2

Letter from the editor

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” As Editor of The Polyglot, these words of the Austrian-born philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein have resonated with me more and more as the publication has developed: an increasingly diverse array of boys have wanted to submit articles, and the articles themselves have increasingly challenged both my knowledge of languages and my outlook on the world’s sundry peoples.

I would like to draw your attention to a handful of pieces which I have found particularly intriguing. Archie Williams’ Fighting Franco explores how far we can consider the 40 years of Francoist Spain to be a cultural wasteland. My own perception of this era was one of decline - the best art replaced with the “purest lessons of Catholic tradition and the demands of modernity”. Yet this article convincingly challenged my own long-held understanding, one shared almost ubiquitously among historians. Indeed, Nicholas Lockett’s Queen Tamar also tackles the arts, this time the Renaissance in Georgia which erupted a full century before that of Italy. Again, the article exposed in me a deep-seated and perhaps arrogant belief in the cultural supremacy of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, when in truth Europe’s hegemony has obscured the achievement of Eurasia’s most misjudged nation. Even so, perhaps most explosively, Kenneth Au Yeung’s Umbrella Revolution considers the causes, course and consequences of the 2014 Hong Kong Protests. These protests were censored in China and reporting in the Western media was, at best, scarce, as the right-wing press had vested interests in continued cordiality with the Communist superpower. So in this rare and passionately argued defence of the protests, I was informed of the burgeoning fight for Democracy in China’s richest city. Don’t let me get ahead of myself, but I believe these articles are becoming of genuine historical, linguistic and geopolitical significance.

In spite of this, I think this installment is notable as much for what is present, as for what is absent. Although we had articles proposed on myriad themes from the Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese Empire to German Cuisine and Swedish Literature, such was the bounty of this issue that not all could be accommodated. Excitingly, however, this edition has in contrast a somewhat Asian tang, with a Chinese fact précis and an interview with our Chinese Assistant Wenyan Guo. At any rate, I’m sure you will find that this volume does not limit your world, as Wittgenstein feared, but instead shows that limits are sometimes there to be pushed.

-Hector Stinton, Founding Editor

3

L’ÉQUIPE DE FOOTBALL FRANÇAISE 13FRANCE FACT FILE 15L’IMMIGRATION EN FRANCE - UNE QUESTION POLÉMIQUE 22

DEIN KINO 10AN EXCHANGE TO REMEMBER 20GERMANY FACT FILE 31

SPAIN FACT FILE 24

NOCHE ESPAÑOLA EN BIRMINGHAM 29

THE UMBRELLA REVOLUTION WILL NOT FOLD 16CHINA FACT FILE 19MANDARIN ASSISTANT INTERVIEW 32

FALSE FRIENDS 5QUEEN TAMAR AND GEORGIA’S GOLDEN AGE 7THE FIVE HOTTEST PLACES TO STUDY MFL IN 2015 11

ContentsFrance

Germany

Spain

China

International

A LONG WEEKEND IN BARCELONA 4

FIGHTING FRANCO - CULTURAL EXPRESSION IN FASCIST SPAIN 24

LOST IN TRANSLATION 34

travel

4

Barcelona is the historical and cultural jewel in the Spanish crown. It is fiercely proud of its Catalan origins and its distinct individuality,

it enjoys an incredibly rich cultural heritage, and it has a vibrancy to its ambience like no other. At the beginning of half term I went on a long weekend trip to this marvellous city, and it was nigh on impossible to cover it all in so little time. Nevertheless, I am going to give a brief overview of what I did, and hopefully I can inspire you to make the most of any opportunity to go there.

Las RamblasThe main street of Barcelona should be seen in the same light as the Bond Street of London or the Champs Élysées of Paris. To me, it is the spine of Barcelona as it conjoins both the Mediterranean Sea and the heart of the city through a 1.2km stretch of pedestrianised pathway. It is always packed with people from every corner of the world and it is surrounded by a peculiar yet appealing variety of shops, from big retailers like Armani to tiny vintage boutiques, not to mention the many tapas restaurants and markets. On our arrival, we immediately went to the hidden local Spanish market of La Boquería. It was filled with lots of fresh fish, meat, fruit and sweets and it was incredible just walking around and hearing all the local Catalan interaction. The passion that the Spanish feel for their cuisine really struck me, and walking about La Boquería I felt like a true local. In fact, I strolled through Las Ramblas a few times a day as I liked to embrace the warm and friendly atmosphere and I loved the mix of culture all jumbled together. It was reassuring to know that despite the large number

of tourists, Barcelona still didn’t lose its sense of being a very idiosyncratic and independent Catalan city. Even with scores of British people in the local restaurants, I still felt very much that Barcelona was free from the dominance of globalisation and popular culture.

CuisineAs I have already hinted, Spain is both famous for and proud of her cuisine. I strongly encourage avoiding the Hard Rock Café or McDonald’s, instead trying out some of the profusion of local eateries. Don’t be afraid to walk down the narrow backstreets and find somewhere well off the beaten track. We tried rambling through some of these hidden alleyways discovered a restaurant called Celler de la Ribera. The tapas were exquisite and the steak I chose was quite simply divine, with a very flavoursome red wine sauce. Having lived in Italy, it is safe to say that the Spanish tapas certainly lived up to my high expectations of quality food. Although Spain is more recognized for her tapas, I definitely enjoyed the light breakfasts too, consisting mostly of pastries such as churros and magdalena muffins. However, it must be said that the freshly squeezed orange juice and the large array of more obscure dishes were all greatly appealing. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that Spain’s food says as much about Iberian identity as the Spanish language itself, making it vital to jump right in and engage with it.

Camp NouWhether you are a football fan or not, in my opinion visiting this stadium is a must, even if it is just for

A Long Weekend in BarcelonaTeddy Curtis brings us a pithy breakdown of the best Barça has to boast

Camp Nou, Barcelona

A Long Weekend in BarcelonaTeddy Curtis brings us a pithy breakdown of the best Barça has to boast

travel

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a tour. Barcelona is a very big city, and the Camp Nou and FC Barcelona unite everyone together (excluding the RCD Espanyol fans) in the same manner as Las Ramblas. In a way, the Camp Nou could also be considered the real ‘heart’ of the city. With a formidable capacity of 98,787 seats, it is striking in both its size and grace. The atmosphere is always bombastic, from the musical bands playing outside to the loud chants from the hardcore supporters behind the goal, encouraging that fluid style of Barca play. I have been fortunate enough to visit the stadium three times - whether on a tour or at a match - and both experiences were fascinating. On the tour, I learnt about the historical pride that the Catalans have for their club in the museum. This loving relationship between the club and its supporters is perfectly depicted by the quote written across the stands, which reads: “Més que un club”, translating as “More than just a club”. This couldn’t be more accurate.

Yet as a football fanatic, the match itself was most memorable. Barcelona cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory in La Liga, with goals from all three superstars: Neymar, Messi and Suarez. It turned out to be Messi’s 300th game for the club in the top flight, and he responded to the occasion with a brilliant hat trick. It was a real pleasure to watch the Argentinian bring up his tally to a record 269 in the league - a real landmark. Furthermore, the controversial Luis Suarez, one of the most expensive transfers in football history costing the club around £75 million and infamous for biting Chiellini at the World Cup, scored the best goal of the game; after a perfectly placed cross from Pedro he struck a beautiful overhead volley from 12 yards, to this day

bald bald - bold - soon

der Domthe dome - the cathedral - top

ein Puff a blast - a breath - a bordello

winken to wink - to wave - to whistle

contestar take part in a contest - answer

un compromisoa commitment - a compromise - a composition

constipadoblocked up - cold - constitutional

una decepcióna disappointment - a deception - a cover

blesséconsecrated - blessed - injured

la chairflesh - chair - expensive

une fabriquetissue - factory - material

une journéetrip - day - joy

German

Spanish

False FriendsWhich of the three words below is the correct translation of the word above?

(Answers overleaf)

French

Camp Nou, Barcelona

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6

one of the best goals I’ve ever seen live at a game. The team never fails to entertain, so it will certainly always be worth the price. It may seem like quite a lot (I paid £50 online) but they sell reasonably cheap in the city in the days before the game. Personally, I don’t think you can put a price on such quality, so I’d recommend it to anyone who visits.

‘La Playa’Another one of my many highlights during this brief stay was the beach. The main beach is a 2km stretch between the large Hotel W Barcelona and the Puerto Olímpico, lined with a medley of restaurants, bars and very eye-catching contemporary sculptures. The sculpture that stood out the most was a massive scorpion slanted over a bridge, but all the attractions lining the sea seemed popular with both tourists and locals. The beach is always busy, and even in midwinter when it is no warmer than 10 degrees, you see Catalans braving the sea with great sangfroid. It was also amusing to come across a small-scale equivalent of the ‘Muscle Beach’ in LA, with a small set of outdoor gym equipment where several men were working out. Unfortunately, their regimes seemed slightly too serious for me to join in. It is not unusual to see dozens of cyclists, roller skaters and runners all making use of the seafront too. I had to make the most of this opportunity, so on the Sunday morning I ran 10km down Las Ramblas, along the seafront and back, and it remains one of the best running experiences I’ve ever had. It was relaxing and intriguing to watch all the locals strolling about their business, and again, perhaps strangely, I felt a strong sense of belonging in Barcelona! Yet activities on the beach don’t stop there. La Playa also has a large array of courts, used for beach tennis and volleyball, and we even saw people playing a kind of football-volleyball cross, which we had to put to the test. We did perhaps underestimate how hard it would be, but with plucky English spirit we gave the locals a run for their money. Regardless of how you enjoy La Playa, it will not fail to exceed your expectations and show off that certain Barcelona je ne sais quoi (un no sé qué).

