Hello, there, and welcome back to engVid. In today's lesson we are going to have ten
words that come from the world of banking and business, but have an everyday function;
that have a function if you are a holidaymaker and are looking at exchanging money, for example,
or just going to another place and using money. Let's face it - we've all got to use it.
So, first word today: "rate". There's a couple of different meanings of this word. It can
mean the cost of something; or used as a verb: "What do you think of something?" Let's have
some practical examples. "What is your rate for...?" Or: "Give me your best rate." What
we're... We're thinking here is... Is sort of price; cost. "What is your best rate? I
want your best rate." Particularly if you go to a country where haggling is more of
a norm, then you're going to be trying to negotiate. Here in the UK things tend to be...
there tends to be a set price for certainly things in a shop. "How would you rate...?"
So: "How would you rate the service provided? What do you think of it?"
Moving on to our second word: "commission". Okay? This word, if we're thinking of a slice...
You know, a whole pizza, and there is a middle man... So, for example, I'm booking a hotel
in India and I have someone there who is doing the booking for me, then he's going to take
a small slice of the pizza and eat it for himself, and the rest of the pizza will go
to the hotel. Metaphor; obviously we're talking about money. A practical example of "commission":
"We charge 0% commission." Let's put this into another context. Let's say I'm going
to Spain and I want some euros so that I can have some money there, I go along to the sort
of money exchange, and they say: "We charge 0% commission." That's great. Just be warned
that their rates may be not so friendly; they're going to make their money from the rate, not
the commission.
Next word: "charge". Now, this can be both a noun and a verb. "Are there any extra charges?"
Okay? Say I'm paying for a hotel in Spain: "Are there any extra charges?" Taxes, for
example. Used as a verb: "What do you charge? What do you charge?" Or: "My charge is..."
Okay? If you're saying what you'd like to be paid for a day's work, for example.
"Fee". This is a noun. Again, it relates to payment. "My fee is..." Or: "The fee for this
is..." Or: "We do charge a fee of..." Okay? Saying we're still at the money exchange:
"We do charge a fee of..."
All right. "Cost" and "price", this, relating to amount of money. "So the overall cost for
changing 100 pounds into euros is..." Or... "So the overall cost for 100 euros is 80 pounds."
Okay? "Cost".
Next words: "transfer". So, a word that may pop up in your science textbook; it's really
relating to this idea of change, and it can be used both as a noun and as a verb. We're
going off on this holiday to Spain. "I just received a transfer from my friend." That
means they changed money from their account into my account. Well, hey, off to the beach.
Pina colada for me. Or: "I made my transfer..." Let's say, for example, that I was flying
from London to Paris; from Paris to Barcelona - I don't know why I would because you could
fly straight, but let's just pretend: "transfer" is getting the changing flight. So, it's making
sure that when you're in Paris, you get onto that change; that next flight - the change
of flight.
So, there I am in Spain. Now there's been a new development - a plot development because
I have just had a "cut" in my salary. Now, "cut" means something taken off. So I now
have less money that I am being paid each month. Because of this, I am going to need
to make a "cutback". "Cutback" is a noun; means a reduction. I'm going to need to make
some cutbacks in my spending. Now, you can also use this as a phrasal verb. For example:
"I will need to cut back..." Now, there should actually be a space here. As the noun, one
word; but if you're going to use it as the phrasal verb, then you want to just separate
it. So: "I will need to cut back on my spending."
"Coupon", next word. "Coupon" is a discount voucher. Well, this could help here. So, this
helps you pay less in places like amusement parks, for example, or a cinema. "I will use
the coupon to gain entry to the park."
And lastly, we have: "cashback". So, some credit cards, you'll make a payment, and after
the payment you may get a cashback; so they may give you some money in return. Or, say
I go shopping and I don't have any... Any notes, I could say: "Do you offer any cashback
facilities? Do you offer any cashback facilities?" and I... They would say: "Yes", perhaps. And
I would say: "Fantastic. Could I have 40 pounds cashback?" and then they put that onto my
cost of what I've been shopping... Of my shopping. Okay? So, "cashback" is when we get money
in return. Sometimes it's a gift from a credit card, and sometimes it's something that you
pay for.
Ten new words. Have you got them? I think it's time that you tested yourself and did
today's quiz. "Rate"; "commission"; "charge"; "fee"; "cost" and "price"; we've got "transfer",
remember that idea of change; "cut" - taking something off; "cutback" - reducing; "coupon"
is that little printed leaflet that you take along to say: "I'm paying less"; and "cashback"
- when you get that little bit of money back after buying something. Thank you so much
for watching today. Stay tuned. See you next time.