Ted: Hey! Welcome to the second season of Babbel News – English Only. I’m Ted, language expert here at Babbel.

Each week, we bring you the news about recent events in English, sourced from Reuters. If you’re looking to improve your English listening skills while staying informed about what’s going on in the world, then this podcast is for you.

Yes, everything will be in English, but don’t worry – I’ve got you covered! Before you hear each clip, I’ll briefly introduce the topic to give you a general idea of what to expect. I’ll also explain important words and phrases to listen for during the news stories.

Do you want to read along while you listen? Then check out the transcript for this episode by following the link in the episode description. 

You can also pause the episode if you need to look up a word, or slow down the playback speed if you find it helpful.

Today we’ve got two news stories for you. The first story is about the sportswear brand Adidas and its decision to sell its remaining Yeezy sneakers after ending their partnership with Kanye West last year.

After that, you’ll hear about people turning to the internet to deal with water problems in northern Senegal.

Alright. Let’s begin by looking at some of the words to listen for during the first story. The first word is “antisemitic”, which means hateful towards Jewish people or Judaism. When something is in “strong demand”, it means many people want to buy it. Next, “outbursts” are sudden strong expressions of emotion, often anger. After that comes “toxic”, another word for poisonous. In the context of this story, if a brand has become “toxic” it means it is unattractive to customers. Next, the verb “to decline” can be used to describe when someone politely says no to a request. And the last word from the first story is “proceeds”, which refers to the money made from selling something.

Now let’s hear more about what’s going on at Adidas.

Reuters: Kanye West fans still really want Yeezy shoes. Sportswear firm Adidas has got orders worth about $565 million for four million pairs of unsold shoes designed by the rapper.

That's according to Britain's Financial Times on Monday (July 24).
The German sportswear giant stopped selling Yeezy shoes in October last year. It ended its partnership with Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – after he made antisemitic comments. But the FT said strong demand for unsold sneakers had calmed fears at the firm that Ye's outbursts had made the Yeezy brand too toxic.

Adidas declined to comment. The company said in May it would donate some of the proceeds from the sales to organizations fighting antisemitism and racism.

Ted: Now let’s take a closer look at the vocabulary for the second story. When a place or land is “arid”, it is very dry. "Crowdfunding” is when a large number of people each give a small amount of money for a project, usually on the internet. And a “fundraiser” is the person who collects this money, using it for charity or non-profit causes. To do that, they often have to “rally”, or encourage people to come together in support of something. Next, when something “intensifies”, it gets stronger or more serious. And finally, the word “drought” describes a period of time with very little rain. Now, let’s head to Senegal.

Reuters: In arid northern Senegal, getting water can involve miles of walking. But villages like Ourou Amady Bagga are part of a wider community – that exists on the internet.
 
This well has been constructed through a crowdfunding campaign. It was organized by builder and fundraiser Mamadou Diakhate. Diakhate turned to the internet – setting up crowdfunding websites to rally his fellow Senegalese.

"We launch fundraising campaigns from our platforms and our phone numbers, and we explain the problem to the community. We tell the community that we want to build this school, for example, or we want to build a well and we need X francs to do it."

As global warming intensifies, droughts have become 29% more frequent since 2000. Future droughts are predicted to worsen and last even longer. But village chief Yoro Boubou Ba says the well means they now have enough to drink and water their vegetables. Diakhate hopes that, through crowdfunding, those benefits can be brought to more communities.

His is a campaign that does not rely on external support. Diakhate's group has crowdfunded 50 wells since 2020, and another nine are under construction.

Ted: That’s it for this episode! I hope you found the news stories interesting, and learned something new, too!

If there’s anything you feel you missed, you can always go ahead and listen to the episode again. If the meaning of some words is still unclear, feel free to look them up in a dictionary. Also, if you haven’t listened to Babbel News – English Only Season 1, you can check it out for more great English news content! Thanks for tuning in. We’ll be back next week with some more current events and new vocabulary for you. See you!