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Riyad Mahrez and Neil Taylor in action for Leicester and Swansea City.

Podcast 29

Podcast 29

In this week's podcast, Rich and Jack and talk about a Premier League weekend full of surprises, with wins for some of the underdogs and defeats for some of the favourites. The language focus is phrases you can use to talk about unexpected events. We also have a new riddle in our 'What's my Team?' competition!

How to enter the competition?

  1. Press play on the podcast above smiley

  2. Listen to Michael, who is this week's Premier League fan.

  3. Guess Michael's favourite team.

  4. Write your answer in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

  5. If you are not logged in or a registered member, you can register for free in the top right corner smiley

How much did you understand?

Vocabulary 

In this podcast, Rich and Jack used some vocabulary that might have been new for you. Try the activities below to see how much you understand:

"Chants sound much better when tens of thousands of fans are singing them and not just you, Rich."

"I don’t think people expect a gift but I think it would be impolite not to bring something."

Activity 1: In this activity, look at some of the words we used in the podcast and try to match them to their definitions.
Did you know all the words in the podcast?

Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-0 in a big Premier League upset at the weekend.

Language - Compound Nouns

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used phrases to talk about things that were surprising or unexpected. Sometimes they used one noun to describe another noun like in the examples below. These are called compound nouns, which is when a noun is formed by two or more words. If you want to learn more about how nouns can be changed or modified, have a go at the activities below, or, take a look at our Learn English website - there are links on the side of this page.

"Newcastle beating Liverpool was just one of the shock results last weekend."

"A Chelsea win? I don't think that would be a surprise result!"

Activity 2: Compound nouns are often two nouns put together to create a new word. In this activity, try to put the nouns together to make compound nouns.
Can you put the compound nouns together?

Compund nouns can be created in a number of different ways, here are some of the most common ways:

Noun + Noun
Adjective + Noun
Noun + Verb
Premier League fan
Halfway line
Rainfall
Shock result
Blackboard
Haircut
Penalty area
Greenhouse
Air-conditioning
Bus stop
Free Trade
Toothache
Football pitch
26-year-old Sunrise

 

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.
Listen to the podcast and read at the same time.

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: Hi everyone. I’m Jack and every week we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: This week, we’re going to talk about another crazy weekend in this season’s Premier League. Bournemouth beating Chelsea, Stoke beating Manchester City and Newcastle beating Liverpool were just some of the shock results last weekend.

Jack: That Bournemouth result was a real surprise and the language focus this week is on phrases we use when something is unexpected or surprising.

Rich: And later I’ll make another Premier League prediction. And, of course, you have another chance to win a Samsung Galaxy tablet in our ‘What’s my Team?’ competition.

Jack: What was the answer to last week’s riddle Rich?

Rich: Ah, yes. Last week it was Alison and I think it was a bit more difficult, her favourite Premier League team is Norwich City. If you were trying to find the answer the easiest thing Alison mentioned was the club’s nickname - she talked about the Canaries. And of course, Norwich City are the Premier League team called the Canaries.

Jack: I thought it was interesting what she said about Norwich City’s song ‘On the Ball City’ and Rema from Serbia pointed out that the song is actually older than the club - he found that it was written in 1860!

Rich: That is surprising! I think listening to and learning football songs and chants can be a nice way to learn more about your club and Premier League culture, and also to improve your English.

Jack: Yes, if you know any songs or chants from a Premier League club share them in the comments section. But be careful with some of the language you use - we might have to edit some of these comments!

Rich: I was just thinking about the difference between a song and a chant - ‘You’ll never walk alone’ sung by Liverpool fans is a song but a chant is much shorter and usually more repetitive like ‘United, United’ or ‘Come on Chelsea’ or ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’.

Jack: And of course these chants sound so much better when tens of thousands of fans are singing them and not just you, Rich.

Rich: Right, anyway, who is this week’s winner?

Jack: We have selected a winner at random from the correct answers and the eleventh winner of the What’s my team? competition is Grigor25 a Liverpool fan from Armenia. Congratulations Grigor25, we’ll be in contact with you this week.

Rich: Well done Grigor25! Later on in the podcast, you can listen to this week’s What’s my team riddle.

Rich: Jamie Vardy’s record goal scoring run stopped at 11 goals at the weekend when he failed to score in Leicester’s 3-0 win away to Swansea City.

Jack: Who would have thought it? It was the first time Vardy hadn’t scored in a Premier League match since August!

