LESSON 7

MORE VOCABULARY FOR PERSONAL FINANCES.

In personal finances, just as in business, the most important issue is how much money is coming in, compared with how much is going out.

INCOME

My husband and I are both employed in the construction industry.

Our total income per year is just under $70,000. 

His company doesn't provide him with any extra benefits 

EXPENSES 

Our policy states that we have to pay a $2,000 deductible before we can claim insurance.

Our medical insurance has gone up againe this & year. 

In the US, Medicare provides insurance for people over 65. 

Our mortgage comes to about a third of our total income.

We need to be thrifty to afford our annual two-week vacation.

FEATURES OF SPOKEN ENGLISH. 

You are about to watch a real life person talk about the cost of living. Ask you watch, pay attention to the following features of spoken American English.

STARTING SENTENCES WITH CONJUNCTIONS. 

The speaker frequently uses the word and to begin her sentences. She also begins a sentence with but.

But, um, that's an ongoing issue…

Uh, and Um 

When she is thinking about what to say next, she sometimes hesitates, inserting the sound Uh or Um, 

Uh, my husband and I are both employed, um, in companies that don't provide benefits.

REDUCED FORMS. 

Notice how she provovices going to as gonna. 

I'm gonna have to wait till I go en Medicare.

Also, listen for the reduced form of sort of...   

So, um, that's sort of where we are.

Reduced forms are rarely written out, bert gonna is one exception you'll see often in literature and other published text. 

False Starts.

At the beginning of the video, she begins a sentence, changes her mind, then starts a completely new sentence. This is called a false start. 

Um, the, I'm 63 years old, and the biggest driving factor is medical insurance for us.

DESCRIBING YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. 

Use expressions like these to introduce or describe. circumstances:

Our biggest driving factor is paying off our mortgage.

One ongoing issue is trying to increase our savings.

We managed to pay off a large bank loan recently. 

He's in the unpleasant circumstance right now of Having no job. - He's unemployed.

USING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS.

When describing circumstances, people secuelimes use idiomatic expressions. These are expressions with a figurative, rather than a literal meaning. They can add interest, color and emphasis to our speech. Here are some Idiomatic expressions from the previous movie:   

The bottom dropped out of the housing market.

We're lucky to have a roof over our heads.

We have food on the table and a little extra money, too.

The labor market is finally turning around.

She's trying to pick up some work and get her finances in order.

Things are looking up!