Talking point: Culture

This week's talking point is culture. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

If you were visiting a foreign country and wanted to learn more about its culture, which of the following would interest you most? Why?

a performance of traditional music and dances

a theatrical performance

visiting a museum

visiting historical and archaeological sites

eating local dishes

attending a local ceremony, like a wedding

graffiti on the walls of buildings

The ancient Greek dramatist Menander (342BC-292BC) said that 'Culture makes all men gentle'. What do you think he meant?

Imagine that your school is organising an exhibition entitled 'Aspects of our culture'. Talk together about the various aspects of culture represented in the pictures. Then suggest two other aspects of culture that you would like to see represented in the exhibition.

Which two activities in the pictures above do you find the most appealing? Why?
In what ways are cultural activities important for society?
What are some of the customs and traditions in your country which are more representative of its culture?

Listening test: Mohter's Day

Listen to a report on Mohter's Day. Match each extract with the corresponding heading A-I. There are two headings you do not need to use.

source: 5perc Angol

A - A capitalist celebration
B - A day to celebrate some other existing traditions
C - A day to honour all mothers
D - Attempts to create a day for all mothers
E - Changing date
F - It took many years to become popular
G - Men against Mother’s Day
H - Origins
I - Prohibition of the celebration

Extract 1
Mother’s Day has been celebrated around the world since ancient times, sometimes as part of a religious event, more and more as a commercial holiday, but always to honour motherhood and mothers, their roles in our families and society.
Extract 2
However, the celebration of this holiday falls on various dates in many parts of the world. In most cultures it is held sometime in spring, mostly on the second Sunday in the month of May. In Hungary Mother’s Day falls on the first Sunday of May. It has been a holiday since 1925 when it was first celebrated by the Hungarian Red Cross Youth in connection with the Catholic traditions honoring the Virgin Mary. Three years later it was made an official school holiday.
Extract 3
Some say the tradition of Mother’s Day can be traced back to Ancient Greece, the spring festivals dedicated to Cybele, mother goddess of fertility and Rhea, mother of gods, and later to the Romans’ Hilaria festival. The Hindu religion also preceded the Western-type holiday by a couple of centuries with its “Mother Pilgrimage fortnight” celebration. It has also been present as the religious Mothering Sunday celebration in the United Kingdom since the 17th century. However, its modern-day, capitalist version originated from America.
Extract 4
There could be some debate about who actually started the Mother’s Day tradition in the US. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe created a special day for mothers through a protest for peace in Boston, remembering all mothers who were left without sons and husbands following the Franco-Prussian War. However, Anna M. Jarvis’ attempts to establish a nationally and internationally acknowledged public Mother’s Day holiday were far more effective. She chose the second Sunday of May for the day to commemorate her own and all the other mothers of the world. She dedicated seven years of energy and time campaigning to reach her goal.
Extract 5
In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized Mother’s Day as a holiday. To Jarvis’s great sorrow and disappointment, it soon became commercialized by florists, greeting card companies, candy and gift shop merchants. It is through their propaganda that Mother’s Day soon appeared on the European continent as well and spread throughout the world in its modern form. Anna Jarvis, however, spent the rest of her life fighting against the holiday she had established.
Extract 6
The reason why the ‘original’ date of Mother’s Day was changed in some countries and cultures was because people wanted to fit it into already existing religious, historical, legendary or even political celebrations dedicated to motherhood. For example, Mother’s Day in Bolivia is also the date of a battle in which women participated and in some ex-communist countries people honor mothers on the socialist International Women’s Day.
Extract 7
Father’s Day, which is celebrated around the world on the third Sunday of June and on other dates, also originates from America. It was founded not long after Jarvis’s Mother’s Day in 1910 in Washington by Sonora Smart Dodd who felt her father, a Civil War veteran raising six children as a single parent, deserved to be honored as any mother, together with other fathers of the world. Although at first it did not become as successful as its counterpart, soon it was also discovered by manufacturers of ties, tobacco, pipes and other typically father-presents who helped Sonora spread the holiday with commercial promotion. Eventually, decades after its creation, it only became truly accepted and popular in the mid 1980’s.

KEY: 
1C 2E 3H 4D 5A 6B 7F

Reading test: Lent 2017

In this week's reading test we are going to practise the insert-the-sentence type of task. To do so, we are going to use The Telegraph article Lent 2017 starts today, here's everything you need to know about Ash Wednesday.

Read this text and choose the best sentence (A - K) for each gap. TWO of the sentences do not correspond to any of the blanks. 0 is an example.

A - angered some traditionalists
B - as a reflection of Jesus's sacrifice in the Judean desert
C - fall on the same date each year
D - for prayer and penance
E - it can fall on any Sunday
F - it is determined by when Easter falls
G - to give up a particular vice
H - to use up rich, indulgent foods like eggs and milk
I - which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar
J - which marks the start of Lent in the Christian calendar – 0 Example
K - which means 'spring'

When is Ash Wednesday 2017?
Ash Wednesday, (0) … , has been observed by Britons for centuries. Its exact date changes every year, because (1) … . But it is always the day after Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, and it always falls in February or March. This year, it is on Wednesday, March 1.
In January last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, suggested that Easter should (2) … . The plan, which would schedule the Christian festival on the same Sunday each year, was welcomed by parents and schools but (3) … .
At present, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox around March 21. This means (4) … between March 22 and April 25. Archbishop Welby said that Easter should most likely be fixed for the second or third Sunday of April.


What is Lent?
Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) (5) … .
Christians who observe Lent use it as a time (6) … . By observing Lent, Christians are remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who withdrew into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days before his crucifixion.
Traditionally, pancakes are eaten on the day before Ash Wednesday (7) … before the 40-day fasting season of Lent begins.
This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 16. The English word Lent is a shortened form of the Old English word 'lenten', (8) … .

 Photo: Wikipedia

KEY: 
1F 2C 3A 4E 5I 6D 7H 8K

Meeting the child brides of Ethiopia

A major report by Save the Children has found that one girl under the age of 15 is married every seven seconds. The study says girls as young as 10 are forced to marry much older men in countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, India and Ethiopia. Model Poppy Delevingne has been to Ethiopia to talk to some young girls about their experiences.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. Why is the reporter in Ethiopia?
2. How old was Selam when she was propositioned to get married?
3. What position is she at her school now?
4. How old was she when she married?
5. When did she get pregnant for the first time?
6. Why didn't Selam go to school after she got married?

