Music is great

This is another video in our This is Britain series, which was orginally launched to promote Britain around the world before the 2012 Olympics.

Renowned artists such as Florence from Florence & The Machine, Jessie J, Emeli Sandé, Will i am, Nicole Sherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Huey Morgan from the Fun Lovin' Criminals, & Rizzle Kicks, all share their insights as to why music in Britain is great.

Self-study activity:
This is not an easy video by any means, so intermediate students can try a general activity in which they can simple identify the gist, the main ideas, of what is being said.

Watch the video and number the topics in the order they are mentioned. You can read the transcript below.


Size of the UK
I first visited the UK in 1998
There are several British artists in everybody’s favourites
British artists are honest
British audiences love real, authentic music
It’s more important to be successful in the UK than in America in the music business
New artists have a lot of opportunities in the UK




Key:

1 Size of the UK
2 There are several British artists in everybody’s favourites
3 I first visited the UK in 1998
4 British people love real, authentic music
5 British artists are honest
6 New artists have a lot of opportunities in the UK
7 It’s more important to be successful in the UK than in America in the music business

We are a sort of nation of self poets and playwrights and in song it kind of that tradition continues.
The UK is smaller than Texas so we have to be original. Any artist that exists has to be themselves, they can’t be a version of three other, four other people that exist because the UK would sniff you out straightaway.
If you ask anyone of their favourite ten artists you are guaranteed there’s going to be a lot of Brits there.
The Clash, Led Zeppelin, The Stones…
Sir Mike Jagger
Plan B to Adele
When I was a kid I would listen to nothing but British music.
I remember the first time I came to the UK like it was 1998, to me that was like ahhh! you made it!
For me the greatest thing about Great Britain is the British crowds. I just love how open-minded the audience is here and how hungry they are for new music, for original music, for authentic music.
We want to be honest and tell the truth and talk about love, and hate. I think we are afraid to let down our boundaries and let people in. I mean I’m someone that definitely wears my heart on my sleeve but I think that’s because the British public want it.
When we got here it was one of those places that really appreciates music and doesn’t try to put it in boxes.
And there was a lot of opportunities for new artists to play music. I grew up in London. There’s always a gig going on, there is always some kind squat virtue, a gig in a club or a pub.
This is such a diverse place. It’s so easy to be creative.
A place really connected to expressing yourself.
For me especially that’s kind of how it works. I’m always incapable of saying how I feel unless it is put in song.
Artists that succeed in the UK and go global are people that have to be so in tune in what they are and who they are.
It’s dope to be big in America, but damned if you’re big in the UK it actually means that you have a career that can travel.
It is one of those places that I kind of consider home. You know, they say home is where the heart is.

Sport is Great Britain

Some of the world's top sportmen and women talk about what they think is great about sport in Britain. This is one of the promotional videos in the series THIS IS GREAT BRITAIN used to promote the country before the 2012 Olympics.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.



Sport is the most (1) ... international language.
Sports get people together and it just makes you forget about everything.
Sport has an international reach that is (2) ... (3) ... . There are more nations competing in the Olympic Games than there are members of the United Nations.
We may disagree on politics and religion but in (4) ... of sport we agree that this is a beautiful game. But whoever wins wins and whoever loses is ok too.
Britain does have a very special (5) in sport, and in world sport because it was the British who (6) ... most of the rules for most of the games played in the world.
Sport is deep in the (7) ... of every community in all parts of this country. There’s no question about that.
We love any sport. You can’t (8) ... the crowd anywhere, to mean Great Britain.
British fans don’t just go and (9) ... British athletes. They understand that sport at its highest level, which is of course borderless.
Competing in the UK is always a pleasure as an athlete and the events are very well run you´re not gonna have to worry about anything except your (10) ...  .
Tennis at Wimbledon, football at Wembley, we now have an international track and field center, we will have probably the best (11) ... provision for cycling anywhere in the world.
I take a pride in Britain being a strong sporting nation.
Having the Olympics here is just gonna be phenomenal. The way British sport is at the moment in terms of the way they are achieving and the way they (12) ... the last Olympics is really exciting.
We now appreciate winners in a way we never have a (13) ... to a few years back.
We as a nation, we thrive on (14) ... who we are. I think the Games in particular and these next ten years will put the Great back into Britain.

