Seis estudiantes de distintos lugares del mundo se conocen. ¿Qué tienen en común? Todos son estudiantes de intercambio en una universidad de Estados Unidos durante un semestre. Durante este período aprenderán más inglés, conocerán mejor la cultura estadounidense y aprenderán más en sus campos de estudio.
Esta serie de “Conversaciones cotidianas” trata de seis estudiantes y sus experiencias durante un semestre académico en una universidad de Estados Unidos. Estas conversaciones son para niveles de inglés intermedio o más alto.
Las conversaciones cotidianas son una gran opción para mejorar tu inglés. Los estudiantes más avanzados pueden leer este artículo en la versión original en inglés.
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En esta conversación, dos estudiantes (Akinyi y Lee) hablan sobre la economía mundial y el papel de la mujer en la misma.
Lee: Whenever I see your microecon homework, it seems like a different language.
Akinyi: It’s not so bad. I’m interested in the world economy, but microecon helps me understand how individuals affect the markets which affect the world economy.
Lee: I can understand that. Consumer decisions affect the environmental health of the world. What part of the global economy are you most interested in?
Akinyi: I’m really interested in women as part of the global marketplace. Women are becoming more important as consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors. Their purchasing power will keep increasing as more women are educated and enter the workforce.
Lee: Does educating more women and girls make a big difference in a country’s economy?
Akinyi: Absolutely. Evidence shows that educating girls will boost the prosperity of a country. Better educated women are more productive. And their children are healthier and also better educated.
Lee: It’s definitely a win-win.
Revisemos ahora el vocabulario
Microecon [forma abreviada para el vocablo “microeconomics”, en español, “microeconomía”] is short for microeconomics. Microeconomics is the part of economics interested in economic decisions of individual people and businesses.
In economic terms, a market [mercado] is a system of exchange*, usually with buying and selling of products and services.
A consumer [consumidor] is a person who uses a product or service and often is the person who also purchases the product or service.
Global marketplace [mercado mundial] is a term for all the people who can buy products and services in all countries of the world.
An entrepreneur [emprendedor, empresario] is a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money.
An investor [inversor, inversionista] is a person who uses money to earn more money, by purchasing part of a company, property, etc.
Purchasing power [capacidad de compra] is the ability that a person or group has to buy products and services with his or her money.
The workforce [fuerza laboral] of a country is the number of people who are available to work in that particular country.
To boost [impulsar] means to increase something or to make something better.
Prosperity [prosperidad] is the state of being successful, especially in making money.
Productive [productividad] means doing or achieving a lot, getting good results as a result of work.
A win-win [expresión que significa que todos salen ganando] situation (or a win-win, for short) is a situation that produces a good result for everyone or everything involved.
*exchange – en el contexto del mercado económico, intercambio de mercancías, bienes o servicios
¿Listo para aprender más inglés? Nuestro material te puede ser de utilidad.
El sitio web American English ofrece una variedad de recursos gratuitos para estudiantes y profesores de inglés. La página de Facebook de American English publica a diario materiales de aprendizaje para estudiantes de inglés.
Las conversaciones cotidianas son creadas por Heidi Howland, funcionaria principal de programas en la Oficina de Programas de Idioma Inglés en la Oficina de Asuntos Educativos y Culturales del Departamento de Estado.
