This Week: On your marks, get set, go!
This Week: On your marks, get set, go!
Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. This Week, Laura, Rich and Jack talk about the latest action from the Premier League and have lots of football English for you to learn.
Transcript
On your marks, get set, go!
Laura: Hello my name’s Laura and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.
Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.
Jack: And I’m Jack and we hope you are all well.
Laura: The Premier League season kicks off this week and I’m very excited.
Rich: Yes, me too. Liverpool are going to walk it again.
Laura: City for me.
Jack: Arsenal have to be this season’s dark horses.
Laura: Arsenal? Really?
Rich: I suppose you’ve got to support your team.
Jack: We’re all hoping for a really good season for our teams but want we want most is to see some exciting matches and great goals by all the teams in the Premier League this season.
Laura: As always, we’ll take a look at our football headlines from the past seven days. This week we’re talking about the start of the Women’s Super League, Premier League transfers and international football.
Rich: But, more importantly, our main aim is to focus on some football English for you to learn.
Jack: After each of our three football headlines we’ll focus on some useful bits of vocabulary and we’ll also have a Premier League prediction for you.
Laura: And we want you to use and practise these words and phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.
Rich: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.
Jack: You can find all of our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page.
Laura: Don’t forget that we also have our weekly Premier Skills English podcast that is released every Friday. Every week we help you with some different vocabulary or an aspect of grammar.
Rich: Our latest podcast is called Premier League Previews: Arsenal to Leicester.
Laura: In the podcast, Rich interviews ten football Premier League fans about their clubs and how they feel about the new season.
Jack: We look at ten football phrases or cliches that these football fans use. You can find the lesson on the homepage on the Premier Skills English website.
Laura: OK, you’re now going to hear our three headlines. After each headline, we’ll have a little discussion and look at some vocabulary.
Rich: The words and phrases we are looking at this week are: to get off to a flyer, to mark your debut with a goal, to strike a deal, to clinch the signature of, respectively and the onion bag.
Jack: Later on we’ll also have a language challenge for you to have a go at so you need to be ready for that.
Headline 1
Rich: Gunners and Toffees off to a flyer
Jack: The Women’s Super League kicked off at the weekend and there were big wins for Arsenal and Everton. Arsenal beat Reading 6-1 with Dutch international Jill Roord getting hat trick. Everton won 4-0 away at Bristol City with captain Lucy Graham netting twice and French international Valerie Gauvin marking her debut with a goal. There were also opening day wins for Manchester City and Brighton.
Laura: There is a lot of excitement around the Women’s Super League this season. The growing success of the league has seen players arrive from twenty different countries this summer.
Rich: Some of the world’s best have arrived including World Cup winners for the USA such as Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle at Manchester City and one of Europe’s best players - the Danish international Pernille Harder who is now at Chelsea.
Jack: And international players have also arrived from Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, France, Canada and Spain amongst others.
Rich: And remember you can watch the matches, highlights and goals on the FA player. It’s free to sign up.
Laura: Before we look at some vocabulary from the headline let’s look at the title we have used for this week’s podcast. We’ve called it on your marks, get set, go.
Jack: This phrase comes from athletics and is used to tell runners to get ready and then to start a race.
Rich: A more informal phrase that is used mainly for children and races is ready, steady, go.
Laura: We’ve used this phrase this week because Premier League clubs are on their marks and getting set and ready to go this weekend.
Jack: Back to that first headline. We said Arsenal and Everton have got off to a flyer.
Rich: To get off to a flyer means to begin something very well or make a very good start to something.
Laura: We can also use the phrase to get off to a flying start.
Jack: Arsenal won 6-1 and Everton won 4-0.
Rich: Arsenal got off to a flyer. Everton got off to a flying start.
Laura: The second phrase we want to look at from our first headline is to mark your debut with a goal.
Jack: Your debut is the first time you play for a club. The collocation we usually use is to make your debut. Valerie Gauvin made her debut for Everton at the weekend.
Rich: The verb mark can also be used to celebrate and is often quite formal. We can say things like the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding was marked with a small celebration of all the staff.
