Podcast 28
Podcast 28
In this week's podcast, Rich and Jack and talk about Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy and his record breaking goal against Manchester United. The language focus is phrases you can use to invite people to different events and how to accept or decline an invitation. We also have a new riddle in our 'What's my Team?' competition!
How to enter the competition?
Press play on the podcast below
Listen to Alison, who is this week's Premier League fan.
Guess Alison's favourite team.
Write your answer in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
If you are not logged in or a registered member, you can register for free in the top right corner
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:
"I'd have to go for Jamie Vardy"
"Claudio Ranieri has been running a pizza incentive plan this season."
Jamie Vardy has scored in 11 consecutive matches, which is a new Premier League record.
Language - Accepting and Declining Invitations
In the podcast, Rich invited Jack to his birthday party, but Jack had to decline his invitation. If you want to learn more about the language of invitations and declining and accepting invitations, 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.
"It’s my birthday next week and I was wondering if you’d like to come round to my house - we’re having a party."
"Oh no, I’m sorry, I think I’ve got something on."
Some more phrases for accepting and declining invitations:
Inviting
|
Accepting Invitations
|
Declining Invitations
|
Would you like to.....?
|
That sounds great.
|
I think I've got something on.
|
Do you fancy (verb + ing)....?
|
Sure.
|
I'm sorry, I can't.
|
Are you up for......?
|
Sounds like a plan to me.
|
That's very kind of you, but.....
|
I was wondering if you'd like to...
|
I'd love to.
|
I'd love to, but.....
|
How about (verb + ing).....?
|
That's very nice of you. Thanks. | I'm afraid I have to.... |
Jack: Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.
Rich: Hi everyone. I’m Rich and every week we talk about football and help you with your English.
Jack: This week, we’re going to talk about Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, who broke a goal scoring record this weekend.
Rich: And the language focus is on invitations and the phrases we use to invite people to different events like parties or meals and we’ll look at how to say yes (accept) or no (decline) these invitations.
Jack: Rich will 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.
Rich: What was the answer to last week’s riddle Jack?
Jack: Ah, yes. Last week it was Chris... his favourite Premier League team is Sunderland.
Rich: We had lots of correct entries so congratulations to everybody who got it right. I think this one was really interesting because Chris spoke about the history of the city, when he spoke about the coal mining industry.
Jack: And he also spoke about the Geordies, who are Sunderland’s local rivals - the Geordie accent and vocabulary is very interesting and we have a lesson all about it on the website. I’ve put a link to it on the side of this page if you’d like to take a look later.
Rich: I saw that Sadulla from Uzbekistan mentioned some Geordie vocabulary in the comments section, but I guess most people got the right answer when Chris said the Stadium of Light because that’s the name of Sunderland’s stadium. Maybe it will be more difficult this week!
Jack: Right, anyway, who is this week’s winner?
Rich: We have selected a winner at random from the correct answers and the tenth winner of the What’s my team? competition is Tokomoney a Manchester City fan from Georgia. Congratulations Tokomoney, we’ll be in contact with you this week.
Jack: Well done Tokomoney! Later on in the podcast, you can listen to this week’s What’s my team riddle.
Rich: Last week we spoke about who we thought was the best Premier League striker of the last 10 years.
Jack: And we had lots of comments from you. Many of you agreed and lots of you disagreed and it was great to see so many of you using different phrases from the podcast to agree and disagree.
Rich: Yes, lots of you wrote to us to ask us why we hadn’t mentioned ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
Jack: Aragorn1986 and Okhilleus7 from Montenegro, MilanSteva from Serbia, Bear28 from Georgia, Michelterzikhan from Armenia all think Didier Drogba is the best Premier League striker of the last 10 years.
Rich: Quite a few of you, including Kortomalteze from Serbia, grigor25 from Armenia and HakanUslu1881 from Turkey went for Arsenal’s Thierry Henry, although, apart from a brief return on loan, he hasn’t played in the Premier League since 2007.
Jack: Dan4UK from Ukraine went for Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Mahirsijamija from Bosnia, another Liverpool fan, went for Robbie Fowler while Quoc Thanh from Vietnam, SalvaGH from Spain, Nyinyi from Myanmar, Prsn from Uzbekistan and Irma Verulashvilii and David MVP from Georgia chose ex-Manchester Utd and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.
Rich: But more than half of you agreed with Jack and said that Wayne Rooney has been the best Premier League striker in the last 10 years.
Jack: This phrase ‘go for’ is a useful phrase to learn. Like when you said Grigor25 from Armenia went for Thierry Henry.