Key:
1 powerful 2 beyond 3 compare 4 terms 5 play  6 set 7 DNA 8 beat 9 support 10 performance 11 legacy 12 achieved  13 chance 14 showcasing 

Twiggy on fashion and London

This is another video in the series This is Great Britain. Famous 60's model Lesley Lawson, Twiggy, tells us about British fashion and the meaning of being British for her.

Self-study activity:
This is a listening activity for intermediate students. Listen to the clip and answer the questions below.



1 Why did Twiggy's first boyfriend make fun of her?
2 What piece of clothing was popular in Twiggy's times?
3 What does Carnaby Street mean for people in general and for Twiggy in particular?
4 Twiggy mentions three things that the British have got. What is it?
5 What's the good thing about British museums?
6 What phrase does Twiggy use to describe her feelings towards London?

You can check your answers by reading the transcript below.

My first boyfriend’s brother, in the ‘60s, used to tease me ‘cause my legs were so skinny. It started as “Sticks,” and then it turned into “Twiggy.”
When I burst on the scene in the ‘60s we had Barbara Hulanicki, who gave us Biba, and Mary Quant and the mini skirt. And I think from then on British fashion has just grown and grown and grown.
I think we’ve got such an amazing stable of designers now that all the world looks to. We’ve got Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson, Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Kane, Christopher Bailey, Paul Smith. They are some of the great designers and we’re brave, we go for it. And there’s always new things; I mean, it’s brilliant!
Carnaby Street, you know, if you say that name, everyone in the world knows it’s London. To me it just means my teenage years, it was the exciting place, and it was a hip hop place to go.
We’ve got everything: we’ve got art, we’ve got fashion, we’ve got history.
There’s such an array of museums in Britain and they’re all free, which is great!
I’ll always live in London. You know, it’s in my heart. Britain’s in my heart and soul.
You’re invited!

Is British food great? Video activity

The series This is Great Britain features a number of videos on key aspects of life and culture in Great Britain (music, sport, fashion, business, food) as a way of promoting the country for the 2012 Olympics. This is the third video in the series to be posted on this blog after Victoria Beckham's (fashion) and Richard Branson's (business).

In the first place, I must warn you that I found the video difficult to understand. Some foreign accents, fragmented English, a few dishes I had never heard of... I don't know. Anyway,  six of the most celebrated chefs in Britain (no Jamie Olivier, surprise, surprise), Raymond Blanc, Brett Graham, Ruth Rogers, Atul Kochar, Angela Hartnett and Fergus Henderson tell us their ideas of British food.

Self-study activity:
This is an activity for strong intermediate students, but it is more suitable for advanced students.

A. Watch the video through and note down the dishes and names of foods that are mentioned.

B. Watch the clip again and say whether the following statements are true or false:
1 London is one of the greatest gastronomic cities in the world.
2 British cuisine has changed a lot in the last few years.
3 Every cuisine in the world can be found in London.
4 Sustainability is key for most English chefs at the moment.
5 Markets and local shops are getting more and more important for people.

You can read the transcript below.