Rich: It didn’t stop Leicester going back to the top of the table, though. The Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez scored a hat-trick!

Jack: Last week we asked you if Vardy was the best player in the Premier League at the moment and a lot of you agreed with us.

Rich: Those that agreed that Jamie Vardy is the best player at the moment include: Mugemanyi from Rwanda, Nikosonris from Ukraine, Aragorn1986 and AleksandarR from Montenegro, RuslanJon from Uzbekistan, SalvaGh from Spain, Elghoul from Algeria, HakanUslu1881 from Turkey, Nyinyi from Myanmar, Abdallah from Kuwait, DejanZ from Macedonia and Antonio Contreras from Portugal.

Jack: But not all of you agreed. Polevoy2000 from Belarus, This week’s winner Grigor25 from Armenia, Amaral from Albania all think Vardy’s teammate Riyad Mahrez is the best on current form.  Anfat from Ukraine thinks it’s Man City’s Raheem Sterling, Okhilleus7 from Montenegro thinks it’s Mesut Ozil at Arsenal, and Heaton555 from Armenia thinks it’s Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.

Rich: We also asked you about invitations last week and what gifts you take with you when invited to someone’s home.

Jack: Deyanet from Azerbaijan says it’s always a difficult decision but usually chooses something to eat or drink.

Rich: Ruslanjon from Uzbekistan often takes cake to a party and Heaton555 from Armenia goes for wine or chocolates.

Jack: Food and drink was definitely the most common gift. Aragorn1986, Gugo from Armenia, AleksandarR, Elghoul, Antonio Contreras, Okhilleus7, Drilol from Kosovo and Rafael24 from Ecuador were just some of you who take food and drink when invited to a party.

Rich: My favourite comment this week was from Nikosonris. He said when he asks what to take to a friend’s party they always say: ‘Nothing, just bring yourself.’

Jack: I’m never sure if people mean it when they say that. I don’t think people expect a gift but I think it would be impolite not to bring something.

Rich: ‘Expect’ is a useful word. It means to think or believe that something will happen or someone will do something. So people expect you to take something  to someone’s house.

Jack: And we use it in football a lot. Manchester Utd were expected to beat West Ham last weekend but they didn’t. 0-0 at home to West Ham was an unexpected result. And in the next section we’re going to speak a bit more about phrases we use when something is unexpected or surprising.

Rich: We’ve already spoken about Leicester going back to the top of the table. What else has been happening in the Premier League?

Jack: Like you said earlier, it was a crazy weekend in the Premier League. The biggest surprise had to be Bournemouth winning at Chelsea.

Rich: I really didn’t see that one coming.

Jack: No, I didn’t expect it either. Bournemouth’s manager, Eddie Howe, described the win as the biggest result in the club’s history.

Rich: Bournemouth have never been in the Premier League before so a win over the Champions is definitely a huge win for them.

Jack: This weekend was a great one for the underdogs.

Rich: Underdog is a great word. It’s used a lot in sport and describes the team or person that is not expected to win because they aren’t as strong or powerful.

Jack: Stoke against Manchester City was another example of the underdog winning against the favourite.

Rich: Stoke won 2-0 and they were fantastic. The front four of Stoke: Marko Arnautovic, Bojan Krkic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay were amazing.

Jack: The result was not right out of the blue. Stoke beat Chelsea earlier this season and when you have Champions League winners like Shaqiri who won it with Bayern Munich and Afellay (Aff er lay)and Krkic (krik itch) who won it with Barcelona in your team are going to get results.

Rich: The other big upset of the weekend and the one that upset me the most was Newcastle’s 2-0 win against Liverpool.

Jack: Liverpool had won their last three away games against Premier League teams 3-1, 4-1 and 6-1 and Newcastle had only scored two goals in their last five matches and lost their last match 5-1.

Rich: It was a real bolt from the blue and a shock. I thought Liverpool’s season had turned the corner.

Jack: But this is what we love about the Premier League. It’s unpredictable. Anyone can beat anyone in the Premier League.

Rich: And everybody loves it when an underdog wins, unless it’s against your team of course!

Jack: Let’s go back and look at some of the words and phrases we just used to describe things that are unexpected.

Rich: To describe something that was unexpected we can use nouns like shock, surprise and upset.

Jack: So when an underdog beats a favourite like Bournemouth beating Chelsea, you can say it was a shock result or a surprise result.

Rich: Here we are using two nouns together - we call this a compound noun. The first noun surprise or shock is being used as an adjective to describe the second noun.

