Turning a Hobby into a Career

PART 8: You are going to read an article in which four people talk about careers involving foreign languages. For questions 47–56, choose from the people (A–D).

Turning a Hobby into a Career

A

I had piano lessons when I was young, and I did have some talent. But it became obvious I'd never be good enough for a career on the stage. In a way, I was lucky. If I hadn't realised that early on, I probably would have carried on dreaming that my big break would come. As it is, I became a music teacher instead, and in my free time I started to dabble in the technical side of music production. Then an aunt died, leaving me some cash, and I set up my own recording studio! Of course, there is a downside to turning a hobby into a career. I love my job so much that I used to work seven days a week, but after a while, I realised you need to switch off occasionally. My job has definitely added depth to the way I listen to music; now I can really understand why someone's using a certain technique or piece of equipment.

B

I studied medicine, but when I finished medical school, I had a sort of crisis. I knew I couldn't go on with it! I'd have been an awful doctor. But I was keen on amateur dramatics and I enjoyed putting on plays at the local youth centre. So I started wondering if I could make a living from teaching drama. A friend suggested I should offer acting lessons for children. It was tricky and at first, I couldn't work out how to find people who would pay for their children to attend the kind of courses I wanted to run. Then someone at an organisation called Business Link, which helps people set up their own businesses, suggested advertising on the internet! I was contacted by a surprising number of interested people and five years down the line, I'm still doing all right. The classes themselves aren't terribly lucrative, but I supplement my income by giving talks to amateur dramatic societies and writing articles for magazines.

C

When I left college, I started working in a bank, but my heart was never really in it. The problem was partly the environment: I don't like working in an office. I'm more of an outdoor person – and I'd always been crazy about surfing. One summer while I was on holiday, I got chatting to the owner of a surf shop. It turned out he was good friends with a cousin of mine. He said he wanted to sell up and I jumped at the chance to buy the business from him! Looking back, I can see how lucky I was. It's incredibly difficult to set up a shop like that from scratch. Besides, being an avid surfer myself, I assumed a lot of other people must share that interest – which isn't the case! It took me a while to realise how naïve I was. Now that I've learnt the ropes, I'm considering either expanding – more shops, managers and so on – or diversifying, perhaps producing my own surf boards! The second option is more likely because it interests me a lot.

D

I wanted to study graphic design when I left school, but I didn't have good enough grades. So I got a job in a garage instead and for the next 10 years, I worked as a car mechanic. But while I was working, I did some evening courses in industrial design. I even built a car of my own from spare parts. Then I got the idea of building a bike – a four-wheel delivery bike – and the next thing I knew, my wife was urging me to set up my own company! I had to take a very deep breath before I finally took the plunge. I'd done my best to prepare for it, taking a course in Business Management in my spare time, and I knew I'd be working longer hours for less money, at least at first. The big difficulty was the uncertainty of not knowing how much would be coming in each month. And things were pretty tough for the first few years – looking back, I can see that I underestimated the amount of paperwork I'd have to do – but I've never regretted it.

Questions 47–56

In which section of the article are the following mentioned?

47. an enhanced appreciation of other people's work
48. thoughts about the future
49. the financial necessity for engaging in other ventures as well
50. encouragement from a family member
51. advice from a specialist
52. the value of assessing one's abilities objectively
53. identifying potential customers
54. an impulsive decision
55. a feeling of apprehension about making a major change
56. academic qualifications which were never used