'm talking about school life, (pause) I'd focus on how group projects teach you communication more than
textbooks do. That's where you learn real negotiation skills.
• Role: 직무/전공 + 한 문장 정의
• Daily flow: 아침 업무 -> 미팅 -> 핵심 업무(글쓰기 등)
• Detail: '톤/타이밍' 같은 직무 디테일
• Emotion: dynamic/boring vs stressful
• Coping: 계획/체크리스트로 마무리
• What do you enjoy the most about your job/school?
• What is the most difficult part?
• How do you manage stress in busy seasons?
실전 질문 2 #
OPIC 스타일 질문
Tell me about a challenging task or project you had recently. What was the problem and how did you solve it?
IH 샘플 (짧고 무난하지만, 디테일/감정/연결이 부족한 버전)
Recently I had a lot of work. The deadline was short.
I worked hard and I finished it. I felt tired but happy.
AL 샘플 (장면 + 디테일 + 감정 + 리플렉션까지)
Recently, I had a project where the deadline
suddenly moved up by a week. (pause) The
problem was that we still didn't have all the
materials from another team, but we had to launch
on time. At first, I felt overwhelmed because
everything depended on other people. So I took a
proactive approach: I set up a short daily check-in,
clarified what we needed by when, and prepared
backup copy in case something was delayed. It
wasn't perfect, but it reduced confusion a lot. In the
end, we launched on time, and I felt genuinely
relieved. That experience taught me that
communication is not extra - it's the main work in a
team project.
AL 버전 B (같은 질문, 다른 각도–버전 2로 확장)
If I could redo it, (pause) I would also set expectations earlier to avoid last-minute panic. But overall, I'm proud
that I stayed calm and helped the team focus.
답변 흐름(구조) 분석
- Context: 최근 프로젝트 + 변화(데드라인 당김)
확장 질문 (여기까지 이어서 물어볼 수 있어요)
- Problem: 의존/자료 부족
- Emotion: overwhelmed
- Action: daily check-in + 명확한 요구 + backup 준비
- Result+Lesson: 성공 + communication is main work
- What did you learn from the experience?
- How did your team members react?
- What would you do differently next time?
실전 질문 3 #
OPIC 스타일 질문
Compare working alone and working in a team. Which do you prefer, and why?
IH 샘플 (짧고 무난하지만, 디테일/감정/연결이 부족한 버전)
I prefer working alone because I can focus.
Teamwork is good but sometimes it's hard to
communicate.
AL 샘플 (장면 + 디테일 + 감정 + 리플렉션까지)
Working alone and working in a team both have
strengths, but they require different skills. (pause)
When I work alone, I can focus deeply and move fast
because I don't have to wait for anyone. It's great
for tasks like writing or organizing information. In a
team, however, you can build bigger results
because people bring different ideas and
perspectives. The downside is coordination - if
communication is unclear, progress slows down.
Personally, I prefer a mix: I like doing focused
individual work, and then combining it in a team
review. That way, I get both speed and quality.
AL 버전 B (같은 질문, 다른 각도–버전 2로 확장)
I also think teamwork improves your soft skills. (pause) It forces you to explain your ideas clearly, which is
useful in any career.
답변 흐름(구조) 분석
- Criteria: speed/focus vs ideas/scale
확장 질문 (여기까지 이어서 물어볼 수 있어요)
- Alone: 장점 + 예시 업무
- Team: 장점 + 단점(조율)
- Preference: mix + 이유
- Reflection: soft skills
- What is the best team experience you have had?
- How do you handle conflict in a team?
- Do you prefer online meetings or face-to-face meetings? Why?
다이얼로그 확장 연습 #
아래는 ‘한 문장 답변 → AL 길이’로 확장하는 연습입니다. Examiner 질문에 대해 먼저 Level 1만 말하고, 사다리처럼 한 단계씩 늘려 보세요.
연습 스크립트 (Level 1 → 확장 힌트 → 내 버전으로 늘리기)
Examiner: Describe your job/school life.
You (Level 1): I work in a company and I do office work like emails and meetings.
확장 힌트: 내 역할 1문장 + 핵심 업무 디테일 + 감정 + 스트레스 관리
Examiner: Tell me about a challenging project.
You (Level 1): The deadline was short, so it was stressful.
확장 힌트: 문제 구체화 + 행동 2-3개 + 결과 + 교훈(communication)
다이얼로그 확장 기록지 (말하기 전에 30초 메모용)
[기록용 메모]
- 내 버전의 핵심 키워드 5개:
1) ________ 2) ________ 3) ________ 4) ________ 5) ________
- 내가 추가한 디테일(장소/사람/감각/수치):
장소: ________ / 사람: ________ / 감각: ________ / 수치: ________
- 감정 단어 2개:
________, ________
핵심 표현 (말로 바로 붙이는 Chunk)
말로 바로 쓰는 표현 & 템플릿 #
Chunk Bank (그대로 바꿔 끼우면 문장이 길어져요)
- My job is mainly about ________ (communication/writing/data).
- On a typical day, I start by ________, and then I ________.
- A big part of my work is ________, so I have to be careful with ________.
- At first, I felt overwhelmed, so I took a proactive approach.
- I set up a short daily check-in to ________.
- In the end, I felt genuinely relieved.
- Communication is not extra; it’s the main work in a team project.
- That way, I get both speed and quality.
버전 만들기 팁
- 버전 A: 구체적 경험 1개를 깊게
- 버전 B: 습관/루틴을 넓게 + 짧은 미니 스토리 1개
- 버전 C: 비교(예전 vs 지금 / A vs B)로 마무리
플롯 템플릿 (빈칸만 채우면 바로 말할 수 있어요)
[S] I work/study at ________ as a(n) ________.
[D] My main responsibilities are ________ and ________.
[D] A challenging moment was ________. I handled it by ________.
[E] I felt ________, but afterwards I felt ________.
[R] It taught me ________ / Now I try to ________.
[버전 B용 추가 문장]
- That being said, ________.
- Looking back, ________.
- If I had to sum it up, ________.