Some people are really feeling the brunt of the financial crisis, so they’ve decided to 踏实地(diligently) find 兼职工作(part-time jobs), or 打工(work part-time).  One option is to work as a 翻译(translator).  I’m reading several books at the moment, and one that I had been meaning to catch up on is “The World Is Flat.”  One of the main points of the book is how technology has reduced the distance between people, such that a call center in India can handle customer service inquiries for a business headquartered in New York.  In essence, 外包(outsourcing) has become much easier than ever before, thanks to the 互联网(internet) and its 发展(development).  In fact, work can be turned around even faster owing to 时差(time differences), meaning that data entry and call center jobs are no longer limited to 夜猫子(night owls).  The world we live in is truly 神奇(amazing).

words
踏实 ta4shi2 – diligently
兼职 jian1zhi2 – part-time
打工 da3gong1 – work part-time
翻译 fan1yi4 – translator
外包 wai4bao1 – outsourcing
互联网 hu4lian2wang3 – internet
发展 fa1zhan3 – development
时差 shi2cha1 – time difference
夜猫子 ye4mao1zi3 – night owls (here it’s “night cat”)
神奇 shen2qi2 – amazing