We are here in beautiful Ethiopia, somewhere that I’ve always wanted to travel to since I was a little girl. And here we’re going to be investigating child marriage and female genital mutilation and the issues that concern us around these topics.
So, we've just arrived in …, which is a small village in Lalibela. This is where they run the Save the Children programme Keep It Real, and I'm going to be speaking to some young girls about child marriage.
Pleased to meet you, how are you?
Hi.
OK, so right now I am with the beautiful Selam. We are at her school, and she's just been telling me all about her stories about child marriage. She was 11 years old when she was propositioned to be married. And with the help of Save the Children's Keep it Real programme, she learned about all the problems within child marriage, and with the help of her brother and sister, they managed to persuade her parents that child marriage was not a good thing.
She is now at school, and is number one, number one in her class and she even told me that I should ask the teacher if that was true, and it was true.
Selam, I hear that you were married as a child. Would it be OK for me to come to your home and hear all about it?
So, I spent my afternoon with the lovely Selam, who was a victim of child marriage. When she was just 13 years old, she was married. By the time she was 14, she was pregnant with her first child, but when she was nine months pregnant, she left her husband as he was physically abusive, and moved back in with her family. But not only that, when she was engaged to him, he promised her that she would still have an opportunity to have an education, something he totally went back on, and instead, she did house chores and had to work unbearable hours, something a 13-year-old really shouldn't have to do. I have a 13-year-old cousin, and the idea of her getting married and then even next year having a baby, to me, is just... totally incomprehensible, and something that I can't believe
is happening in this world today still. Lovely Selam has got a bright future ahead of her, and it was truly an honour that she shared her story with me.

Key:
1 to investigate child marriage and female genital mutilation
2 eleven years old 
3 number one
4 thirteen
5 at fourteen
6 she had to do house chores and worked very long hours

The Art of Shoji

At Miya Shoji, a father-son team takes a different approach to business and to life, keeping craft as the guiding principle.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. What analogy does Hisao Hanafusa, the father, use to describe a business?
2. What did Hisao Hanafusa make for his mother and father as a child?
3. How did Zui Hanafusa, the son, apply for the job in his own father's shop?
4. How big was the workshop back in the 70's?
5. What is Hisao Hanafusa's approach to his work?
6. What do they not think about when they talk about their business?


Our business philosophy is something like every day we go to work, we try to make something beautiful, so it’s more of an artist’s way of thinking through business.
Many people ask about how we run the business or how business is successful or how does it actually revolve within the shop itself. My father always said it was like a bicycle business. You pedal, bicycle can move. No profit. But sometime, down he'll come. You don't have to pedal.  Still go. Then hit the bottom. Then you have to get off.  You have to push the bicycle with it. So it's going this.
Woodworking.  I'm always interesting philistine.  I was maybe nine years old. My mother said, I wish I had a window here. So I was nine years old. Cut the wall.  Made the window for her. Then my father say, I wish I had a fireplace. So I made a fireplace. I liked it something to make.
When I was in the corporate world, I was there constantly. One day I was walking down the street, heading towards the shop. And everything looked very not kept well. And my father was actually working on some designs. But you could see him from outside. I thought, one day, I should hang out next to him. Not just learn in depth about the business itself, but learn more about our family itself. That's where the whole thing kind of took off. Like, maybe I should just be here full-time. I applied for the job with a resume. And my father actually thought it was a joke, since most of the times I'm kind of taking everything for fun. I started the next week.
Growing up back in the 70s wasn't exactly like the situation we have now. Workshop was maybe 3/4 of the space. And the showroom was only 1/4. But every day after school, come back to help out, clean up, watch several carpenters working.
Why I create? Fun. Fun.  Should be fun, not serious. I check all my family.  They don't have a business mind, traffic mind. Nothing. Just art kind of stuff.
When people talk about certain things like, what's your business model? Do you have any annual reports?
You know, it's not about money that we're thinking. Actually, the first thing we're thinking is about the business itself, which would be the design.
With nature it’s easy. We don't have to work anything. We don't have to design anything. Just find a nice old wood. Slice it. Beautiful, you use it. If not beautiful, you don't use it. Very simple. We never learn business. More like a craftsman. 

Key:
1 He compares a business to a bicycle.
2 A window for his mother and a fireplace for his father 
3 He sent a resume.
4 Three quarters of the space
5 He wants to have fun and doesn't have the business in mind
6 Money

Tokyo’s station master

Although the Tokyo Olympics are almost four years off, the stationmaster at the city's landmark train station already seems to be running his own kind of marathon every day.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.



1 How many trains run through Tokyo station every weekday?
2 What Japanese saying does Takashi Etoh say?
3 What do his employees call him?
4 Why does he bow when he enters or exits the station?
5 Why does he sing Happy Birthday to his employees?
6 What happened to the station in 1980?
7 Which two worlds can be seen on both sides of the station?
8 Why does the station master show people the rubbish he picks up?

It’s home to Japan’s super-sleek shinkansen, or bullet train, and is a stop for nearly two million passengers riding 3,700 trains every weekday. This is Tokyo Station. And at the center of this universe, clad in white, is the station master. Like his trains, Takashi Etoh keeps a tight schedule.
We raced around trying to keep up with him. It’s vital for me to check on things with my own eyes, he said.
Let’s make it nice and tidy, he instructed a cleaner. On the platform he told another worker, Don’t catch cold!
You seem to really love your job.
I do! Etoh agreed. Adding, well, after my wife! But I’ve been with trains longer.
Does your wife ever get jealous?
No, he said. We have a saying in Japan: It’s good to have a husband who’s healthy and absent!
This station, really, is his second family. His employees call him Oyakata, Japanese for parent.
At the start of his day we found Etoh doing calligraphy, painting the character ‘en’, which means connection, his favorite word.
From cradle to grave, we encounter millions of people, he said. The few we share our workplace with are precious. And get this, he bows whenever he enters or exits the station.
It mentally prepares you for customers, Etoh told us, and shows them appreciation.
We watched as he saluted trains, stopped for a quick picture, and monitored the cleaners who turn around these trains in seven-minutes flat. And no, this video is not sped up.
He has almost 500 employees; he says he considers them his kids, and one of the most important parts of each day is about to happen: He serenades each and every employee on their birthday.
It creates a connection, he said. Everyone’s birthday is that person’s most special day.
The station itself, built in 1914, recently celebrated its 100th birthday. It’s lucky to be standing.
In the 1980s it came within a hair’s breath of being demolished.
Azby Brown, an architecture professor and New Orleans native has lived in Tokyo for 30 years.
You would not think this is the same station; it’s sort of schizophrenic.
Brown showed us how one side of the newly-renovated station is modern. The other is more traditional and faces Japan’s Imperial Palace.
It was really a symbol of the Japanese empire. It has this grandiose, classical, kind of dignified appearance. The other side was really like the backside of the city. It was always a little dustier and just more business-like.
You have the super-modern on one side meeting the almost old-fashioned on the other.
Definitely old-fashioned. And yet when this building was built, this was the peak of modernism.
Today, it boasts a labyrinth of shops, its own hotel and bar, even a signature Tokyo Station cocktail.  And it’s remarkably clean, save for some wrappers Etoh snatched up, and a little dust he noticed behind a computer.
We watched you go around and pick up the trash, at one point you went down, you picked up a piece of trash and you showed it to people nearby. Why?
I’m trying to set an example, he told us. Tokyo is the gateway to Japan. For the Olympics, we’ll have visitors from 200 countries. We can’t speak the same language, but we can show a spanking-clean station.
Sipping one of those Tokyo Station cocktails, we toasted to the whole idea of this place [And to connections] making a connection.

