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In this episode: politics and government vocabulary

Listener Feedback: Gabriela (Peru – living in Australia)

Hi, Reza and Craig. I am from Peru, but at the moment I am living in Australia.
My native language is Spanish and now I am learning English and it’s interesting.
Thank you for your help, I listen to your podcasts very often and I like how you explain all of the subjects.
Sorry for my mistakes in this message.
Can you speak about verb tenses? How do I know if I’m using the correct tenses in my speaking or writing? Thank you so much for your answer.

It’s very difficult to speak about ALL of the verb tenses in English in one podcast episode, Gabriela. We suggest you go to inglespodcast.com and type in the verb tenses into the search box.
Listen to all the past episodes in which we have spoken about verb tenses.

False friend: estar constipado – to have a cold / to be constipated – estar estreñido
Politics and Government

Vocabulary:
politics – política (don’t forget that the word ‘politics’ has an ‘s’ in English)
politician – político (noun – the person)
political – político (adjective, “a political speech”)
policy – política, plan de acción
government – gobierno (coalition – coalición – a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government.
“a coalition between Liberals and Conservatives”)
to govern – gobernar
party – partido
Conservative Party – partido conservador – right-wing – de derecha
(very right-wing = fascist – fascista
Labour Party – partido laborista – left-wing – de izquierda
very left-wing = communist
liberal (líberal) – liberal
Republican Party – partido republicano
Democratic Party – partido demócrata
to run for president (to run for office) – ser candidato a presidente
democracy (n) – democracia
democrat – demócrata
democratic (adj.) – democrático
to elect – elegir
to vote – votar
(a general) election – elección (local/regional elections)
ballot – votación
campaign – campaña
candidate – candidato
electorate – electorado
(a government) minister – ministro
ministry – ministerio
opposition – oposición
parliament – parlamento
poll – encuesta, votación
polling station – the place where you vote in an election
referendum – referendum
socialist – socialista
capitalist – capitalista
nationalist – nacionalista
monarchist – monárquico
regionalist – regionalista
union – sindicato
dictatorship – dictadura
totalitarian – totalitario/a
party politics – política partidista

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Questions:

How old were you when you first voted?

Reza was in his early 20s. Craig has never voted. (to abstain – abstenerse)

What characteristics should a good politician have?

Craig: honesty, motivating, idealistic, believe in the common good, serve the public
Reza: honesty, to keep their word.

Have your political views changed much during your lifetime?

Reza: No, but he is more understanding these days. He would never let his political views get in the way of friendship.
Craig used to be very left wing. In recent years he’s moved a little bit more to the right.
to strike – hacer huelga

Should voting be compulsory?

Reza used to think so, but now he thinks people shouldn’t be made to vote.

(Voting is compulsory in 22 states worldwide – 12 Latin American countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Congo, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Honduras, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nauru (the smallest state in the South Pacific), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Singapore, Thailand, Uruguay)

Would you vote for an actor or actress who campaigns for a government position?

Reza would (if they were politically aware)

Do most people really care who runs the country as long as they have a high standard of living?

I’m going to lay my cards on the table – voy a mojarme (to lay your cards on the table – poner las cartas sobre la mesa)
Reza feels strongly that 65 people should not own half of the world’s wealth. He thinks something should be done about that.

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?

Neither Reza nor Craig will be hoping that Donald Trump wins the US election.
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. We want you to tell us your opinion on politics and answer some of the questions that we asked in this podcast……Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast 

Send us an email with a comment or question to [email protected] or [email protected].

On next week’s episode: How to NOT answer personal questions!

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’