Jack: We can’t use upset like this. We say things like there was a big upset in the match between Liverpool and Newcastle.

Rich: We can also use all three of them as verbs. We could say Stoke shocked/upset/surprised Manchester City.

Jack: But remember here upset doesn’t mean to be sad or to make someone sad. We can say Rich was upset about Newcastle upsetting Liverpool which means Rich was sad about Newcastle surprising Liverpool.

Rich: Yes I was. We used some other expressions to describe things that were unexpected. We used the expression ‘a bolt from the blue’ or ‘to come out of the blue’.

Jack: I like the phrase ‘I didn’t see that one coming’. It’s quite obvious but sounds really nice.

Rich: We’d like to see all of you using some of these words and expressions in our comments section. Can you try to answer some of these questions? Number 1.Which match was the biggest upset last weekend?

Jack: Number 2: What are some shock results that you can remember?

Rich: Number 3: Can you tell us something in your life that happened out of the blue?

Jack: Right, I think it’s time for this week’s competition: ‘What’s my Team?’

Rich: Here is what you have to do. Listen to a Premier League fan, who will talk about their favourite team and then write the name of the team  in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: And for each of the 20 podcast competitions the lucky winner will receive a fantastic Samsung Galaxy Tablet. We wish you the best of luck!

Rich: Right, so this week, our Premier League fan is Michael. Listen to Michael’s riddle and try to work out what’s his team?

Michael: A former captain of ours, Danny Blanchflower said ‘The game is about glory. It’s about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." This sums up the way we like to play football. So come and watch us in action in the North-London derby against our biggest rivals, Arsenal.

Rich: Hey Jack! I think Michael might be making fun out of your team there. Can you remember the chant, ‘Boring, Boring Arsenal!’?

Jack: I remember, but I don’t think we’ve heard that chant for years! Time for your prediction Rich.

Rich: The Premier League, with upsets every week and underdogs beating favourites on a regular basis has made this season’s Premier League very unpredictable. But one thing that has been predictable is my prediction being wrong! This week’s big match is this season’s biggest surprise - Leicester City at home to last season’s Champions - Chelsea. This time last year Leicester were bottom of the table and Chelsea were top. How things change! Leicester are flying high and Chelsea are having problems at the wrong end of the table. It’s always nice to see an underdog spring a surprise so I’m going to go for a Chelsea win. Final score: Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea

Jack: A Chelsea win? I don’t think that would be a surprise result.

Rich: Maybe not.

Jack: That’s it for today - we’ve run out of time! Thanks for listening. And don’t forget to write your answers to the competition, your answers to our questions about upsets and surprises, your predictions and any questions you have about the website or football English in the comments below.

Rich: Don’t forget if you sign in, you can score points to see if you can get your club, your country and your name to the top of our leaderboard.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

The answer to last week's 'What's my Team?' competition was Norwich City. Congratulations to Grigor25 from Armenia ! Your prize is on its way!

Quiz

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What do you think?

What's your favourite football song or chant?
Which match was the biggest upset last weekend?
What are some shock results that you can remember?
Can you tell us something in your life that happened out of the blue?

Rich predicts that Chelsea will beat Leicester City 2-1 this weekend. Do you agree?
 

Remember to write your competition answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

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Comentários

Rema's picture
Rema
08/12/2015
RS
538
points

I must deny that I wrote that Norwich City’s song ‘On the Ball City’ was written in 1860's(I wrote 1890's in my comment and my source was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Ball,_City).


Rema's picture
Rema
08/12/2015 16:00
Serbia
West Ham United
538

I must deny that I wrote that Norwich City’s song ‘On the Ball City’ was written in 1860's(I wrote 1890's in my comment and my source was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Ball,_City).

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015
RW
2320
points

You're right Rema


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015 07:29
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

You're right Rema

Rema's picture
Rema
10/12/2015
RS
538
points

Thanks Mugemanyi


Rema's picture
Rema
10/12/2015 14:35
Serbia
West Ham United
538

Thanks Mugemanyi

admin's picture
admin
09/12/2015
GB
560
points

Thanks Rema

Ha ha - whoops! We'll make an apology and correction in next week's podcast. Perhaps we shoudl focus on ways of apologising or admitting mistakes...

Jack


admin's picture
admin
09/12/2015 13:05
United Kingdom
Arsenal
560

Thanks Rema

Ha ha - whoops! We'll make an apology and correction in next week's podcast. Perhaps we shoudl focus on ways of apologising or admitting mistakes...