Key:
1 3,700
2 It’s good to have a husband who’s healthy and absent.
3 Parent
4 It prepares him for customers and shows them appreciation.
5 To create a connection because everyone’s birthday is that person’s most special day.
6 It was almost demolished.
7 Traditional, old-fashioned Japan vs modern Japan
8 To set an example.

Listening test: The Christmas story

Listen to Melanie talk about what Christmas means for her. Complete the blanks in the sentences with up to THREE WORDS. 0 is an example.

source: English Teacher Melanie

0 Example:
For Melanie the Christmas season begins with the Santa Claus parade at the end of November.

1 It’s a popular tradition to watch your __________________ every year.

2 Melanie’s neighbour has a giant inflatable reindeer outside his house, which __________________ .

3 At Christmas, you’re supposed to spend lots of money to buy __________________ .

4 Melanie finds the Christmas build-up __________________ for just one day.

5 Melanie does her shopping two days before Christmas with all the other __________________ .

6 But she enjoys __________________ and seeing how people are when they open their presents.

7 For her, the fun part of Christmas now is watching her __________________ open their presents.

photo: English Teacher Melanie

For me, the Christmas season begins with my town’s Santa Claus parade at the end of November. It’s a fun community event. I also enjoy watching Christmas movies on TV. It’s a popular tradition to watch your favorite Christmas movies every year. My neighbourhood always looks festive at Christmas because so many families decorate their houses. My next-door neighbour has a giant inflatable reindeer outside his house and it makes me smile! And, of course, I enjoy spending time with my family at Christmas, because that’s what’s important.
Christmas can be a lot of pressure, and there are some things I don’t like. You’re supposed to be happy all the time because “it’s the most wonderful time of the year!” You have to spend a lot of money to buy the perfect presents for everyone. And you have to be busy, because the busier you are, the more fun you’re having and the happier you are! It’s stressful and it’s a lot of build-up for just one day.
I don’t enjoy Christmas shopping. Every year I say that I will get my shopping done early, and every year I’m at the mall a couple days before Christmas with all the other last-minute shoppers! My family is difficult to buy for. I usually end up wandering around the mall waiting for gift ideas to jump out at me. I do, however, enjoy wrapping presents, and I enjoy seeing how happy people are when they open their gifts.
When I was a kid, my brother and I would wait on the stairs until our parents woke up and then we would run downstairs and open all the presents. I don’t remember what we did for the rest of the day! We may have spent time with relatives, but when you’re a kid, Christmas is all about toys. Now Christmas is all about family and the fun part is watching my niece and nephew open their presents. I spend Christmas day with my family, which includes my mom’s sister and her family, and my mom cooks a big dinner for everyone. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful day with your family, too!

Key:
1 favorite Christmas movies
2 makes her smile
3 the perfect presents
4 stressful
5 last-minute shoppes
6 wrapping presents
7 niece and nephew

Shift in South Korean tradition sees men enter the kitchen

The biggest TV shows in South Korea are about cooking and the stars are men - a sight which would traditionally have been taboo. However, more men in the kitchen does not mean more women in top jobs in business.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. Who dominates TV ratings?
2. How old is Park Kyoun Hee?
3. Why did Park learn to cook?
4. Why did Park's daughter get surprised?
5. What is changing in South Korea as the country modernises?
6. What happens when women reach 30?

Turn on the TV in South Korea and all you see these days is men in the kitchen. Zap through the channels and male celebrity chefs dominate the ratings. Sam Kim is a star in the studio, and in his own restaurant.
You want to spend your time with your family and he goes to a public place. Everyone wants to come to see me and wants to take a picture together. Even if you do house chores, you go outside to empty the trash, everyone wants me.
The rise of male cooking shows how this very traditional country is changing fast. This is a cooking competition for men. Park Kyoun Hee is 65. He had a spell working abroad while his family stayed home in Korea, so he did what his father never did, he learned to cook.
In the past in Korea, men or boys cannot approach the kitchen, and they do not know how to cook. Men cannot live without a wife.
So it was a big surprise when I heard he started cooking classes in here. So it was a very big surprise and I was very delighted to hear that.
Is he a good cook?
Yes, I was really surprised. He is a really good cook.
Men in aprons is one sign of changing gender roles. As South Korea modernises, traditional ideas of what men should do and what women should do are changing gradually.
Men, what a performance, always cooking the big meal for the special occasion. I wonder if these guys ever do the cooking at home.
While the men completed the cooking, the women stayed next door looking after the children. Young women now get jobs and work just as much as men, but the figures show that when they reach 30, they leave work to have children. More men in the kitchen doesn’t yet mean more women in top jobs in business.
Stephen Evans, BBC News, South Korea.

Key:
1 male celebrity chefs
2. sixty-five years old 
3. because he worked abroad
4. because he had started taking cooking classes
5. the traditional ideas of what men and women should do
6. they leave work to have children

Listening test: Fairy tales

Listen to part of a BBC radio programmen on fairy tales and complete the blanks in the sentences below with up to THREE words. 0 is an example.

0 Example:
Dr Jamie Tehrani is an anthropologist at Durham University.

1 The fairy tales Dr Jamie Tehrani has studied are between _______________ thousand years old.

2 Stories like Beauty and the Beast go back to the _______________ Age.

3 Fairy tales weren’t written down until the _______________ centuries.

4 Phylogenetic comparative methods enable anthropologists to reconstruct the past in the absence of _______________.

5 We don’t have physical written records of the earliest fairy tales because we’re talking about a time before the _______________.

6 _______________ have been passed down from generations.

7 Anthropologists compare folk tales from different cultures and make inferences about the stories that would have been told by _______________.