A great British menu…
Oh, dear, that’s a long one.
Well, it’s just a… a menu… thank you very much…
Ultimate British?
It’s a…
Oooh…
It would be rice chicken.
Great Stilton.
Asparagus.
Spiced smoked salmon.
Cheese, blue cheese.
Best end of roe deer baked over Douglas fir.
Cornish pasty.
Probably an apple.
Tandoori pigeon served in a Yorkshire pudding cup.
It’s about the produce, it’s about meat, it’s about two veg.
I still love crumble, to me, I’m obsessed by crumble. That is a beautiful dish. It should be known across the world.
I think most people think we overcook our beef. Everyone just eats fish and chips or soggy vegetables. I don´t think, certainly not accurate. We certainly do great fish and chips still.
London is definitely one of the great gastronomic cities, not just in Europe, but in the world.
I think people who were returning to Britain after maybe living abroad or people who are just coming here on holidays, they see a massive change in the cuisine that is offered in Britain and the type of food that is being offered at the moment in restaurants and they seem generally really surprised.
I think you can sit there now and go… what do I want to eat and you can pretty much go round the world.
You have smells, and you have taste, and you have colours. I go to a local market, it’s like taking a trip into another (this one is grammatically incorrect on her part) countries.
From Vietnamese, from French, from Italians, from Mongolians, Japanese… we’ve got every cuisine under one capital.
Look out the window in this office and be told there are five little pop-up restaurants across the street.
My cuisine has been enriched by your multicultural society. Does it divide you my frenchness and my type… No! It enriches it.
Sustainability is my religion. Anything that is not sustainable will not be on my menu. That community of chefs is massive in the UK. We all strongly believe into that, and we follow those ethos very strongly.
The British chef knows where his food comes from, and the consumer too.
And I think the food scene is getting better and better, which is we are using more local stuff, we’re really going back to artesan and producers and not rely so much on the supermarkets, markets are coming back. People are going to their local shops.
So, so exciting over here, seasons, game birds, I mean, natures hurling lunch at you, pay attention.
Food before was separated from us, now it’s part of it, it’s part of our consciousness, here as well.
I don’t think anybody can take away that from us. And I feel very good that I stand at that podium as a British person.

Key:

All the five statements are true.

Business is great

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and ambassador for the GREAT Britain campaign, tells us what he thinks is great about doing business in the UK.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video clip and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words. The activity is suitable for intermediate students.



I think it’s important to love what you’re doing, and therefore if you’re (1) ... a music company, it’s important to love music. If you’re (1) ... , you know, an arts company, it’s important to love the arts. There’s no point in just (1) ...  businesses in order to make money or the business saying.
If you go back in history, you know, from Sir Francis Drake (2) ... , you know, we’ve had great explorers, great adventurers, in what British people have been good at is going and (3) ... globally, you know, it’s rare for European countries to have more than one airline. We’ve got, you know, quite a few airlines, whether it’s British Airways or Virgin Atlantic or Easy Jet. Mobile phones, we’ve done brilliantly in them, you know, (4) ... it’s Vodafone or little Virgin Mobile. Most motor sports companies are (5) ... in Britain, you know, they choose to be (5) ... here because we have the best engineers. You know, with the right team of people you can (6) ... pretty well anything and I think Britain has got that to offer.
I think a sense of humour is extremely important not to take yourself too seriously, not try to spend the lifetime trying to get these snipping ties of people and try to get them to relax a bit and let the (7) ... a bit because I think, you know, that’s appreciated.
One of the most important things about doing business in Britain is its (8) ... . It’s a society that people don’t feel very fortunate to have been born in and to live in and it’s got the right (9) ... to build the business in a secure way.
I’m very proud of being British, you know, I think there’s a lot to be proud about.

Richard Branson is also featured in this funny biographical ad on this blog.

Key:
1 setting up 2 onwards 3 trading 4 whether 5 based 6 achieve 7 hair down 8 integrity 9 environment 

Victoria Beckham on British fashion -video

Victoria Beckham gives us her personal view on British fashion and her contribution to it. This video activity is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students.

Self-study activity:
Watch the two-minute video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.



I’ve always wanted to work in fashion, and when I was given the opportunity I took that opportunity with both (1) ... . I wanna empower women, I wanna make women feel good about themselves and for me to be able to achieve the quality that I want to give my (2) ... I have to do that in London. My brand is British, my team are all British. You can feel the energy if you’re driving through London. I mean, I mean when I was younger I used to love going to Camden Market, you know, on a Sunday I mean the energy, the (3) ... , it’s really multi-cultural. That is more inspiring than anything.

