The provided content consists of multiple "6 Minute English" episodes from BBC Learning English, each focusing on a distinct topic: inflation and its economic impacts, fraud and scams, financial planning for future lifestyles, restaurant tipping systems, and cryptocurrencies.
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6 Minute English.
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
And I'm Beth.
In this programme, we're talking about money
and, Beth, as the old saying goes, money makes the world go round!
You mean it's very important and lots of things couldn't happen without it.
Well, we all need money,
but have you noticed how our money doesn't seem to buy so much these days?
Yes, I have, Beth.
It seems like consumers like us are being 'hit in the pocket' at the moment,
and, by that, I mean we have less money to spend.
Now, I'm no economist, but I know this has a lot to do with 'inflation' —
the increase in prices of things over time.
It's a big problem globally, and, Beth, my question for you is about inflation.
According to one report, what was the annual inflation rate in Venezuela
between November 2017 and 2018?
Was it a) 130%? b) 1,300%? Or c) 1,300,000%?
I'll say b) 1,300%.
OK. We'll find out if you're right later on.
But let's talk more about money and inflation now.
Around the world, prices of things are rising more than normal,
and more worrying is that prices keep going up.
Two things in particular are increasing in price —
energy, like gas and electricity, and food.
These are things we need and depend on. So, what's causing the rises?
There seem to be two main reasons — the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine,
which has reduced the supply in things we need.
And when things are 'in short supply' — available in limited quantities —
prices go up.
The BBC World Service programme The Real Story discussed this in much more detail.
One expert, economist, writer and broadcaster, Linda Yueh,
explained how price rises could be around for a while.
Even if you take out some of these volatile items like food and energy,
the sustained price increases that we've had,
it is actually getting passed through
into how companies price their goods and services
and that's where it gets extremely worrying,
because that suggests that even if energy prices, food prices, come down,
we could have inflation now in the system
and I think that, for advanced economies, is worrying,
for developing countries, that's hugely worrying.
Linda Yueh used some interesting language there.
She talked about food and energy being 'volatile' items.
Something that's 'volatile' is unpredictable and can change suddenly.
And that's what we've experienced with food and energy prices.
Yes, and she said these price increases have been 'sustained' —
so, continuing at the same level for a long period of time.
But Linda Yueh says that, even if energy and food prices eventually come down,
companies will pass on the extra costs they've already faced
by charging more for their goods and services.
And this could cause 'inflation' — there's that word again.
Continuing price rises aren't good for anyone,
but especially for people in developing economies —
countries which have industry that's less developed and have lower living standards.
Another possible consequence of inflation is 'recession'.
This economic term describes a situation
where a country's production starts going down,
people's incomes go down and unemployment goes up.
This all sounds like a very bleak economic outlook. So, what can be done?
Well, that's the million-dollar question, and economists are trying to work it out.
Speaking on The Real Story programme,
economist Vicky Pryce gave an overview of how to control inflation.
One of the things that actually is most effective, is by slowing down demand.
And, if you increase interest rates,
what you do is you discourage people from borrowing,
whether they are individuals or whether they are businesses —
and, of course, the economy starts slowing down.
So, she says what is most 'effective' —
meaning what works well and gets the best results — is slowing down demand.
Increasing 'interest rates' can do this, because people will borrow less money.
'Interest rates' are fees
banks and financial institutions charge you for borrowing money.
And if we borrow less money, we buy fewer things, which can reduce inflation.
I think it makes sense now!
And if you were in Venezuela in 2018,
you would really want inflation to go down, wouldn't you?
Oh, yes.
Now, earlier, I asked you what one report said the inflation rate was there
between November 2017 and 2018.
And I said a very high 1,300%.
Well, it was even higher, Beth.
According to a study by the opposition-controlled National Assembly,
the annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000%
in the 12 months to November 2018.
This extreme financial situation was known as 'hyperinflation'.
That's not good at all.
In this programme, we have been talking about 'inflation' —
that's the increase in prices over time.
Other vocabulary we used included the expression 'hit in the pocket' —
which means you have less money to spend.
'Volatile' describes something that is unpredictable and can change suddenly.
Something that is 'sustained' continues at the same level for a long period of time.
And something that is 'effective' works well and gets the best results.
And 'interest rates' are fees
banks and financial institutions charge you for borrowing money.
Well, we hope you've found our brief lesson about the economy useful.
Thanks for listening. Goodbye for now!
Bye-bye!
6 Minute English.
From BBC Learning English.
Hello, I'm Sam and welcome to 6 Minute English.