We know fairytales are very old, but it seems some are even older than we thought, much older. Dr Jamie Tehrani is an anthropologist at Durham University and he’s written this latest study on fairytales. So how old, Dr Tehrani?
Well good morning, thanks for having me on the show. I would like to just start by saying that I was a co-author on the study with a wonderful researcher in Portugal called Sara Graca Da Silva who did a fantastic job on this project, she actually got the funding for it. So, these fairytales that we’ve looked at we’ve been able to trace back really thousands of years, probably sort of four to six thousand years is the origin of many famous European folk tales, stories such as Beauty and the Beast.
What six thousand years?
Yes, going right back to the Bronze Age. We’ve been able to trace the transmission across generations of these stories, much further back than is generally recognised.
So obviously transmitted orally?
Yes, for the large part, yes. So, it’s only fairly recently that these stories have been written down.
And by recently you mean?
Well, it’s early modern times, 16th/17th centuries when you see the emergence of the literary fairytale. And there’s been some debate among scholars about whether perhaps these stories actually originated at that time, maybe they were literary inventions that then spread to these rural areas which folklorists have studied and that these oral folk tales are actually corruptions of literary stories.
Right, because I have to ask you, if they weren’t written down six thousand years ago obviously, how do you know?
Well, we used a set of methods, a toolkit that we actually borrowed from evolutionary biology called phylogenetic comparative methods and these methods enable you to reconstruct the past in the absence of actual direct physical evidence. So, if you think in biology you’ve got this very patchy fossil record, the same is true of culture. Archaeology is a very incomplete record of our cultural past but…
But at least you’ve got something physical there?
Yes, that’s right, and of course you do have something physical in the written record that we can look at some stories going back, you know, a certain period of time.
Yes, but not six thousand years?
Not six thousand years because we’re talking about a time before the origins of writing.
Exactly.
So the way in which we’ve done that is we’ve excavated information about the past, about our storytelling history using information that’s been preserved through the mechanism of inheritance, so these storytelling traditions have been passed down from generations, so in that sense they embody their own history, and by comparing the folk tales that we find in different cultures and knowing something about the historical relationships among those cultures, we can make inferences about the stories that would have been told by their common ancestors, and that’s the approach that we’ve used.
Well, it’s lovely to think that Beauty and the Beast might have been being told to children six thousand years ago, what a wonderful thought. Dr Jamie Tehrani, thanks a lot.
Thank you.

Key:
1 four to six
2 Bronze 
3 sixteen or seventeen
4 direct physical evidence
5 origins of writing
6 storytelling traditions
7 (their) common ancestors

Listening test: The Ganges

Listen to a report on the Ganges and choose the option A, B or C which completes each sentence. 0 is an example.


0 Example:
The Ganges flows through
A two countries.
B three countries.
C four countries.

1 The Ganges
A covers one of the largest areas in the world.
B is the longest river in Asia.
C is the longest river in the world.

2 In the river … can be found.
A 114 species of fish
B 19 species of amphibians
C dangerous species of fish

3 In Varanasi
A gold steps lead down to the river.
B people wash naked in the river.
C pilgrims think the water will purify their souls.

4 In Varanasi
A families cremate their loves ones in the river.
B funerals take place on boats.
C tourists are allowed to see the ancient traditions.

5 It is not unusual to see
A dead bodies in the water.
B dogs attacking people.
C pilgrims drowning.

6 The report says that
A religion is one of the reasons for the river being polluted.
B the Ganges is the most polluted river in the world.
C there have never been attempts to clean the river.

7 According to the report,
A 400 million people wash themselves in the river every year.
B the region around the river is prosperous.
C you can see lots of big cats around the Ganges area.

Hello, this is Robert Shepherd and today we visit arguably the holiest and most spiritual river in the world – the Ganges.
This great river flows from the Himalayas through to the Bay of Bengal in northern India and Bangladesh. Although only the 15th longest river in Asia, its basin is one of the largest in the world and also covers China and Nepal. The river is known as Ganga (gang-ga) in India, named after the goddess of the same name in ancient texts and art.
The Ganges is one of the most fertile of all agricultural regions in the world. Its rice and other crops feed hundreds of millions of people in India and in Bangladesh, where the river is known as the Padma.
The river's 2,520 kilometres is home to 140 different species of fish and 90 different species of amphibians, many of which are near extinction. It is also home to the endangered fresh water dolphins and Ganges sharks.
A visit to the Ganges must include Varanasi, or Banaraz, which is known as India's spiritual capital and the most visited pilgrim destination in all of India. The ghats, the stone steps that lead down to the Ganges river, are the centre of activities in Varanasi. Each day, throngs of local Hindu devotees and pilgrims from afar descend to the ghats to wash themselves, as well as their clothes, in the sacred river. They believe that the purifying water of the river will absolve them of their sins.
An early morning boat ride in Varanasi has become a ritual for travellers and is the best way to witness the spectacle of the age old rituals in the river and on the ghats. Numerous funerals take place on a daily basis and you can witness first-hand families cremating their loved ones before scattering the ashes in the river. The night ceremony also attracts pilgrims, locals and tourists.
As moving as these spectacles are, prepare yourself for some unpleasant surprises. The Ganges is prone to regular flooding and so you might be unfortunate enough to witness dogs feeding off human remains and other carcasses. It will either be the body of a priest, whose body must enter the water intact, or a pauper whose family could not afford to give them a funeral.
All of this contributes to the Ganges being among the world's most polluted rivers, struggling under the pressures of modern India. Environmental initiatives to clean up the river have failed time after time. One of the reasons is corruption – charlatan do-gooders who raise funds from the locals to clean up the river are never seen again. Other obstacles include a dearth of expertise and lack of help from religious leaders who want to maintain thousands of years of tradition.
Once a rich wilderness full of tigers, lions and other big cats, the plains have evolved into the most densely populated place on Earth. The Ganges river basin has the highest population of any river basin in the world and contains over 400 million people. Nourished by the great river's gift of life, it's easy to see how, despite the pollution and economic problems, this entire region has continued to thrive for millennia.
Stay tuned to EnglishWaves and join us again next time when we visit one of Europe's great rivers, the Danube.

KEY: 
1A 2C 3C 4C 5A 6A 7B

The Next Generation of Yuengling Beer

D. G. Yuengling & Son has been a family-run brewery for five generations, Now its chief, Dick Yuengling, is struggling to pass the baton to his four daughters.

Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Dick Yuengling bought the business in 1958.
2. Dick Yuengling is about to turn 71.
3. Dick Yuengling is not an easy person to get on with.
4. Dick Yuengling wants his daughters to show initiative.
5. Dick Yuengling is known for working very long days.
6. Dick Yuengling sometimes doesn't have enough time to devote to his family.
7. It's Dick Yuengling's daugher's birthday the following day.