Laura: We use it in football when a footballer scores on their debut. Valerie Gauvin marked her debut with a goal.
Jack: Let’s move on to our net headline.
Headline 2
Jack: More transfer deals being struck.
Laura: Clubs are getting their squads ready for Premier League kick-off this weekend and there will be some new names in the Premier League. Leeds United have smashed their transfer record to bring in Rodrigo for £27 million from Valencia, Chelsea have paid Bayer Leverkusen over £60 million for the German international Kai Hervertz and Everton look certain to clinch the signature of the Colombian, James Rodriguez from Real Madrid.
Rich: Soe exciting new players in the Premier League this season. I can’t wait to see those three players in action.
Jack: What a result for Everton if they can get James Rodriguez.
Laura: Let’s look at some language. In the headline, we spoke about deals being struck.
Rich: To strike a deal means to come to an agreement.
Jack: Leeds United struck a deal with Valencia to bring Rodrigo to the Premier League. The two clubs came to an agreement and Rodrigo signed for Leeds.
Laura: The other phrase we want to look at is to clinch the signature of. In the headline, we said that Everton look certain to clinch the signature of James Rodriguez.
Rich: Your signature is how you sign or write your name. You often have to add your signature when you sign official documents. To complete a football transfer lots of documents have to be signed by the player and the clubs involved.
Laura: So we often talk about the signature of a player as a synonym of a transfer or signing of a player.
Jack: To clinch can mean to succeed in winning something. You might hear something like this in a football report: Manchester United clinched victory in the last minute when …
Laura: Everton have succeeded in completing the transfer of James Rodriguez to their club. They have clinched the signature of James Rodriguez.
Rich: Let’s move on to our third and final headline.
Headline 3
Laura: Nations League kicks off in Europe.
Rich: The second Nations League kicked off last weekend with Premier League players getting on the scoresheets for their countries. Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Tottenham’s Steven Bergwijn got winners for England and the Netherlands respectively, Chelsea’s Timo Werner and Manchester CIty’s Ilkay Gundogan scoring for Germany, West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko and City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko netting for Ukraine, and Wolves’ Diogo Jota put the ball in the onion bag for Portugal.
Jack: Lots of international action last weekend with Premier League players in action. Do you think it’s a good way to warm up for the Premier League?
Laura: I’m not sure. These matches are definitely more competitive than pre-season friendlies but I’m sure Premier League managers would prefer to have all their players on the training pitch in the run up to the start of the season.
Rich: Let’s look at some language. We said Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Tottenham’s Steven Bergwijn got winners for England and the Netherlands respectively.
Jack: Respectively means in the same order that has been mentioned before so in this example, we are talking about Raheem Sterling getting a winner for England and Steve Bergwijn getting a winner for the Netherlands because that is the order that the players were mentioned.
Laura: Here’s another example: Manchester United, West Ham and Arsenal used to be called Newton Heath, Thames Ironworks and Woolwich Arsenal respectively.
Jack: The next phrase is a bit silly but Rich has wanted to include it in the podcast for a long time. The phrase is the onion bag. The onion bag refers to the net so to put the ball in the onion bag means to score a goal.
Laura: Why is it called the onion bag?
Rich: Well, because we usually buy onions in bags that look like nets and the goal is a net.
Jack: I’m not sure onions are bought in bags that look like nets everywhere. The onion bag - what a strange phrase.
Laura: OK. We’ve looked at three stories and six bits of vocabulary in our headlines. The words and phrases we’ve looked at are: off to a flyer, to mark your debut with a goal, to strike a deal, to clinch the signature of, respectively and the onion bag.
Prediction
Jack: The Premier League season kicks off this weekend with eight Premier League matches.
Laura: The fixtures are: Fulham v Arsenal, Crystal Palace v Southampton, West Ham v Newcastle, Liverpool v Leeds, West Brom v Leicester, Tottenham v Everton, Brighton v Chelsea and Sheffield United v Wolves.
Jack: Every week we predict the result of one of the weekend’s Premier League matches and we want you to say whether you agree or disagree with our prediction.