Rich: To go for something means to choose something or in this case someone.
Jack: So... Who’s the best player in the Premier League this season?
Rich: I’d have to go for Jamie Vardy.
Jack: And best manager?
Rich: I’d go for Leicester again and choose Claudio Ranieri - he’s been brilliant. And we’re going to speak a bit more about Vardy and Ranieri in the next section.
Jack: What’s been happening in the Premier League this week, Rich?
Rich: Manchester City went back to the top of the table, Spurs are now unbeaten in 13 Premier League matches - a Premier League record for the team from North London, and there are only 6 points between the top 6 clubs at the top of the table.
Jack: But the big Premier League news this weekend was of course, Jamie Vardy. The Leicester striker broke the Premier League record for scoring in consecutive matches and has now scored in 11 games in a row.
Rich: He scored the opening goal in a 1-1 draw against Manchester Utd. I think it is an outstanding achievement, especially because he’s not playing for one of the bigger teams.
Jack: And on a personal level it’s also a remarkable achievement because a few seasons ago he was playing non-league football and earning just £30 a week.
Rich: You can read more about Jamie Vardy in our player of the week article - I’ve put a link on the side of this page.
Jack: And thousands of fans went on social media to congratulate the striker. And many started using the Twitter hashtag JamieVardy’sParty.
Rich: But one person who is not too happy is Vardy’s boss Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri. When asked if he had been invited to Jamie Vardy’s party he joked that nobody had invited him to the ‘Vardy Party’.
Jack: The Leicester manager also joked that all the Leicester players had to come for extra training the day after the party as a punishment for not inviting their manager!
Rich: It’s a pity because Ranieri could have brought pizza!
Jack: That’s true - he’s been running a pizza incentive plan this season for all his players.
Rich: An incentive is something that encourages people to do something and Ranieri has said that he will buy pizza for all the players, every time the team keeps a clean sheet - a clean sheet is the phrase we use when a team doesn’t concede any goals.
Jack: Pizza as an incentive, eh? Everybody loves pizza. I guess they’re not too happy though, they’ve only kept two clean sheets all season.
Rich: All this talk about parties and invitations reminds me Jack. It’s my birthday next week and I was wondering if you’d like to come round to my house - we’re having a party.
Jack: That sounds great. I’d love to come. When is it?
Rich: Saturday from about eight.
Jack: Saturday?? Oh no, I’m sorry, I think I’ve got something on. I’ll have to get back to you about it. If I can’t, do you fancy going out for something to eat on Sunday?
Rich: Sure. We’ll have to do it early, I need to get back to watch the match. Liverpool are playing Newcastle at four.
Jack: We could watch the match after? Are you up for it?
Rich: Sounds like a plan to me.
Jack: You may have noticed we used some expressions for invitations and to accept or decline invitations, that is to say yes or no to the invitation.
Rich: An invitation is a request to somebody to do something and can be written or spoken and informal or formal. The ones you heard us use were informal spoken invitations. I used the phrase, ‘I was wondering if you’d like…..’ and Jack used ‘Do you fancy….’
Jack: And to accept or to say yes to an invitation we can use phrases like, ‘I’d love to’, ‘That sounds great’, ‘Sure’, ‘Sounds like a plan to me’.
Rich: And to decline or to say no to an invitation we’re usually less direct and may say phrases like, ‘I think I have something else on’ which means ‘I’m doing something else’ and we nearly always apologise by saying ‘sorry’ or ‘I’m afraid…’.
Jack: We’ve put some activities below to help you with these and a couple of links to LearnEnglish. There’s a nice video about how to decline an invitation and in the grammar section, there are some activities on modal verbs that can help you with this topic.
Rich: Right, I think it’s time for this week’s competition: ‘What’s my Team?’
Jack: 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.
Rich: 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!
Jack: Right, so this week, our Premier League fan is Alison. Listen to Alison's riddle and try to work out what’s her team?
Alison: We’ve just been promoted this season and I hope we’re going to stay in the PL for a long time. We’re known as the Canaries and that’s why we play in yellow. At every home match we sing ‘On the Ball City’ which is the oldest football song in the world.
Rich: ’On the Ball City.’ It’s not as good as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Jack: Right, it’s time for your Premier League prediction.
Rich: Before you say anything, I know I got it wrong again last week.
Jack: Yes, I have noticed a pattern developing.