I started to work here in 1958 with my grandfather. I bought the brewery in 1985 and we weren’t doing nearly the business we are doing today. We’re trying to compete with Budweiser, Miller and Coors at a pricing level where we really shouldn’t be able to accomplish, but if we can do it efficiently we can play with these guys. I’m 71. I don’t know how many years do I have left. I drop dead, and what’s going to happen? Very few family businesses they can say that they have the next generation stepping forward. It’s good to have the whole flock here.
I think our employees really appreciate that we are such a long-term family business. They’ve got a good support system to rely on for the next generation. In terms of succession and planning, it’s surprising in many respects that we’ve gotten as far as we have.
You can’t send Billy up here for a loan! They don't have it on the floor yet.
It’s been his company for so long and his way of doing things. It’s his way.
Yeah, alright, okay. Good-bye.
Takes time for him to have a comfort level with anybody, even if it’s his daughters. He holds things very close to the vest. You’re really guessing what’s on his mind and what he wants to do.
You are what you are, how you’ve been taught and grown up. Chipping away at the wall to get information out of me is probably a very good assessment, that’s okay, but they have to do it. I can’t read their minds. I want them to learn and if you don’t ask questions, you try to do new things, you don’t learn anything. I don’t want them just being followers. They have to learn to lead.
Yes, we make mistakes, we’re supposed to make mistakes, but he’s seen our commitment, he’s seen that we’re willing to work at it.
We need to regroup on what style seasonal we're going to produce next.
You want to stay away from that IPA thing. Every craft beer is full of hops.
But I think that’s in some ways what the consumer wants and I don't think, I mean, our Octoberfest is not like now like that, Summer Wheat is not necessary like that. So if you want it to try and appeal to that consumer, maybe an IPL is a good option.
Just so it's a good, palatable brand, it’s not overwhelming with hops and that’s what I’m talking about.
So we don't have an answer, but we have a direction. It helps.
Okay, can I go now?
Yes, you’re excused. Oh! What’s are the chances that he’ll be back by 10?
You pick and choose your battles. There’s things I would do differently, you know, I do fight for it now and you can potentially alienate him and I don’t want to create that. That’s not my nature.
I think for a while there we were just sort of here. And we were employees, and it was still my dad running the show and I think people have started to recognise that we are stepping up and we’re doing more. It’s our future.
The commitment that you have to make, if that bothers you, then you shouldn’t be here. I love it. I thrived on it. The busier I am the more I like it. I’m slowly gonna put my 10, 11, 12 hours in, but they're just ripping fun to me. I don’t think I’m in too bad a shape for my age and I’m trying to keep myself together. I wanna live to be a 100.
He’ll never make the decision to step away from the business. When he’s no longer here it’s gonna be because he’s gone.
I devoted my life to this basically. My kids, they all played some kind of sports and I’d get to their home games when I could. Kids want to see their parents at the game, but I don’t get there all the time.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for where the company is. I understand his choices and I can see now why he did those things. I’m okay with it all, but it’s not the way that I would choose to do things. I work a lot but I don’t know if I’ll ever work as much as my Dad.
You didn't get things done here. What’s going on?
You know, this is his life and that’s not how I approach it.
I’m leaving. I’ll see you on Monday.
What’s the matter with tomorrow?
I won’t be here.
Why?
It’s my birthday. Did you know that?
Oh, happy birthday…
Did you know that?
She’s 39 tomorrow.
Certainly you’re committed to your children but you’re also committed to your business, if you’re gonna be successful.
Alright. See you later.
Alright. I love you.
Love you. Good-bye.
Whether I sacrifice something with my children, I don’t know, but some day they’ll come to realise here’s what we got because of that, and I’ll be judged accordingly. And maybe they won’t do as much as I did but they’ll do it better.
How you feeling, Coop, all right?
Yeah.

KEY:
1F 2F 3T 4T 5T 6T 7T

Reading test: 8 Tips to enjoy and survive La Tomatina

In this week's reading test we are going to practise the heading matching kind of task. Here are some tips to 'enjoy and survive' La Tomatina, taken from Hostel World.

Match one of the headings A-J with the corresponding tip. There are two headings you do not need to use.

8 Tips to enjoy and survive La Tomatina

A - Better in groups
B - Capture it… sensibly
C - Doesn’t go on for ever
D - Don’t bring your Sunday best
E - Don’t forget your goggles
F - Find out about the origins
G - Hardware is best
H - If something goes wrong
I - Not everything goes
J - The early bird catches the worm

Are you an adrenaline junky? We might have just the festival for you! Here’s a hint: August, Buñol and thousands of tomatoes. Of course it’s one of the craziest and juiciest festivals (truth be told) in the world: La Tomatina in Buñol. This year's festival takes place on August 26 and for us it’s unmissable! Here are our top 8 tips to help you make the most of the world famous tomato battle.

Tip 1
If you’re a first timer, then you need to know what the festival is all about! The event is held every year as part of the festivities of Buñol (Valencia) and it dates back to around the year 1945, when some local youths went down to the town square to see the parade Giants and Big-Heads figures. Apparently, one of them inadvertently stumbled and dropped a participant, thus giving rise to a fight between neighbours, who started throwing tomatoes at each other. The following year the group of kids staged a fight back and the rest is history. Today the Tomatina attracts young people from around the world, who gather in the streets of Buñol and hurl the fruit at each other.

Tip 2 
Remember that in August the province of Valencia is not exactly chilly, so we recommend that you take shorts to beat the heat. Of course, choose old clothes that you will not use afterwards! The tomato washes off easily from skin, but clothes are a little more stubborn...

Tip 3
If possible make sure that your shoes are old. Although at first glance it may seem that the sandals are more comfortable and cool, just think of the amount of stomping you will be exposed to throughout the day!

Tip 4  
Considering ripe tomato is the star of the party, who wouldn’t want to protect their eyes? The perfect solution is a snorkel mask. Yes Yes; you read that right. Get ready to show off your authentic look of La Tomatina 2015 (don’t worry, you won’t be the only one).

Tip 5  
It is very important that you make sure the tomatoes you throw at other participants are ripe. While the city council usually distributes ripe tomatoes, it never hurts to check them to avoid harming anyone. Safety first!

Tip 6 
La Tomatina festival is very popular so it is advisable to book your accommodation early. Since Buñol is a fairly small town, it is common for travellers to stay in Valencia, just a half hour from the site of the battle. The good news is that Valencia is full of hostels in which you can continue the party after the event! Some hostels offer special packages that include accommodation, transport, clothing and tickets for the festival After Party.

Tip 7  
A waterproof camera is a necessity if you want to treasure memories of the event in years to come. Alternatively, the disposable camera could work but leave your nice expensive cameras at home to avoid any tears.

Tip 8  
Of course we all wish it could go on all night but, but sadly all good things come to an end. So you'll have to watch out the announcement of the final release of tomatoes. In any case, by then you’ll have probably launched and received your fair share of fruit.


 

Key:
1F 2D 3G 4E 5I 6J 7B 8C

A Chinese woman has saved over 3,000 dogs from being killed for food

Renowned Chinese dog rights activist Yang Xiaoyun has saved thousands of dogs from the slaughterhouse, and continues to raise them.