Laura: But you can also talk about all the other matches and predict the results in our comments section on the Premier Skills English website.
Jack: It’s also a good place to practise your football English and talk to other Premier League fans.
Laura: OK, Rich. Which match are you going to focus on for the opening weekend.
Rich: The opening day of the season sees the Premier League Champions - Liverpool - it’s nice to say that - take on the Champions of the Championship - Leeds United. This will be Leeds’ first Premier League match since 2004 so it’s a big occasion and in Marcelo Bielsa, they have a manager for the big occasion and he will certainly have his team prepared at Anfield. However, they couldn’t have asked for a more difficult match - away at the Champions. Liverpool will want to get their title defence off to a flyer but maybe, just maybe Leeds can catch the Champions cold so I’m going for a shock result. Final score: Liverpool 1-2 Leeds United.
Jack: I think this season will see lots of surprises but not in this one. Two-nil to Liverpool.
Laura: Remember we want you to make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website.
Language Challenge
Rich: To finish up the show we’ve got a quick language challenge connected to this week’s vocabulary.
Jack: Earlier we spoke about marking your debut with a goal and we’re going to look at three more football phrases with the word debut.
Laura: These are quite difficult. Write your answers in the comments section and if your answers are correct you will see that we have replaced your answer with asterisks so other listeners can guess too. Here are the three sentences.
Rich: This is her _____ debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of time but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
Jack: This is his ______ debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
Laura: It will be her ________ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
Rich: We want you to write the correct answers on the Premier Skills English website where we have some more questions and activities connected to this week’s show.
Laura: Or write your answer on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us. Just write the answers in the review section and say hi.
Jack: Before we finish we just wanted to say that we hope you found this lesson useful and we hope that all of you stay fit and healthy.
Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Headlines
Gunners and Toffees off to a flyer
The Women’s Super League kicked off at the weekend and there were big wins for Arsenal and Everton. Arsenal beat Reading 6-1 with Dutch international Jill Roord getting hat trick. Everton won 4-0 away at Bristol City with captain Lucy Graham netting twice and French international Valerie Gauvin marking her debut with a goal. There were also opening day wins for Manchester City and Brighton.
Headlines
More transfer deals being struck
Clubs are getting their squads ready for Premier League kick-off this weekend and there will be some new names in the Premier League. Leeds United have smashed their transfer record to bring in Rodrigo for £27 million from Valencia, Chelsea have paid Bayer Leverkusen over £60 million for the German international Kai Hervertz and Everton look certain to clinch the signature of the Colombian, James Rodriguez from Real Madrid.
Headlines
Nations League kicks off in Europe
The second Nations League kicked off last weekend with Premier League players getting on the scoresheets for their countries. Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Tottenham’s Steven Bergwijn got winners for England and the Netherlands respectively, Chelsea’s Timo Werner and Manchester CIty’s Ilkay Gundogan scoring for Germany, West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko and City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko netting for Ukraine, and Wolves’ Diogo Jota put the ball in the onion bag for Portugal.
Vocabulary Alert
Language in the headlines
We looked at six words and phrases in our headlines that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?
Gunners and Toffees get off to a flyer. Liverpool will want to get their title defence off to a flyer.
Everton won 4-0 away at Bristol City with Lucy Graham netting twice and Valerie Gauvin marking her debut with a goal.
More transfer deals being struck. Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen struck a deal over the transfer of Kai Havertz.
Everton look certain to clinch the signature of the Colombian, James Rodriguez from Real Madrid.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Tottenham’s Steven Bergwijn got winners for England and the Netherlands respectively.
Wolves’ Diogo Jota put the ball in the onion bag for Portugal.
Prediction
Premier League Predictions
It's the opening day of the Premier League weekend and Rich talks about Liverpool against Leeds United. Here are the other Premier League fixtures:
Fixtures
Fulham v Arsenal
Crystal Palace v Southampton
West Ham v Newcastle
Liverpool v Leeds
West Brom v Leicester
Tottenham v Everton
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
Talk about the matches and make your predictions in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Vocabulary
Language Challenge
Jack, Rich and Laura set you a language challenge. We used the phrase to mark your debut with a goal earlier in the podcast and we’ve thought of three other phrases which use the word debut. Can you complete the phrases using the correct word?
