Section 1 — The Language of Money
Session 2 of 16
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Counting and measuring money — much vs many
This session is about the numbers and quantities of money — the language you need to talk about amounts, budgets, profits, and debt. You'll practice essential grammar for asking and answering questions about money, and you'll explore why national debt matters to every working person — not just governments.
Vocabulary for this session
amountsumtotalbalancebudgetafforddebtowelendborrowinterestpercentagerateprofitlossbreak even
Grammar focus
Grammar focus: Quantifiers with money nouns — much/many, a lot of, some, any. Key question forms: "How much does it cost?" "How many payments are there?" "Do you have any savings?" Common error: "How many money?" (incorrect) vs "How much money?" (correct).
Come prepared to discuss
"Should you always try to spend less than you earn? Or is some debt actually good?" Share your own culture's attitude to debt — there are no wrong answers here.
Before this session
Prepare: Before class, find your most recent pay slip, bank statement, or any financial document. Without sharing the numbers, note: what financial terms appear on it? How many do you already understand? Bring your list of unfamiliar terms to discuss at the start of the session.
Task-Based Activity
Budget challenge. Give each student a monthly income figure (vary them: $800, $1,500, $3,000, $5,000) and a standard list of monthly expenses (rent/mortgage, food, transport, utilities, phone, savings, entertainment). Students must: (1) allocate their income across expenses, (2) identify what they can and cannot afford, (3) present their choices to a partner using the target language: "I can't afford… so I would cut… I need to save at least… because… I would break even if…" Debrief: who had it easiest? Who had to make hard choices? Why?
Career-Oriented Take — How to Frame It
Budgeting language appears in every workplace — from project budgets and quarterly reviews to salary discussions. Being able to say "we're over budget", "the profit margin is 12%", "we broke even last quarter", or "the total cost of this project is approximately…" marks you as financially literate. This is basic professional English, and many intermediate learners are missing it.
Big Picture — Global Financial Order
Countries have budgets too — and national debt. The US currently owes over $34 trillion. Who does it owe? Mostly its own citizens (through treasury bonds), plus foreign holders like China and Japan. When nations owe each other, politics follows money. This is how leverage works at a global scale — a theme we'll revisit in Section 3.
Current Events Take
Several countries are currently in debt crisis — Sri Lanka, Argentina, Ghana, Pakistan. How much debt is too much? When a country cannot repay, what happens? (Spoiler: the IMF arrives with conditions. We'll cover this in full in Session 12.) Use this as a preview question: "What do you think happens when a country goes bankrupt?"
Homework (assign after session)
Find out your country's national debt (search "[country name] national debt 2025"). Write 3 sentences: "My country owes approximately… This is because… I think this level of debt is [good/bad/concerning] because…"