This is the programme where in just six minutes
we discuss an interesting topic and teach some related English vocabulary.
Joining me to do this is Rob.
Hello! And today we're talking about 'fraud'.
'Fraud' is the criminal activity of getting money by deceiving people
or tricking people by doing something dishonest.
There are many ways to do this and much of it is happening online these days.
We'll talk more about this in a moment.
But, first, a very honest quiz question for you to answer, Rob.
According to UK Finance,
an organisation that represents the British banking industry,
how much money did criminals steal through fraud and scams last year?
Was it a) £1.2m? b) £120m? Or c) £1.2bn?
Well, I imagine it's quite a lot, so I'll say £120m.
OK, we'll find out if you're right later in the programme.
Now, I just mentioned the word 'scam',
which is an illegal way of making money by tricking someone.
We may think that we'll never be scammed,
but already millions of people have 'fallen for' fake emails,
phone calls or letters that look genuine
and ask us to give or update our financial details.
To 'fall for' means to believe something that is a trick or a lie, to be true.
This year, for example, thousands of people in the UK fell for a fraudulent —
or fake — email, requesting that people update their direct debit details
for paying their TV licence.
That's a payment we have to make in the UK to fund the BBC.
This is something the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours,
has been discussing.
Its BBC Fraud investigator reporter, Shari Vahl,
explained why it was easy to be deceived.
It's a sleight of hand fraud.
The criminals get you to look over there whilst they rifle your pockets
and I have the email here and it looks completely convincing.
All the right logos, all the right fonts.
It just says that my direct debit on my TV licence has failed and I need to pay it.
It's very polite.
So some great language there.
She said that this scam was a 'sleight of hand' fraud.
'Sleight of hand' means the use of clever skill
to gain something dishonestly, in this case, money.
As Shari said, the criminals get you to, metaphorically, look over there
whilst they 'rifle' your pockets.
'Rifle' means search something in order to steal from it —
so to steal from your pocket — very dishonest!
Now, like in this case, 'fraudsters' — the people who commit fraud —
gained financial information by 'phishing'.
That's not fishing using a rod, line and hook,
but by sending an email that looked like it came from your bank,
asking for confidential information.
But banks do warn us not to give away our financial details online
and to change our passwords regularly.
But sometimes criminals are very clever in what they do and it's easy to be fooled.
The You and Yours programme also heard about this
from social engineer Jenny Radcliffe.
What does she call this type of fraud?
The more sophisticated frauds
are ones that have been thought through very carefully
and this has been thought through.
It's a fraud that can be layered,
so, you know, we're getting some information from you.
What you really look for is a window into someone —
a key that unlocks just a small part of their identity or their personal data
and, from that, a good fraud will build and build and build on it
until the consequences to some people can be completely devastating.
So, Jenny Radcliffe is talking about 'sophisticated' fraud.
That means it's clever and often complicated, so it can confuse us.
Yes, criminals need just a small piece of information about us — a key —
that can eventually open up our identity and expose our personal data.
And, as Jenny says, for victims of fraud the 'consequences' — the outcome —
can be very bad, especially if somebody loses all their hard-earned savings.
It can devastating.
Of course, banks and security companies are working hard to beat the criminals,
but it still remains a problem and earlier I asked you, Rob, according to UK Finance,
how much money did criminals steal through fraud and scams last year?
And I said b) £120m. That's a lot of money.
Mm, it is, but it's even more.
In 2018, criminals successfully stole £1.2 billion through fraud and scams —
and that's just in the UK — globally, it's even more.
Well, it certainly is a serious issue,
but hopefully we haven't deceived you with the vocabulary we've discussed today.
Hopefully not! We've been talking about 'fraud' —
that's the criminal activity of getting money by deceiving people
or tricking people by doing something dishonest.
Next, we had 'scam',
which is an illegal or dishonest way of making money by tricking someone.
The people who do it are 'scammers'.
We talked about the phrasal verb 'fall for'.
When you 'fall for' something,
you believe something that is a trick or a lie to be true.
Then we heard about 'sleight of hand'
which means use of clever skill to gain something dishonestly.
And 'rifle', which means search something in order to steal from it.
'Phishing', spelt with a 'ph', means tricking someone by email or online
to get their personal data by pretending to be from your bank.
Finally, we discussed 'sophisticated' fraud.
When something is sophisticated, it's clever and often complicated.
Mm, unlike our programme, Sam!
Let's hope so, but now, we've reached the end of the programme.
— See you again soon. Bye! — Bye.
6 Minute English.
From BBC Learning English.
Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Rob.
In this programme, we're talking about finance
and, in particular, planning for our future lifestyles.
