What’s so good about Eurovision?
This Saturday is the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark, with 125 million people expected to watch across Europe and beyond. The contest, now in its 59th year, has become known for its wacky performances and tends to divide opinion; while some people love it (although maybe not as much as this man), others claim to find it tacky. But I think most people can agree that whether you take it seriously or not, Eurovision is good fun. (Even if sometimes you need a drink or two to help you through it.) Here are our ten favourite things about Eurovision:
1. Russian Grannies
I had to put this first because it was one of my favourite ever Eurovision moments. The song on its own is fairly forgettable, but what made it amazing was the elderly ladies who managed to incorporate baking into their performance at the 2012 contest. I’m still not sure what it had to do with a Party for Everybody, but it was brilliant, and I’m still disappointed that it didn’t win.
2. Riverdance
The Irish dance act were first discovered when they performed during the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Known for its amazing synchronicity, energy and rhythm, Riverdance went on to become a worldwide phenomenon. So if you’re not a fan, now you know who to blame.
3. Romanian rivalries
In the UK, it’s not seen as very ‘cool’ to enjoy Eurovision, but some other countries take it incredibly seriously. In Romania, for example, it’s a really big deal and apparently it’s traditional for the acts to try and win a place by discrediting their opponents.
4. The voting
How could I not mention the political voting? Half the fun of Eurovision is predicting who’s going to give points to who. Greece and Cyprus usually vote for each other, as do the Scandinavian countries and the Balkans. If that sort of thing interests you, this is a useful summary. Unfortunately, the political voting tends to leave the UK in a precarious position; we often get votes from Ireland, and sometimes Malta, but not very often from anyone else…
5. The UK
While we’re on the subject, let’s take a look at the UK’s Eurovision record. It’s hard to believe looking at recent history, but apparently it’s one of the most successful countries, winning five times since our first appearance in 1957. The last win was in 1997, with Katrina and the Waves, and since then we’ve not been doing so well, finishing last three times. The first of these was in 2003, when we scored an embarrassing ‘nul points’. Apparently this year’s entry, Children of the Universe, by singer-songwriter Molly, is expected to do well. I’ll believe it when I see it.
6. ABBA
It’s not often that a Eurovision act goes on to have a successful long term career, but one exception is Swedish group ABBA. Not only did they win the contest for Sweden in 1974, they went on to sell over 380 million albums worldwide. Their music also featured in the hit film Muriel’s Wedding and the award-winning musical, Mamma Mia! (And the movie version, which introduced the world to the singing ‘talents’ of Pierce Brosnan.)
7. Alcohol is Free
Regardless of your views on drinking, it’s hard not to tap your foot along to Alcohol is Free, by Koza Mostra and Agathonas Iakovidis, a.k.a. the Greek answer to Madness. They finished sixth in 2013.
8. Finland
We love Finland; they always come up with something memorable. Last year was the catchy Marry Me, which ended with that kiss, but nothing beats 2006 entry Hard Rock Hallelujah, by Lordi. Eurovision isn’t known for its heavy metal, preferring to stick to happy songs about how we should all love each other. But the alternative approach seemed to do the trick; the band won that year’s contest.
Warning: this video contains flashing lights and monster masks!
9. Language rules
Eurovision used to have a very strict rule about countries only singing in their native language, which has been lifted and restored a few times over the years. These days, many of the competing countries choose to perform in English, but some remain loyal to their own language; France and Spain are two examples. When I was growing up, there were more songs in other languages than there are today, and we used to enjoy turning on the subtitles and watching them struggle to translate the lyrics. Songs in English have won 28 times, followed by French, with 14 wins.
10. Fairytale
This was a popular choice in the EuroTalk office. Every now and again, Eurovision does actually produce a good song, and Fairytale was the one that we all thought of. The Norwegian entry for 2009 featured violinist Alexander Rybak, and won with a record-breaking 387 points out of a possible 492. For some reason, Alexander and his dancers were also a bit of a hit with the ladies…
Have we left out your favourite thing about Eurovision? Let us know in the comments!
Liz
10 popular expressions we owe to Shakespeare
Today is the official anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth. (23rd April is also the day he died, but let’s not dwell on that.) For those of us who speak English every day, we often forget, or don’t realise, how many of the words and phrases we use come from the works of Shakespeare.
Of course we don’t know for sure that he invented them all himself (although apparently about a tenth of the words he used in his work were new). But it’s interesting to see how many of us, even those who claim not to be fans of his work, are regularly quoting Shakespeare.
There are so many examples of these – here are just a few.
Green-eyed monster
What does it mean? Jealousy.
