Feifei Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei.
Roy And I’m Roy! I hear you’re on holiday next week! I bet you’re really excited about a lovely holiday and not having to think about work for a whole week!
Feifei Well, I’m going to the beach, but I’ll still be working – I’m going on a workation.
Roy Oh right, well I feel like I’ve been on a workation since March to be honest. Because I haven’t been to the office in months.
Feifei No, Roy. You’ve been working from home. A workation involves you going somewhere where you might go on holiday, like a beach, but working your normal routine.
Roy Ahh that makes a lot of sense. It’s a portmanteau, or combination of two words -work and vacation. So, that means you’ll be working as normal then?
Feifei Yes, of course. Which means that there will be no office parties while I’m away.
Roy Right, so I guess that means I should send an email to cancel the office Olympics while we listen to some examples.
Examples She spent the day working from the hotel bar and at night she visited the local area. She really enjoyed her workation.
I’m going on workation next week to be closer to nature while I work. Hopefully the internet will be good.
My workation didn’t go as planned as it rained the whole time I was away. I didn’t manage to see or do anything fun.
Feifei This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression ‘workation’. ‘Workation’ is a combination of the words ‘work’ and ‘vacation’ and it refers to a holiday where you go to another location but continue working as normal.
Roy Yes, so you could go somewhere like a beach, skiing resort or tourist area while working. You can even go to another country on your workation if your company permits it.
Feifei So, you were planning to hold the office Olympic games while you thought I wasn’t working?
Roy No, I was only joking – we would never hold any games or parties without you!
Feifei Well, good – because I bring the fun by winning all the games! Right, I’m going to get ready to go on my workation – a week by the beach and I’ll need my sunglasses and swimwear. I can’t wait to go to Brighton beach!
Roy You’re going to Brighton – in the south of the UK – in February? Well, good luck finding the Sun – You should probably take a coat on your workation.
Feifei OK Roy, bye!
Roy Bye!