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Jamie Vardy celebrating his record.

Podcast 28

Podcast 28

Premier League badge.

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?

  1. Press play on the podcast below smiley

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

  3. Guess Alison'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:

"I'd have to go for Jamie Vardy"

"Claudio Ranieri has been running a pizza incentive plan this season."

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?

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."

Activity 2: In the podcast, Jack and Rich used some of the language of invitations. In this activity, put the words in the sentences to complete them correctly.
Can you complete the sentences?

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....

 

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.

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 Tokomoney from Georgia! Your prize is on its way!

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

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What do you think?

Is Jamie Vardy the best player in the Premier League at the moment?
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?
 

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

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Comments

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
01/12/2015
ME
3557
points

Yes, definitely the best one!


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
01/12/2015 15:11
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Yes, definitely the best one!

Okhilleus7's picture
Okhilleus7
01/12/2015
ME
37
points

1. I nearly said yes. But he's just the best striker in the EPL right now. Other players can compete with him for the title "Best Player in the Premier League". Well, I would have to say that one player is currently better than him on that list. However, I must say that I feel bitter because of that fact that this player is an asset of our (Tottenham's) bitter rivals - Arsenal Playmaker Mesut Ozil. His assist tally is just incredible. Arsenal's best supplier of goals.
2. Of course, he should. As you guys said, he would've brought pizza! And that is a mouthwatering (this is some tennis jargon) wild card!
3. Yes. Just recently. It was a wedding invitation of my coiffeur. I had to decline because I had to defend my thesis one day after it. I couldn't possibly go drunk and defend my dissertation in front of my teacher.
4. It depends on what type of party it is. But usually, it's just beer and snacks.

I predict that Liverpool will beat Newcastle United 4:1 this weekend. The Brazilian duo (Coutinho and Firmino) will make the biggest difference in the match.


Okhilleus7's picture
Okhilleus7
01/12/2015 15:08
Montenegro
Tottenham Hotspur
37

1. I nearly said yes. But he's just the best striker in the EPL right now. Other players can compete with him for the title "Best Player in the Premier League". Well, I would have to say that one player is currently better than him on that list. However, I must say that I feel bitter because of that fact that this player is an asset of our (Tottenham's) bitter rivals - Arsenal Playmaker Mesut Ozil. His assist tally is just incredible. Arsenal's best supplier of goals.
2. Of course, he should. As you guys said, he would've brought pizza! And that is a mouthwatering (this is some tennis jargon) wild card!
3. Yes. Just recently. It was a wedding invitation of my coiffeur. I had to decline because I had to defend my thesis one day after it. I couldn't possibly go drunk and defend my dissertation in front of my teacher.
4. It depends on what type of party it is. But usually, it's just beer and snacks.

I predict that Liverpool will beat Newcastle United 4:1 this weekend. The Brazilian duo (Coutinho and Firmino) will make the biggest difference in the match.

nikosonris
01/12/2015
UA
2453
points

Rich, I must admit my recent predictions have been as bad as yours)) But I am on your side this weekend predicting that Liverpool will beat Newcastle by 3-0


nikosonris
01/12/2015 14:44
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Rich, I must admit my recent predictions have been as bad as yours)) But I am on your side this weekend predicting that Liverpool will beat Newcastle by 3-0

nikosonris
07/12/2015
UA
2453
points

Sorry Rich, another bad prediction from you and me))


nikosonris
07/12/2015 12:14
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Sorry Rich, another bad prediction from you and me))

Rich's picture
Rich
07/12/2015
ES
594
points

I think I might start a bit of a reverse psychology and start predictiing the opposite of what I think/want!


Rich's picture
Rich
07/12/2015 20:07
Spain
Liverpool
594

I think I might start a bit of a reverse psychology and start predictiing the opposite of what I think/want!

nikosonris
09/12/2015
UA
2453
points

Psychology is a very difficult game to play in)) So, if you predicted a 1-2 win for Chelsea, given your new reverse psychology what you really thought/wanted is that the Foxes would beat the Blues, right?))


nikosonris
09/12/2015 11:27
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Psychology is a very difficult game to play in)) So, if you predicted a 1-2 win for Chelsea, given your new reverse psychology what you really thought/wanted is that the Foxes would beat the Blues, right?))

