Ted: Hey, how’s it going? We’re back with another episode of Babbel News – English Only.

My name is Ted, your host and language expert here at Babbel, and we’ve got another news story for you, sourced from Reuters. Before playing the clip, I’ll go over some keywords that will help you better understand the story. And remember, you can find a transcript for each episode by following the link in the episode description.

Today, we’re off to Argentina, where people are faced with a huge rise in the cost of living due to inflation.

Now, let’s go over some of the most important vocabulary from the story. First, we have the word “inflation”, or a fall in the value of money and a general increase in prices. Following that, there’s the phrase “to struggle to make ends meet”, or to have a very difficult time earning enough money to pay for the basic things needed to live. The next phrase to listen for is “to race against the clock”, which means to do something as fast as possible, as if trying to outrun the passing of time. Next up, “an economic crisis” is a period of time when a country’s economy is very bad, causing many people to lose jobs and businesses to struggle. The verb “to depreciate” means to lose value. And then, there’s your last word of the day, “to flag”, which in the context of this story means to become weaker and less effective. And with that, let’s make our way to Argentina and learn more about what’s going on.

Reuters: Argentina’s annual inflation rate shot up to 124 percent in August. That’s a record high in more than three decades and has left a lot of Argentines struggling to make ends meet.
 
"It's hard. Whatever one thing costs today, tomorrow costs a little more. We're always racing against the clock, searching and searching. You buy whatever is cheaper in one place and go to the next place and buy something else. That’s how it is, regrettably."
 
It is equally tough for business owners, like butcher Marcelo Capobianco. He fears he will need to close down his shop if the situation worsens. His family is even considering leaving Argentina.
 
“The situation we're going through is dramatic because we don't know how we are going to pay this month's rent or electricity. People are angry and have every right to be, since they can't afford to buy a kilo of meat, and then we'll be affected.”
 
Argentina is caught in a cycle of economic crisis: the peso is depreciating, the central bank has negative reserves and the economy is flagging due to drought impacting farming.
 
Adding to that, a recent central bank analyst poll forecast inflation would end the year above 169 percent.
 
According to economic analyst Damian Di Pace, it could get even worse amid the uncertainty of next month’s presidential election.
 
“Some estimate that it could accelerate to 180%, so we are talking about record levels of inflation. While the other Latin American countries have single-digit inflation, Argentina is already in triple digits."

Ted: So, that’s it for today’s episode. If you feel like there were some words you didn’t quite catch, remember that you can replay the episode as many times as you need. It might also be helpful to use a dictionary to look up any words you might not be familiar with.

Do you have any language-learning tips that work well for you and that you would like to share with us? Or questions or feedback? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Send us an e-mail at podcasting@babbel.com. Just be sure to write Babbel News – English Only in the subject line!

Thanks again for listening. We’ll be back next week, same time, same place. Bye!