Self-study activity:
Watch the clip and anwer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.



1 What did Yang Xiaoyun use to make for a living?
2 What does 'twenty' refer to?
3 Why are so many pets sold and killed?
4 How does Yang Xiaoyun get the funds to help the animals?
5 Why do many Chinese people support the idea of killing animals?
6 Why do animal rights groups oppose Yang's project?

Pensioner Yang Xiaoyun has gone from (1) school teacher to one of China's most well-known and controversial animal rights activists, lauded and vilified for her direct approach to rescuing pooches in distress.
(2) Over the past twenty years Yang has saved thousands of dogs from the slaughterhouse and the streets, and continues to raise many of them in her home.
The former teacher is just one of many members of China's growing middle class now beginning to fight what they see as a barbaric abuse of man's best friend, in a country where pets can be rounded up and (3) sold for meat and an animal protection law has yet to be introduced.
For 20 years she has woken up at the crack of dawn to take care of hundreds of stray cats and dogs. (4) She has sold her home and remortgaged her son's home. She is in 800,000 yuan worth of debt buying the 200kg of food needed every day to feed the animals. Now that she has sold her home, Yang lives in a shack next to one of her dog compounds.
She had originally hoped to set up a home for the rescued dogs but was given a frosty reception by (5) locals, most of whom fiercely support what they see as a cultural tradition no different to consuming turkeys at Thanksgiving.
Some within animal rights circles also worry that by buying up dogs en masse (6) Yang is simply encouraging more people - be it lazy owners or dog snatchers - to sell their animals to activists.
The day Yang visited Yulin's dog market, many there said they had come with the explicit hope of selling their dogs to Yang and her helpers. Although countless dog lovers and volunteers are constantly at Yang's side to help her and her dogs, Yang has on occasion found herself at odds with some other animal rights groups.
Yang said that such clashes between volunteers and activists have become more common in recent years in China but she will continue her fight to save the helpless animals from ending up on someone's plate.

Talking point: Living traditions

This week's talking point is living traditions. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• Describe traditional dress from your country or region.
• Are there different costumes for different occasions?
• What festivals, events, traditions are there in your country or region?
• Do you think they are relevant to the modern world? Why (not)?
• Should we work hard to maintain our traditions or should we allow them to change or disappear over time? Give reasons.
• Are/Were there any traditions or rituals at your school or college?
• Why do you think some organisations have initiation rituals?
• What personal rituals do you follow in your daily life (while doing sports, before exams, when cooking or having meals, when shopping)?
• What traditions does your family have?

To illustrate the point you can watch this video about the celebration of 'Batalla del Vino' or Battle of Wine in the Rioja region in Spain.




Haro is the capital of northern Spain’s famous La Rioja wine region and boasts a viticultural tradition that dates all the way back to the Roman era. Spain has more land planted in grades than any other country and Haro is home to some of its busiest wineries.
Every June Haro's hard-working grape-growers let down their hair for a day and go berserk at a traditional festival in the foothills of nearby Mount Bilivio. The ‘batalla del vino’ or battle of wine is a raucous celebration where the dress code is white and the weapon of choice is ‘vino’. The locals load up their weapons with wine and attack with abandonment.
There’s a march of clean pristine white people going up the hill and an exodus of destroyed but joyous purple people wandering down. Outsiders and foreigners are favorite targets but everyone gets drenched in these hedonistic free for all.
The ‘batalla del vino’ is based loosely on a 10th century land dispute between Haro and a neighboring village but it's also the celebration of the catholic festivals of Saint John, St Peter and St Felix, mashed into one fiesta of bacchanalian debauchery. It’s a carnal release of energy and excess guaranteed to leave a smile on your face and a stain on your shirt.

Madrid Teacher: Chatting about Christmas

In this week's Madrid Teacher video, four teachers talk about Christmas. As usual, that gives us an opportunity to go over some of the features of spoken English that they use.

First of all, watch the video through, so that you can get familiar with their conversation.

Now watch the video more carefully, paying attention to the following:

• Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said and make yourself clear
• Showing agreement: It’s true; Yeah; Yeah, no; I suppose; Exactly
• Conversation fillers to gain some thinking time: Well, you know 
• Use of vague language: kind of ; the same sorts of things
• Use of so as a linking word
• Showing surprise: Yeah?; Oh, they don’t set up Christmas trees?; Oh, even better!
• Use of (wi)ll to express habits and repeated action in the present: they'll set up; they’ll have the, at least the traditional Spaniards will have a nativity scene; they’ll get presents 
• Use of really to emphasize the verb
• Use of anyway to add a statement that limits what you have just said

Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with a friend and relative and discuss Christmas. How do you feel about them? How do you celebrate them? Has the celebration changed much over time? Has it been influenced by globalization? Is it too commercial these days? What do you know about the way Christmas in celebrated in other families, other countries or other cultures?

Don't forget to use some of the features of spoken English we have revised in this lesson.

Because Christmas now is so commercial. I mean, you go to the shops in September and there’s Christmas trees and decorations, and you can visit Santa and tell him what you want, and . . .
It’s true. And have you seen the lights in London? The street lights in London? Every year they’re themed on some kind of film or product line…
Yeah.
All over the streets it’s selling something…
Yeah.
It’s, it’s almost criminal.
Yeah.
But at the same time, when you walk around and you see the Christmas lights, and you have that warm feeling that it’s nearly Christmas . . .
Not when Hollywood’s right behind them.
Yeah, no. I don’t like to be told what to do, and I feel like Christmas, you know...
Right.
…it’s all about telling you you’ve got to buy presents and every year you feel like you’ve got to buy more and it kind of snowballs and becomes [Yeah.] this huge thing.
That’s absurd.
It gets more and more expensive.
Of course, I don’t even celebrate it any longer. I, I’ve been living in Spain for a long time so it’s, I celebrate Three Kings Day.
Tell us about that, when, when is Three Kings Day?
It’s on the sixth, I think, the sixth of January.
Yeah?
Yeah and they have, instead of, instead of, setting up a Christmas tree, which they might do, they’ll set up a nativity scene.
Oh, they don’t set up Christmas trees?
Well, I mean now they do a little bit, but they more often they’ll have the, at least the traditional Spaniards will have a nativity scene. They get more excited.
That’s closer to the original reason so it’s better than a tree.
Yeah.
I suppose.
And are there, there’s presents that are exchanged?
Yeah, I mean, they, they, often they’ll get presents on both days.
Oh, even better!
Or even on Christmas Eve, so it’s like there… it’s lost all its meaning for me because I mean they don’t, associate it with the same sorts of things I associate it with. I mean the nostalgia, I mean Christmas past…
Exactly, that’s…
…or all, all the sorts of things that . . . all the symbols that make sense to me or . . . they just don’t make any sense here.
And do they leave milk and cookies out for the Three Kings?
I don’t think so, no. Not in my family, anyway. But we’re not, we don’t really celebrate it in a big way.
And do they believe in Santa?
No they don’t.
That’s such a shame! You remember thinking, Oh my gosh! Santa’s got my letter and he’s going to deliver my presents.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, I still kind of think that sometimes.