This is her _____ debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ______ debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ________ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
Write the correct answer in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Discuss
Talk about the headlines
Jack, Laura and Rich looked at three stories in the news and some vocabulary that might be new to you. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.
- Which teams will get off to a flyer this season?
- What's the best transfer deal that has been struck this summer?
- Who is going to put the ball in the onion bag most this season?
- Talk about this week's Premier League matches and make your predictions.
- Can you do our language challenge?
Write your comments and answers in the section below.
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Comments
01/03/2021
points
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
This is her FULL debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his LEAGUE debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her INTERNATIONAL debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
PHRASES;
• After graduating with a successful degree she got off a flying start in her working-life as a top manager.
• New transferred player couldn.t mark her/his debut with a goal because of being the goalkeeper.
The exporter struck a deal with new buyers across potential markets.They have also clinched the signature of co-partner investor to build a new factory in Africa.
• ElevenFire F.C. clinched to be champion three weeks before end of the football season.
• The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health made a speech at the ceremony respectively.
• She/he put the ball in the onion bag but assistant referee rose her/his flag because of off-side.
01/03/2021 18:38
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
This is her FULL debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his LEAGUE debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her INTERNATIONAL debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
PHRASES;
• After graduating with a successful degree she got off a flying start in her working-life as a top manager.
• New transferred player couldn.t mark her/his debut with a goal because of being the goalkeeper.
The exporter struck a deal with new buyers across potential markets.They have also clinched the signature of co-partner investor to build a new factory in Africa.
• ElevenFire F.C. clinched to be champion three weeks before end of the football season.
• The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health made a speech at the ceremony respectively.
• She/he put the ball in the onion bag but assistant referee rose her/his flag because of off-side.
14/09/2020
points
Hi everyone!
The language challenge:
This is her starter debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of time but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
Jack: This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
Laura: It will be her ************* debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
Best regards!
14/09/2020 01:17
Leeds United
399
Hi everyone!
The language challenge:
This is her starter debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of time but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
Jack: This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
Laura: It will be her ************* debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
Best regards!
11/09/2020
points
Language Challenge
This is her starting debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ************* debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
11/09/2020 19:30
Tottenham Hotspur
438
Language Challenge
This is her starting debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ************* debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
12/09/2020
points
I would like to have another go for the language challenge.
This is her **** debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
12/09/2020 10:23
Tottenham Hotspur
438
I would like to have another go for the language challenge.
This is her **** debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
11/09/2020
points
Fulham 1 : 1 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 0 : 0 Southampton
West Ham 1 : 2 Newcastle
Liverpool 3 : 1 Leeds
West Brom 1 : 2 Leicester
Tottenham 2 : 2 Everton
Brighton 1 : 3 Chelsea
Sheffield United 1 : 1 Wolves
11/09/2020 13:27
Liverpool
6578
Fulham 1 : 1 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 0 : 0 Southampton
West Ham 1 : 2 Newcastle
Liverpool 3 : 1 Leeds
West Brom 1 : 2 Leicester
Tottenham 2 : 2 Everton
Brighton 1 : 3 Chelsea
Sheffield United 1 : 1 Wolves
11/09/2020
points
1. Chelsea, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool are my candidate to get off on a flyer.
2. The three best transfert deals are Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Thyago Silva.
3. Aubameyang and Vardy will put more onions in the bags than any other player in the PL.
11/09/2020 12:56
Manchester City
3988
1. Chelsea, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool are my candidate to get off on a flyer.
2. The three best transfert deals are Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Thyago Silva.
3. Aubameyang and Vardy will put more onions in the bags than any other player in the PL.
09/09/2020
points
Language Challenge
This is her **** debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ***** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ************ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
09/09/2020 20:37
Manchester United
6539
Language Challenge
This is her **** debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ***** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ************ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
09/09/2020
points
1. I think Manchester City will get off to a flyer this season. We are lucky that they haven’t signed Messi or it would have been a disaster.