Which play? Othello (Act III, scene 3) – although Shakespeare had earlier used ‘green-eyed’ to describe jealousy in The Merchant of Venice (Act III, scene 2).
“IAGO: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on”
Cruel to be kind
What does it mean? Treating someone badly for their own good.
Which play? Hamlet (Act III, scene 4)
“HAMLET: I must be cruel only to be kind.
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.”
It’s all Greek to me
What does it mean? Completely incomprehensible.
Which play? Julius Caesar (Act I, Scene 2)
“CASCA: those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”
Break the ice
What does it mean? To get a conversation going, often by breaking some initial tension.
Which play? The Taming of the Shrew (Act I, Scene 2)
“TRANIO: And if you break the ice and do this feat,
Achieve the elder, set the younger free”
In a pickle
What does it mean? In a tricky situation.
Which play? The Tempest (Act V, Scene 1)
“ALONSO: How camest thou in this pickle?”
Forever and a day
What does it mean? A really long time!
Which play? As You Like It (Act IV, Scene 1)
“ROSALIND: Now tell me how long you would have her after you have possessed her.
ORLANDO: Forever and a day.”
The world’s my oyster
What does it mean? To have a wealth of opportunities.
Which play? The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act II, Scene 2)
“PISTOL: Why then the world’s mine oyster, Which I with sword will open.”
One fell swoop
What does it mean? All at once.
Which play? Macbeth (Act IV, Scene 3)
“MACDUFF: What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?”
Good riddance
What does it mean? To be glad to see the back of someone.
Which play? Troilus and Cressida (Act 2, Scene 1)
“THERSITES: I will keep where there is
wit stirring and leave the faction of fools.
[Exit]
PATROCLUS: A good riddance.”
Eaten out of house and home
What does it mean? To take advantage of a host’s generosity.
Which play? Henry IV Part II
“MISTRESS QUICKLY: He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his”
How many of these have you used lately? And does anyone have any other favourite Shakespearean phrases?
Personally, we’re a bit disappointed that more of Shakespeare’s insults haven’t made it into modern English; you don’t hear ‘thou cream-faced loon’ often enough these days (although maybe that’s a good thing). There’s probably a whole other blog post to be had from Shakespeare’s insults – but in the meantime, here’s a random insult generator – have fun, but be careful who you say them to!
The oddness of English
I don’t know about you, but I think one of the challenges about language learning is knowing how to spell a word you hear spoken and knowing how to pronounce a word you see written down. Some languages are more phonetic than others, which makes things a bit easier, but then some don’t have any standardised spelling, which makes things very hard. English, luckily, has standardised spelling, but its pronunciation lacks some logic and so it can be a nightmare knowing where to stress a word – and often if you get it wrong you say something you don’t mean to!
A few words in English have optional pronunciation, like ‘harass’, which can be either ‘harAss’ or ‘hArass’, but the majority of words have a standardised pronunciation. This can cause problems when the spelling is the same for several different words that sound different. You can’t guess these things, they just have to be learnt. ‘Bow’ is a great example: depending on how you pronounce the vowel it can either mean the bow that an archer uses or the bow of a boat. Then, to confuse matters more, a bow (lowering your head to show someone respect) has the same pronunciation as the boat bow. Some other common examples include ‘minute’, which can be either a division of time or an adjective for ‘very small’, and ‘wind’, can be a strong breeze or the action of twisting something around. People row amongst themselves and row in a boat. And, although there’s a capital to help distinguish them, lots of tourists (understandably) pronounce ‘Reading’ (the city) as they would ‘reading’ (a book).
So, fine, we accept and conquer these challenges and push on with the language learning. But then there’s a new pitfall: words which sound exactly the same but have multiple spellings, each one indicating a totally different meaning. Depending on whether you learn better from listening or reading, you’ll probably be more flummoxed by one of these caprices of the English language than the other, but they’re both pretty challenging. Plenty of native English speakers, especially at the end of a long day when the concentration is waning, will find themselves putting ‘whether’ when they mean ‘weather’, ‘their’ when they mean ‘there’, ‘where’ when they mean ‘wear’. These are the ones that always spring to mind, but when you start thinking about it you’ll find a huge list of potential stumbling blocks. ‘Hey’ is a greeting’ whilst ‘hay’ is dried grass; ‘wine’ is a drink and ‘whine’ is the sound of a petulant child; ‘sails’ belong to a boat whereas ‘sales’ are discounts in the shops; you drink a ‘draught’ of something or use it to describe the depth of your boat, but a draft is a first copy of something.‘Hour’ is a division of time but ‘our’ belongs to us all. You grow ‘leeks’ and have ‘leaks’ in your roof. You ‘knead’ bread and ‘need’ air to survive. A plant has ‘roots’ but a road is a ‘route’.
