Lesson 8.1.1 · Trabajos
👷 Jobs & Professions
How to talk about what you do — and what your neighbor does. In Colombia, titles like 'doctor', 'ingeniero', and 'profe' are used as forms of respect even outside the job.
Sub-lessons
Break this lesson into focused chunks. Each sub-lesson has its own Memory Lab — active recall, mnemonics, elaboration, interleaved review, and shadowing — scoped to just those words.
Common professions
Most jobs swap -o → -a for the feminine form: cocinero/a, trabajador/a, pintor/a. 'Mesero/a' is the Colombian word for server.
the doctor
Also 'el doctor' as a title of respect.
the policeman
the waiter
the waitress
the cook
the driver
the pilot
the painter
the worker
the retiree
'Pensionado' is equally common.
Example sentences
Necesito el médico, por favor.
I need the doctor, please.
¿Dónde está el policía?
Where is the policeman?
Me gusta el mesero.
I like the waiter.
Mini-diálogo
¿Dónde está el médico?
Where is the doctor?
Me gusta el policía.
I like the policeman.
Talking about work
'El trabajo' covers the noun (the job, the work) and 'trabajar' the verb. Colombians often shorten 'trabajo' to 'la chamba' in casual speech.
the job
to work
Example sentences
Necesito el trabajo, por favor.
I need the job, please.
¿Quieres trabajar conmigo?
Do you want to work with me?
Mini-diálogo
¿Dónde está el trabajo?
Where is the job?
Me gusta trabajar en la tarde.
I like to work in the afternoon.
Memory lab
Five research-backed techniques — active recall, mnemonics, elaboration, interleaving, and production — applied to this lesson's vocabulary. Your progress trains a spaced-repetition schedule under the hood.
Force the answer from memory before peeking. The struggle is the workout — that's the testing effect.
Recall from English
the waiter
Practice exercises
Test what stuck. Multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank — pulled live from this lesson's vocabulary.
the waiter
el trabajador
the cook
the waitress
the doctor
el piloto
Fill the blank
Me gusta el _____.
I like the waiter.
Fill the blank
¿Quieres _____ conmigo?
Do you want to work with me?
Más lecciones