What is a recession?

I Lead-in.

1.    What comes to your mind when you hear a word ‘recession’?

2.    Take 2 minutes to note down your associations. Compare your lists with other students. What similarities do you have? What are the biggest differences?

 II Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use three words in your sentences.

1.	value	A.	the amount of money businesses and people have to pay to the government
2.	to shrink	B.	powerful effect
3.	in a row	C.	a place where shares in companies are sold and bought
4.	debt	D.	to stop slowly
5.	to cripple	E.	price of something; how much money something is worth
6.	consumer	F.	money for defence, education, health
7.	to grind to a halt	G.	a number of times
8.	impact	H.	to damage something and make it ineffective
9.	currency	I.	to make something smaller
10.	to  collapse	J.	sum of money someone has to pay back
11.	trigger	K.	client who buys things or services
12.	tax	L.	to become smaller
13.	to cut	M.	sudden fall in the value of business
14.	public spending	N.	return to the normal state after problems
15.	stock market	O.	to suddenly fall down
16.	crash	P.	a situation that causes something to start
17.	bounce  back	Q.	a system of money used in a country

III Vocabulary focus. Follow the link below. Study the words and  word combinations using flashcards, check your understanding, practise their  spelling. Check your knowledge in the test. Play matching vocabulary game (match words to their translations to make cards disappear)  and save the planet from asteroids by typing in correct words.

  https://quizlet.com/518689831/what-is-a-recession-flash-cards/?new

 IV Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

upset; recession; decades; healthy; economize; economy; financial; homes; banks; shock; Germany

We’ve heard it mentioned more and more during the coronavirus pandemic: 1) _______, severe recession, this is a recession, recession, a recession. Experts think that many countries including the UK and the US are in the midst of the worst recession seen in 2) _______. But what exactly does that mean and how could it affect you?

When a country's economy is 3) _______, it grows over time. The value of the goods and services it produces, its gross domestic product, increases. And economic growth is good for most people. But an 4) _______can also shrink. A recession is usually defined as when this happens for two- three month periods or quarters in a row. The last time this happened in many countries was during the global 5) _______crisis, which started in 2007. In the UK that recession lasted longer than a year, and GDP fell by an estimated 6 % over that time.

So why do recessions happen? There are lots of reasons, and debt is one of them. It was the trigger for the global financial crisis when lots of people in the United States couldn't keep up with payments on their 6) _______. It led to huge problems for 7) _______, which effectively ran out of money to lend crippling businesses and banking systems not just in America, but eventually around the world. A recession can also take place when an economy suffers a sharp 8) _______, like the coronavirus pandemic. Because of lockdown measures and consumer confidence taking a hit, spending, travel, and investment have ground to a halt in a number of countries including 9) _______, Europe’s biggest economy.

  

V Watch the video and choose the correct word to complete the.

 And the impact of a recession in one country can quickly spread/dread/bred. Let’s take a look at the 1997 crisis in East and Southeast Asia. It started out in Thailand, when the value of their currently/curate/currency, the baht, collapsed. Investors and businesses lost confidence in the country, and that spread to the rest of the region.

So what could a recession mean to you? Companies are more likely to cut jobless/jobs/robs, and people staying in work might have to accept pay cuts or reduced hours leaving them worse off financially.  The negative impact on job prospects and pay/way/paid can last for years. And governments themselves can get into a debt criticize/crisis/cried in a recession. As businesses and people pay less tax, pressure can build to cut public spending and service. If a recession carries on for a long time or it's particularly bad, it's known as a depressive/depressed/depression. It’s a bit harder to define and it’s often associated with what's known as the Great  Depression in the 1930s. It started with a stock market crash in the United States and spread. It lasted for about 10 years and its impact was felt globalized/globally/globalists.

Now as economies suffer in countries around the world, governments are preparing for what some have called ‘the crisis like no other’. But we're in unknown territorial/terrorize/territory, and nobody knows how strong or how quick a bounce back could be.

VI Watch two parts of the video and answer the questions.

1.    What is a recession?  

2.    When was the last global recession?  

3.    Why do recessions happen?  

4.    What was the trigger for the global financial crisis in 2007?  

5.    What are the possible reasons for the recession linked to pandemic?   

6.    What is Europe’s biggest economy? Germany is Europe’s biggest economy.

7.    Can recession in one country spread? What examples does the video give?  

8.    What could a recession mean to people?  

9.    Will many people be better off financially during the recession?  

10.How long can the negative impact on job prospects and pay can last?  

11.Can governments suffer because of recessions? What examples does the video give?   

12.What is a depression in economy?  

13.When was the last depression in global economy?  Where did it start and how long did it last?  

14.   Do governments around the world know how long the recession caused by pandemic will last?  

VII OVER TO YOU. Share your opinion: When were the past recessions in your country? What helped your country to bounce back after the recessions in the past? What strategies can your country try not to feel the negative impact of global recession?