Archive for May, 2009

Download the latest podcast – Fans’ review of the season

On this week’s show we look back at the Champions League final, look forward to the FA Cup final and ask some fans what they really thought of their teams’ performances this season.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news – The good, the bad and the ugly

Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Burnley and Paolo Maldini all celebrate but misery on Tyneside and controversy in Serie A all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the link above to read more about the stories from last week, complete with explanations of key vocabulary.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

Chickens Come Home to Roost

This week’s English for football is, ‘the chickens come home to roost‘. This expression is used to say that something bad has happened because of mistakes, or bad behaviour, in the past. Someone did something wrong in the past and now trouble has come, or there is a big problem. It is close to the idea of ‘karma‘ in many Asian religions, or the phrase, ‘you reap what you sow‘. last weekend, Newcastle United were relegated from the premier league and many people think the chickens have come home to roost, that Newcastle’s past mistakes have resulted in their failure. For example, they first hired Sam Allardyce as manager and then soon sacked him, hired Kevin Keegan and forced him to leave, and have since had two more managers this season. They also bought expensive players with big wages but with little impact on the pitch. Their actions meant that the chickens came home to roost.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…this week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Manchester United failed to retain the Champions League trophy this week. Which was the last team to win two European Cups in a row?

a) AC Milan

b) Juventus

c) Nottingham Forest

d) Liverpool

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about how many trophies Alan Shearer won in his career – b) 1 (The Premier League with Blackburn).

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.
You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On this week’s show we look back at the Champions League final, look forward to the FA Cup final and ask some fans what they really thought of their teams’ performances this season.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

The football season in Europe is almost over and so on this week’s main report for languagecaster we have three fans talking about how their teams performed during the season just gone by. First up Damon interviews Liverpool fan, Tim which is followed by an interview with Chelsea supporter Simon and finally Ill be talking about the topsy-turvey season that my team Tottenham have just had. continue

The end of the season in Europe comes ever closer and that means for our final predictions of the season languagecaster turns to domestic cups, relegation battles in Spain, Champions League spots in Italy, and a big game in the Brazilian League.

Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Burnley and Paolo Maldini all celebrate but misery on Tyneside and controversy in Serie A all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.

The Good

Barcelona win their third Champions League title after comfortably beating Manchester United 2-0 in Rome with a first half strike by Samuel Eto’o and a glorious header from the smallest player on the pitch, Lionel Messi, in the second. Having already won the Spanish League and the King’s Cup they have now won an unprecedented treble – the first time a Spanish team has performed this feat. Well done Barca and new manager Pep Guardiola.

continue

Returning to London after a weekend away, I got on the tube at the same time as Shefield United fans returning home after their Championship play-off final at Wembley. I approached one fan, who was holding a limp team-flag and asked him the score, “lost one nil” he replied. Well, after all the whingeing and the pocketing of £25,000,000 (from West Ham, ed.), Sheffield United, the Blades, failed at the last hurdle to make it to the Premiership and I’m delighted.

Download the latest podcast – The Winners!

The seasons in Europe are coming to a close, but the titles in Italy, England and Spain were decided last week. Languagecaster salutes the three champions of these countries.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news – The good, the bad and the ugly

Unlike certain Premier League managers, we offer congratulations to the winning teams in England, Spain and Italy’s domestic leagues, as well as the UEFA Cup winners, the Baggies go down,and goalkeepers criticise refs in the good the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. 

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

To Clinch

This week’s English for Football expression is the phrase to clinch which means to grab, or in football, to win, to attain. We use this expression when talking about winning prizes, awards, competitions and cups. So, as we approach the end of the season in Europe, we can see that teams like Barcelona, Manchester United and Inter Milan have all clinched their respective league titles. Last week, Steven Gerrard clinched the Player of the Year Award, while next week Burnley are hoping to clinch promotion to the Premier League in the play-off against Shefield United. To clinch.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Current Newcastle boss Alan Shearer played 559 league games scoring 283 goals. How many trophies di he win in that time?
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question, ‘How many players have been sent off (got a red card) after tackling Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso this season?’ was c) 6)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter or on our Facebook page

For those of you who are interested in footballing matters, check out our Amazon affiliated store at languagecaster’s shop. Lots of great books, DVDs and more.

For all students of the beautiful game

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The leagues around Europe are reaching their climaxes and on this week’s show languagecaster takes a look at how three of the big leagues were decided. We also…

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

Three of the big European league titles were decided last week as Inter Milan won in Italy, Barcelona in Spain and Manchester United in England. All three teams won before the season actually finished, suggesting it was relatively easy, however, they didn’t completely get it their own way. continue

Unlike certain Premier League managers, we offer congratulations to the winning teams in England, Spain and Italy’s domestic leagues, as well as the UEFA Cup winners, in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.

The Good

Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola were all celebrating league title wins on Saturday night as Inter in Italy, Manchester United in England and Barcelona in Spain were crowned champions of their respective countries. This was Guardiola’s first win as a manager but he still has some way to go before emulating his winning-colleagues, with Mourinho now having won titles in three different countries, while Ferguson has just picked up his 11th Premier League title. continue

After a very low-scoring affair last week, Damian looks set to clinch his second predictions title in a row. Damon needs some points fast from this week’s set of matches which includes a huge game in Poland, the exciting Bundesliga title race, the relegation battle in the Premier League, the Championship play-off, the Champions League final, as well as Liverpool against Tottenham. What a week!

 Print This Post | Teaching Ideas

In this teaching ideas post we ask Brendan, a Manchester United fan, to review his team’s title-winning season for us. Read the interview below and then practise your reading skills and vocabulary with the printable worksheet below. You can also find more teaching ideas here and lots more football language in languagecaster’s football glossary.

Worksheet (Reading Skills): Manchester United Season 2009 pdf

How would you sum up the season?
All in all, a pleasing season given our huge commitments in all competitions. We were only a penalty shootout away from playing the most amount of games possible in a season continue