Overall, Barcelona is without doubt one of my favourite cities in the world. Of course, I couldn’t do it all, like going to the Sagrada Familia of Gaudí, however I still managed to get an exceptional flavour of the city. I do regret not having had longer to spend there, but I was still able to really make the most of the things I did. If I can leave you with one bit of advice, it would be to not be afraid of avoiding the tourist traps, and to instead just walk around the streets and discover the real Barcelona. In my eyes this gives a better feel for the city, and for the pride which the locals take in their region. Everyone goes to the typical sites like the Sagrada Familia, but it takes some cojones to let the city come to you.

bald bald - bold - soon

der Domthe dome - the cathedral - top

ein Puff a blast - a breath - a bordello

winken to wink - to wave - to whistle

contestar take part in a contest - answer

un compromisoa commitment - a compromise - a composition

constipadoblocked up - cold - constitutional

una decepcióna disappointment - a deception - a cover

blesséconsecrated - blessed - injured

la chairflesh - chair - expensive

une fabriquetissue - factory - material

une journéetrip - day - joy

German

Spanish

False FriendsCorrectly translated word is in bold and

in colour

French

history

7

Queen Tamar and the Golden Age of GeorgiaHalf Georgian and a fluent Georgian speaker, Nicholas Lockett examines why his motherland merits more recognition in our cultural lexicon

Nowadays we tend to think of Georgia, if at all, as a small and insignificant ex-Soviet bloc state infamous, much to her discredit, for being the

birthplace of Joseph Stalin. In short, we seem - with typical European egotism - to arrogantly overlook its rich and diverse heritage as a prospering medieval state. As someone who both speaks Georgian fluently and has Georgian heritage, I feel obliged to lionise my oft neglected nation. For this reason, I will explore the period in the late 12th and early 13th century when Georgia experienced its ‘Golden Age’ led by her first female monarch, the glorious Queen Tamar.

Although the Kingdom of Georgia in the Caucasus region of Eurasia first emerged as an independent state in the first millennium B.C., its Golden Age did not begin until the reign of King David IV (1089-1125), also known as David the Builder, reaching its apex in the 12th to early 13th century. David the Builder initiated the Georgian Golden Age by overcoming the Seljuk Turks who had occupied his lands and repossessing cities which had fallen to the Muslims. He was canonized for reinstating Georgia as a united Christian nation. By the time of David’s death in 1125, Tbilisi was the capital of a Kingdom that stretched from the Black Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east.

In 1178, David’s grandson, King George III, crowned his 19-year-old daughter Tamar (1160-1213), co-ruler of Georgia and his successor as part of his plan for establishing an organised succession. The year before, the nobles of the realm had risen against George and declared Prince Demna as the rightful king. A son of George III’s late elder brother David V, Demna was considered by many as a legitimate pretender to the Georgian throne. Approximately 30,000 rebels strengthened their positions at the citadel of Lori (today bordering Georgia and Armenia), however the fortress was besieged by the royal army and throwing himself and his followers to the mercy of his uncle, Demna was blinded and castrated, and most of his family was murdered.

Tamar co-reigned with her father for six years until his death in 1184 when she became sole monarch. Many were hostile towards Tamar’s rule

due to her gender. They saw her as weak and inexperienced, they questioned her legitimacy and ability to rule a nation which had never previously had a female ruler, and in 1205 the Seljuk ruler Rukn ad-Din even used her sex as his reason for invading Georgia given that women rulers weakened the authority and military power of a kingdom. However, thanks to Tamar’s support from the Church and her influential Aunt, Rusudan, the question of her legitimacy was soon suppressed.

Yet the problem of marriage still loomed large for the young queen. Tamar was forced to marry Rus Prince Yuri, which later proved disastrous, in order to provide an heir. The nobility regarded her as little more than a pawn of the dynasty; a limited and traditional constitutional monarch. These nobles also desired a military leader, giving voice to another gender limitation placed on the queen’s power and ability. At this juncture, however, Tamar began to strengthen her royal powers by appointing her supporters to key political roles. This allowed her to convince the Church and the Noble Council to grant her a divorce from Yuri. But in 1187, Yuri launched two coups against the queen which brought to bear the support of half of the Georgian aristocracy who sought traditional male rule. Nevertheless, the unflappable Tamar crushed both

‘This Georgian Renaissance comprised a magnificent revival in art, architecture, philosophy

and literature’

history

8

of these with ease. She was now able to marry a man of her choosing; an Alan Prince, David Soslan. This union was a highly fruitful one - not only did Tamar and David enjoy a happy and healthy relationship until his death, but David was also her most faithful supporter and, crucially, a capable military leader who successfully repulsed numerous invasions.

During her reign, Tamar played off numerous factions within the nobility against each other by giving political appointments to generals and nobles, thus increasing her popularity and securing her place on the throne. In 1195 her security was tested by a Muslim military campaign against Georgia under the leadership of Atabeg, Abu Bakr of Persian Azerbaijan. But after Tamar’s call to arms, Davis Soslan realised an overwhelming victory over Abu Bakr at Shamkor. After this initial victory, the Georgian army went on to score a number of victories over the Turks, and neighboring countries began to regard Georgia as the protector of the entire Transcaucasus. By the beginning of the 13th century, Georgia was commanding a political authority esteemed by both the Christian West and the Muslim East.

After Byzantium was occupied by the Christians during the Fourth Crusade, Tamar sent troops to support her paternal nephew, Alexius Comnenus, who would later become the Byzantine Emperor. She maintained firm control over her Muslim protectorates and secured a steady stream of income, the temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire leaving Georgia the strongest Christian State in the whole East Mediterranean. Tamar sent her troops to take over Georgia’s immediate southwestern neighbours and in 1205 the occupied territory was converted into the Empire of Trebizond with Prince Alexius as ruler. Although officially called an Empire this new state was Georgia’s dependency for more than two hundred years.

As well as expanding her Kingdom, Tamar also dealt skillfully with domestic affairs and assured both political and economic stability. As a result, Georgia became a booming commercial centre, bringing new prosperity to the country. This early

Georgian renaissance, which preceded its Western European equivalent by some two centuries, included an impressive cultural revival in art, architecture, philosophy and the modernisation of the Georgian language. In particular, the Golden Age of Georgia left a legacy of romantic poetry and literature, including Shota Rustaveli’s masterpiece “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”, which even today most Georgians can recite by heart. The story takes place in the Orient and it narrates in 1600 quatrains the friendship between two heroes, Avtandil and Tariel, as they quest to find the object of their love, Nestan-Darejan. Dedicated to the Queen who is a model for Nestan-Darejan, the work boasts of the size and glory of the Kingdom of Georgia in its golden age. Although the kingdom also benefited from advances in science and agriculture, one of the most visible and lasting legacies remains that of architecture - palaces, churches and great cathedrals were built throughout Georgia including the clifftop Metekhi Church in Tbilisi, with even minor churches frequently adorned with frescoes. Tbilisi itself occupied an important place along trade routes as merchants travelling east to the Orient and west to the Occident passed through the capital, as well as traders from the northern mountains and the plains of the south.

Sadly, however, Tamar died soon after some of her country’s greatest achievements in 1213. Canonized by the Church (now the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar), she was even named a Saint during her own lifetime. Her generosity, care for her people and ability to transcend the constraints of patriarchal society to reconcile her gender with her status as a monarch, helped to elevate Queen Tamar to be an iconic and revered figure not just in Georgia, but across the world. Although within twenty years of her death Mongol invasions had wrecked the administrative and military systems that had led the way for expansion, and despite Georgia having never quite reached the same heights as under her reign, Tamar’s memory lives on at the stunning Gelati Monastery near Kutaisi, now, perhaps fittingly, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Gelati Monastery – a presumed burial place of Queen Tamar

Shota Rustaveli presents his poem to Queen Tamar

arts

10

Dein KinoHenry Papworth gives his rundown of the best GDR era German-language films

Die deutsche Filmindustrie ist ziemlich unbekannt, aber es gibt viele verschiedene herrliche deutsche Filme, und das hier sind meine drei Lieblingsfilme:

Der Tunnel - 2001 (The Tunnel) ••••Regie: Roland Suso RichterEin anderer Film, der auch in der Zeit der Berliner Mauer spielt, ist Der Tunnel. Es geht um Harry Melchior, der nach dem Sieg eines nationalen Schwimm-Wettbewerbs mit seinem Freund Matthis und dessen Frau Carola nach West-Berlin fliegt. Jedoch muss Harrys Frau in Ost-Berlin bleiben. Deshalb möchten Harry und Matthis probieren, Carola nach West-Berlin zu schmuggeln. Die leidenschaftliche Liebe und konstante Furcht vor Entdeckung in Der Tunnel wird perfekt von den Schauspielern dargestellt. Der Tunnel ist ein böser, mutiger Film über den Kampf der Menschen gegen das Regime der DDR und ist unglaublich ergreifend.

Goodbye Lenin! - 2003 ••••Regie: Wolfgang Becker Der Protagonist Alex (Daniel Brühl) ist ein Junge, dessen DDR-treue Mutter kurz vor dem Untergang der DDR in ein Koma gefallen ist. Um seine Mutter vor einem weiteren Herzanfall zu schützen, muss er sie davon überzeugen, dass ihr geliebter Kommunismus noch existiert. Eine schwierige Aufgabe, im wieder vereinigten Berlin! Goodbye Lenin! ist eine Komödie, aber beinhaltet auch die Frage wie weit ein Kind gehen wird, um seine Mutter zu schützen. Eine wirklich bewegender Film mit wunderbarer Musik und einem hervorragenden Daniel Brühl.

Das Leben der anderen - 2006 (The Lives of Others) •••••Regie: Florian Henckel von DonnersmarckDer Film spielt in der DDR und es geht um den Künstler Dreymann (Name des Schauspielers) und seine Frau (Christa Maria-Sieland). Sie werden wegen ihrer regimekritischen Kunst als Staatsfeinde angeklagt und der Stasi Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler soll sie bespitzeln. Am Anfang ist Wiesler der DDR linientreu, doch im Laufe des Films beginnt er den Lebensstil der Künstler zu verstehen, und wird unsicher, ob die Zwänge der Stasi richtig sind. Diese Frage führt zum Hauptthema des Films: Kann man durch Kunst geläutert werden? Der Film ist fesselnd, intensiv und tragisch. Jeder kleine Aspekt des Films kommt zusammen, um den perfekten Film zu schaffen. Das Leben der Anderen ist der vielleicht beste Film, den ich je gesehen habe.