History of Thanksgiving

We have moved this week's listening test to Thursday 27 November so that teachers and students can do the video activity History of  Thanksgiving well in advance of the holiday.

The history of Thanksgiving Day is a short educational video that covers how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Self-study activity:
Watch this five-minute video and answer the questions below.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 1 and intermediate 2 students.



1. When did the Mayflower arrive in the new world?
2. How many colonists died during the first winter?
3. What did Quantum show the colonists to do?
4. What did the king of the Wampanoan, Massasoit, donate to the feast with the pilgrims?
5. What event was commemorated on December 18, 1777?
6. When did President Lincoln declare the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day?
7. What event is organised by Macy’s Department Store on Thanksgiving Day?
8. Why was Thanksgiving Day moved to the fourth Thursday in November in 1941?

Turkey, pumpkin pie, family, football, and parades. Where did these traditions come from and how did they become a part of a national holiday we call Thanksgiving?
To understand the origins of this holiday, we must take a look back at the origins of our country itself, particularly at the Plymouth Colony and it’s crucial first year.
In the fall of 1620, the cargo ship Mayflower transported a group of 102 English men, women and children to the new world.  A portion of this group were separatists, people who had religiously separated themselves from the Church of England, and wanted to come to the new world to find religious freedom. In time, these people would come to be known as the pilgrims.
The Mayflower arrived in the new world in December 16, 1620 (1), weeks later than they had originally hoped and landing much farther north than they had planned, putting them in present-day Massachusetts. These unfortunate circumstances made for a particularly harsh winter — nearly half the colonists died (2) and those who did not, fell ill.
As the spring of 1621 approached, the luck of Plymouth Colony began to change. The colony was visited by several local Indians, or Wampanoan people. One of these visitors was Quantum, otherwise known as Squanto. Squanto spoke English and showed the pilgrims how to use fish as fertilizer (3) to grow crops on sandy land. He was their interpreter. He even chose to live among the colonists at Plymouth.
By November 1621, things were looking up for the pilgrims. They had survived their first year in the new world, and had a successful enough harvest to continue living there. The pilgrims collected their harvest which could have included corn, pumpkins, squash, and some grain. They caught fish and gathered together wildfowl and birds, such as ducks, geese, and even wild turkeys to feast on in celebration.
The mighty king of the Wampanoan people, Massasoit, joined the pilgrims with 90 of his men. He also donated five deer (4) to this great feast which lasted for three whole days.
To the pilgrims, this celebration was not the start of a new holiday. It was a common harvest festival much like the ones held in Europe, after every fall after a good harvest.
On December 18, 1777, Washington held a national day of Thanksgiving to commemorate the defeat of the British Army in Saratoga (5). Through the remainder of the Revolutionary War, Washington proclaimed several national days of Thanksgiving to commemorate special days.
By the end of the war, individual states, particularly in the North, had gotten used to having a yearly Thanksgiving Day, though there was no official national holiday and the date of the feast would vary from state to state.
Thanksgiving as we know it today was made possible largely by the efforts of a 19th century writer named Sarah Josepha Hale. She was America’s first female magazine editor, and author of the famous nursery rhyme ‘Marry had a little lamb’. During the Civil War, Hale was convinced that a national Thanksgiving Day would awaken in American hearts the love of home and country of thankfulness to God and peace between brethren.
She wrote letters to governors and even to President Abraham Lincoln. A few days after receiving her letter, on October 3rd, 1863 (6), President Lincoln, issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day.
Year after year, Americans continue to celebrate this day of feasting and thanks even though Congress had not yet ratified it as an official holiday. Over the years, the date seems to coincide with the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In 1924, Macy’s Department Store started their Thanksgiving Day Parade (7) which route heads down the streets of New York and ends at the store.
Also in the 1920s, the Detroit Lions came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving Day football game. In order to boost dwindling attendance. It was not until 1941 that congress finally made Thanksgiving a legal holiday. When they did, they moved the holiday up one week so that official day of Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in November. This was done in an attempt to extend the Christmas shopping season (8).
Today, more than anything else, Thanksgiving is about family. Though the way we serve our turkey and our pumpkin may have changed, and our entertainment varied over the years from archery and display of arms to football and parades, Thanksgiving has become a welcome day of rest to spend with loved ones in recognition and appreciation for all the blessings for which we are thankful.

Listening test: Romance across cultures

In this week's listening test we are going to practise the multiple choice task. Listen to this radio programme about a writer and choose the option a, b or c that best completes the sentence or answers the question.

listen to ‘Romance across cultures’ on Audioboo

1) How is Mary George known in the publishing world?
a. Marcy Markusa
b. Mary George
c. Elizabeth Thornton

2) Mary George switched to writing historical romance because ...
a. her Jane Austen-like style was acclaimed.
b. she wanted to make a living as a writer.
c. she was really keen on comedy.

3) What sentence is true, according to the text?
a. She expects to sell 2,000,000 copies of her book.
b. She learnt how to write novels while doing another job.
c. Her education was not helpful in her job as a writer.

4) When Mary wrote her first historical romance, her family was ...
a. happy.
b. not sure what to think.
c. sad.

5)  What sentence is true, according to the text?
a. She published her first novel at 40.
b. She has three careers.
c. She has enjoyed her professional life.

6) What does Mary think her heroine would want for Valentine’s Day?
a. Nothing material.
b. Not a very big gift.
c. She doesn’t know.


