Down to Business English

    a Business English podcast with Skip Montreux and Dez Morgan

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    The Chinese Yuan and U.S debt: a lesson in economic codependence

    April 29, 2010 No comments
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    Skip Montreux examines the relationship between the Chinese Yuan and U.S. debt

    (download audioscript pdf)

    My name is Skip Montreux and this is Down to Business English.

    Welcome to the program. Today I’m reporting from Tokyo with Part 2 in Down to Business English’s series on the Foreign Exchange Market, or Forex for short.

    Last Episode, Dez explained the basics behind Forex trading. Today, I will be taking a close look at a real world example of some of those fundamentals in practice. Specifically, I will be examining how the Chinese government controls it’s currency, the Yuan, and the delicate relationship between the value of the Yuan and the US economy.

    This is a very interesting topic and one well worth understanding, regardless of the industry you work in.

    Let’s get D2B….Down to Business with The Chinese Yuan the, U.S debt and a lesson in economic co-dependence.
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    Business English, Down to Business English, Finance, Language study, Podcast, Skip Montreux, TOEIC, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

    Forex Explained

    April 22, 2010 No comments
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    Dez Morgan takes a in-depth look at the Foreign Exchange Market

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    Hello and this is Dez reporting in from Madrid with a different format to our show this week. As Skip is out doing some research we have decided to record this show in two halves.
    To begin, our topic today is the foreign exchange market, or Forex for short. I will talk about their features and how they work and then I will introduce you to some new vocabulary. Next time Skip will talk about the growing disagreement between China and the U.S. on whether China’s currency is being kept artificially too low.
    So, what is it? How big is it? Who are the major players? What are they trading? What determines the exchange rate? And how can it be manipulated?
    Let’s get D to B. Down to Business with the foreign exchange market.

    continue reading…

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    Islamic Finance

    April 16, 2010 No comments
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    Dez explains Islamic Finance

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    Skip:    My name is Skip Montreux, and this is Down to Business English. As you can probably already tell, Dez Morgan is not here today.  Unfortunately, he is one of thousands of travelers stranded in Europe at the moment due to the recent eruption of the volcano in Iceland.  Since we can not record together, we will be rebroadcasting an earlier episode of Down to Business English.  In this Episode, Dez was on location in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia.  The big story of the day was Islamic Finance.  So lets get Down to Business with Skip and Dez talking about lending practices in an Islamic nation.

    Dez:    My name is Dez Morgan and after 16 years teaching English in Japan,I have decided to take some time off and do some world traveling. Along the way I will be Down to Business English’s roving reporter.

    Skip:    And my name is Skip Montreux. I am based in Tokyo, where I have been an ESL instructor for the past decade. Between the 2 of us I am definitely the one who knows very little about the inner workings of international business. But I have always enjoyed listening to Dez explain things to me in a way that makes sense.

    Dez:     That’s who we are and together, through this podcast, we hope to help you improve your business English ability.

    Skip:    The format for Down to Business English is quite straightforward. First, Dez will introduce a business story currently making the news and explain it in a way that even a complete business novice such as myself can understand.

    Dez:     After that, Skip and I will explain any business vocabulary or phrases that come up in our conversation and give examples as to how you could use them in your business situation.

    Skip:    Each episode comes with a complete transcript, so if want, you can always     download the PDF file from our website.

    Dez:    Let’s get D 2 B, down to business! continue reading…

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    Google vs. China: Exiting the Dragon

    April 7, 2010 1 comment
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    Skip Montreux & Dez Morgan talk about the censorship tension between Google and China.

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    Dez:    Hello everyone. This your UK based correspondent; Dez Morgan reporting from Leeds.

    Skip:    And this is Skip Montreux in Tokyo, Japan. Welcome back to another episode of Down to Business English.

    Skip:    Great to be back with you Dez. How are you doing today?

    Dez:    I am exhausted. I’ve a hard day, searching for some information for our show, checking directions for a trip next week, buying some things on Ebay and watching videos on youTube. Maybe it is time I got up and made a coffee.

    Skip:    That does sound like a long list of things to do.

    Dez:    And all using the products of one company. I’ll make you a coffee if you guess who it is.

    Skip:     That’s easy. I know you do most of your online business using Google. As do I.

    Dez:    As do most of the world, but there is one country that may have to get by without the services of Google in the near future.

    Skip:    Yes, and that country is China. And what is happening now between Google and China is quickly developing into the biggest business-tech story of the year.

    Dez:    That is our story today, Google versus China. The perils of offering search results, when the government wants to control what your customers can find.

    Skip:    Let’s get D2B Down to Business…..with The Great Firewall of China. continue reading…

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    The Toyota Recall: What, Why, Who, & How much?

    March 24, 2010 No comments
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    Skip Montreux and Dez Morgan examine the details of the recent Toyota recall.

    toyota_logo

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    Skip:    This is Skip Montreux in Tokyo, Japan.

    Dez:    And this is Dez still in Leeds, UK.

    Skip:     Welcome to another episode Down to Business English.

    Skip:    Good to hear from you Dez.  How are things going for you over there in Leeds?

    Dez:    Not bad, finally welcoming the start of Spring. At least I think it’s the start of Spring.

    Skip:    Well, here in Tokyo the Cherry blossoms are just starting to bloom.  This is one of my favorite times of year.

    Dez:     I remember that.  Spring is a big deal in Japan. I wonder if the Cherry blossoms will be beautiful in Toyota City this year?

    Skip:     I’m sure they will be, but I don’t know if the people are going to be in much of a mood to celebrate with everything going on over at Toyota Corporation recently.

    Dez:     That has been a big story that has many sides to it.

    Skip:     Yes, Toyota is the ultimate symbol of Japanese manufacturing and many people are wondering what has gone wrong and more importantly, what will happen next.

    Dez:     And I bet that in this troubled market, top executives of other car companies are planning how to turn this to their advantage.

    Skip:     As they should be.  So this is our story for today’s episode; The Toyota Recall: What, Why, Who, and How much is it all going to cost?

    Dez:     So let’s get D2B down to business with the worlds largest auto maker and why it’s in so much hot water. continue reading…

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    P.I.G.S and the Future of the Eurozone

    March 10, 2010 No comments
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    Dez Morgan explains what P.I.G.S means, the financial problems the Eurozone currently finds itself in, and the possible future of the European currency.

    p.i.g.sSubscribe_on_iTunes

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    Skip:   Hello, This is Skip Montreux in Tokyo, Japan.

    Dez:     I’m Dez Morgan reporting from Leeds in the UK.

    Skip:     And this is Down to Business English.

    Dez:     The title of this new episode of Down to Business English is PIGS and the future of the Eurozone. So Skip what does that title mean to you?

    Skip:     Hmmm…let’s see. Pigs and the future of the Eurozone. By any chance would it have anything to do with the agriculture industry or maybe farming in Europe?

    Dez:     Good guess but no. PIGS is an acronym for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

    Skip:     Hold on Dez…Maybe we should explain to everyone what exactly an acronym is.

    Dez:     Good point. An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words.

    Skip:     So the acronym PIGS actually refers to the first letter of those 4 countries: Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain.

    Dez:     That is correct.

    Skip:    Okay, so what do each of those countries have in common?

    Dez:     Given the current state of the world economy, I think you can probably guess that whatever unites them isn’t good. So Let’s get D2B; Down to Business with a story of 4 little Euro-PIGS and the problems of taking on too much debt. continue reading…

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    Promotional Spot: Do you understand?

    February 28, 2010 2 comments
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    Down to Business English’s most recent promo. (transcript)

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