Jack

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015
RW
2320
points

Hello Jack, it's should instead of shoudl


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015 07:24
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

Hello Jack, it's should instead of shoudl

admin's picture
admin
10/12/2015
GB
560
points

Thanks Mugemanyi


admin's picture
admin
10/12/2015 12:35
United Kingdom
Arsenal
560

Thanks Mugemanyi

Rema's picture
Rema
09/12/2015
RS
538
points

No problem Jack ;)


Rema's picture
Rema
09/12/2015 23:41
Serbia
West Ham United
538

No problem Jack ;)

Rema's picture
Rema
08/12/2015
RS
538
points

Michael's team is Tottenham Hotspur. I know that because Spurs biggest rival in the North-London are Arsenal.


Rema's picture
Rema
08/12/2015 15:55
Serbia
West Ham United
538

Michael's team is Tottenham Hotspur. I know that because Spurs biggest rival in the North-London are Arsenal.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
08/12/2015
DZ
3988
points

My favourite song is Liverpool "you'l never walk alone". Some fans in Algeria write it in their great banners.
The biggest upset is the win of Bournemouth against Chelsea.
England loosing to USA in World Cup in year 1954 perphaps is the great shock result that I can remember.
The earthquake of 2003 in Boumerdes was a bolt from the blue. At the same time we were seeing a Europa League Match at the TV.
I don't agree because Leicester is on the air.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
08/12/2015 15:29
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

My favourite song is Liverpool "you'l never walk alone". Some fans in Algeria write it in their great banners.
The biggest upset is the win of Bournemouth against Chelsea.
England loosing to USA in World Cup in year 1954 perphaps is the great shock result that I can remember.
The earthquake of 2003 in Boumerdes was a bolt from the blue. At the same time we were seeing a Europa League Match at the TV.
I don't agree because Leicester is on the air.

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015
RW
2320
points

Is it possible to replace "Leicester is on air" with "Leicester is on fire"?


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015 07:22
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

Is it possible to replace "Leicester is on air" with "Leicester is on fire"?

Rich's picture
Rich
10/12/2015
ES
594
points

Yes, it is. 'Leicester are on fire' means they are playing very well at the moment. 'Leicester are on cloud 9' means they are very, very happy, I think that is the closest meaning to what elghoul meant.


Rich's picture
Rich
10/12/2015 14:27
Spain
Liverpool
594

Yes, it is. 'Leicester are on fire' means they are playing very well at the moment. 'Leicester are on cloud 9' means they are very, very happy, I think that is the closest meaning to what elghoul meant.

Natka
11/12/2015
RU
279
points

In Russia if we are happy we say "we are on cloud 7"


Natka
11/12/2015 17:59
Russia
Chelsea
279

In Russia if we are happy we say "we are on cloud 7"

ferhat.dxer's picture
ferhat.dxer
08/12/2015
DZ
26
points

of course it is Tottenham Hotspur FC


ferhat.dxer's picture
ferhat.dxer
08/12/2015 14:18
Algeria
Arsenal
26

of course it is Tottenham Hotspur FC

tokomoney's picture
tokomoney
08/12/2015
GE
352
points

Congratulations to Gregor25 : )) good job : ))


tokomoney's picture
tokomoney
08/12/2015 13:27
Georgia
Manchester City
352

Congratulations to Gregor25 : )) good job : ))

grigor25
10/12/2015
AM
129
points

thx


grigor25
10/12/2015 11:53
Armenia
Liverpool
129

thx

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015
RW
2320
points

Congratulations again to Gregor25.I'll be the next winner,lol


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
10/12/2015 07:17
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

Congratulations again to Gregor25.I'll be the next winner,lol

tokomoney's picture
tokomoney
08/12/2015
GE
352
points

Tottenham Hotspur is corect answer : )) Michael's team is "Tottenham Hotspur"


tokomoney's picture
tokomoney
08/12/2015 13:26
Georgia
Manchester City
352

Tottenham Hotspur is corect answer : )) Michael's team is "Tottenham Hotspur"

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74679
2Ukraine33892
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23505
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146938
2Liverpool111456
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58908
6Tottenham Hotspur19506
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Practise your listening skills.

Learn some new football vocabulary. 

Learn phrases to talk about unexpected events.

Tips

You can learn more about compound nouns here on the Learn English - English Grammar page on noun modifiers.