Marcy: Hi I'm Marcy Markusa. Well, did you happen to celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th?  On Information Radio we marked the occasion by interviewing Mary George, a Manitoba novelist who writes historical fiction under the pseudonym Elizabeth Thornton.  In this interview, Terry McLeod finds out how Mary became a writer.  He also asks her what she thinks her latest romantic heroine, Faith McBride, would want for Valentine’s Day.
Terry: How did you become an historical romance writer?
Mary: Um, well I first started off um 1987, my first little book was published.  It was a sort of Jane Austenish book, because of course I’m a great fan of Jane Austen, and it was a comedy of manners.  But it didn’t take me long to figure out that I could not make a living writing these small books and my editor, she suggested a historical romance and I loved the history. And then the history moves the plot.
Terry: So ah how did you come to learn to write these things, starting out as a lay minister, and especially good ones that would sell two million copies around the world?
Mary: Um, I always was good with words.  My education in Scotland you know prepared me for this kind of thing. All the papers we had to do, the the analysis, that’s what I was good at. And even the sermons I had to do at the church occasionally when Bruce Miles was away, my Minister. But even that prepared me because I was good at putting words together and I had a family who are writers, and they kept saying, my son and my husband, you’ve gotta write a story, you’ve gotta write one of these murder mysteries you love so much. Y’know, you’d be really good at it, you’re good with words.  So when I wrote my first romance they were bitterly disappointed.
Terry: You started in your, in your forties to write?
Mary: Yes, forty-six. 
Terry: You’re kind of like a Carol Shields, a, you know, a latish bloomer?
Mary: Yes, oh yes, I’ve had three wonderful careers.  I was a teacher, I was a lay minister and now I’m a novelist.
Terry: Now tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day, and many men wonder what women really want as a gift. What would Faith McBride want?
Mary: Well, I can’t, I don’t really know, on Valentine’s Day?  I don’t think she’d want very much for Valentine’s Day but for every day of the week she would want a man who cherished her, and loved her and respected her. And that’s what you want for Valentines.
Terry: Thanks so much for coming in. Great to meet you.
Mary: It’s been a pleasure.  

Key:
1C 2B 3B 4C 5C 6A

Madrid Teacher: Weird competitions

In this week's Madrid Teacher post, three teachers talk about funny, weird, bizarre competitions and traditions. As usual, the video gives us an opportunity to study some features of spoken English.

In the first place, watch the video through to get the gist of what the conversation is about.

Watch the video again now, paying attention to the following chunks of language that come up in the dialogue:

Fillers: You know; Well
Use of actually to introduce a piece of surprising information
Use of so as a linking word
Reacting to what the speaker is saying: [sounds] Interesting!; Shin kicking; Ow!; That's interesting; Nice; Wow
Use of like as a linking work
Use of the hedging technique so soften opinion: I think, I imagine; I guess
Use of really to emphasize what we are saying.
Use of vague language: or anything like that
Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said and make yourself clear
Showing agreement: Absolutely; Yeah; Yeah, exactly



Now it's over to you. Get together with a friend or relative and talk about weird traditions or festivals or competitions that you know. Try and use some of the features of spoken English we have just mentioned.

You know I heard about something. It’s called the World’s Greatest Liar competition.
What’s that?
Well, of course I didn’t enter just in case you’re wondering.
How do we know that… How do we know that’s the truth?
Yeah you might be lying now.
But it’s interesting that they actually would have a competition to see who could tell the largest fib. So do you know of any candidates that might be worthy of entering into this competition?
I think you might win.
I wouldn’t.
Interesting. So have you heard of any other weird competitions?
I’ve heard of the shin kicking competition that takes place in England…
Shin kicking!
Ow!
…it’s basically a sport where two people… they grab hold of each other by the shoulders and the objective is to kick the other person’s shins. And if your opponent falls down, then you’ve won.
It’s like Gladiators.
And that’s the competition.
Did that start with football?
Probably, yeah. I think, I heard that in the past they used to… they had like bare shins but these days you can put like hay down your trousers to protect your shins a bit. Otherwise it can be bit painful, but it’s probably painful anyway.
Do they have, for example, insurance or anything to cover injuries?
I think it’s just like a little village festival so no insurance involved.
I don’t think I would want to participate in that one.
How many villagers don’t have legs?
Or end up not walking?
Apparently in the past they used to prepare their shins by banging them with hammers to make them harder.
Interesting. So the wheelchair sales are probably pretty high in this village.
Well you know what people are like who live in the country, they go a bit strange after a while, I imagine.
Even in the city.
Last year I went to Fallas in Valencia, in Spain. They build these dolls or statues, sometimes out of, to imitate politicians, out of papier-mâché I think. And it’s a competition for who has the best. And then at the end of the festival, whoever wins their doll or statue doesn’t get burned but everything else does. The whole city goes up in flames.  It’s amazing.
That’s interesting.
It was very interesting.
After all that work, would you want to burn your statue, sculpture?
It ends up to be something absolutely beautiful, really. It’s amazing, yeah, interesting. And everybody gets dressed up in old costumes and…
Nice. I always wondered that about, I wondered about that like with things when they make statues on the beach out of sand or ice. They always look really nice, but they don’t last, do they? I guess you have to take lots of photos.
Have you ever gone to any festivals like with food or anything like that?
Hmm. I mean, like, most festivals you go to have some food, but not specific, food festival.
Cause there’s something, which is quite interesting, which is a chilli-eating and making competitions.
Wow, where’s that?
In Texas.
Oh, of course.
Of course you have to make it really, really hot and of course they have different contests... And, so if you like food, it’s a really great place to go but again it’s probably similar with the shin festivals, like, probably…
A bit masochistic.
Absolutely.
Yeah, your stomach at the end… Sounds interesting.
I think I’ll just stick to my music festivals.
Yeah, exactly.
More enjoyable.
Yeah.

Reading test: Europe's Top 10 Most Unique Festivals

In this week's reading test the activity we are going to practise is heading matching. Read the headings below and match them with the corresponding festival 1-10 that you will find on the goabroad.com/ entry Europe’s Top 10 Most Unique Festivals. There is one heading you do not need to use, and A is an example.

A - All over the country - 9 (Festas)
B - Bending your elbow all day long
C - Don’t go if you are a bit sensitive
D - It is over in a flash
E - It took ages to get it over with
F - It was started as a way to kill time
G - Music everywhere
H - Not for lovers of peace and quiet
I - They had their own way in the end
J - You might regret it if you participate
K - People from all over the world

Busojaras (Mohacs, Hungary)

Key:
A - All over the country – 9
B - Bending your elbow all day long – 4
C - Don’t go if you are a bit sensitive – 8
D - It is over in a flash – 7
E - It took ages to get it over - 10
F - It was started as a way to kill time – 5
G - Music everywhere – 6
H - Not for lovers of peace and quiet – 3
I - They had their own way in the end – 1
J - You might regret it if you participate – 2

Talking point: Talking about a wedding you've been to

In our weekly 'Talking point' section we continue focusing on the anecdote feature of Macmillan's Inside Out.

Today's topic is about talking about a wedding you've been to. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below, so that you ideas flow more easily when you get together with the members of your conversation group and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• Who was getting married?
• Where, when  and what time of year did the ceremony take place?
• What was the weather like?
• What were you wearing?
• What did the bride and groom wear?
• Did you know many people at the wedding?
• Where did you go for the reception?
• What did you have to eat and drink?
• Did anybody give any speeches? Who? What did they say?
• Did the guests give the bride and groom presents?
• How did the day end?
• Did you enjoy the wedding?
• What was your favourite moment?

To illustrate the topic, you can watch Hugh Grant's famous best man speech in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.