American accent
Emma was 32 years old and lived in London. She needed a job. She had not worked for three months, and she had very little money left.
Every day, she looked for jobs online. She applied for many positions, but nobody answered her emails. She was beginning to feel worried. What could she do?
One Monday morning, she saw a job at a big hotel in Madrid. The pay was very good, and the hotel offered a free apartment.
Emma had worked in hotels for ten years. But there was one problem. She did not speak Spanish.
She sent an email to the hotel.
On Tuesday, the hotel asked her to come for an interview on Friday. Emma did not have much money, and the flight to Madrid was expensive. But she really wanted the job, so she bought a plane ticket.
That evening, Emma told her friend David about the job.
“It’s a great job,” she said. “But I can’t speak Spanish.”
David thought for a minute.
“I know a man who can help you,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, David took Emma to a small office. A man called Dr Lewis was there.
He showed Emma a small blue pill.
“This is something new,” he said. “Take this pill, and you can speak Spanish for six hours.”
Emma looked at him.
“That’s impossible!”
“It sounds impossible, but it works for some people.”
“Is it safe?”
“We don’t know everything about it. Some people feel ill after taking it.”
Emma was worried.
“How much is it?”
“Two thousand pounds.”
It was almost all her money.
Emma went home. She thought about the pill all day. She wanted the job, but she was afraid.
On Thursday morning, she called Dr Lewis.
“I want the pill,” she said.
She went to his office, paid for the pill and took it home.
That evening, Emma flew to Madrid. She stayed in a cheap hotel for the night.
On Friday morning, Emma arrived at the hotel for her interview at nine o’clock. Four other people were there for the same job.
She went into the bathroom and took the pill with some water.
Twenty minutes later, she felt a little ill. But soon she felt better.
At ten o’clock, a woman called her name.
Emma went into a room. Two hotel managers were sitting at a table.
“Buenos días,” one of them said.
“Buenos días,” Emma answered.
She understood him! She could speak Spanish!
The interview went very well. Emma answered all their questions in Spanish.
Then one manager said, “Now we want to see how you work with our hotel guests.”
Emma went downstairs.
At first, everything was easy. She helped a family find a restaurant. She answered questions about Madrid.
Then a man came to her desk. He was very angry.
“Someone took my bag!” he said in Spanish. “My passport and all my money are in it!”
Emma asked him some questions. He told her he left the bag near the hotel restaurant.
She called the restaurant. Nobody saw his bag.
Then Emma looked at the clock.
It was almost twelve.
The man asked another question.
Emma did not understand him.
He spoke again.
She tried to answer in Spanish, but she could not remember the words.
The pill was not working anymore!
The man became more angry. One of the managers was watching Emma.
She had to do something.
Emma took out her phone and opened a translation app. She wrote a message in English and showed the Spanish words to the man.
He read the message and became calmer.
Emma called another hotel worker. Ten minutes later, they found the bag under a table in the restaurant.
The man was very happy.
Later that afternoon, the hotel manager called Emma.
“We want to give you the job,” he said. “You worked very well today.”
Emma was happy, but she was also worried.
“When do I start?” she asked.
“In six weeks.”
Emma thanked him.
On Saturday, she flew back to London. When she arrived home, she looked at her Spanish book. It was on a shelf, under some old magazines.
She took it down, opened the first page and started to study.
She had six weeks to learn Spanish. This time, she had to do it without the pill.
📒 Key vocabulary
- applied (apply, applied, applied) – ask to get a job
- positions – jobs available in a company or organisation
- offered (offer, offered, offered) – say someone can have something
- interview – a meeting where someone asks you questions about a job
- flight – a journey by plane
- pill – a small piece of medicine that you take with water
- ill – not feeling well; sick
- guests – people who stay at a hotel
- downstairs – on a lower floor of a building
- translation app – a phone or computer program that changes words from one language to another
- calmer – less angry, afraid or worried than before
- shelf – a flat place where you put books or other things
- magazines – things you read with pictures and articles about different subjects
🤔 Comprehension quiz
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