Rich: This week I’m going to make a prediction about my team Liverpool, who are away to Newcastle on Sunday. Liverpool’s season seems to be improving and they are now only 6 points from the top of the table in sixth place. Newcastle are having an awful season and lost 5-1 to Palace in their last game and 3-0 to Leicester in their last home match. Newcastle’s St. James’ Park is usually a difficult place to go to but I’m going to predict a convincing win for the Reds. Final score: Newcastle Utd 1-3 Liverpool
Jack: You really shouldn’t predict a Liverpool win, not with your predictions skills!
Rich: I know, I know.
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 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 Sunderland. Congratulations to Tokomoney from Georgia! Your prize is on its way!
Quiz
Please login to take this quiz.
What do you think?
Should Claudio Ranieri be invited to Jamie Vardy's party?
Have you ever had to decline an invitation?
If you are invited to someone's house, what do you normally take with you?
Rich predicts that Liverpool will beat Newcastle Utd 3-1 this weekend. Do you agree?
Leave a comment
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Comments
14/09/2022
points
If Jamie Vardy is not the striker of the Year for me, it's like a punishment.
I'd have to go for Jamie Vardy as the Best striker
and don't forget N'golo Kanté as the best midfielder
14/09/2022 10:18
Arsenal
566
If Jamie Vardy is not the striker of the Year for me, it's like a punishment.
I'd have to go for Jamie Vardy as the Best striker
and don't forget N'golo Kanté as the best midfielder
14/09/2022
points
How about all going to Rich's party this saturday?
Sounds like a plan for us :)
14/09/2022 10:14
Arsenal
566
How about all going to Rich's party this saturday?
Sounds like a plan for us :)
14/09/2022
points
What a prediction Rich :) for sure Liverpool will win against Newcastle.
14/09/2022 10:12
Arsenal
566
What a prediction Rich :) for sure Liverpool will win against Newcastle.
14/09/2022
points
Alison's favorite team is Norwich City and their nickame is The Canaries
14/09/2022 10:11
Arsenal
566
Alison's favorite team is Norwich City and their nickame is The Canaries
04/06/2021
points
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
1-I'd go for H.Kane-M.Salah-R.Firmino who are the best Premier League strikers nowadays. Jamie Vardy is also a good player at the moment.
I'd go for West Ham United FC and choose David Moyes as the best manager of this season.
2- Pizza isn't healthy food for players-:)
3- I've declined an invitation at the most one or two times in my life because of compulsory cases.
4- As a tradition we take desserts like baklava or baked rice pudding with us .
MY TEAM- (My second hometown) Norwich City.
P.S.
• I tried out to understand Geordie accent. Words are read as they written in my language.It looks like this a little bit.
• As far as I know, accepting invitation is one of the main six rules of the manners except compelling reasons. Others; visiting in case of illness, attending funeral ceremony, advising, greeting, saying "God bless you" when someone sneezed.
04/06/2021 11:13
Tottenham Hotspur
5552
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
1-I'd go for H.Kane-M.Salah-R.Firmino who are the best Premier League strikers nowadays. Jamie Vardy is also a good player at the moment.
I'd go for West Ham United FC and choose David Moyes as the best manager of this season.
2- Pizza isn't healthy food for players-:)
3- I've declined an invitation at the most one or two times in my life because of compulsory cases.
4- As a tradition we take desserts like baklava or baked rice pudding with us .
MY TEAM- (My second hometown) Norwich City.
P.S.
• I tried out to understand Geordie accent. Words are read as they written in my language.It looks like this a little bit.
• As far as I know, accepting invitation is one of the main six rules of the manners except compelling reasons. Others; visiting in case of illness, attending funeral ceremony, advising, greeting, saying "God bless you" when someone sneezed.
24/07/2020
points
When invited to a house I usually try to take a good mood with me: if it's not the case I could gently decline an invitation.
24/07/2020 06:42
Liverpool
6562
When invited to a house I usually try to take a good mood with me: if it's not the case I could gently decline an invitation.
24/07/2020
points
I've had to decline an invitation lots of times: not every invitation suited me at times.
24/07/2020 06:39
Liverpool
6562
I've had to decline an invitation lots of times: not every invitation suited me at times.
24/07/2020
points
Jamie Vardy is the best striker in the Premier League at the moment and one of the best players in British football history for sure.
24/07/2020 06:35
Liverpool
6562
Jamie Vardy is the best striker in the Premier League at the moment and one of the best players in British football history for sure.
