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  • Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, we're going to talk about how you can describe your work activities, OK?

  • And we're going to focus on one particular word: responsible.

  • But the question is, "What are you going to talk about; how are you going to use it," alright?

  • Just one second; OK.

  • So, the point is, you can be answering two possible questions, or you could be talking about two possible scenarios.

  • Who you are responsible "to" and what you are responsible "for".

  • And, according to that, you will choose a different preposition⏤"to" or "for"⏤alright?

  • Let me give you an example so you understand what I mean.

  • If someone asks you, "Who are you responsible to?"

  • they are asking you, "Who is your manager; who is your boss?"

  • So, then, you would say, "I'm responsible to John Miller," for example.

  • Let's suppose, in this example, that you are a marketing assistant.

  • You're in the marketing department, you're a marketing assistant, and you have a manager whose name is John Millerhe's the marketing manager.

  • So, you say, "I'm responsible to John Miller."

  • Then, they ask you, "What are you responsible for?"

  • Now, they're talking about the area that you are responsible for, so, you say, "I'm responsible for the European market," OK?

  • I'm responsible to John Miller; I'm responsible for the European market.

  • Small difference, but it makes quite a lot of difference when you're actually explaining it.

  • Let's take another example.

  • Now, let's say you work in the human resources departmenthuman resources is also called HR for short.

  • It's also sometimes known as the personnel departmentnot personal, but personnel departmentbut, here, we've written HR.

  • So, let's say you are an HR assistant, and your manager, your boss, is the HR director.

  • So, you would say, "I'm responsible to Mary Turner who is the HR director; I'm responsible for recruitment and training," OK?

  • This is a small example; it's a little lesson.

  • But I think it will help you to express more clearly what you do at work in correct English.

  • If you'd like to do a little bit of practice with this, please visit our website at www.engvid.com; you will find there some free quizzes after each lesson to help reinforce whatever you have learned here, OK?

  • Thanks very much; good luck with your English.

  • Bye for now.

Hi, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, we're going to talk about how you can describe your work activities, OK?

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