I can barely afford my current lifestyle!
Same here, but perhaps we'll pick up some good tips today.
Before that though, a question.
Being a millionaire may be an impossible dream for most of us,
but when was the word first used in English?
Was it a) the 1600s? b) the 1700s? Or c) the 1800s?
What do you think, Rob?
I'm going to guess that it's the 1600s
as there have always been very wealthy people.
Well, I'll reveal the answer later.
Now, the BBC Money Box programme covers all sorts of financial features.
Recently, they were talking about lifestyle financial planning,
which is planning your finances to meet the kind of lifestyle you want to have.
Julie Lord leads a financial planning organisation
and she talked about the process of lifestyle financial planning.
How many numbers does she say you need to start with?
Well, we would start by saying that we need to put together
a lifetime cashflow forecast or a model.
You just need four numbers, your income, your expenditure, assets, liabilities
and then we can project forward to show you what sort of lifestyle you will have
if you do nothing at all
and if indeed you do some of the things that perhaps an ISA or a pension
or any other kind of financial product might help you with.
So how many numbers do you need?
She says that you start with just four numbers.
That's right. The first of these numbers is your 'income'.
This is the money that you have coming in, your salary, for example.
Then there's the number for your 'expenditure'.
This is the money you have going out
for rent, food, entertainment, transport and so on.
The next number was for 'assets'.
This is the cash value of things that you own.
For example, property, cars, jewellery,
as well as savings and investments, that kind of thing.
And, finally, there is liabilities.
This is the money that you owe, for example, on credit cards or loans.
So if you know these details,
she says they can come up with a lifetime cashflow forecast,
which is a calculation of how much money you can expect to have in the future
and if that is enough to meet your expectations.
Do you have those details? Do you know your numbers, Rob?
I have a very detailed spreadsheet where I do list my income and expenditure,
so I do know from month to month how much money I need and how much I can spend.
That sounds very organised! What does it tell you about your future?
Well, it just reminds me of exactly how much money I don't have.
It's quite depressing! How about you, Neil?
Oh, I live in blissful ignorance. I have no idea how big my debts are.
I try not to worry about it.
I kind of think I'm much too young to worry about it now
and that, as if by magic, it will all work out in the end.
So it would be difficult for me to come up those four numbers.
Anyway, let's listen to Julie Lord again
describing the lifestyle financial planning process.
Well, we would start by saying
that we need to put together a lifetime cashflow forecast or a model.
You just need four numbers, your income, your expenditure, assets, liabilities
and then we can project forward to show you what sort of lifestyle you will have
if you do nothing at all and if indeed you do some of the things
that perhaps an ISA or a pension or any other kind of financial product
might help you with.
Is lifestyle financial planning only for older people with a good pension?
Not according to Julie Lord.
Well, it's not all about old age, is it?
I mean, there are people, we have quite a number of younger clients who come to us
and say, "We just want to get financially organised,
"we've heard about all this stuff, these financial products,
"no idea really what they are
"or, more importantly, what they're going to do for us,
"so can you give us a hand to help us look forward to see what will happen?".
So she also has younger clients who ask for her company's help.
Yes, she uses the phrase 'give us a hand', which means to help someone.
If you 'give someone a hand', you help them.
Exactly, in the way that I 'give you a hand' with 6 Minute English.
Well, I think I 'give you a hand' rather than the other way around, Neil.
Really? Well, let's not fall out about it. Let's listen to Julie Lord again.
Well, it's not all about old age, is it?
I mean, there are people, we have quite a number of younger clients who come to us
and say, "We just want to get financially organised,
"we've heard about all this stuff, these financial products,
"no idea really what they are
"or, more importantly, what they're going to do for us,
"so can you give us a hand to help us look forward to see what will happen?".
It's nearly time now to review our vocabulary,
but, first, let's have the answer to our quiz question.
When was the word millionaire first used in English?
Was it a) the 1600s? b) the 1700s? Or c) the 1800s?
What did you think, Rob?
Well, I guessed and said it was the 1600s.
Well, not a good guess this time, I'm afraid. It's actually a lot later.
It was the 1800s when it was first used in English,
though it had appeared in French in the 1700s.
Now, onto the vocabulary.
Yes, we had a lot of financial terms in this programme.
We had 'cashflow forecast'.
This is a calculation of how much money you can expect to have
at a particular time in the future.
And the 'cashflow forecast' is based on knowing your 'income',
which is the money you have coming in
and your 'expenditure', the money you have going out.
You also need to know your 'assets',
which is the value of things you own as well as savings and investments.