Scene from Das Leben der anderen

opinion

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The Five Hottest Places to Study MFL in 2015

Having compared student feedback from applicants, undergraduates and postgraduates, examined in detail university prospectuses and websites, and collated league tables including The Guardian, The Times, The Complete University Guide, Which? University and The National Student Survey,

Hector Stinton gives a précis of the five best places for MFL in the UK in 2015

1. University of Oxford - 9.5/10

� Established in 1724, it is the largest MFL department in the UK, ranking without fail as either the 1st or 2nd best in the country as it is seen as offering an almost unparalleled range of opportunities to explore the language, literature, and culture of the world.

� The course comprises two main strands - language and literature. Language is taught throughout in small groups to develop oral, grammar and translation skills. Literature, seen as a gateway to wider culture, is taught through tutorials and lectures and entails two essays per week.

� Due to the college and tutorial systems there is more regular individual teaching at Oxford than in any other UK university. The tutors themselves are experts of international repute in their fields.

� Quite apart from the impressive facilities like the Taylorian Library and the Languages Centre, Oxford has a vibrant student community engaged in numerous MFL clubs and societies.

� Some students find the course very traditional, particularly the emphasis on literature and the conservative approach to more avant-garde areas like visual culture.

2. University of Cambridge - 9.5/10

� Cambridge came top of the league table for Modern Languages in the University Guide 2015. The most recent National Student Survey places Cambridge MFL at the top for Student Satisfaction, with a rating of 99%.

� The course is flexible and wide-ranging in scope, offering opportunities to study in depth the culture, history, literature, philosophy, art and film of the languages available.

� Two languages are studied from the outset, one of which can be ab initio, and there is the opportunity to add a third language in second year.

� Like Oxford, Cambridge also has the college and tutorial systems which give students regular individual contact time with world experts in languages and literature.

� Many students struggle to cope with the difficulty and quantity of work, particularly in such a small and intense university environment.

Trinity College Bridge, Cambridge

3. Durham University - 9/10

� Regularly in the top 5 UK universities, Durham has a long history, an illustrious academic reputation and the Oxbridge-style collegiate system.

� Four of the departments, Arabic, French, German and Iberian Languages, are ranked first in the UK by the 2015 Complete University Guide.

� A non-traditional and dynamic course, well-known for its emphasis on cross-cultural studies, embraces literature, cultural history, cinema, visual culture and translation.

� Teaching consists of a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practical classes. Typically, lectures provide key information which is consolidated by tutorials and practical classes and overseen by an academic adviser.

� Although student satisfaction is generally very high, student experience is sometimes compromised by the facilities available both in college and at the Elvet Riverside MFL site.

4. University of Edinburgh - 8.5/10

� Offers the widest breadth of languages in the UK, with courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Spanish.

� Housed in the modern architect-designed David Hume Tower on George Square, the Languages Centre features fresh approaches to language learning, including a computer-equipped “Microlab” and audio-visual laboratories to hone skills outside the classroom.

� The course largely follows a half-language, half-culture structure with expansive cultural topics encompassing literature, film, history and politics.

� The Literature department has been established for over 250 years, making it the longest established centre of literary education in Britain and one of the oldest in the world.

� Putting to one side the thorny issue of location, for students from England Edinburgh has sometimes disappointed in the lack of truly challenging work, and the scarcity of contact time.

5. University of Bath - 8/10

� Bath has a strong showing in the league tables coming 5th for French and 4th for German in The Complete University Guide, and joint 3rd for student satisfaction in The Guardian.

� Bath is relatively unusual in both teaching and assessing most of its modules in the target languages themselves, which facilitates fluency and catalyses the acquisition of vocabulary.

� The most popular course, Modern Languages and European Studies, comprises three elements; written and spoken core language units, units in politics, culture and society, and units in European studies which provide an overarching view of Europe as a whole.

� Contact time is high with students divided into classes containing around 20 students for written and spoken language and cultural units taught through large-group lectures and seminars.

� Although Bath has a flourishing reputation academically, being such a young university has its downsides as it does not yet have either the prestige or the financial clout of its older competitors.

opinion

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Durham Cathedral Tower

sport

13

L’Équipe de Football Française Retournera avec une VengeanceEver the artistes of world football, Alex Gatenby considers the past, present and future of the

French national team

Le débat récent de la période de l’année de la Coupe du Monde de football 2022 m’a mené à écrire sur une équipe en particulier – l’Équipe

de football de France. La coupe du monde de 2022 aura lieu au Qatar, mais dû à la température extrême là-bas, les autorités veulent que le célèbre événement ait lieu plus tard dans l‘année. Par conséquent, environ 50 ligues seront touchées, y compris le Championnat de France de football masculin. Cependant, je vais parler de l’équipe nationale de France, et plus précisément, de son histoire, de ses meilleurs joueurs de tous les temps, et de l’équipe actuelle.

L’Équipe de France de football, aussi connu sous le nom des ‘Bleus’ a été créée en 1904 et elle reste toujours une des meilleures équipes nationales dans le monde, actuellement classée huitième dans le monde selon le classement de FIFA. Son premier match était contre la Belgique en 1904, mais il s’est terminé par une égalité (3-3). En 1930, l’équipe de France de football était une des équipes ayant participé à la première Coupe du Monde. Treize équipes ont participé à l’événement inaugural, mais après avoir joué trois matches, l’équipe européenne est sortie avant d’atteindre les éliminatoires. En fait, c’est le joueur français Lucien Laurent qui a marqué le premier but de la Coupe du Monde. Huit années plus tard l’équipe de France a accueilli la Coupe du Monde en 1938 et elle a réussi à atteindre le quart de final. Les années 60 et 70 n’étaient pas faciles pour l’équipe et elle n’avait pas beaucoup de succès, embauchant et licenciant plusieurs managers. Finalement, Michel Hidalgo a été embauché, et l’équipe de France a prospéré. Pendant la Coupe du Monde de 1982, l’équipe a atteint la demi-finale, perdant contre Allemagne de l’Ouest lors d’un tir au but. Deux ans après, l’équipe Française a gagné sa première distinction majeure internationale, après avoir battu l’Espagne pendant la finale du Championnat d’Europe. Ce trophée était le premier de trois qui sont venus à brefs intervalles

en l’espace d’une année; l’équipe a gagné une médaille d’or pendant les Jeux olympiques de 1984, et elle a gagné le trophée Artemio-Franchi, qui était un ancêtre de la Coupe des confédérations. Donc, en 1986, la France était l’équipe favorite pour gagner la Coupe du Monde, mais ils ont encore perdu contre Allemagne de l’Ouest. Après une autre période sans beaucoup de succès, l’équipe de France de football a gagné la Coupe du Monde de 1998, accueillie par la France elle-même, après avoir battu l’équipe du Brésil en finale. La France a gagné trois-zéro face à l’équipe sud-américaine. Deux ans plus tard, la France a réussi à gagner le Championnat d’Europe en 2000, et c’était la première fois qu’un vainqueur gagnait la Coupe

‘Créée en 1904 elle reste une des meilleures équipes dans le monde, classée huitième par FIFA’

Statue of Thierry Henry at Emirates Stadium, London

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du Monde puis ensuite le Championnat d’Europe à la suite. Bien que l’équipe ait gagné la Coupe des confédérations en 2001, elle n’a pas eu beaucoup de succès jusqu’en 2006, où la France a atteint la finale de la Coupe du Monde. Dans un match qui a connu beaucoup de polémiques, l’équipe a perdu contre l’équipe d’Italie dans un tir au but.

Il est souvent difficile de dire qui est le meilleur joueur français de tous les temps, et je dois avouer qu’il y a plusieurs concurrents. Premièrement, il faut que nous parlions de Lilian Thuram. Cet homme a le plus de sélections (142) en équipe nationale, ce qui est une prouesse incroyable. En outre, étant un défenseur, il ne marquait pas beaucoup de buts. Il n’a marqué que deux buts dans sa carrière de footballeur, pourtant ces buts étaient absolument cruciaux, car ils ont assuré à la France d’atteindre la finale. Thierry Henry, attaquant habile, est un autre joueur avec beaucoup de sélections et qui détient le record de buts (51). Il a fait partie intégrante de l’équipe de France pendant la Coupe du Monde en 1998 et le Championnat d’Europe deux ans plus tard. En parlant des tenants du titre, on ne peut pas oublier Just Fontaine, un footballeur des années 60. Il détient le record de buts marqués pendant une Coupe du Monde – 13 durant celle de 1958. En plus, ses débuts pour l’équipe nationale étaient vraiment mémorables après avoir marqué un coup de chapeau contre le Luxembourg en 1954. Considéré comme un des meilleurs joueurs de tous les temps, Patrick Vieira a gagné plus de 100

sélections en équipe de France, avant de prendre sa retraite en 2011. Il était très important pour l’équipe nationale pendant la Coupe du Monde de 1998 et le Championnat d’Europe. Je dois aussi mentionner Raymond Kopa, un homme qui a reçu la récompense du ‘joueur du tournoi’ pendant la Coupe du Monde de 1958, il est aussi élu Ballon d’Or. Ensuite, parlons de quelqu’un moins connu dans le monde du foot – Jean-Pierre Papin, un homme qui a joué pour l’équipe nationale de 1986 à 1995. Malheureusement pour cet attaquant, il a joué dans l’équipe à l’époque de ‘la génération maudite’. Malgré ça, il reste un des meilleurs footballeurs français ayant honoré le terrain de son talent. Le joueur que tout le monde connaît est Eric Cantona, un footballeur tout simplement incroyable, mais force est de constater que sa carrière a été marquée par la controverse. Il a joué 45 matches pour l’équipe nationale, marquant 20 buts pour son pays. Certaines personnes se souviendront du joueur français à cause de ses incidents polémiques, tandis que d’autres gens ne se souviendront que de son don pour le foot. Une autre légende du foot français est évidemment Michel Platini. On peut dire que le chef actuel de l’UEFA était probablement l’un des meilleurs footballeurs de tous les temps. Il a guidé l’équipe nationale à son premier trophée, marquant neuf buts pendant le Championnat d‘Europe en 1984. Enfin et surtout, on ne peut pas oublier Zinedine Zidane. Cet homme d’origine Algérien est sans doute un des meilleurs footballeurs qui n’ait

‘Cantona était incroyable, mais force est de constater que sa carrière a été marquée par controverse’

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• The5thlargesteconomicpower,France’seconomy currently revolves around services which employ more than 70% of the active population.