08/05/2020
points
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City who's nickname is the canaries :)
08/05/2020 01:40
Manchester United
6536
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City who's nickname is the canaries :)
08/05/2020
points
I thought Liverpool will win by a massive number of goals like 4-0 or 5-1
08/05/2020 01:39
Manchester United
6536
I thought Liverpool will win by a massive number of goals like 4-0 or 5-1
08/05/2020
points
I usually take something to eat and drink together
It's a tradition here in Turkey :)
08/05/2020 01:39
Manchester United
6536
I usually take something to eat and drink together
It's a tradition here in Turkey :)
08/05/2020
points
Yes when I have an important football game with my friends :)
08/05/2020 01:38
Manchester United
6536
Yes when I have an important football game with my friends :)
08/05/2020
points
Definately he is the manager so he should be invited :)
08/05/2020 01:37
Manchester United
6536
Definately he is the manager so he should be invited :)
08/05/2020
points
Vardy and Mahrez are head and shoulders :)
08/05/2020 01:35
Manchester United
6536
Vardy and Mahrez are head and shoulders :)
03/10/2017
points
I suppose it was second season syndrom for Claudio Ranieri in Leicester.
03/10/2017 07:40
Arsenal
2337
I suppose it was second season syndrom for Claudio Ranieri in Leicester.
02/02/2017
points
excellent now
02/02/2017 17:09
Manchester United
684
excellent now
02/02/2017
points
I have used to win =D
02/02/2017 17:07
Manchester United
684
I have used to win =D
26/06/2016
points
yes he is
26/06/2016 10:30
Manchester City
1734
yes he is
01/06/2016
points
I would take my phone along
01/06/2016 21:25
Manchester United
4779
I would take my phone along
01/06/2016
points
Yes I have declined an invitation before it was because of the timing
01/06/2016 21:23
Manchester United
4779
Yes I have declined an invitation before it was because of the timing
01/06/2016
points
Claudio Ranieri should be invited 5o Jamie Vardy's party it will be available great time to relieve themselves some stress
01/06/2016 21:15
Manchester United
4779
Claudio Ranieri should be invited 5o Jamie Vardy's party it will be available great time to relieve themselves some stress
01/06/2016
points
Vardy is the best player at the moment in the Premier league
01/06/2016 21:14
Manchester United
4779
Vardy is the best player at the moment in the Premier league
06/04/2016
points
No he should not.
06/04/2016 12:52
Liverpool
3705
No he should not.
06/04/2016
points
No he is not,in stead of scoring goals but i prefer Mahrez as the best player this season.
06/04/2016 12:51
Liverpool
3705
No he is not,in stead of scoring goals but i prefer Mahrez as the best player this season.
13/12/2015
points
I think the best player is Vardy is the best at the momment and Mehrez is an amazing player as well and Raniere is a good coach he is doing a great job ... i think Ozel could be considerd one of the best if not in the ppl this season
13/12/2015 14:41
Manchester City
7
I think the best player is Vardy is the best at the momment and Mehrez is an amazing player as well and Raniere is a good coach he is doing a great job ... i think Ozel could be considerd one of the best if not in the ppl this season
13/12/2015
points
Alisson's team is Norwich City
There kits are yello and the secod kit is yello striped with green
13/12/2015 14:37
Manchester City
7
Alisson's team is Norwich City
There kits are yello and the secod kit is yello striped with green
13/12/2015
points
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City
13/12/2015 06:44
Chelsea
1
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City
12/12/2015
points
It is absolutely Norwich City !
12/12/2015 15:29
Manchester United
1
It is absolutely Norwich City !
10/12/2015
points
Norwich City F.C. is Alison's favorite club in the Premier League
10/12/2015 14:39
Everton
3
Norwich City F.C. is Alison's favorite club in the Premier League
07/12/2015
points
The answer to this week's 'What's my Team?' competition is Norwich City.
07/12/2015 21:58
Manchester United
82
The answer to this week's 'What's my Team?' competition is Norwich City.
07/12/2015
points
The competition answer is Norwich City...
07/12/2015 21:30
Arsenal
108
The competition answer is Norwich City...
07/12/2015
points
Alison's team is Norwich CIty. Good luck to everyone!
07/12/2015 20:57
Manchester United
146
Alison's team is Norwich CIty. Good luck to everyone!
07/12/2015
points
This team is Norwich City F.C.
07/12/2015 13:39
Arsenal
24
This team is Norwich City F.C.
07/12/2015
points
Norwich City
07/12/2015 12:18
Liverpool
131
Norwich City
07/12/2015
points
Norwich is the answer of the competiion. Hope to win this time :)
07/12/2015 08:37
Arsenal
66
Norwich is the answer of the competiion. Hope to win this time :)
07/12/2015
points
The club that Alison talked about is Norwich City.
