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 Print This Post | Subscribe: Main Listening Report | Complete List Here

On this week’s main listening report we  catch up with the Bundesliga with Hans von Dietze our German correspondent. You can listen to the report by clicking on the link below, while vocabulary support appears at the foot of the report.

The Bundesliga – teams and players

After several weeks of Christmas, followed by training camps in warmer climates, the Bundesliga players have returned to the pitch and games have resumed for the second half of the season. So what do we have in store?

Firstly, it is crowded at the top of the table. Three teams are separated only by goal difference, with another just a point back, making this the closest title race in years. Of course Champions Dortmund are there, as are Bayern and Schalke, but surprisingly Borussia Moenchengladbach are also mixing it with them, having already claimed the double over Bayern. You might remember that Gladbach had to survive a tense relegation play off last season to survive the drop to the second Bundesliga. continue

Subscribe: Predictions

The quarter final stages of the African Nations Cup gets under way, and this week, we also travel to Germany, Italy and England for some tasty ties. You can listen to Damon and Damian discussing their predictions on this week’s show. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Ted who is a Toronto fan.

Current Score: DB 117 | DF 94 | Guests 77

If you would like to be a guest predictor for a week, let us know here

 Print This Post | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

On this week’s review section we feature a side doing well in both the English Cup competitions, a bizarre situation for women’s football in the USA and tragic events in Egypt. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.

Good

It was a very good week for Liverpool Football Club in the two domestic cups that we have recently highlighted on languagecaster’s weekly podcast. First, in the Carling Cup they went through to the final after beating Premier League leaders Manchester City 3-2 over two legs. Craig Bellamy, who was let go by City, scored the vital goal to see the Reds through to Wembley. Then, three days later, the Mersyside team hosted their bitter north-west rivals, Manchester United, in the FA Cup fourth round and a late winner from Dirk Kuyt knocked the Manchester side out of the competition. A very good week for Liverpool
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How good is your knowledge of the language of soccer? This is languagecaster.com’s weekly football language review quiz with five questions for you to answer. During each week of the season check our twitter feed, read our posts, and learn phrases, cliches and words related to football, to help you answer the quiz.

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On this week’s podcast, languagecaster looks at the FA Cup in England – its history, format and shocks. Remember, you can also:

• Listen only to the main report here – complete with transcript and vocabulary
• Learners of English can review the footballing news from around the world in our good, the bad and the ugly section of the show
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• A page with all our Football vocabulary posts
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Weekly Football Phrase

Each week the languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. On this week’s show we introduce the phrase ‘a sweet strike’. Click on the link below to learn about the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript. You can also find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here: A sweet strike

This week’s football phrase is a sweet strike. To strike is a verb, which means to hit, and in football to kick or to shoot, and in this phrase strike is used as a noun. The adjective sweet means very good, beautiful or great, and often is used when the player hits the ball in the perfect place. In combination, a sweet strike means a fantastic shot, perhaps a volley that is beautifully timed, an unstoppable piledriver, or a great free kick. The phrase can also be used with strike as a verb, as in, he struck the ball sweetly. This weekend, Gareth Bale scored a goal against Manchester City with a sweet strike on the edge of the area, but it wasn’t enough to stop his side, Spurs, from losing. A sweet strike.

How good is your knowledge of the language of soccer? This is languagecaster.com’s weekly football language review quiz with five questions for you to answer. During each week of the season check our twitter feed, read our posts, and learn phrases, cliches and words related to football, to help you answer the quiz.

continue

Subscribe: Predictions

On this week’s predictions we have games from around the world including the Bundesliga, the African Nations Cup curtain raiser, big games in the Premier League, as well as a crunch tie in Italy. You can listen to Damon and Damian discussing their predictions on this week’s show. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Kohei, who is an FC Tokyo fan.

Current Score: DB 104 | DF 89 | Guests 72

If you would like to be a guest predictor for a week, let us know here

How good is your football vocabulary? This is languagecaster.com’s weekly football language review quiz with five questions for you to answer. During each week of the season check our twitter feed, read our posts, and learn phrases, cliches and words related to football, to help you answer the quiz.

continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On this week’s podcast we take a look at one of the domestic cup competitions in England, the Carling Cup, sometimes called the Football League Cup. Remember, you can also:

• Listen only to the main report here – complete with transcript and vocabulary
• Learners of English can review the footballing news from around the world in our good, the bad and the ugly section of the show
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• A page with all our Football vocabulary posts
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here