• Les15territoiresoutre-merdeFrance-aulargede l’Amérique: Terre Adelie, Guyane, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, Saint-Martin et Saint-Barthélemy dans l’océan Pacifique, Polynésie française, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et Clipperton; et, dans l’océan Indien: Réunion, Mayotte, Îles Éparses, Îles Crozet, Îles Kerguelen et Saint-Paul-et-Amsterdam.

• TheEiffelTowerwasbuiltasanentrancearch

for the 1889 World’s Fair by Gustave Eiffel and initially drew harsh criticism from locals.

• LePrésidentdelaRépubliqueestélupour5ansau suffrage universel direct. Il nomme le Premier ministre et, sur proposition de celui-ci, les membres du gouvernement.

• “France”comesfromtheLatinwordFrancia,meaning “country of the Franks.” The “Franks” might refer to Germanic words for “javelin” or “free” associated with the tribes of ancient Gaul.

• Lepatrimoineculturelfrançaisestlefruitd’unelongue histoire et d’une passion française pour les arts. Quelque 750 biens culturels sont classés au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco.

• The500-year-oldAcadémieFrançaiseaimstopreserve the French language. It seeks to preserve the French language by attempting to ban – somewhat unsuccessfully – foreign words such as blog, hashtag, parking, email, and weekend.

• Lesimmigrantsrécentsetleurprogéniture(nésà l’étranger + première et seconde générations d’immigrants) représentent plus de 10 % de la population de la France, dont 8,7 % de musulmans.

• Franceistheworld’smostpopulartouristdestination. Some 83 million visitors arrived in France in 2012, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

• Pariselle-mêmeaétéfondéeparlesParisii,unetribu celte, vers 250 avant notre ère. Les Romains la renommèrent Luteca en 52 avant notre ère, et elle devint seulement connue sous le nom de Paris après la chute des romains d’Occident au Veme siècle.

France Fact Filejamais vécu. Il semble que l’homme du milieu de terrain, surnommé ‘Zizou’, ait gagné presque tous les trophées possibles, y compris un Ballon d’Or et le joueur FIFA trois fois. Malheureusement, sa carrière a fini d’une mauvaise manière, après avoir donné un coup de tête à Marco Materazzi pendant la finale de la Coupe du Monde de 2006, et après ça la France a perdu le match lors d’un tir au but. Cependant, sa carrière de footballeur était pleine de succès, et c’est pourquoi il est considéré comme un idole sportif.

Maintenant que j’ai parlé de l’histoire et des meilleurs joueurs de l’équipe de France de football, je trouve que nous devrions parler de l’équipe actuelle. Le prochain tournoi de football majeur que l’équipe de France de football disputera est le Championnat d’Europe de football de 2016, qui sera en fait accueilli par la France elle-même. Puisque l’équipe nationale est le pays organisateur, elle passera les phases de groupes et elle jouera son premier match pendant les éliminatoires. Jusqu’à maintenant dans cette saison, la France n’a perdu aucun match, gagnant quatre matches sur six, y compris des victoires contre l’équipe d’Espagne et l’équipe du Portugal, ce qui est vraiment impressionnant. Ainsi, la France sera confiante et pourra faire de belles choses durant le tournoi. Le manager actuel de l’équipe, Didier Deschamps, qui était un ancien joueur de l’équipe nationale, a récemment signé un nouveau contrat avec son club. Il est juste de dire que ses résultats récents ont probablement contribué au nouvel accord, qui tiendra Deschamps responsable de l’équipe jusqu’au moins 2018. Je crois qu’il est temps de parler en particulier des joueurs du groupe français. Les deux gardiens de but qui ont joué cette saison sont Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), qui est aussi le capitaine de l’équipe, et Steve Mandanda, qui joue pour l’Olympique de Marseille. Deux défenseurs notables sont Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) et Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), qui ont fait partie intégrante de l’équipe réussie cette année. Passant aux milieux de terrain, il faut parler de Paul Pogba (Juventus), un footballeur fantastique qui a marqué deux buts pendant les matches récents. Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique de Marseille) et Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle) ont joué quatre matches tous les deux aussi. Pendant ce temps-là, Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) et Loïc Rémy (Chelsea) ont marqué six buts à eux trois.

Je sais que de nombreuses personnes diraient que cette équipe française actuelle ne contient pas autant de talent qu’avant pendant les années vraiment réussies. Néanmoins, quant à moi je dois avouer que dû au niveau récent de l’équipe et au fait que la Coupe du Monde se réalisera en France, j’estime que l’équipe de France de football a en réalité de bonnes chances de faire de belles réussites pendant le Championnat d’Europe et les années à venir.

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The Umbrella Revolution Will Not Fold

Kenneth Au Yeung sheds light on the momentous events of the 2014 Hong Kong Protests from a native’s perspective

When I first heard that Hong Kong was going to have universal suffrage by 2017, I was excited at the fact that we could finally

have an independent government with a different political system to China. Hong Kongers (yes, that really is the demonym) were elated that different political parties would compete against each other every five years to send a representative to run for Chief Executive. I thought to myself: perhaps I’m quite lucky to be from Hong Kong, one of the few areas of China which could escape Communist control.

Hong Kong was going to have electoral reform in 2014 - the Chinese government was to decide if we could have elections. It wasn’t until June 2013 that a Law don at the University of Hong Kong, Benny Tai Yiu Ting, stood up to propose that protesters should occupy the main financial district of Hong Kong should electoral reform be denied. Mr Tai named the organisation ‘Occupy Central with Love and Peace’, Central being Hong Kong’s main business district. It was one of the leading groups in the protests to come.

The dramatic chaos lasted for two and a half months before it was forced to end. Two and a half months, that was seventy five days. Imagine students who were facing public exams early next

year camping on the streets holding their yellow umbrellas, defending themselves from the pepper spray and tear gas used by the police. Isn’t that outrageous? Why can such a government bear to look at scenes of students and protesters being injured by the police and yet remain calm and do nothing? The ultimate question might be: what do the protestors want simply from camping on the streets?

It was a combination of long term dissatisfaction towards Communist rule and increased anger due to short term events in recent years that caused the outbreak of the ‘revolution’. In 1997, when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China, the famous ‘one country two systems’ policy was begun. However, China was still reluctant to give HK political freedom. Despite some objection, a ‘universal suffrage’ election system was promised in 2017 for the Chief Executive, 20 years after the handover. Those Hong Kongers who objected were still sceptical of whether the 2017 election would be the real deal.

This long term dissatisfaction was exacerbated by events in the recent years, particularly the introduction in 2012 of a compulsory subject in the secondary school curriculum called “Moral and National Education”. The subject met huge

Protesters being attacked by tear gas

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opposition in HK as it was seen as grooming the young to support the Communist case. This led to a similar but smaller scale protest, and led to the rise of another group called Scholarism headed by Joshua Wong. This was also one of the groups which led the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ and Joshua appeared on the front cover of the NY Times magazine during the event. What was important though was that this protest led to the withdrawal of the subject and fully demonstrated how effective such a protest could be. This encouraged Hong Kongers to protest in the future and increased Hong Kongers’ hatred and mistrust towards the Communist government.

The final trigger was the announcement on 31st August 2014 in which China, as many would have expected, declared that they would allow a free election in 2017 but the candidate had to be approved by mainland China before running for Chief Executive. This basically meant that Hong Kongers would not have the right to nominate their ideal candidates. Thus on 26th September, the occupation started in earnest as students went onto the streets to occupy the main financial districts. The start of the movement was officially announced by Mr Tai on the 28th. The two main demands of the protesters were for China to give HK genuine universal suffrage (with the right to nominate not just to vote) and for the current Chief Executive CY Leung to resign. Throughout the protests, Leung continuously refused to talk to the public on these issues, and the fact that the police used pepper spray and tear gas simply encouraged more people onto the streets. It wasn’t until December that the police, threatening violence, demanded the retreat of the protesters. The exhausted protesters left the scene, marking the end of a very long, memorable and unusual political movement.

As a Hong Konger I fully support the protesters. It was obvious that the vast majority of our citizens would support the action in fighting for true democracy and a fair election system. The so called ‘electoral reform’ was really a step backwards on the road to Democracy in China. In modern society we believe that Democracy is the most civilised political system and an increasing number of countries are moving towards it. Yet the fact that we are deprived of the right to nominate our candidates means that we are left with whatever China has chosen. This effectively means that whoever gets elected as the Chief Executive of HK is going to be a puppet of the Communist Party - we will fall back under a total Communist control which we already suffer. Terrifying, isn’t it? The announcement did not only violate the ‘one country two systems’ agreement signed with Britain, but it shocked many Hong Kongers as it demonstrated how easy

‘The occupation started in earnest as students went onto the streets to occupy the main financial districts’

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it was for China to play by its own rules. It simply caused many to lose more trust in the government, increasing dissatisfaction with the status quo.

