Rob: Hello and welcome. It’s just me this week. Adam’s on holiday – lucky him. But don’t worry – he’ll be back next time. Now, thank you for writing with your stories about your first job. I loved them. I think they’re the best we’ve had so far. And it’s really interesting to find out more about you. And what an educated lot of people you are too. We’ve got dentists like Lella in Lebanon, and some teachers like Sirjoe and Angesca in Italy. And Ali Reza and TKazerooni in Iran are teachers too. And so many different stories as well. I liked Rasa’s story of using the first money she earned in Lithuania to go and see the sea. And Mac in Hong Kong gave his first salary to his mum. And do you know what, Mac? That’s exactly what I did too. So thanks again for your answers. I hope we hear as many interesting stories this time. Remember, you can write to us at the website: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and on Facebook look for Elementary podcasts. Now it’s time to listen to Tess and Ravi. They’re talking about something British, as usual. But this time, it’s not such good news.
Ravi: Hello again from me, Ravi
Tess: And from me, Tess. We’re here again to talk about some of the things you think you know about Britain.
Ravi: Things like ‘drinking tea’ and ‘fish and chips’ – but not everything you think about Britain is nice and positive and today we’re going to talk about something lots of you mentioned – football hooligans.
Tess: You’re a football fan, Ravi. Are you a football hooligan?
Ravi: You know, Tess, people often ask me that – people from other countries I mean.
Tess: You, a hooligan? I don’t think so.
Ravi: I know, I know. But people sometimes think that being a football fan in England means you must be a hooligan – fighting and causing trouble and stuff.
Tess: That’s a bit strange. Why do they think that?
Ravi: Well, there was a problem here – about thirty years ago – in the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties there was a lot of trouble and fighting and stuff . There were a couple of really bad incidents that were in the news all over the world – that’s why people sometimes think – ‘Ah, English football - hooligans’. But for the last twenty years or so it really isn’t a problem.
Tess: So why do people still think that English football fans are hooligans? {laughs} I really can’t imagine anyone thinking of you as a football hooligan, Ravi.
Ravi: Alright, Tess, you’ve already said that. I guess when you’ve got a bad reputation – like English football fans – it’s difficult to change people’s minds.
Tess: So it isn’t dangerous to go to a football match?
Ravi: Come on, Tess, you know it isn’t. You should go to a game. There are lots of women and children at matches and the new football stadiums are great – comfortable seats, great views, good food – it’s nothing like it was twenty years ago. It’s a family thing these days.
Tess: But most fans at the stadium are men, aren’t they?
Ravi: Yeah, most of the fans are men but about twenty per cent are women.
Tess: How do you know that?
Ravi: I looked it up on the internet. More and more women are going to football matches. I sometimes take my niece.
Tess: Ah, that’s nice. How old is she?
Ravi: She’s nine. She’s really into football – loves it.
Tess: Ah. So there’s never any sort of crowd trouble or anything? Don’t they have a lot of police at football matches?
Ravi: Not really, not these days. I don’t think you can say there’s no trouble at all but not in the stadium – I always feel perfectly safe there. Why don’t you come to a match with me? I’ll try to get tickets for the game next Saturday. What do you say?
Tess: Well … yeah, OK, why not? I don’t know anything about football though.
Ravi: That’s OK.
Tess: And … well, what if people think you’re a hooligan, Ravi?
Ravi: Stop it.
Rob: So, what do you think? Did you think English football fans are hooligans? Like Ravi, I’m a football fan. And people often ask me if all football fans in England are hooligans. And of course, my answer is “They’re not.”
English football seems to be really popular all over the world. My team are Aston Villa and they’re probably not as famous as some other teams in England like Manchester United or Chelsea or Liverpool. How about football teams in your country? Do you support a team? Let us know which one. And tell us about football fans in your country too. What do they do?
And if you don’t like football – and I know a lot of people don’t – write and tell us why not. Remember you can write to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and on Facebook. Look for Elementary Podcasts.