You know, in Britain, we don’t feel the need to conform, we dance to the beat of our own drum, we’re individual, we’re passionate, we’re very, very (4) ... .

Anna Wintour is British, she’s the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. She’s probably the most (5) ... person in the fashion industry ever.

The Queen is, I mean she’s an icon. She’s so appropriate, very, very (6) ... , I mean, she’s the Queen.

In Britain we have some incredible brands. If you look at Burberry, Stella McCarthy, Alexander McQueen, Mackintosh, Hunter. We have really (7) ... quality, British brands, and I’m very proud to consider myself one of them.

Music has always (8) ... everything that I do. I love music. David loves music, but he (9) ... dance. I mean, when you look at the talent in Britain over the years, Stone Roses, Oasis, The Beatles, the Spice Girls, you know, Adele, we really have a lot of talent and British music, again, like fashion, is very very cool and very very relevant.

I’m very very proud to be British and I love living in America, I embrace living in America, but I am British, David is British, the (10) ... are British and we are very very proud of that.

Key:
1 hands 2 customer 3 atmosphere 4 creative 5 respected 6 chic 7 cool 8 influenced 9 can’t 10 kids 

Staycation

Stephen Fry, Julie Walters, Harry Potter star Rupert Grint and Downton Abbey actress Michelle Dockery are starring a campaign to encourage Britons to holiday at home in 2012.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.



Where are the past poets, it’s just not worth it … an opinion. You are supposed to be on holiday. Why on earth would anyone want to go (1) ... in 2012. I mean, there are so many events all around the country, like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Green and pleasant land summed it up pretty well, I think.

Hiya!

Because Wordsworth didn’t wander into the nearest tavern. No, he wondered (2) ... as a cloud, right here in The Lakes. Excuse me! No, no, no, this is the Tate Liverpool. There is no Tate Algove, I’m afraid.

And what about Anglesea, well, if it’s good enough for winning Kate.

You know, people have been coming to visit the Giants’ Causeway for centuries, hardly surprising, really, as you won´t find (3) ... like these on the beach in the Med.

Why bother crossing the Channel when you can come here?

Local. Reminds me of somewhere. Why go all the way to Bondi when you could come here to Bridlington?

And you won’t get to see the Olympic (4) ... relay in Corfu or Creet.

No (5) ... , no jobs, no (6) ... , no euros – no wonder holidays at home are so great.

And there’s (7)...% off from thousands of other great value offers if you book by (8) ...    .

You may watch many more videos promoting Britain starred by celebrities and well-known UK personalities on the Visit Britain website.

H/T to Jeffrey Hill.

Key:

1 abroad 2 lonely 3 rocks 4 torch 5 passports 6 visas 7 20.12 8 September 9^th

Visit Britain

I have been meaning to post one of the Visit Britain videos for some time and here it is in the end. Visit Britain is an excellent site for anyone planning to visit the UK, as you will find information about the main cities, itineraries, attractions, events, hotels and accommodation.

For the language learner, Visit Britain provides a great wealth of resources, featuring lots of videos where outstanding British celebrities show us different places of the country.

Self-study activity:
Watch Jamie Oliver inviting us to come and visit Great Britain and fill the blanks in the transcript.



Britain is a country with so many different (1) ... . It’s got amazing cities. They are (2) ... , they are bustling. The countryside is really, really special. Lush, green. If you can get on the (3) ... as well it’s amazing.

The food can be absolutely (4) ...  . Great British food is some of the very best in the world. But you’ve got to (5) ... it.

Great Britain is steeped in loads of (6) ... . But the best thing of Britain is we are a magpie (7) ..., we take the world’s best bits. We embrace different bits and it’s so multicultural out there, whether it’s the food, the music, the (8) ..., the art, it’s all going on.

And if you can get off the beaten (9) ..., you will see, find and eat and have some incredible time.

You’re invited.

Key:
1 sights 2 busy 3 seaside 4 incredible 5 find 6 tradition 7 culture 8 fashion 9 track