Numbers and You
Most
people working in finance, whether it is in accountancy, banking, broking,
investment, insurance, or whatever, spend a lot of time dealing with numbers.
Reading, hearing, saying, writing, numbers in a foreign language generally
requires practice.
When do
you need to work with numbers
1. I work in …
2.
I need the English of Finance for …
I
regularly read numbers in English in: 1.
textbooks 1. newspapers
3. magazines and journals
1. textbooks
2. newspapers
3. magazines and journals
4. accounts
5. company documents
6. …
I hear
numbers spoken in English when …
I have to use numbers in English:
1. in
the classroom
2. in
meetings
3. on
the phone
4. …
in
order to: …
Tick
which of the following you have to do in English:
1.
buy goods or services over the telephone
2.
describe graphs
3.
discuss accounts
4.
discuss customers' bank accounts
5.
discuss projects with colleagues
6.
discuss the market price of securities
7.
draw up budgets
8.
negotiate with producers, customers, brokers, etc.
9. present accounts and results to
managers, colleagues
10. present products or services to
customer
I1.
sell products or services over the phone talk with technicians
PER
CENT
The
stress is on the cent of per cent ten percent
Notice
the following when talking about interest rates:
0.5% a half of one per
cent
0.25% a quarter of a
percentage point
For
example:
The
Bank of England raised interest rates this morning by a quarter of a percentage
point.
Now say
the following:
1.
What's 30% of 260?
2.
They have put the rate up by another 0.5%.
3.
0.75% won't make a
lot of difference.
HUNDREDS*, THOUSANDS, AND MILLIONS
In
British English you hear a
hundred and twenty three. •-., •
In
American English you usually hear a
hundred twenty three.
The
number 1,999 is said one thousand nine
hundred and ninety7 nine.
The
year 1999 is said nineteen ninety
nine.
The
year 2000 is said the year two
thousand.
The
year 2001 is said two thousand and
one
The
year 2015 is said two thousand and
fifteen or twenty7 fifteen.
Note:
It is likely that different people will refer to the early years of the 21st
century7 in different ways.
Remember
that the year 1066 is always referred to as ten sixty six - not one thousand
and sixty six.
1,000,000 is a million or ten to the power
six. (10°)
1,000,ОО0,000 is a billion or
ten to the power nine. (109)
This is
now common usage.
British
English used to be that a billion was ten to the power twelve (1012),
but now
everyone has accepted the current American usage.
Now say
the following:
1.
Why do you say 175 in Britain? In the States we usually 175.
2.
It's got 1001 different uses.
3.
Profit? will have doubled by the year 2000.
4.
Thanks. You're one in 1,000,000!
5. No,
that's 2,000,000,000 not 2,000,000!