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Business English News 50 – Streaming TV Services

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, ESL Podcast / June 5, 2022

In this Business English News lesson we look at business English vocabulary related to streaming TV services.

The pandemic battered many industries, including entertainment. But when theaters, concert venues, and museums shut down, the streaming wars ramped up. Besides Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV signed up thousands of new subscribers a day. In the dying days of the pandemic, however, the question has become whether they can keep them. For Netflix, the king of streaming, the news in 2022 hasn’t been good, as Gizmodo explains:

The most popular streaming service in the world reported on its Q1 earnings call that it had lost 200,000 subscribers where it originally expected to gain 2.5 million. It forecast doom and gloom for next quarter as well, with a predicted loss of two million more. The company has started laying off employees and shutting down productions in order to stave off further declines.

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Business English News 49 – Inflation and Interest Rates

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, Finance and Accounting / January 30, 2022

In this Business English News lesson we look at business English vocabulary related to the economy, particularly the relationship between inflation and interest rates.

Government spending throughout 2021 was a boon to the business sector. Jobs returned, production rose, and many countries ended the year on a positive note. But growth – and years of low interest rates – has raised the specter of inflation, or rising prices. Now all eyes are on central banks, especially in the United Stated, to see how they’ll respond. As the NY Times reports:

Federal Reserve policymakers have moved into inflation-fighting mode saying they would cut back more quickly on their pandemic-era stimulus at a moment of rising prices and strong economic growth. This move will cap a challenging year with a policy shift that could usher in higher interest rates in 2022.

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Business English News 48 – Cryptocurrency

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, IT English and Tech / August 29, 2021

In this Business English News lesson we look at business English vocabulary related to cryptocurrency.

You’ve probably heard stories of young investors lured by the promise of quick gains in the world of “crypto,” or cryptocurrency. And while it’s Bitcoin that gets the lion’s share of attention, there are over 10,000 digital currencies in use today. There’s the big names, like Ethereum, Binance, and Ripple. And then there’s currencies like Dogecoin and Loser Coin, which started as jokes. If you’re confused by the hype, you’re not alone. So just what is cryptocurrency? According to Investopedia:

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.

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Business English News 47 – Post-Pandemic Workplace

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, ESL Podcast / March 14, 2021

In this Business English News lesson we look at English vocabulary related to how the pandemic will change the workplace.

Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred incredible changes in how we work. At the end of 2020, a whopping 42% of the American workforce continued to work remotely. This has meant rapid upskilling and massive investments in technology and infrastructure.

According to Candace Helton, operations director at Ringspo, “It’s worth noting that 70% of companies have been working on digital transformation before the pandemic hit.” But the pandemic tipped their hands, and the resulting change in work cultures around the globe will push even more businesses to accept remote options as the new normal.

In this new normal, relationships are different. There are no corner offices in the virtual workplace, no staff rooms, and no cubicles. There are fewer physical reinforcements of hierarchy. And it’s oddly humanizing to see the CEO deal with the same interruptions, like kids and barking dogs, that we all experience working from home.

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Business English News 46 – US Presidential Election 2020

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News / November 8, 2020

In this Business English News lesson we look at English vocabulary related to the US presidential election.

Days after the US election, the final result still hangs in the balance. While some networks have called the election for Biden, the process is far from over. So why don’t we have a final tally on election night? As the Independent points out:

An unprecedented number of Americans – 97 million by Monday, well over twice the number from 2016 – have voted by mail. And some states will count ballots that are delivered after the election if they are postmarked by a deadline. In Washington state, for example, mail-in ballots can still be counted on November 23. In Alaska state officials don’t even begin counting mail-in ballots until around November 10.

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