The English Blog

EF English Proficiency Ranking

EF Education First, the international education company, has published what it claims is “the world’s first index to compare the English-language ability of adults in different countries”. Based on free online tests completed by 2m adults around the world, the index ranks 44 countries according to their English language proficiency. You can read the full report here. And take a test here.

ALSO SEE
• China: better English students than India? (Financial Times)
• Scandinavians at the Top, Russia, Turkey and South American Countries Score Low in English Language Skills (PR Newswire)
• Who speaks English? (The Economist)

COMMENT
EF admits that its rankings—which are based on the results of voluntary, free online tests used as a marketing tool for its English courses—are scarcely a measure of the linguistic skills of the entire population. At best, the index measures “the English skills of adults who aspire to have better English”—already a self-selected class. Still, it's encouraging to see that France, for once, didn't do too badly (17th, to be exact). Which country do you think was N° 1? Find out here. (Clue: It begins with 'N'.)

Cartoon: The House That Looks Like Colonel Gaddafi

This cartoon by Matt from The Daily Telegraph relates to yesterday's short-lived viral sensation about a house in Swansea, Wales, that looks like Hitler:

The end-of-terrace house became an unlikely internet hit after a passer-by uploaded a picture of the "Hitler House" to Twitter.

ALSO SEE
• Hitler house becomes internet sensation (New Zealand Herald)
• The Hitler house: Semi in Swansea looks eerily like Nazi dictator (Mail Online)
• House That Looks Like Hitler Becomes Viral Hit (Huffington Post)
• Houses That Look Like People (The Independent)
• Not fuhrer sale (The Sun)
• 'Hitler House'? (ITN News)

VOCABULARY
The Hitler house is a semi. A semi-detached house (or semi) is a house that is joined to another house on one side by a shared wall. A house which has no shared walls is fully-detached.

Newsy Video: Toddler Tips the Scales at 132 lbs!

Lu Hao, a 3-year-old from China weighs an astonishing 132 lbs, but who's to blame for the child's dangerous weight? View transcript >>

VOCABULARY
1. A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps.
2. One pound is equivalent to 0.454 kg, so 132 lbs (pronounced '132 pounds') is 59.87 kilos. The unit is descended from the Roman libra (hence the abbreviation "lb"). See here for a handy conversion tool.

COMMENT
At least he doesn't smoke, unlike this two-year old!

ALSO SEE
• 'We just don't know why our son is so big': A day in the life of Lu Hao, the four-year-old toddler who weighs nine-and-a-half STONE (Mail Online)

Words in the News: Salt

The Daily Express front page says salt could be banned in the UK's fish and chip shops. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
Salt is a strong-tasting substance, in the form of a white powder or crystals, which is used to improve the flavour of food or to preserve it. • If you are eating more than a pinch of salt (about a teaspoonful) each day, you are eating too much.

IDIOMS
If you're a learner of English, you probably knew the word 'salt' already. But do you know these idioms containing the word 'salt'?
• If you take something with a pinch of salt, you do not believe it is completely accurate or true. • When I read the gossip columns, I always take them with a pinch of salt.
• If someone rubs salt into the wound, they make the unpleasant situation you are in even worse, often by reminding you of your failures or faults. • There's no need to rub salt into the wound. I've learnt my lesson.

CARTOON


Source: The Daily Express

Cartoon: Not In My Back Yard

This cartoon by Joe Heller from the Green Bay Press Gazette forms the basis for the latest lesson from Cartoons for the Classroom.

Each energy option has its downside, as recent disasters have shown all too clearly. However, the cartoonist makes the point that although renewable energy may be safer, people don't like to have wind turbines 'in their backyard'.

Of course, the turbine isn't literally in the man's backyard. He just means it's too close to his home. There's an acronym which is used pejoratively to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them: Nimby (Not In My Back Yard). • Wind turbines have always suffered from the NIMBY — not in my backyard — syndrome. • Fukushima could cause widespread NIMBY ("not in my backyard") attitudes. • The Transport Secretary has upset many protesters in leafy Tory shires by branding them 'nimbies' - short for 'Not in My back Yard.'

DISCUSSION POINTS
• Which of the options seems the least/most dangerous? What are the arguments in favour of or against the various options?
• What other forms of renewable/alternative energy are there? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

VOCABULARY
In American English, a yard will typically consist mostly of lawn or play area. The yard in front of a house is referred to as a front yard, the area at the rear is known as a backyard. In British English, these areas would usually be described as a garden, similarly subdivided into a front garden and a back garden, although paved areas may be called a yard—but more usually a patio. In modern Britain, the term yard is often used for depots and land adjacent to or among workplace buildings, as well as uncultivated land adjoining a building. (Source: Wikipedia)

Newsy Video: Amazon Launches Cloud 'Music Locker'

Amazon released its cloud player and cloud drive, beating Google and Apple to the punch. View transcript >>

COMMENT
I uploaded some song files to the Cloud Drive but was then informed you can't use the Cloud Player outside the U.S.! No matter, I can usually find all the music I want to listen to on Spotify. It's great for discovering new artists and finding old songs.

