What happens on the first shift
The calls come short, loud and between two tables. After a week you understand them because you have heard them seven hundred times. Until then you are guessing, and guessing costs speed.
The second bottleneck is finishing up. In the shared flat, at dinner, outside the door with a cigarette: that is where the network forms that gets you the better job, the flat and the next season.
The conversations of your season
They are short and they repeat every day. Have them and after two weeks you count as someone who can work.
- Rota: when you start, when you finish, whether you cover a shift.
- Orders and calls: what goes out, what is missing, what is ready.
- Kitchen, farm, site: tools, machines, what has broken.
- Breaks and meals: when, where, what you need.
- Accommodation: what is missing, what is not working, who is responsible.
- Guests: questions, complaints, passing things on.
- Hours and pay: your sheet, what you do not understand, asking about it.
Learning on the way to work
You have long days and no room to study. The commute is the study time: on the bike, on the bus, in the car. In Drive Mode it all runs offline with the screen locked, with thinking pauses in which you say the sentence yourself.
Whatever you did not catch during the shift, write it down at night in your own language. The next morning you hear it on the way in, and on shift it is ready.
What the season gives you if you join in
Someone who follows the calls works more safely and faster, and the shift lead notices.
And someone who talks in the staff room has a better chance of being asked back next season.
What is realistic
At around 30 minutes a day, your first 50 sentences sit after one month. After about three months you hold short everyday conversations, after about six months you reach A1. Guide values, faster or slower depending on the language and your practice.
For a single shift you need far less. The sentences for orders, breaks and accommodation take two weeks, and you use them the same evening.
Sentences you will learn for this
You write them in your own language, SprechoMio translates them and speaks them for you.
- “Table six is ready, I'm sending it out.”The call you need to hear
- “I'll take the dishwasher.”Fitting in without charades
- “What time do I start tomorrow?”Sorting the rota
- “I'm off, I'm heading home now.”Ending the day
- “Say that again please, I didn't catch it.”Asking between two tables
- “There isn't a blanket in my room.”Sorting the accommodation
- “Can I take more shifts next week?”Asking for more work
How you learn with SprechoMio
Your own sentences, translated naturally and spoken aloud. Recall instead of rereading, spaced repetition, speaking along: methods proven by learning research. 30 minutes a day, even in the car with your screen locked.
More about the method →Frequently asked questions
I am only there three months. Is it worth it?
For three months you need the vocabulary of those three months. That is fifty sentences, and in two weeks they are good enough to use on shift.
Nobody hears me in the kitchen anyway.
Then learn the calls coming at you and the two you use to check. In a kitchen what counts is reaction, not accent.
Should I learn for the guests or for the staff?
For the staff. Guests manage with you however they can; the staff decide your shifts. Your sentences come from your own working day.
Which languages can I choose?
Croatian, Serbian, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, English, Dutch and Greek.
You might also like
Cancel any month