07/12/2015 04:11
Manchester City
813
The club that Alison talked about is Norwich City.
06/12/2015
points
Alison team is Norwich City Football Club
06/12/2015 23:17
Chelsea
48
Alison team is Norwich City Football Club
06/12/2015
points
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City Football Club
06/12/2015 23:07
Manchester United
71
Alison's favourite team is Norwich City Football Club
06/12/2015
points
Norwich city
06/12/2015 19:16
Manchester City
1
Norwich city
06/12/2015
points
My answer on the riddle is Norwich City.
06/12/2015 19:02
Arsenal
43
My answer on the riddle is Norwich City.
06/12/2015
points
Nooo! I've failed in my prediction, it's unbeliavable, Newcastle won. Come on!, give me a break it's a miracle. Sorry Rich.
06/12/2015 18:43
Chelsea
64
Nooo! I've failed in my prediction, it's unbeliavable, Newcastle won. Come on!, give me a break it's a miracle. Sorry Rich.
08/12/2015
points
I know. I don't know which is worse; my prediction or the actual result!
08/12/2015 14:54
Liverpool
594
I know. I don't know which is worse; my prediction or the actual result!
06/12/2015
points
Alison's team is Norwich City
06/12/2015 18:00
Manchester United
1308
Alison's team is Norwich City
06/12/2015
points
Can't wait for the match! I think that Liverpool will beat Newcastle Utd 3-1 - You"ll never walk alone!!!
06/12/2015 11:02
Liverpool
17
Can't wait for the match! I think that Liverpool will beat Newcastle Utd 3-1 - You"ll never walk alone!!!
05/12/2015
points
I agree that Jamie Vardy is the best player in the Premier League at the moment.
He is absolutely phenomenal this season and he lead Leicester to the top of the table in the Premier League.
About the manager I thing that Jurgen Klopp is the best one so far.
Even he's shortly in Liverpool he already made a difference. The players play better and they started to believe in their skills. All that is Klopp contribution.
The answer about this week competition is Norwich City F.C.
05/12/2015 21:15
Liverpool
8
I agree that Jamie Vardy is the best player in the Premier League at the moment.
He is absolutely phenomenal this season and he lead Leicester to the top of the table in the Premier League.
About the manager I thing that Jurgen Klopp is the best one so far.
Even he's shortly in Liverpool he already made a difference. The players play better and they started to believe in their skills. All that is Klopp contribution.
The answer about this week competition is Norwich City F.C.
08/12/2015
points
I agree, he's certainly made a difference. I'm hoping the defeat at Newcastle was just one step back after taking two steps forward!
08/12/2015 14:52
Liverpool
594
I agree, he's certainly made a difference. I'm hoping the defeat at Newcastle was just one step back after taking two steps forward!
05/12/2015
points
The answer to this week's competition is Norwich City F.C. Good luck everyone!
05/12/2015 18:37
Liverpool
17
The answer to this week's competition is Norwich City F.C. Good luck everyone!
05/12/2015
points
Hello, I am Jiahe. I guess Alison's favourite team is Norwich City team. Norwich City’s nickname is ‘The Canaries’.
05/12/2015 16:20
Manchester United
1
Hello, I am Jiahe. I guess Alison's favourite team is Norwich City team. Norwich City’s nickname is ‘The Canaries’.
05/12/2015
points
Allison's favourite team is Norwich City.
It is my answer to week's " What's My Team" competition.
My predict: Newcastle United - Liverpool FC 1:1
But very interesting much will be on Saturday between Manchester United and West Ham United. My predict: win ManU 2:1. But I like West Ham United.
05/12/2015 14:09
Leicester City
44
Allison's favourite team is Norwich City.
It is my answer to week's " What's My Team" competition.
My predict: Newcastle United - Liverpool FC 1:1
But very interesting much will be on Saturday between Manchester United and West Ham United. My predict: win ManU 2:1. But I like West Ham United.
05/12/2015
points
I do not think that Vardy is the best at the moment. Sterling is better.
I agree with Rich concerning Liverpool victory but I think it will be 3:0. Newcastle defence is one of the worst this season.
05/12/2015 13:32
Manchester City
156
I do not think that Vardy is the best at the moment. Sterling is better.
I agree with Rich concerning Liverpool victory but I think it will be 3:0. Newcastle defence is one of the worst this season.