ALSO SEE
• Amazon Cloud Player steals march on Apple and Google (The Guardian)
• Will the Music Industry Try to Kill Amazon Cloud Player? (Mashable)
• Amazon Cloud Drive: A solution in search of a problem? (L.A. Times)
• Amazon vs Apple: The race for the future of music (The Independent)

Words in the News: Arm

Coalition plans to arm rebels in Libya are the focus of The Guardian's front page. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you arm someone, you provide them with a weapon. • Defense Secretary Robert Gates has experience in the unintended consequences of arming rebels.

Article: Pizza Profits

Typical piece of Daily Mail sensationalism in this article about 'profiteering' pizza companies.

Pizza delivery firms are cashing in with a price mark-up of up to 900 per cent, industry insiders have revealed.

Sales are rising at a time when more people are trying to save money by eating in rather than dining out.

Yet customers may be unaware that while they are being charged £12.49 for a large cheese and tomato Margherita pizza, it has been made with ingredients costing just £1.25. Read all >>

COMMENTS
The article is so full of flaws, it's difficult to know where to begin. For a start, the 'profit' is not 900% for the large Cheese and Tomato, it's 89.91% (to achieve 100% profit, you'd have to produce the pizza for nothing). And then there's a big difference between 'gross profit', which doesn't take into account overheads and all the other costs involved in making the pizza, and 'net profit', which does. The article conveniently ignores the distinction and seems to be deliberately misleading. Having said that, it makes a very good little case study for business students. Get them to spot the fallacies and discuss the premise that pizza companies are ripping us off. (Read some of the 333 (!) comments below the article for more ideas.)

Cartoon: A Tale of Two Cities

This cartoon by Adams from The Daily Telegraph uses the title of a novel by Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities) to highlight the contrasting fortunes of protesters in London and various Arab countries (in Dickens' novel the two cities were London and Paris).

On the left, we can see a masked and hooded protester in Trafalgar Square, London. He's holding a can of spray paint in one hand and a placard with the words GOV'T OUT (Government Out) in the other. Clearly a reference to the riots in London last Saturday. On the right, a protester, whose placard bears exactly the same slogan, lies in a pool of blood, having been shot—we can assume—by government forces or supporters. This could be any of the places where popular protests have been met with bloody repression (Libya, Yemen, Bahrein, Syria, ...).

The cartoonist seems to be making the point that while activists/anarchists in Britain can spray slogans and damage public property more or less with impunity, in the Middle East even a peaceful protest can cost you your life. So, while things are not perfect in the UK, at least people are free to protest without fear of getting a bullet in their back.

Newsy Video: New York Times Paywall Up

New York Times readers will be able to access 20 free articles on the publication's website every four weeks. After that, they'll have to pay up. View transcript >>

ALSO SEE
• The New York Times Paywall: Yes, It Works (Mashable)
• How to Work Around the New York Times’ 20-Article-per-Month Paywall (Lifehacker)

COMMENT
At least you can have some free articles with the NYT, unlike The Times paywall, which blocks all access beyond the front page.

Words in the News: Decisive

Libya's army is pouring reinforcements into Col Gaddafi's strategic hometown of Sirte, says The Guardian, against rebels advancing from the east. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If a fact, action, or event is decisive, it makes sure that there will be a particular result. • The international community is taking decisive action to stop Colonel Gaddafi murdering his own people.

Newsy Video: Media Bias in London Protest Coverage?

Hundreds of thousands gathered to protest major cuts to public spending in the UK and turned violent with more than 200 people arrested 30 injured. View transcript >>

ALSO SEE
• Cuts protesters claim police tricked them into mass arrest (The Guardian)
• Home Secretary Theresa May condemns protest 'thugs' (BBC News)

Cartoon: Lord Nelson in the Dock

Police have charged 149 people with various offences in connection with the disorder which followed Saturday's peaceful protest by hundreds of thousands of people in London against the Government's spending cuts. In what has been called the Battle of Trafalgar Square, the police 'came under sustained attack' as they tried to deal with the disorder and attempted criminal damage.

The cartoon by Paul Thomas from The Daily Express shows the statue of Lord Nelson in court. Of course, the statue normally stands on top of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. A lawyer tells the judge: "My client admits being in Trafalgar Square—but denies any involvement with the riot ..."

VOCABULARY
When there is a riot, a crowd of people behave violently in a public place, for example they fight, throw stones, or damage buildings and vehicles.

COMMENT
It's possible to interpret the cartoon as being a comment on the police's tendency to arrest innocent people, but given that the Express is a right-wing tabloid, it's more likely that the joke is meant to be taken at face value. 

Newsy Video: Libyan Rebels Celebrate Gains, Push West

Rebel forces in Libya are looking west toward the capital of Tripoli after a series of victories in eastern coastal cities. View transcript >>

ALSO SEE
• Libyan rebels advance on Muammar Gaddafi's home town (The Guardian)
• One by one, the milestones on the road to Tripoli are falling (The Independent)

Words in the News: Ceasefire

The Guardian leads on Libya, reporting that Turkey has offered to broker a ceasefire. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
A ceasefire is an arrangement in which countries or groups of people that are fighting each other agree to stop fighting. • Moammar Gadhafi's announcement on Friday that his forces will observe a ceasefire against Libyan rebels was an entirely predictable - and cunning - move.