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
01/12/2015
RW
2320
points

My prediction is 2-0 for Liverpool


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
01/12/2015 19:44
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

My prediction is 2-0 for Liverpool

nikosonris
01/12/2015
UA
2453
points

When invited over to a friend's house I usually ask what I can bring. My friends would typically say "nothing, just yourselves, bla bla bla" and I take a bottle of wine and a bunch of cute stories to share with them)


nikosonris
01/12/2015 14:41
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

When invited over to a friend's house I usually ask what I can bring. My friends would typically say "nothing, just yourselves, bla bla bla" and I take a bottle of wine and a bunch of cute stories to share with them)

leartsopi
01/12/2015
XK
19
points

alison's favourite team is Norwich City Fc


leartsopi
01/12/2015 14:38
Kosovo
Liverpool
19

alison's favourite team is Norwich City Fc

nikosonris
01/12/2015
UA
2453
points

It will be the real party if they can stay on top at the end of the season)) But I doubt that other top-flight teams would give up easily.


nikosonris
01/12/2015 14:35
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

It will be the real party if they can stay on top at the end of the season)) But I doubt that other top-flight teams would give up easily.

nikosonris
01/12/2015
UA
2453
points

I couldn't agree more - Jamie Vardy is currently the best player in the Premier League. He's got pace and ability. And I do like their exceptional team spirit, which was many times appreciated by their coach. But they've got a very tricky run of games coming up. Let's see how they progress going forward.


nikosonris
01/12/2015 14:31
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

I couldn't agree more - Jamie Vardy is currently the best player in the Premier League. He's got pace and ability. And I do like their exceptional team spirit, which was many times appreciated by their coach. But they've got a very tricky run of games coming up. Let's see how they progress going forward.

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
06/12/2015
RW
2320
points

Their team is more stronger, I was waiting Vardy's goal but I finally got his assist and a fantastic hat-trick from Mahrez


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
06/12/2015 06:12
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

Their team is more stronger, I was waiting Vardy's goal but I finally got his assist and a fantastic hat-trick from Mahrez

Okhilleus7's picture
Okhilleus7
01/12/2015
ME
37
points

- Norwich City F.C. is Alison's favorite club in the Premier League.

By the way, I always wanted to visit Pulls Ferry in Norwich!


Okhilleus7's picture
Okhilleus7
01/12/2015 14:23
Montenegro
Tottenham Hotspur
37

- Norwich City F.C. is Alison's favorite club in the Premier League.

By the way, I always wanted to visit Pulls Ferry in Norwich!

admin's picture
admin
08/12/2015
GB
560
points

It's very pretty. I had never heard of it before reading your comment. How did you learn of the place?


admin's picture
admin
08/12/2015 13:20
United Kingdom
Arsenal
560

It's very pretty. I had never heard of it before reading your comment. How did you learn of the place?

Gugo
01/12/2015
AM
39
points

I think that Alison's favourite team is Norwich City.
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or City) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. Norwich returned to the Premier League in 2015, having first been promoted to the top flight in 1972. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985. The club has never won the top flight, but finished third in 1993.

The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian Derby 134 times since 1902.

The fans' song "On the Ball, City" is regarded as being the oldest football song in the world which is still in use. The club plays in characteristic yellow and green kits and are affectionally known as The Canaries as a reference to their colours and club badge. thank You


Gugo
01/12/2015 14:19
Armenia
Manchester United
39

I think that Alison's favourite team is Norwich City.
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or City) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. Norwich returned to the Premier League in 2015, having first been promoted to the top flight in 1972. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985. The club has never won the top flight, but finished third in 1993.

The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian Derby 134 times since 1902.

The fans' song "On the Ball, City" is regarded as being the oldest football song in the world which is still in use. The club plays in characteristic yellow and green kits and are affectionally known as The Canaries as a reference to their colours and club badge. thank You

Gugo
01/12/2015
AM
39
points

Hello!!! I dont think that Vardy is the best player in the Premier League at the moment. He just scores goals and is in good form!! And I think in next season he will be in another team!!
I dont like to declines invitations, because I like parties)) But sometimes I have to decline. And if Im invited to someone's house, I take something to eat or to drink with me.
I predict that Liverpool will beat Newcastle Utd 2-0 this weekend!!


Gugo
01/12/2015 14:09
Armenia
Manchester United
39

Hello!!! I dont think that Vardy is the best player in the Premier League at the moment. He just scores goals and is in good form!! And I think in next season he will be in another team!!
I dont like to declines invitations, because I like parties)) But sometimes I have to decline. And if Im invited to someone's house, I take something to eat or to drink with me.
I predict that Liverpool will beat Newcastle Utd 2-0 this weekend!!

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
01/12/2015
RW
2320
points

Vardy is the best player in EPL at the moment


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
01/12/2015 19:39
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

Vardy is the best player in EPL at the moment

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6574
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5557
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33837
3Spain29439
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23439
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20098
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146589
2Liverpool111307
3Chelsea90125
4Arsenal86333
5Manchester City58756
6Tottenham Hotspur19422
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7667
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Practise your listening skills.

Learn some new football vocabulary. 

Learn phrases to accept and decline invitations.