Before I go, a quick word about some of the things Tess and Ravi talked about when they talked about football. Ravi talked about stadiums – the places where football matches are played. We talk about a football match between two teams. I’m sure you know more football words like score a goal for example. In fact, the British Council has a website all about football and English. It’s called Premier Skills. I’ll give you the address for that. It’s www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills.
One more thing. Listen to this:
Man: More and more women are going to football matches. I sometimes take my niece.
Rob: 'More and more women.' 'More and more people.' Why are there two 'more's? Well, just because. We do this quite often in English. 'Lots and lots of people go to football matches. London is getting bigger and bigger. Prices seem to be going up and up.' It's quite nice, isn't it?
Well, that's it for this week. Remember to write to us via the LearnEnglish website, or Facebook. Adam and I will be back next time and we'll be here with Carolina. And the question is: will she have a new job? Find out next time. Bye!
Comments
Hi! everyone,I dont like football games...In our country there were no football games.
Even if we have,i dont like that kind of game......Eversince,.....
But I think,it was a great game......
Hi
I am Sunghun from South Korea and live in Australia. Football is a little different in here Australia. I think that when you say football, most of Australian think of rugby. Rugby is more popular than soccer in Australia but soccer in Korea is one of most popular sport. Baseball is also quite popular. I like soccer because you can play with just a ball and ground, that's all. When I was in Korea, I used to play every Sunday joining a local soccer club. I played with other strong guys for hours on that day. It was good exercise and good time to get to know each other.
I am working at home these days and I am usually at the computer. So I think that I need some exercise.
Anyway, it doesn't matter what kind of sport you do. I think that it is good to train your body. There is saying "Good mind comes from healthy body."
Hi everyone!
I think is interesting this topic, the hooligans, unfortunately there are still people who think in this way about of English football fans but you can’t generalize, not all them are like that. It’s reasonable that the football fans are upset about it, as Ravi said. I’m not a football fan and in my country Guatemala, I think we need to improve a lot our football. However, many people go to watch the matches. The only time I'm excited to watch football is during the Football World cup, where you have the opportunity to watch the best football in the world.
I agree with comments of Ravi about football support. If few people have sometimes bad behaviors in a pitch, It seems that rest of the people have the same behavior. And not, just few people are hooligans and the rest, the majority, are fans. I'm from Spain and we have exactly the same problem that England. There are lot of rivalry between teams, for example Real Madrid vs Barcelona, Sevilla vs Betis. It seems the things have changed lately.
Hello everyone! I'm from Brazil and football here is the most popular sport. By the way, nowadays the best brazilian football's players are in Europe because they win more money at there and more world brand. I think they are right and they should enjoy that opportunity very well. Kisses for all.
Hi!!
I've joined to British Council today... and I'm glad the web. In Spain, there are two main teams: F.C Barcelona(Barça) and Real Madrid. When I was a child, Barça drove me crazy each time that there was a football team.. However, at the moment I can't put up it because I consider that there are many problems in the world, and we spend too money in this instead of other things more necessarily.
The football always is competitiveness... and personally, I hate this in all aspects of my life, so I prefer other sports.
If you love the football, you should live a period of time in Spain.
Hi, I don't like football much, but I think they do one great thing: they unify people all together! More and more people have it as a tradition to watch a football match in a pub or bar. I think it is terrific!
Thanks for the topic.
Hello everyone¡¡
Well I have to say I am not t really enthusiastic of football, but I admit is has become an important social event in mi country Spain. All the people though don´t like people have a favorite time and they consider themselves like fan of an that team, me too. For example , I support Barca. That´s the time of Barcelona , a fantastic city situated in a region called Catalonia in Mediterranean Coast, but Anybody doesn´t knows Barcelona yet? Well I think most of people have heard about this city , and the most fortunate had already visited that. The other important team is Madrid. This team is one of the most important teams in the world too, and both moves loads of moneys in publicity and they have become football the more successful business in Spain
Hello all,
Where is the Support pack for this episode?
Have a good day.
Hi Drasy
Martin uploaded the support pack yesterday - I just accidently deleted his comment (Sorry Martin).
Thanks
Jack
The LearnEnglish Team
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