For many businessmen however, the movement appeared disastrous. Based in Admiralty and Causeway Bay, the two main CBDs in HK, the protesters blockaded all main transport routes including roads. From world renowned banks like HSBC to small-scale hawkers it seemed a blow to their profits. Yet the statistics show that the movement had only a minor effect on the economy. One of the most affected sectors, the tourist industry, only contributes to 4.7% of HK’s entire GDP. In addition, some argue that banking, insurance and professional services were hardly affected as most offices are within walking distance of the railway station, and the peaceful protesters did not target pedestrian traffic. Yet I have to admit: although I support the movement, I do think that it had a negative impact on our city, if not our economy. Numerous news anchors showed their unease on TV, and some took more direct action by confronting the protesters, complaining about the consequences of the occupation and trying to remove barricades. These residents had protesters camped right outside their homes on the main street - imagine the noise and the sight of them for consecutive months - and taxi drivers in particular missed out on fares.

If I had the chance, I would like to apologise to those who suffered during the Revolution: “Sorry, but we were fighting for the future of Hong Kong, a better future for us all. We were fighting for true Democracy, something which almost every Hong Konger is desperate to have. We had to make some small sacrifices, economic loss and residential disturbance, but surely Democracy is worth fighting for?” In fact, many of the protesters were keenly aware of the fact that they were disrupting daily life - I remember watching a CNN interview with a young protester in which he actually cried while apologising to those affected, yet he insisted that the Revolution was vital to the future of his people. Yet what really made Hong Kongers dissatisfied was that this event was censored in China. There was a mainland TV channel which reported this event as a “gathering to celebrate the national day of China”. This, if anything, was most grating for HK residents.

Looking back at the event, some have pointed out that it was quite naive of the protesters to occupy the roads and demand universal suffrage when the chances of concessions from China were so low. But this criticism too, I cannot concede. The purpose of the Occupation was to show China how angry Hong Kongers were at their hegemony,

and in this it was successful - it lasted much longer than expected, and the message came through loud and clear. If nothing else, it scared Xi Jinping and his cronies - that was half of our goal wasn’t it? It was almost impossible for China to give us universal suffrage, but we have shown them what we want, and that we are determined to resist total Communism.

I would also like to emphasise how impressed I was at the peaceful nature of the Occupation. Despite some violence when the police made the protesters leave by force, the event remained peaceful with students sat across the road waving banners, shouting slogans and singing songs. It was also widely reported as “the most clean and ordered Revolution ever”; protesters kept the streets clean and safe, and the police were largely professional, perhaps even sympathetic. Indeed, the police played a crucial role in keeping the Revolution so calm - compared to other Asian countries like Malaysia the HKPD were very reasonable and only took action when required. In short, this was a peaceful, well coordinated and effective Revolution.

‘When I use the word “Revolution” in this passage, I do so incorrectly and in hope’

The streets of Hong Kong filled with protesters

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It remains, however, an unjust and unstable situation for Hong Kong. When I use the word “Revolution” in this passage, I do so incorrectly and in hope. Why? This was not an entirely successful “forcible overthrow of a government in favour of a new system”; my hope is that it is just the beginning. Yet I cannot describe how trapped and hopeless we now feel. Nobody knows what will happen in the future: is Hong Kong going to be fully Communist one day? will we lose our freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of press soon? it seems unlikely, but who knows? one promise has already been broken, why couldn’t China break another?

So this is why it was, and still is, so critical to stand up together as one people and let China know that we are not prepared to meekly cow to their tyranny. Even if the chance of realising True Democracy in Hong Kong in the near future seems slight, we still have to make it clear to China that this is our deep-rooted desire. We will neither fear nor will we submit in the fight for Democracy in our homeland. The ending of the Occupation does not mean the ending of our Revolution; the battle is lost, but the war is yet to be fought. It is the beginning of a very long, very hard and very painful journey towards Democracy in Hong Kong. The Umbrella Revolution will not fold.

• 幸运饼干并不是中国的传统食品，它发明于1900年的美国旧金山。Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in early 1900 in San Francisco.

• 对中国人而言，红色代表幸福，它常常用于中国的节日和其他欢乐的场合，比如生日和婚礼。Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.

• 在中国，丧葬用的颜色是白色，而不是黑色。White, rather than black, is the Chinese colour for mourning and funerals.

• 在一千四百年前，中国制造了世界上最早的纸币。The world’s first paper money was created in China 1400 years ago.

• 在中国的一些地区十点才能看到日出，因为中国把五个时区合并成了一个时区。The sunrise in parts of China can be as late as 10am because the country joined its five time zones into a single one.

• 每五天中国就会出现一座新的摩天大楼。A new skyscraper is built in China every five days.

• 世界上一半的猪都生活在中国。Half of all the world’s pigs live in China.

• 当一只小熊猫出生时，它会被FedEx 送到中国，帮助扩充基因库。When a baby panda is born, it is shipped by FedEx to China to help expand the gene pool.

• 在中国排名第一的爱好是集邮。The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.

• 在中国古代,莲花代表纯洁，对佛教徒和道教徒来说是神圣的。牡丹（花中之王）象征春天，菊花象征长寿，而水仙则被认为可以带来好运。In ancient China, the lotus was seen as a symbol of purity and was sacred to both the Buddhists and Daoists. The peony (“King of Flowers”) symbolized spring, the chrysanthemum symbolized long life, and the narcissus was thought to bring good luck.

China Fact File

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For me, the German exchange was a great experience - by the end of the trip, I was sad to have to leave so soon. The exchange

school, the trips and the time I spent with my host family were all terrific, and when it came to saying goodbye, I can genuinely say that it felt like one of the best experiences of my school career was coming to an end!

Abingdon School could really take a leaf out of the German day’s book. Although you are obliged to get up at 6:30am - which is pretty early even by English standards - school finishes at 2:00 pm (and midday on Wednesdays), allowing you to go home, have lunch and meet up with friends. This to me seems much more sensible than the English norm, where you get home exhausted at 8:00 pm in some cases, and can’t even talk to your family as you’ve got to get your prep done for the next day.

I arrived in Germany on a Wednesday night, pretty tired and a bit nervous. Shaking hands briefly with my host family and my exchange partner Enno, I fell straight into bed. By the morning however, my nerves had dissipated and I was about to see the typical German school day play out before my eyes. I spent this first day at school with my exchange partner, but this didn’t feel like just another boring weekday; I enjoyed seeing how differently lessons in Germany are taught and at points I was even able to join in. Contrary to popular belief, the Germans do have a sense of humour, and the last period of the day definitely developed some good banter and repartee among students and teachers.

After a leisurely lunch, I attended the German premiere of the Abingdon-Bielefeld World War I project, where I enjoyed finding out about the parallels between the two schools during the War and hearing some of the sound bytes live which my friends had recorded for the initiative. Although

I had seen it before, it was even more engaging to experience it a second time from, as it were, the “German perspective”. Back at home, my exchange and I broke the ice with a board game called Rummikub. Despite my best efforts, I soon discovered that Enno was a clinical player, always having a wily endgame in sight. This was the first fun day of many we spent in Germany.

Germany’s coal industry has a great story to tell, and the next day we visited the coal mine, near Essen. The brotherhood ‘kumpels’ of the miners formed an inspiring story. These rugged mining bands took great pride in their punishing and gritty work, and often had to pay a high price: with the explosions and high noise levels, many went deaf and were known as ‘the men who never say no’ (being deaf, they would always answer ‘yes’ to everything).

Although it may seem strange to us, many young people our age in Germany take dancing lessons, one of which we took part in on the Friday. The prospect of dancing in front of one’s peers met with some initial resistance. Indeed, I had to spend a good chunk of time trying to convince one of my mates to ‘let his hair down’ and ‘just dance’ - it seemed getting someone to ‘tanzen mit’ would be harder than I had foreseen. Yet eventually, our inhibitions were overcome and everyone joined in. We went home buzzing.

I had a great weekend with my family. Saturday was relaxed: I had the chance to recover from the end of a busy week Bielefeld, and I was also able to have some very interesting conversations with my host family about how far Germany had changed Britain’s history. We decided that had it not been for the German tribes victories over the Roman Empire, we could all still be speaking Latin! Sunday was also a highlight because I watched the local

An Exchange to RememberBen Ffrench relates his experience of the annual Bielefeld German Exchange

The city of Bielefeld

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football team, Armenia Bielefeld, play a thrilling match in which they came back from 2-0 down to win 4-2. My host family enjoyed the game in quintessentially German fashion: vocal support was accompanied by Bratwurst and lemonade, and, of course, disappointment that the match wasn’t won on penalties!

The first days of the second week were just as full as the last days of the first. For example, we visited the fantastic Dr Oetker factory, a household name in German food. We went on a tour of the factory floor, looking at the history and the production of this truly delicious grub. Here’s just one fact: the woman whose silhouette is on the Dr Oetker logo is the daughter of a competition winner, not the owner’s daughter as the urban myth suggests. Another high point was the ice-skating. It was really hard at first, but quite fun once you got the hang of it - I fell over at least ten times but it was definitely worth the pain.

The trip culminated in a great football tournament in which, improbably, the two English teams beat the Germans! Although Ms Widdern and her German counterpart were initially exposed to some near misses from stray English passes, both teams improved a lot. Our two teams finished 1st and 3rd, but I was most proud of my wrong-footing of the German keeper to score a rare English penalty success.

The benefits of an exchange are endless, but I will mention a few here: you get to have a holiday, your language skills will vastly improve (and therefore your grades too), it’s great fun, and you make lots of new friends. If I were offered the chance to go back now, I wouldn’t hesitate to accept - in fact, one person in my class has already been invited back (so I hear) and I’m ultra jealous. If you’re reading this and considering going on any MFL exchange, my advice runs thusly: do it, it can only be enriching!

Germany Fact File

• Mit82MillionenEinwohnernistDeutschland das am stärksten bevölkerte Land der EU.With 82 billion people, Germany is the most

populous country in the European Union.

• DasMünchnerOktoberfestbeginnteigentlich Mitte September und endet am erstenOktoberwochenende.The Munich Oktoberfest actually starts mid September and ends with the first weekend in October.

