Free, for anyone arriving in Ireland to work
Words at Work
The English test gets you the visa. These are the words you hear on your first day: the foreman, the transport office, the head chef, the landlord and the woman in the shop. Each pack has about fifty, with the audio, what it means, and the sentence it turns up in. Then a ten question listening check. No sign-up.
Your scores on this device
The packs
Pick your trade, and do Settling in too
Settling in is for everyone. The others are for the job you are going to. Each takes about twenty minutes, and you can come back to any word any time.
Settling inEveryone arriving in Ireland to work, whatever the job.53 words, 10 question checkOpen the packOn the roadHGV, van and bus drivers, and anyone working in a depot or yard.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the packIn the workshopWelders, fabricators, fitters, boilermakers and anyone on a factory or workshop floor.54 words, 10 question checkOpen the packOn siteCarpenters, scaffolders, steel fixers, groundworkers, general operatives and anyone starting on a building site.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the packIn the garageMechanics, HGV fitters, vehicle technicians, panel beaters and sprayers.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the packIn the kitchenChefs, commis, kitchen porters and anyone starting in a restaurant or hotel kitchen.50 words, 10 question checkOpen the packIn care workHealthcare assistants, care assistants, home carers and support workers in nursing homes, hospitals and the community.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the packOn the farmDairy and farm workers, milkers, herd managers, machinery operators and anyone starting on an Irish or UK farm.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the packIn the warehouseWarehouse operatives, pickers, forklift drivers, goods-in staff and anyone in logistics or a distribution centre.52 words, 10 question checkOpen the pack
Where you are going
Where you are going, and how they talk there
A Dubliner, a Galway woman and a Brummie do not sound alike, and each place has words the others never use. Pick where you are going: how the accent sounds, the local words, and a check.
DublinDublin city and county, and most of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow around it24 local words, 10 question checkHear how they talkGalway and the westGalway city and county, Mayo, Roscommon and the west coast23 local words, 10 question checkHear how they talkBirminghamBirmingham and the West Midlands around it: Solihull, Sutton Coldfield and out towards Coventry24 local words, 10 question checkHear how they talk
Why we made this
Passing the test is one thing. Monday morning is another.
The test teaches you the English in the book. The yard, the kitchen and the workshop use their own words, fast, with an accent. That first week is hard for everyone, and it does not have to be.
The gap
Nobody says "articulated goods vehicle"
They say artic. Every pack is the words people actually use, said the way you will hear them, by Irish and British voices.
How to use it
Listen first, then read
Play the word, then the sentence, before you read the meaning. That is how you will meet it at work. Say it back out loud. Do the check at the end and come back next week to see what stuck.
Who it is for
Everyone who arrives, and the people they work with
When new colleagues understand each other from day one, the whole crew settles quicker. If there is a word we missed, tell us and we will add it.
Missing a word?
Tell us and we add it
Nine trade packs and two county packs so far, Dublin and Galway, recorded by real voices, with more counties on the way. If a word you hear every day is not here, send it to us and it goes in with audio.
Also free
Before the words, the test
If you still have the official English test ahead of you, our full English mock test is free too: reading, listening, writing and speaking, marked straight away with a band score.
What next
Ready to work, not just to practise?
Every role we have open right now, with the permit or sponsorship handled and nothing ever charged to you.
Live jobs
Every role open right now, with the trade, the country and what it pays. Nothing ever charged to you.
Your rights at work
What you are owed in Ireland and in the UK, in plain language, with the number of the body that enforces it. It applies whether you came through us or not.