91�ȱ�

91�ȱ� journalist Justin Rowlatt is working in Germany. His employer tells him that he will be earning the average German salary, and what deductions and allowances he can expect. He will be given an amount for transport costs and will be paid extra for shift work, but he will have to pay income tax, health insurance tax, unemployment tax and make a pension contribution. He may be paid a bonus, but it depends on the whole team performing well. He is entitled to thirty days holiday per year. He thinks this is typical of a ‘Mittelstand’ company - a small to medium-sized company in Germany.

Prepare a series of unfinished statements based on the clip. Students should complete these after watching it, eg his basic salary is …, he pays less tax because…, his annual holiday allowance is … Answers could then be used to write a guided paragraph in German to describe the employment package of an average German or, more creatively, to use conditional tenses to say what their own ideal job would be.