2. I think the best deal this Summer is Timo Werner for Chelsea because he’s a fox in the box.
3. I think Mo Salah is going to be back with a bang and put the ball in the onion bag the most to clinch the PL top scorer for the third time.
4. PL Matches prediction
Fulham 1-3 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton
West Ham 2-2 Newcastle
Liverpool 2-2 Leeds
West Brom 1-3 Leicester
Tottenham 2-1 Everton
Brighton 1-2 Chelsea
Sheffield United 1-2 Wolves
09/09/2020 20:36
Manchester United
6539
1. I think Manchester City will get off to a flyer this season. We are lucky that they haven’t signed Messi or it would have been a disaster.
2. I think the best deal this Summer is Timo Werner for Chelsea because he’s a fox in the box.
3. I think Mo Salah is going to be back with a bang and put the ball in the onion bag the most to clinch the PL top scorer for the third time.
4. PL Matches prediction
Fulham 1-3 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton
West Ham 2-2 Newcastle
Liverpool 2-2 Leeds
West Brom 1-3 Leicester
Tottenham 2-1 Everton
Brighton 1-2 Chelsea
Sheffield United 1-2 Wolves
09/09/2020
points
Hi, I hope everyone is fit and healthy.
First of all, my prediction is Leeds 1 Liverpool 1
Second, here are my propositions in vocabulary challenge.
This is her ___line up__ debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ___ ******___ debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ___*************_____ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
09/09/2020 14:27
Manchester City
3988
Hi, I hope everyone is fit and healthy.
First of all, my prediction is Leeds 1 Liverpool 1
Second, here are my propositions in vocabulary challenge.
This is her ___line up__ debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of times but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
This is his ___ ******___ debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
It will be her ___*************_____ debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
09/09/2020
points
Hi Guys! First of all: the lessons are always useful! Thanks for your continuous support.
Language Challenge:
1. This is her MATCH debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of time but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
2. This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
3. It will be her NATIONAL debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
PL PREDICTIONS
Fulham 1-2 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 1-1 Southampton
West Ham 2-0 Newcastle
Liverpool 3-1 Leeds
West Brom 0-1 Leicester
Tottenham 1-2 Everton
Brighton 1-4 Chelsea
Sheffield United 2-2 Wolves
Could you guys please clarify why United and City will not play in the first round? I can´t see fixtures for these teams.
09/09/2020 01:45
Tottenham Hotspur
107
Hi Guys! First of all: the lessons are always useful! Thanks for your continuous support.
Language Challenge:
1. This is her MATCH debut. She’s come on as a sub a couple of time but this is the first time she’s in the starting line up.
2. This is his ****** debut. He’s only ever played in cup competitions before.
3. It will be her NATIONAL debut if she plays. She’s never been called up by her country before.
PL PREDICTIONS
Fulham 1-2 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 1-1 Southampton
West Ham 2-0 Newcastle
Liverpool 3-1 Leeds
West Brom 0-1 Leicester
Tottenham 1-2 Everton
Brighton 1-4 Chelsea
Sheffield United 2-2 Wolves
Could you guys please clarify why United and City will not play in the first round? I can´t see fixtures for these teams.
09/09/2020
points
Hi Salomoah,
I see you've gone with Everton to win away at Tottenham. Everton could be the surprise team this season. What do you think?
United's and CIty's matches have been postponed to give the teams a long enough break between the end of their European matches and the start of the Premier League season. Here are more details.
Do you want to have another go at the language challenge?
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
09/09/2020 08:08
Liverpool
594
Hi Salomoah,
I see you've gone with Everton to win away at Tottenham. Everton could be the surprise team this season. What do you think?
United's and CIty's matches have been postponed to give the teams a long enough break between the end of their European matches and the start of the Premier League season. Here are more details.
Do you want to have another go at the language challenge?
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team