This is balanced against your 'liabilities',
which is the term for the money that you owe, for example, on credit cards.
And, finally, we had the expression 'to give someone a hand',
meaning to help someone.
Well, that's all from us in this programme.
We look forward to your company next time.
Until then, you can find us in all the usual places on social media, online
and on our app. Just search for BBC Learning English.
Bye, and thanks, Rob, for giving me a hand.
Er, no, thank you for giving me a hand. Bye!
6 Minute English.
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.
And I'm Neil.
In this programme, we're talking all about restaurants, specifically about 'tipping'.
That's giving money to waiting staff for the service you received.
Yes, while tipping is 'discretionary',
which means that someone can decide whether they want to give money or not,
in most places in the UK, it's an expected practice.
But have you ever thought where that money goes or who actually receives it?
Do they have to pay tax on it or is it just a gift?
Some people think that the person who brought our food
is the one who gets the money. However, that isn't always the case.
Well, before we find out more about where our tips go,
I have a question about restaurants.
The highest restaurant in the world, At.mosphere, is in Dubai,
in the building known as the Burj Khalifa, but how high up is that restaurant?
Is it a) 442 metres? b) 532 metres? Or c) 622 metres?
Well, that all sounds really high up to me, but I'm going to say c) 622 metres.
OK, I'll reveal the answer towards the end of the show,
but now let's talk more about what happens to our tips
once you have given them to someone.
It seems that different restaurants and businesses
have different systems in place across the country.
And, sadly, that isn't always to the benefit of all waiting staff —
that's according to James James, a waiter,
who was speaking with Peter White on the BBC programme, You and Yours.
There's nothing consistent about a tipping system
throughout all the different companies.
They all have their own, and they're all unfair in their own equal way.
A tip is not mandatory, I have to earn it as a reward for the service I provide.
People don't tip for good food, they already paid for it on the bill.
Recently, when I've been given cash,
I've been imposed in more than one company to put it in a jar and split it.
The split hasn't exactly been fair to me.
My first week at one job, I did £50 in the jar for the week —
that was just myself and there's four other servers.
And, at the end of the week, I was presented with a bag with £2.45 in it.
So, James James used the word 'consistent',
which means acting the same way over time.
However, he used it negatively
when talking about the tipping systems in most companies.
He also used 'mandatory', which is something someone must do
and is the opposite of the word 'discretionary'.
And he also said 'imposed', which means forced upon someone.
So, it seems that James James is not impressed
by some businesses' tipping systems.
However, for many restaurants,
there is a special arrangement with the UK tax body, the HMRC.
Yes, it's called a 'tronc system',
which sees all of the tips collected in one separate, independent bank account
and stops the payments being charged at the wrong rate of tax.
Kate Nicholls, a representative for UK Hospitality,
speaking with Peter White on the BBC programme, You and Yours,
explains more about the intention of a tronc system.
Well, increasingly, as we're moving towards a cashless society,
increased use of credit card, particularly over the Covid pandemic,
more and more of those tips, gratuities, service charges
are coming through on a credit card payment,
and a tronc is a special arrangement organised with HMRC
that lets businesses pool tips and service charges and then fairly distribute them.
Kate Nicholls mentioned that society is becoming 'cashless',
which means fewer people are using paper notes or coins to pay for things,
preferring to use credit cards.
She also used the verb 'pool', a word which means collect together or group.
It's very interesting to note that payments which you give to one person
may be distributed equally across the business,
from kitchen staff to management — depending on a business's protocol.
But that brings me back to today's question.
I asked you how high up is the world's highest restaurant?
You certainly did and they all sounded exceptionally high up.
I went for option c) 622 metres in the air — the tallest option.
Was I right?
I'm afraid not, not this time. At.mosphere is actually 442 metres in the air,
so not quite as high as you thought.
Well, it still sounds pretty high to me!
Now it's time to recap some of the vocabulary we've mentioned today.
First off, we had 'discretionary', which is something that is a choice
for the person doing it, it is not an obligation.
'Consistent' describes something
that acts or behaves in the same way over and over again.
Then we had 'mandatory', which describes something a person must do.
If something is 'imposed' on you, it is forced on you.
'Cashless' refers to card or digital payments, rather than notes and coins —
while 'pool' is a verb and means group together all in one place.
Well, that certainly is food for thought next time you dine out.
That brings us to end of this week's 6 Minute English,
but remember that there's a range of other topics that you can find on our website,
BBC Learning English dot com,
or you can also catch them on social media or our free app.
That's right. All you need to do to download the app
is type in "BBC Learning English" on the Play Store or App store,
depending on what type of phone you have.
