Vocabulary
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Learn entrepreneurship and the joys and pains of owning your own business
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Keith: Hi, I’m Keith. |
Sadia: Hey, and I’m Sadia. The focus of this lesson is the buzzword, |
"entrepreneur." |
Keith: Well, what do you do for a living? If you're like any of the |
millions of people in America who run their own |
businesses, you're an entrepreneur. |
Sadia: And, if you’re French, the word entrepreneur should |
sound familiar—entrepreneur is actually a French loanword |
that originated sometime in the early 19th century. So, it’s not a new Buzzword, but it gets thrown around a lot these days, I think. And an entrepreneur describes a person who decides to start and run his or her own |
company. |
Keith: Most entrepreneurs --- Sadia, can we have that one more time, slowly? |
Sadia: Entrepreneur. |
Keith: Thank you. Most entrepreneurs |
are small business owners. For |
example, the hot dog and pretzel vendors you see on |
the streets of New York are entrepreneurs. |
Sadia: So are convenience store owners, clothing store |
proprietors, restaurant owners, freelance writers, and |
all the other brave people who spend lots of time, and money, |
and energy on making their business dreams |
into reality. |
Keith: Some entrepreneurs, however, lead large |
companies-- many of which started as small |
businesses but grew as they became more and more |
successful. |
Sadia: Very true. Some of the most well-known American |
entrepreneurs are Steve Jobs, who started Apple, and who |
else? |
Keith: Well, there's Bill Gates, who started Microsoft. |
Sadia: And my girl, Martha Stewart, who's famous for sharing her |
lifestyle tips on a TV show, in a magazine, and |
through other media outlets. And you learned about media outlets in an earlier lesson. |
Keith: Well, Listeners, have you |
heard of any of these people? Who are some of the "big name" entrepreneurs in |
your country? Are they well-known worldwide? Let |
us know and leave us a comment! |
Sadia: Anyway, while the chance to be one's own boss and |
have control not only over your schedule, but over |
every part of your business is very attractive - it can be very enticing -- you probably want to do it if you don’t already -- |
entrepreneurship is actually really hard! |
Keith: Oh, there is no doubt about that! One challenge that it poses |
is a demand on your time; if you’re an entrepreneur or you want to be an entrepreneur, be prepared to spend |
many, many, many working hours from your office, store, your home, your bed, anywhere. |
Sadia: Yep, wherever your business is located, so you won't have nearly as much "free time" as |
you would if you worked a regular office job, and |
your personal relationships may suffer. |
Keith: Another challenge being an entrepreneur might pose |
is that you may not make as much money as you |
would working a standard job. |
Sadia: For sure. And it may actually take years for your |
business to start making money. And even after your |
business starts to generate a profit, which means, “to make money,” much of that |
money will have to be used not for the vacation |
you've been wanting to take or for the car you want |
to buy, but for business expenses. |
Keith: So, it's a tough road to choose, entrepreneurship! But |
more power to you if you do! |
Sadia: It's funny because despite the challenges that |
running one's own business can present, |
entrepreneurship has become especially popular |
lately as people are laid off-- or, let go-- |
from their 9-5 jobs. Right, Keith? |
Keith: Yeah. With some extra time on |
their hands, thousands of people have decided that |
maybe now is the best time to make good on a |
business idea that they've always dreamed of pursuing. |
Sadia: That's true. You can read a lot these days about |
people taking their unemployment, their lack of a job, as an opportunity |
to start a business-- in hopes, of course, that eventually the |
economy will get better and that when it does, they'll |
be up and running. |
Keith: And young people are especially attracted to |
entrepreneurship because it appeals to their sense of |
adventure and the power of possibility. |
Sadia: Right, power, adventure, possibility. Deciding to run your own business is risky |
-- one that young people don’t mind taking because they’ve got years ahead of them and, you know, if their businesses fail, which a lot do, they’ve got some time to pick themselves up and start over again. |
Keith: Oh, for sure. When you're young, you feel |
invincible-- and invincible means that nothing can stop you! Especially |
because you don't have much to lose if things don't |
work out! |
Keith: Yeah, so, if you’re young, go for it. Start your own business. Are you an entrepreneur, listener? If not, would you want to |
be? Do you know any entrepreneurs? |
Keith: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
Sadia: business [natural native speed] |
Keith: activity of exchanging money by buying and selling |
goods or services |
Sadia: business [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: business [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: entrepreneur [natural native speed] |
Keith: person who risks losing money in order to start his or |
her own business |
Sadia: entrepreneur [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: entrepreneur [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: score [natural native speed] |
Keith: group of twenty of something |
Sadia: score [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: score [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: be laid off [natural native speed] |
Keith: to stop employing someone because there is not enough |
work |
Sadia: be laid off [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: be laid off [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: dream [natural native speed] |
Keith: something someone has wanted to do for a long time |
Sadia: dream [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: dream [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: pursue [natural native speed] |
Keith: to try to do over a long time, to chase |
Sadia: pursue [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: pursue [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: loanword [natural native speed] |
Keith: word taken from one language and used in another |
Sadia: loanword [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: loanword [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: focus [natural native speed] |
Keith: to direct one's attention or effort on something specific |
Sadia: focus [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: focus [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: enterprise [natural native speed] |
Keith: project or business that involves many people and is |
difficult |
Sadia: enterprise [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: enterprise [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Sadia: challenging [natural native speed] |
Keith: difficult to do but interesting |
Sadia: challenging [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Keith: challenging [natural native speed] |
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