• Ungefähr25%derElektrizitätinDeutschlandstammtbereitsausgrünenRessourcen und die Regierung plant, dies biszumJahr2050aufmindestens80%zuerhöhen.Around 25% of electricity in Germany already comes from green sources, and the Federal Government plans to increase this to at least 80% by 2050.

• EinwichtigerTeilderNeujahrsfeierlichkeiten ist es, die britische Slapstickkomödie“DinnerforOne”(1963)mitFreddieFrintonundMayWardenanzusehen.On New Year’s Eve, it is an essential part of celebrations to watch the British slapstick comedy “Dinner for One” (1963) starring Freddie Frinton and May Warden.

• DieDeutscheSpracheistbekanntfürihrezusammengesetztenNomen,wieKraftfahrzeu-ghaftpflichtversicherung oder Donaudamp-fschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänswitwe.The German language is famous for its com-pound nouns, such as Kraftfahrzeughaftpflicht-versicherung (automobile liability insurance) and Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän-switwe (widow of a Danube steamboat company captain).

• NachdemdeutschenReinheitsgebotsindnurMalz,Hopfen,WasserundHefealsZutatenin der Bierproduktion erlaubt.According to the German law of purity, only malt, hop, water and yeast are approved ingredients in the production of beer.

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L’Immigration en France,Une Question Polémique

As anti-immigration feeling sweeps across Europe, Hector Stinton investigates the most controversial issue in French politics

On vit, de nos jours, pendant une époque dans laquelle la question de l’immigration est devenue un objet de litige déterminant:

le FN sous la direction de Marine Le Pen a gagné deux sièges au Sénat et les immigrés africains dérangent toujours les habitants locaux du Pas-de-Calais. Les arguments principaux des partisans de l’immigration incluent les bénéfices économiques, le multiculturalisme et le devoir d’accueillir les demandeurs d’asile. Néanmoins, l’opposition affirme que l’immigration sape les gagne-pains et les modes de vie des indigènes, elle affaiblit l’infrastructure et elle crée des problèmes sociaux.

On ne peut pas nier qu’il y ait de nombreux arguments pour soutenir l’immigration, et l’argument économique est le plus convaincant. Avec une population vieillissante et un taux de natalité en baisse, le nombre de travailleurs de souche diminue. On a donc besoin de jeunes employés dynamiques qui viennent d’ailleurs avec

la créativité, la motivation et l’esprit d’entreprise nécessaire pour maintenir en croissance l’économie nationale. En fait, 40% des immigrés en France sont âgés entre 25 et 35 ans. En plus, les immigrants remplissent une fonction cruciale dans beaucoup de secteurs essentiels pour la société moderne. Contrairement à la croyance populaire, chaque année des milliers de personnes qualifiées émigrent pour chercher une meilleure qualité de vie, et finissent par travailler dans des domaines comme la santé et l’éducation. Mais également, il est aussi très important qu’on accueille toujours les immigrés moins qualifiés puisqu’ils sont disposés à faire le travail moins payé qui est rejeté fréquemment par les indigènes, auxquels il semble comme le “sale” boulot. Alors, à mon avis c’est juste de permettre aux immigrants qui voudraient gagner honnêtement de l’argent. Au niveau de la loi, la vaste majorité d’Européens accepte que la loi de la libre circulation a bénéficié beaucoup non

‘L’immigration en France est devenue un objet de litige déterminant’

A protest for immigrants‘ rights

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seulement aux immigrés en France mais aussi aux Français qui ont émigré d’ailleurs. Aujourd’hui, 2,5 millions de Français vivent à l’étranger, desquels trois-quarts travaillent et 400.000 habitent à Londres. Ils y profitent du travail, des universités renommées, et de l’assurance de la santé - donc selon moi, comment peut-on nier ces libertés aux immigrés en France?

En revanche, il y a plein de Français qui ne voient que les problèmes quant à l’immigration. D’abord, ils en nieraient les bienfaits économiques. Quelques ouvriers disent que les immigrés volent les emplois des Français de souche. Il est vrai que depuis une dizaine d’années les immigrés de l’Europe de l’Est ont manipulé le monde du travail en offrant leurs services pour le travail manuel pour très peu d’argent, et en travaillant des heures tellement longues comme sans-papiers. Inversement, parmi d’autres Français le problème c’est les immigrants sans compétences qui tirent profit des allocations afin de vivre sur le dos de l’état, ce qui n’a pas l’air juste. À part du problème d’emploi, ces indigènes affirment aussi que la vie quotidienne est rendue plus difficile pour le citoyen lambda. Actuellement, il est déjà très difficile de trouver un appartement abordable en France, encore moins dans la France surpeuplée, alors avec la compétition supplémentaire des étrangers il y aura plus de hausses de prix et plus de SDFs dans la rue. D’une façon similaire, les immigrés mettent surpression sur

l’infrastructure comme les autoroutes et les trains et sur les services publiques comme les hôpitaux, sans parler des écoles. De plus, on ne peut pas oublier l’effet de l’immigration sur les problèmes sociaux. Il est indéniable que les taux de crime augmentent souvent après une vague d’immigration de la Roumanie à cause d’une montée en délits mineurs. Toutefois, de mon point de vue ces immigrés sont souvent stéréotypés injustement comme boucs émissaires en raison de l’ignorance et de la brutalité policière.

Pour la plupart, je me trouve fortement en faveur de l’immigration. En général, j’accepte que l’économie bénéficie beaucoup de l’immigration, particulièrement quant aux secteurs professionnels comme la santé. L’autre avantage de l’immigration qui me persuade est le multiculturalisme, parce que quand toutes les races, religions et nationalités s’unissent dans une société, il encourage la tolérance, il enrichit la culture et il construit une société mieux intégrée. Mais peut-être l’argument le plus convaincant pour moi est la question morale. J’affirmerais que la France comme le pays de la liberté qui soutient les droits de l’homme a le devoir d’aider les moins privilégiés en les accueillant pour les sauver de la persécution et l’exécution dans leur pays natal. Cependant, je crois qu’il faut qu’on fasse plus pour limiter l’immigration clandestine car elle mène souvent à la manipulation et à l’exploitation des sans-papiers.

‘Quelques immigrants sans compétences tirent

profit des allocations afin de vivre sur le dos

de l’état’

‘France comme le pays de la liberté a le devoir d’aider les moins privilégiés en les accueillant’

history

24

• TheSpanish(inparticularthosefromCadiz)claimthat they invented fried fish. In the 18th century, Britain had ties with Cadiz and it is believed that the English took the idea of fish ‘n’ chips from Spain.

• ElidiomaoficialdetodoelpaísesCastellano,quees la lengua materna del 74% de la población. Otras lenguas oficiales en algunas comunidades autónomas son: el Catalán hablado por un 17%, el Gallego por un 7%, y el Euskera por un 2%.

• TheSagradaFamiliachurchinBarcelona,hasbeenunder construction for over 130 years and it’s only expected to be complete by 2026.

• Españatiene4.964kilómetrosdeplayas.AlsuryalesteesposiblebañarseenelMarMediterráneo,alnorte en el Mar Cantábrico y al Oeste en el Océano Atlántico.

• InthetownofCoriadelRíonearSeville,700people share the surname “Japón”. They are descendants of six Japanese samurais who in 1617 stayed on in the town instead of returning with their embassy delegation led by Hasekura Tsunenaga.

• LaesperanzadevidaenEspañaesunamediade80años,unadelasmáselevadasdelmundo.

• Spanishisthesecondmostspokenlanguageinthe world, with 329 million native speakers worldwide.

• LaocupaciónmusulmanadeEspañacomenzóenel siglo VIII AC y se mantuvo durante siete siglos.

• Molotovcocktailswerefirstusedduringthe Spanish Civil War when Franco ordered his Nationalists to use the incendiary devices against Soviet T-26 tanks supporting the Republicans. The name was coined by the Finns during the Winter War as an insulting reference to Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, responsible for the partition of Finland.

• Españaseliberótotalmentedeldominiomusulmánenelaño1492,coincidentementeconeldescubrimiento de América por Cristóbal Colón.

• Spainhasthesecondhighestnumberofbarsperperson in the EU, coming a close second to Cyprus.

Spain Fact File Fighting Franco

Cultural Expression in Fascist Spain

Valle de los Caídos in San LorenzodeElEscorial,restingplace of Franco

A mass grave of victims of the Spanish Civil War

history

25

Fighting FrancoCultural Expression in Fascist Spain

Archie Williams explores how far we can consider the 40 years of Francoist Spain to be an artistic wilderness

Across Spain today, we are still finding mass graves. Enormous groups of bodies in pits, their hands still bound and bullets still lodged in their skeletons.

These were the victims of one of the bloodiest periods of Spanish history; the 1936-9 Civil War and its aftermath. In this war, neither side was blameless, and both the revolutionary Nationalists and the Republicans were guilty of atrocities. At the epicentre of this was “El Generalissimo” Francisco Franco, the leader of the Nationalists, who ruled Spain from the end of the war until his death in 1975. In such an oppressive regime, many historians have described Fascist Spain as a ‘cultural wasteland’, but this is simply not the case; many used their creative talents to attack the regime, and for this reason Spain was a hotbed for subversive artwork. Far from a wasteland, Spain 1939 - 75 used the legacy of perhaps the most morally complex war of the 20th Century as a constant source of inspiration.

In 1939, Spain emerged from the civil war with half a million dead, the Republicans crushed and Franco victorious. In addition to many deluded volunteers, Franco’s Nationalist war effort had been sustained by Hitler and Mussolini who used it as a huge experiment for their military arsenals. But Franco’s most powerful ally was the Catholic Church. It feared the Republicans, who became infiltrated by Communists as the war continued, many of whom despised the existence of religion and the wealth of the Church. Following the war, it became clear to Franco that religion, the ‘opiate of the masses’, was the best way to reunite Spain, meaning the Church became even more powerful than before the war and Catholic hegemony seeped into every aspect of daily life, thus ensuring his own authority. This Catholic cultural dominance sent many artists into exile, including icons like Picasso and Dali who had formerly made Spain such a haven for free self-expression. The Church declared that art should be ‘a warm glow’, not ‘subversive chaos’. As Spain slipped ever further into dictatorship, her artistic future did not look bright.

