Self-employment means most of the time you have to do the job

Silverobama

Key Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
The following conversation was between my friend and I. He was interesting in the job (tutor) I'm doing right.

David: You've been working as a tutor for so many years, right?
Silver: Yes. Since you left for the UK.
David: Wow, good for you. What are the differences of working as a tutor and a school teacher?
Silver: I don't know what it's like teaching at school. But working as a tutoring is totally different. Tutors like me and some of my friends are mostly self-employed. Self-employment means most of the time you have to do the job on your own.
David: That's interesting. Could you explain that in more depth?
Silver: Sure. I look for tutoring jobs myself and I need to tutor the students myself. I also have to cope with demanding parents myself. In a word, I do all sorts of things myself* because I'm self-employed.

*: Well, I've been reading posts about the difference between "by myself" and "myself" and I think they're both fine in this context.

Is the italic sentence natural? If so, please suggest just one alternative.
 

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
It's "working as a tutor". (I've got to go.)
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Being self-employed means that most of the time you have to do things on your own.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
The following conversation was took place between my friend and I me. He was interesting interested in the job (tutor) I'm doing right now.

David: You've been working as a tutor for so many years, right?
Silver: Yes, since you left for the UK.
David: Wow, good for you. What are the differences of between working as a tutor and as a school teacher?
Silver: I don't know what it's like teaching at a school no full stop here but working as a tutoring is totally different. Tutors, like me and some of my friends, are mostly self-employed. Self-employment means most of the time you have to do the job on your own.
David: That's interesting. Could you explain that in more depth?
Silver: Sure. I have to look for tutoring jobs myself and I need to tutor the students myself. I also have to cope with demanding parents by myself. In a word, I have to do all sorts of things everything myself* because I'm self-employed.

*: Well, I've been reading posts about the difference between "by myself" and "myself" and I think they're both fine in this context.

Is the italic sentence natural? If so, please suggest just one alternative.
Note my changes above. Your first and third "myself" were OK but, as you can see, I'd use "by myself" for the second. I think you're starting to get the hang of it, though.
Is your friend David a journalist or similar? I wouldn't normally expect a friend to say something as formal as "Could you explain that in more depth?"
 

Silverobama

Key Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Is your friend David a journalist or similar? I wouldn't normally expect a friend to say something as formal as "Could you explain that in more depth?"
He's a friend of mine but he speaks very formal English because he has been living and working in the UK for seven years!

I know the normal expressions among friends are "Tell me more!" Am I right?

Much appreciated!
 

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
He's a friend of mine but he speaks very formal English because he has been living and working in the UK for seven years!

I know the normal expressions among friends are "Tell me more!" Am I right?

Much appreciated!
That doesn't explain why he speaks "very formal" English. I would say that's just his speech pattern for whatever reason.

Say: "I know the normal expression between friends is 'Tell me more!' Am I right?"

Also possible:

I'd like to hear more.
That's interesting.
Go on, please!
Interesting.
Do you have any more to say about that?
 
Top