I could go on, but the list is very long and I also want to mention the third group of confusing words, the ones which both look and sound exactly the same but have two completely different meanings, which have to be divined from context. So, a ‘coach’ both trains athletes and is a large vehicle. Fish have ‘scales’ and ‘scales’ are used to weigh things. A ‘stable’ houses animals and describes how sturdy something is. ‘Second’ is both a division of time and comes after first. ‘Bark’ belongs to a tree and is the sound of a dog. And ‘port’ is either a fortified wine, a harbour or the left side of a boat.
I’ve only mentioned a few of them and they’re the ones I’ve noticed causing confusion, but if you have any you’d like to add, whether in English or any other language you may know, we’d love to hear them!
Nat
Why Fluent English Language is Important for Business
Today we have a post by guest blogger Jeff Peters on the importance of the English language in the business world.
Globalization is a dominant feature of post-modern industrial and developing societies and is being led by multi-national corporations. Whether it is high tech companies such as Apple, automobile manufacturers like General Motors, or even much smaller firms that specialize in one-off items manufactured throughout the Far and Near East, business has managed to overcome trade and regulatory boundaries in order to sell wares through free markets. Communication is paramount; imagine the difficulties if no efforts were made to establish a cohesive way by which businesses communicated. This is perhaps the over-riding reason as to why English has been chosen to be the de facto language of the business world.
Why English?
We may have Hollywood to thank for the predominance of the English language throughout much of the world today. Distribution of American movies, television programs and music has allowed many peoples, even in so-called third world nations, to at least become somewhat familiar with spoken English. A large percentage of multinational corporations originated in the United States and continue to be headquartered in this country and their influence throughout the global community is quite predominant. Perhaps most important of all is the emergence of the Internet, where the English language predominates and is evidenced by the fact that many foreign language websites provide the means for translation into English.
English as the Model of Efficiency
While English may not be easy to learn, it has been adopted by foreign companies as the most effective means of gaining access to global commerce and trade. This is reflected in the fact that worldwide, close to two billion people are currently learning English. According to language experts at SolidEssay.com, which is a college paper writing service, having effective English language skills will not only allow for access to commerce and trade, it also provides an efficient way by which business is conducted. Cultural differences aside, the predominance of English has allowed for an efficient means to conduct business throughout the world, and has also provided an effective tool used to deal with political differences, also viewed as barriers to trade.
Why is this Important to Individuals?
With the rise of English as the language of choice throughout the global business community it is important for non-English speakers to understand that without the necessary language skills they run the risk of being left behind. Each must adapt their skills to business needs and to be a cog in this dynamic world it is important to learn the lingo. Hence, learning English is primary to individual success and should be given to anyone wishing to gain access to the corporate world of today. As the spread of English continues, learning the language appears to be one of the most productive means to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.
Jeff provides essay writing tips through SolidEssay.com. One of his recent publications is on how to write a rhetorical analysis essay.
Remember with Talk Business, you can learn English from over 70 other languages.
Encouraging English learners in Ethiopia
Our guest post today is by Elizabeth Horsefield, a volunteer with the VSO in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia was perhaps not the intended market for a EuroTalk Interactive Learn English CD-ROM. But it’s going down a storm. I work as a VSO volunteer in a Teacher Training College in a rural area of Western Oromia, Ethiopia. We have an English Language Improvement Centre (ELIC) which recently acquired two new desktop computers complete with headphones and speakers. Perfect.
The students are desperate to improve their English. For most of them this usually involves sitting silently in front of an old copy of some estranged grammar book and making notes. Others even read the Oxford dictionary in the hope that it will one day magically transform their communication skills in English. Many of them went to school in remote areas with very few educational resources. Often their experiences in the ELIC provide a first opportunity to use a keyboard and mouse, so operating an interactive CD-ROM in their second or maybe third language might have been beyond their capacity. It would appear not.
Every afternoon (hours scheduled for computer use outside of their regular classes), the students come and learn. Sitting alone or in pairs, I allow them half hour slots to navigate around the different activities and keep score. The cultural context of the material is apparent. These Ethiopian students are not familiar with eating roast chicken, going sailing or playing the trombone. But this only serves to highlight how culture and language are two halves of the same whole and they are quick to overcome any misunderstandings with the help of the pictures and a little guidance from the native speaker (me).
The local language in the area I live and work is Afan Oromo. I have been making a concerted effort to speak and understand something of this wonderful language with its complex history and rich sense of identity. If only an interactive CD-ROM existed for Afan Oromo, I suspect I would be making nearly as much progress as my students.
Elizabeth Horsefield, Nekemte, Ethiopia