And yet something happened, something that made all of this change. In 1945, Franco lost his only allies - Mussolini was shot by communist partisans en route to refuge in Spain, and Hitler killed himself as the Russians advanced on Berlin. Unexpectedly, Franco had no allies, and the great Authoritarian dream seemed to evaporate. He was alone. He tried, like Hitler, to make his nation self-sufficient, and gradually his despotic tendencies began to emerge, inducing a period of immense suffering in Spain. He was still waging war against an enemy within, some imagined masonic Marxist conspiracy. Yet this period of strife, characterised by mass hunger, false imprisonment and summary executions, was the catalyst for some breathtaking examples of artistic expression. The heartbreak of the Civil War led artists like Antonio Saura to express the tyranny they had witnessed with tortured masterpieces,

history

26

often depicting tormented nudes and barbaric crucifictions, as an attack on the brutality of war and human cruelty e.g. Memory and Reconciliation (pictured page 28). But, paradoxically, this was also a time for satire. One of the most remarkable films of the last century, ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!, was released in 1953 and ostensibly criticised America’s Marshall Aid scheme introduced to rebuild Europe after the War, yet obliquely it spoofed Franco’s scornful attitude towards regional Spanish culture.

However, by the 1960s it had become

increasingly clear that years of repression had left Spain in a parlous social and financial state. For this reason, it would have to take a side in the Cold War to save its economy. Communists in Spain had been executed en masse, Spanish volunteers had fought the Soviets at Leningrad, and Franco frequently spouted rhetoric about the evils of Marxism - all this making Generalissimo no friends in the Kremlin and eliminating any accord with the natural ally of a despotic USSR. Help would have to come from the democratic West; a bloc with a burgeoning liberal outlook and flourishing artistic expression. In the West, speaking out against the government - about the Black vote or the Vietnam War; was accepted, indeed exiled artists like Picasso living in free democracies denounced the evils of Francoism. It would be hard, but Franco recognised that it was essential for the survival of Authoritarian Spain - they would have to adapt in order to work towards a rapprochement with the West. The Church, too, realised that the Civil War hadn’t been fought between two camps, but three - two polarised factions, and a mass of people simply forced to pick a side. In 1936, Franco commanded just 100,000 men, but managed to raise an army of 1.2 million. Were these men all fascists? No. They were conscripts, and survivors felt great sympathy for the routed Republicans. So the Church reached out; clergy across the country began to oppose and fight the regime, and very soon Spain’s cultural landscape had changed completely.

‘Spain used the most morally complex war of the 20th Century as a constant source of inspiration’

RuinsofGuernica(1937)

history

27

Suddenly, Spanish artists and writers could travel and study outside Spain, and were freer to express themselves at home, too. Tourists were coming in, parading the wealth of the West to the last true bastion of social hierarchy in Europe. Trade allowed a new middle-class to emerge who longed for some way to recognise their new-found status. In short, they cried out for art. And now they could have it. Artists like Eduardo Chillida found they were now working in a country under pressure to be more accepting. His sculptures (pictured below) were heavily influenced by Basque culture, something Franco had done his best to suppress, and yet he rarely encountered resistance from the Government. The most experimental example of this new wave of art, however, would be the novella San Camilo 1936 by Camilo Jose Cela. This story about the first days of the Civil War bore the inscription: ‘To the conscripts of 1937, all of whom lost something; their lives, their freedom, their dreams, their hope, their decency. And not to the adventurers from abroad, Fascists and Marxists, who had their fill of killing Spaniards like rabbits and whom no one had invited to take part in their funeral.’ Finally acknowledging the Civil War for what it was - an animalistic battle corrupted by ideology and debased by outsiders - this damning work is widely considered to be Cela’s finest. He showed an awareness of the fragility of the human mind, the horror it could be subjected to and the ignoble nature of this absurd conflict. Gone were the days of obliquely referencing forbidden

themes in novels; now authors confronted the regime head on, though many still faced torture and imprisonment for their actions.

This process became self-propagating. Franco’s politics loosened, and the youth in Spain (who had been subjects of the worldwide politicisation of students) grew up and entered the lower echelons of the government, bringing with them a tolerance for self-expression, allowing ever more subversive art. Franco became isolated in his belief in Fascism whereas art became more modernistic, more

‘The heartbreak of the War led

artists to express the tyranny

of the regime with tortured

masterpieces’

El peine de los vientos by Eduardo Chillida, San Sebastián

history

28

Memory and Recollection by Antonio Saura

experimental; the controlling Catholic Church was seen as irrelevant to modern life. One incident is particularly telling of Franco’s mood at this time. Visiting a gallery and stopping by a particularly experimental tapestry, a nervous curator told him ‘This is the revolutionaries room’. Franco’s reply was ‘So long as this is how they carry out the revolution’. He now accepted that a measure of liberality was needed to stay in power and manage the seismic social change Spain was experiencing. As Franco’s grip loosened on the minds of the Spaniards, it became clear that his cultural control of Spain was a thing of the past, and had never been fully realised at all.

In November 1975, when Franco died of Parkinson’s Disease, the country was able to begin its transition to democracy. He was buried in a crypt, built for him in the 50’s by the forced labour of Republican POWs on the old Civil War battlefield known as the Valley of the Fallen. The structure was erected beneath a 150-metre-tall cross, dedicated specifically to the Nationalist dead of the War so once more, as the architects intended, Franco could be at the head of his Fascist brigades. But their view of the Civil War was antiquated - the novelists and artists who had lived and worked

in his Authoritarian state had seen to it that on his death, the Spanish would recognise the importance for reconciliation and atonement to prevent a repeat of that horrendous struggle - some, like the famous poet Federico Lorca, had paid for this with their lives.

Spain today is not perfect. Vestiges of Francoism survive in the Judicial system, the government continues to hide evidence of Franco’s crimes from the public domain and documentaries about the war are still censored. There is still a Rambla del General Franco in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and many old people in Spain still value his ideologies as Franquismo has not yet been denounced as evil like Nazism in modern-day Germany; it has been accepted like Stalinism in modern-day Russia. Although the culture of Fascist Spain has been tainted by association for many people living outside the country, it started the process of closure for the Civil War and began the process of the acceptance of the evils perpetrated by Generalissimo. It helped unite the country more than Franco ever could, and that is the ultimate triumph of those who fought for self expression in 20th Century Spain.

arts

29

Noche Española en Birmingham

Laura López Camisón recounts an exceptional musical extravaganza with an Iberian twist as Spanish maestro Don Josep Pons came to Birmingham

¿Quésabedelamúsicaespañola?Seguroque su primer pensamiento ha sido relacionadoconguitarrasycastañuelas

o tal vez con el flamenco. Es cierto que estos elementos son importantes dentro del legado musicalespañol,aunquetodonoesfiestaybaile.Este ha sido el objetivo principal del concierto dirigido por JosepPons, es decir, dar a conocer y demostrarquelamúsicaespañolaesalgomásqueesos estereotipos bien conocidos.JosepPons nació en Puig-reig, en la comarca

de Berguedá (Barcelona), en 1957. Comenzó sus estudios de música en la Escolanía de Montserrat. Recibió clases magistrales de Josep Soler i Sardà y de Antoni Ros-Marbà, en Barcelona, y en 1985 fundó la Orquesta de Cambra Teatre Lliure con la que adquirió rápidamente reconocimiento internacional. En 1994 fue nombrado director de la Orquesta Ciudad de Granadayalañosiguienteempezó a alternar la dirección sinfónica con la de producciones operísticas. Posteriormente, en 2003 fue nombrado director de la Orquesta Nacional de España. No obstante, como director invitado, ha dirigido las más prestigiosas orquestas

internacionales y entre ellas la Orquesta Sinfónica de Birmingham el pasado jueves 22 de Enero durantela“NocheEspañola”(SpanishNIght).

Centrándonos en lo que pudimos escuchar durante este concierto, como bien escribió Manuel de Falla, “la melancolía y el misterio también tienen su parte”. Es decir, en cada una de las obras que escuchamos durante esta noche pudimos apreciar esto, pero, principalmente, en Noches en los Jardines de España. Sin duda, un trabajo hermoso, complejo y exuberante en donde Manuel de Falla consolidó su reputación como uno de los grandescompositoresdelsigloXXenEspañayen el extranjero. Además, a lo largo de la velada la Orquesta Sinfónica de Birmingham ofreció música llena de pasión y estilo. Su director de orquesta, JosepPons, lo transmitió con ayuda de su batuta de una forma excepcional desde el comienzo de los primeros compases, creando una atmósfera especial en la sala que nos transportó a pintorescos rinconesdelsurdeEspaña.

Sin embargo, el programa abrió con Rapsodie Española de Maurice Ravel, compositor francés (7 Marzo 1875 – 28 Diciembre1937). Es cierto que

JosepPonsconductstheorchestra

arts

30

esta pieza musical no es propiamente de origen españolperosiesuntemadondesemuestralapasión que Ravel heredó de su madre por la música española.Nohayduda,queRavel despliega en su Rapsodia la vivacidad, el ritmo y el colorido propios delamúsicaespañola.Laobradeunos17minutosde duración, esta estructurada en 4 movimientos. Lasdos piezas centrales en ritmo de danzas (malagueñayhabanera)decarácterfolklórico,fueron compuestas originalmente para dos pianos. La última pieza, Feria, también es de carácter español.Encambio,laprimerapieza,Prélude à la nuit nos trae una atmósfera impresionista, que recuerda a Debussy y también al Pájaro de Fuego de Stravinsky.

