Tag: Business

Millennials and Business

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It seems the millennials are attracted to starting their own businesses and it’s not just about making money, but also about passion and doing good. A lot of people think supporting young people to become business leaders should start at home and they should be educated to be independent for a better life.

Listen to the audio and read the transcript to learn more about the young entrepreneurs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-200625

Discussion Questions:

  1. What can you say about millennials who start their own business?
  2. Are there a lot of young entrepreneurs in your country? If so, what are the common startup businesses?
  3. Does your government offer any support to startup businesses especially to young entrepreneurs?
  4. What can you say about crowdfunding? Do you think it’s appropriate to do?

Store Sells Only Expired Food

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A nonprofit community grocery store called The Daily Table, founded by Doug Rauch, sells discounted food past its sell-by date. It aims to provide food to communities most in need at prices that are affordable to everyone thereby finding solutions to food waste and hunger.

Watch the video and be able to answer the questions that follow:

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of stores selling out-of-date food?
  2. Do you think this is a solution to reduce food waste and hunger?
  3. Do you think expired food is edible and safe to consume?
  4. What do you usually do with food past its expiration date?

Company Bankrupt

B1 – Intermediate

One objective companies’ have is to make loads of profit. However, they sometimes also face problems with money. When they go bankrupt, it can be a big problem for the company and their workers too.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio from the link below.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/company-bankrupt-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What usually cause companies to go under?
  2. What happens when a company goes bankrupt?
  3. How can companies stay profitable?
  4. In your country, what kind of help does the government give to companies that are about to go bankrupt?
  5. Do you know any companies that went bankrupt? Talk about what happened.

Hotel Guests Information Hacked

B1 – Intermediate

Hotels are your home away from home. You book hotels when you are on holiday or business trip. To do that, you need to give them your personal information including your credit card information. But what if those information were stolen from them?

Read the transcript and listen to the audio about a hotel chain’s hacking incident.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/hotel-guests-information-level-2/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news?
  2. What can businesses do to protect themselves from hacking?
  3. Talk about other people or companies whose accounts/systems have been hacked.
  4. When is hacking good and bad?
  5. If you were to hack a person or company’s account or system, who or which would it be and why? What information would you like to see?

Hand Sanitiser by Louis Vuitton

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Events all over the world have been cancelled in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19 virus. Life seems to have stopped and the same can be said for the business of luxury brand companies. Fortunately, some of these luxury brands are stepping in to help fight this pandemic.

Read the full lesson for more information on this brands’ plans in producing anti-viral products.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2003/200318-hand-sanitiser.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What will the luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton do to help fight the COVID-19 virus? How will they do it?
  2. Do you think it is a social responsibility for these companies to provide their services and products for free?
  3. Did local companies in your country do the same thing? Give examples.

Hong Kong’s Octopus Card

B1 – Intermediate

The Octopus card is a smart card used for making electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong. It is mostly used in paying for rides on the MTR, buses, minibusses, ferries, trams, and on a few taxis with Octopus readers.

Read more about the Octopus Card in this article below.

https://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/octopus-card-hongkong.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of the Octopus card?
  2. How would you differentiate the transport card in your country from the Octopus card?
  3. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of this payment system?
  4. In your opinion, what is the best mode of payment?

Men Get Paid More on eBay

B1 – Intermediate

A study shows that women make less money than men when selling the same products on eBay. Those who conducted the study were no longer surprised by gender discrimination but were surprised at how much the difference between men and women was.

Read the article below and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/men-get-paid-more-on-ebay.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think are the reasons men are paid more on eBay?
  2. What is your opinion about how women make less money when selling the same products as men on eBay?
  3. Share your thoughts on this, “Women have a better reputation as sellers than men on eBay.”.
  4. Is the gender of the seller important to you when you are shopping online?
  5. What can eBay do to prevent this kind of discrimination from happening on their website?

Teenager Sells Bathwater

B1 – Intermediate

An Instagram cosplay model is selling her bath water for $30 per bottle. Though some people think it’s gross, others praised her for her business skills.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1907/190708-bath-water-0.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What can you say about her products?
  2. Would you buy something from someone famous or someone you idolize?
  3. Talk about the time you have bought something because you saw someone famous use it.
  4. Have you tried selling things online? Talk about your experience.
  5. What are the effects of the internet on business?

Grocery Store Influencers

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Influencers are becoming more and more important in reaching shoppers nowadays. A full-time Detroit mother blogs about the discount German grocery chain that has a huge following. She gives very objective reviews of different products and her experiences.

Here is the article about it:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/07/business/influencers-aldi-kroger-costco-publix/index.html

Discussion Questions:

1. What is influencer marketing?

2. Do you follow any influencers? Why or why not?

3. Is there any authenticity in influencer marketing?

4. What do you think will be the future of influencer marketing?

5. What are other ways you find out about deals and discounts on products or services?

Apple Removes Customer Reviews

B1 – Intermediate

Apple has removed its customer reviews and ratings from all products of the Apple website. The company has stayed silent about this matter. It’s still not clear though as to why this has happened.

Read the article to find out more about this news.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1911/191125-customer-reviews.html

Discussion Questions :

  1. Why do you think Apple removed the customer review section?
  2. What is your opinion about Apple removing their customer review section?
  3. If a page/product/service, especially online, does not have any reviews/review section, does it make you less interested in their product or service? Talk about it.
  4. If the product or service has mixed reviews, how do you decide which to believe?
  5. How important are customer reviews for customers and businesses?