There's lots of things on there to check out,
and, as Sam says, it's completely free!
— Thanks for listening and goodbye. — Goodbye.
6 Minute English.
From BBC Learning English.
Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I'm Catherine.
And I'm Sam.
Now, Sam, what can you tell us about cryptocurrencies?
The word is a combination of 'crypto', from 'cryptography',
which is to do with using clever software codes
to protect computer information and systems,
and 'currency', which is the money of a particular country.
So 'cryptocurrency', very simply, means code money.
We usually think of money as notes and coins which come from a country's bank,
but a 'cryptocurrency' doesn't have physical money.
It's purely digital and is not controlled by banks or governments,
but by the people who have it and very complex computer codes.
Perhaps the most well-known is Bitcoin.
Well, you seem to know a fair bit about cryptocurrency, actually.
Anyway, now a new player is joining the digital money system
as Facebook have announced they are launching their own digital currency.
They're calling it 'Libra'.
And we'll be finding a little bit more about this topic in the programme,
but first, a question.
Now, Sam, you mentioned Bitcoin as a well-known cryptocurrency.
It was, in fact, the first cryptocurrency, but when was Bitcoin created?
Was it a) 2008? b) 2009? Or c) 2010?
I'm going to say 2010.
OK. Well, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.
Now, Jemima Kelly is a financial journalist.
She was talking on the BBC radio programme Money Box Live about the plans for Libra.
She says it's not really a cryptocurrency,
because it's actually backed up by a number of real currencies.
So which currencies does she mention?
A cryptocurrency is normally subject to the whims of crypto markets,
which are notoriously volatile,
whereas Libra is kept stable by being backed up by a basket of currencies,
in this case, the dollar, the pound, the euro and the Swiss franc.
So which currencies did she say were backing up Libra, Sam?
She said that the dollar, the pound, the euro and Swiss franc
were the currencies that would be backing up Libra.
And this is different from regular cryptocurrencies, isn't it?
Yes, cryptocurrencies are completely independent
of financial institutions and other currencies.
And this can make them risky, can't it?
Yes, she says that cryptocurrency markets are 'notoriously volatile'.
Something that is 'volatile' can change very quickly.
When it comes to currency, it means that its value can go up or down,
by a large amount, over a very short period of time.
And it's described as 'notoriously' volatile
because this has actually happened a few times in the past.
Something that is 'notorious' is well-known or famous,
but for a negative reason.
So the value of a currency going up and down in a volatile way,
that's not positive.
If you want to take the risk, you could make a lot of money,
but you could also lose a lot of money — more than you invested.
So why are cryptocurrencies so volatile?
Most currencies are reasonably 'stable'. This is the opposite of volatile.
They don't change a lot over a short period of time.
There can be big changes,
but usually governments and banks control currencies to prevent it.
Cryptocurrencies don't have those controls.
What Jemima Kelly said was that they're 'subject to the whims'
of the crypto markets.
A 'whim' is an unpredictable or irrational decision or trend
and if you are 'subject to the whims' of something, or someone,
it means that, metaphorically, you are a passenger in a self-driving car
which may decide just to drive off the edge of a cliff.
So, it might be an exciting ride, but it could end in disaster.
Right, it's time now to get the answer to the question I asked
at the beginning of the programme.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, but when was it created?
Was it a) 2008? b) 2009? c) 2010?
I said 2010, but I'm not really sure.
And you're absolutely wrong!
The correct answer is 2009, so no luck for you this time,
but congratulations to everyone who did get that right.
Well, anyway, let's round off today with a review of today's vocabulary.
First off, there is 'cryptography',
which is the use of special codes to keep computer systems and content safe.
A 'currency' is the money of a particular country.
For example, in the UK, we have the pound, in the US, there's the dollar,
and in many countries in Europe, the currency is the euro.
'Cryptocurrency' is a combination of 'cryptography' and 'currency'
and it's used for a finance system that is based on secure digital coins
that are not connected to banks or governments.
We then had the expression 'subject to the whims of'.
'Whims' are unpredictable decisions and if you're 'subject to them'
it means you can't control them,
you have no choice but to go in the direction those whims lead.
This means that the value of cryptocurrencies
are 'notoriously volatile'.
They have a history of going up or down in value
by large amounts and very quickly and that's not good.
— Well, it might be good if it goes up! — True.
But if you want less risk,
if you want your currency to be the opposite of 'volatile',
if you want it, in other words, to be 'stable',
then maybe cryptocurrencies are not for you.
Mm. Well, we are subject to the whims of our schedule,