A continuación, fue el turno del compositor españolManuel de Falla. En el auditorio se podía apreciar como muchos de los asistentes no estaban tan familiarizados con la obra de este compositor como con la de Maurice Ravel. El primer tema interpretado por la orquesta de Birmingham fue El Amor Brujo.

En 1925, Falla transformó la primera versión en un ballet para orquesta sinfónica, con tres

canciones cortas para mezzo-soprano. Con este formato, el Amor Brujo triunfó recibiendo una gran ovación por parte del público asistente. El argumentocuentalahistoriadeunaniñagitanaque está obsesionada por el recuerdo de su amante muerto. La obra es de carácter marcadamente andaluz, tanto en lo musical como en lo literario. El libreto fue escrito completamente en dialecto andaluz por Gregorio Martínez Sierra. La música contiene momentos de gran belleza y originalidad, e incluye las famosas Danza ritual del fuego, la Canción del fuego fatuo y Danza del terror. Las canciones estuvieron poderosamente a cargo de María Toledo, considerada como “la Diana Krall del Flamenco”. Sin duda, su actuación fue espectacular por su singularidad, sus tonos abrasivos y su ataque del texto ya que es una gran cantante tradicional de flamenco. Además, el hecho de que Josep Pons utiliceunaorquestamáspequeñaparainterpretaresta obra, no es debido a su propio antojo, sino que quiere crear una sensación de cámara más íntima.

Pero este no fue el único tema de Falla que sonó durante el concierto. En el programa se incluyó Noches en los Jardines de España que fue

Los jardines Generalife, Granada

‘La música española es algo más que los estereotipos bien conocidos’

arts

31

‘Un trabajo hermoso, complejo

y exuberante en donde Manuel de

Falla consolidó su reputación internacional’

interpretado de forma espectacular destacando el gran trabajo de Pons y su orquesta. El director supo sacar esa naturaleza única y evocadora en cada uno de sus instrumentistas. Una vez más la sección de viento estuvo muy presente, ayudando a conseguir la sensación de trasladarnos al propio Jardín del Generalife en el Palacio de la Alambra en Granada. Además, gracias a la ayuda de JavierPerianes, la parte del piano fue brillante y digna de espectáculo con la aparentemente facilidad con la que Javier hizo cosquillas a las teclas del piano dentro de esta partitura orquestal exuberante.

Para culminar esta gran velada tan entretenida, el programa terminó con el Bolero de Ravel. Este tema musical fue reconocido al primer segundo por los espectadores británicos ya que fue la pieza musical elegida en los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de 1984 en Sarajevo por Torvill y de Dean para ejecutar su rutina de patinaje sobre hielo, de la cual obtuvieron la medalla de oro. Ravel, jamás hubiera pensado en el momento de componer Bolero que iba a ser un gran éxito puesto que se trata de una pieza con un único tema. No obstante, este éxito tan inesperado por él pero previsible por los críticos musicales, tiene una orquestación inteligente inspirada enunadanzaespañolaquesecaracterizaporunritmoy un tempo invariables, con una melodía obsesiva —un ostinato— en Do Mayor (C Major), repetida una y otra vez sin ninguna modificación salvo los efectos orquestales, en un crescendo que, in extremis, se acaba con una modulación a Mi Mayor (E Major) y una coda estruendosa.

Pese a que Ravel dijo que consideraba la obra como un simple estudio de orquestación, el Bolero esconde una gran originalidad, y en su versión de concierto ha llegado a ser una de las obras musicales más interpretadas en todo el mundo. Honestamente, tiene una sensación hipnótica y todo el público que asistió al Symphony Hall en Birmingham, fue testigo de ello con su final ternario bullicioso sumamente apropiadísimo para este concierto deNocheEspañolaacargodelaOrquestaSinfónicadeBirmingham.

Según las palabras de muchos de los alumnos asistentes, fue una emocionante noche cultural de ardiente y audaz música y lirica. Ojalá que muy pronto podamos volveradisfrutardeotraNocheEspañolatanmágica.

Maurice Ravel

Maria Toledo

Manuel De Falla

school life

32

Mandarin Assistant Interview

用一句话来描述一下你自己?How would you describe yourself in a sentence?

我是一个友好，有耐心和责任心的人，喜欢尝试一些新鲜事物。I would say that I am friendly, patient and responsible. I also like to try new things.

• 工作之外，你最喜欢的活动是什么？What are your favourite activities outside of work?

平时，我喜欢听音乐或和朋友聊天。放假的时候，我喜欢去不同的地方旅游。For the most part, I like listening to music or talking with my friends. During the holidays, I love to travel to new places.

• 你在中国住在哪里？那里怎么样？Where did you live in China? What was it like?

我住在厦门，一个美丽的沿海城市。它是中国最宜居住城市之一，同时也是中国最浪漫休闲城市。I lived in Xiamen, which is a lovely city on the southeast coast. It is one of the best cities in China to live in, as well as one of China’s most charming city resorts.

• 你住的怎么样？What’s your accommodation like?

我和其它助教老师一起住在学校的房子里，我们共用厨房和卫生间，我有一个很小但是很温暖的房间。I live in the school boarding house with the other language assistants. We share the kitchen and the bathroom, and I have a small but very comfortable bedroom.

• 生活在中国和英国最大的不同是什么？What are the main differences between life in China and here in England?

我们中国人喜欢约朋友一起饭店，边吃饭边聊天，而英国人喜欢约去酒吧，边喝酒边聊天。英国人喜欢运动，而大部分中国人则爱广场舞。In China, people generally like to go to a restaurant with friends to have a meal and catch up, whereas in England, people prefer to go to a bar, to have a drink and chat. For diversion, I think English people like sports, whilst most Chinese people prefer traditional dancing as a pastime.

• 你有教学经验吗？Do you have any teaching experience?

我去年在泰国的一所大学做汉语志愿者老师。Yes, I worked as a Chinese volunteer teacher in a university in Thailand last year.

• 你想从这里的工作中得到什么？What do you want to get out of your job here?

我想了解一下英国的教学方式和教学方法，体验一下传统的英国校园生活。I want to learn about the how the British teach, what their methods are, and to experience traditional British school life.

• 你说其它语言吗？你想学哪种语言，为什么？What other languages do you speak, and which new ones would you like to learn and why?

我现在只会说汉语和英语，但是如果要再学一门

Wenyan GuoInterviewed by Narit Vongkusolkit

school life

33

的话，我会选阿拉伯语，因为我想知道世界上最难的语言到底有多难。I can only speak Chinese and English. If I were to learn a new one, I would choose Arabic, because I would like to challenge myself to mastering the one of the world’s most difficult language.

• 学习一门语言，最难的是什么？What is the hardest part about learning a language?

抛开语言本身，我觉得持久是学习语言最困难也是最重要的部分。语言是一门应用型学科，只有不断地应用，才能真正掌握。Aside from the language itself, I think persistence is the hardest but also the most important part of learning a language. Language is an applied subject - only in constant application can you really master it.

• 最后，你为什么喜欢语言？And finally, what is it you love about languages?

因为语言是很重要的交流工具，想要了解别人或者被人了解，语言交流是最直接有效的途径。Language is the essential communication tool. If you want to get to know someone or if you want to be understood by someone, verbal communication is the most direct and effective way to do so.

credits

Xiamen at night

ContributorsAlex Gatenby

Archie WilliamsBen FfrenchBlake Jones

Hector StintonHenry Papworth

Kenneth Au YeungLaura López Camisón

Narit VongkusolkitNicholas Lockett

Regina Engel-HartTeddy CurtisWenyan Guo

Copy EditorJames Fotherby

Head of Art and DesignBlake Jones

Supervising EditorRegina Engel-Hart

Founding EditorHector Stinton

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Find The Polyglot on ISSUU @http://issuu.com/thepolyglotmagazine

The Polyglot is a publication wholly produced and owned by Abingdon School, a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity (Charity No. 1071298). Copyright in all articles and images remains with the creators and owners of those works. Previously published images and quotes

or other excerpts from published works are used either by explicit permission or under the terms of Fair Use or a Creative

Commons licence.“Dein Kino”. Picture 1: Donnersmarck, F. (Director). (2003). Das

Leben der anderen [Motion Picture]

linguistics

34

Mamihlapinatapei, Yagan- The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start

Kummerspeck, German- Flab caused by overeating because of emotional problems

Zhaghzhagh, Persian- The chattering of teeth from either cold or rage

เกรงใจ (Kreng Jai), Thai- The feeling of not wanting someone to do something for you out of fear that it will be a hassle

Tartle, Scottish- To hesitate in recognizing a person or thing, as happens when you are introduced to someone whose name you cannot recall

Cafuné, Portuguese- The gesture of tenderly caressing somebody else’s hair

Shemomedjamo, Georgian- To eat past the point of being full because the food is so delicious

木漏れ日 (Komorebi), Japanese- Sunlight which filters through the leaves of trees

Luftmensch, Yiddish- One more concerned with airy intellectual pursuits than practical matters like earning an income

Iktsuarpok, Inuit- The feeling of anticipation that leads you to keep looking outside to see if anyone is coming

恋の予感 (Koi No Yokan), Japanese- The sense one can have upon first meeting another person that the two of them are going to fall in love

Verschlimmbessern, German- To make something worse when trying to improve it

Hiraeth, Welsh- A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which perhaps never was; the nostalgia, the yearning the grief for the lost places of your past

Esprit d’escalier, French- Thinking of a witty remark too late; hindsight wit or afterwit

Arabic ,(Ya’aburnee) ينربقي- Loving someone so much that one’s hope is that they’ll die before them, because of how difficult it would be to live without them

Mångata, Swedish- The roadlike reflection of moonlight on water

Hygge, Danish- Fireplace warmth with candles and family and friends and food, tucked under blankets on a snowy day, cup-of- coffee conversation, scarf-snuggle, squiggly, warm baby love

- Words chosen by Blake Jones

Lost in Translation

POLYGLOTIssue 2

The