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Letter from the editorSince becoming editor-in-chief of the Polyglot last September, I have come to realise that there are only two things necessary to produce a successful magazine: a brilliant predecessor and an equally brilliant team. Fortunately for me, I had both. Therefore, a huge amount of praise and credit must be given firstly to Hector Stinton - the founding editor - who laid down the essential foundations of the magazine, and secondly to my team, who individually pitched in interesting ideas and articles and collaboratively helped produce, what I think is, an exceptional issue.

The first two issues of the Polyglot focused largely on the ideas of linguistics, culture and the history of Europe. And whilst this issue is similar to the last two in the respect that it too focuses on linguistics and culture, it is different in that it puts far greater emphasis on contemporary European affairs; rather than history. My intention for this change in direction was to give readers a greater insight and knowledge - often from a different perspective - into current affairs which affect them and the world around them hugely. Therefore, this issue contains articles, ranging from FC Bayern’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, to the French legislation banning size zero models, and perhaps most topical and pertinent to us today: the terrorist attacks in France.

- James Fotherby, Editor-in-Chief

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FEELING FOR FRANCE 4ZERO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANOREXIA 12FRANCE FACT FILE 13

FC BAYERN LEADS THE WAY 6GERMANY FACT FILE 7PHOENIX 14

GERARD PIQUÉ: EL FUTBOLISTA MÁS ODIADO 9

HOLA, ¿QUÉ TAL? 16

TXT L@NGU@G3 5NIMBIA NUMBERS 10CHINESE SCRIPTS 11

ContentsFRANCE

GERMANY

SPAIN

INTERNATIONAL

GET OUT OF HERE 8

MUJERES AL BORDE DE UN ATAQUE DE NERVIOS 14

TEN WORD STORIES 18

SAMBA 14

SPAIN FACT FILE 17

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Temana Lai Mink and Laura Navas share their emotions in the aftermath of the Paris attacks

I was in London with my friend, a French assistant as well, when I heard the news. At first,

I thought it was just “another” shooting, the ones we are now sadly and tragically used to, but then, I kept receiving texts from my friends and family, telling me how bad the situation was getting. I was terrified, and really shocked when, minute by minute, the number of deaths increased.

We spent hours on the Internet, checking the news, texting our relatives and acquaintances in Paris to see if they were safe, watching videos taken in the Stade

de France, seeing people from everywhere showing their support and sympathy to our beautiful and wounded country. We were deeply outraged and we’ve realized how bad the situation is now. It is really weird because after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, we knew we were more vulnerable than we thought, but with everything going on in France (the refugee crisis, the beginning of the run-up to the elections…), we felt like it was already far behind us, as if it had been a huge nightmare, and that now everything was going to be fine. We felt like we were again untouchable, unwavering, strong enough to counter any kind of external attacks, but the reality came as sharp as a slap right in the face and everything collapsed.

I don’t know how to express my feelings. Now I just feel “naked”, insecure, ridiculously plain and vulnerable. Since Friday 13th, I keep scrolling on the Internet, always expecting the worst. It’s hard to be far from home in this situation, I would like to be with my family because I really feel like anything could happen now. I know the best way to react is to keep moving on, to keep being open-minded, united and tolerant, and enjoying life and all it can offer to us, but I can’t ignore what just happened in my country, my motherland, my home. I am feeling powerless because the situation is getting out of hand and it is frightening not to know what could possibly happen in the next few days, weeks, or months.

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Les événements du 13 novem-bre à Paris m’ont laissé sous le choc. En apprenant la nouvel-

le, j’ai immédiatement pensé à mes amis qui habitent dans la capitale, espérant que rien de grave ne leur soit arrivé.

C’est la deuxième attaque terror-iste que la France subit cette année, nous rappelant une fois de plus à quel point notre société est vulnéra-ble et replongeant le pays dans un état de paranoïa.

J’espère que le peuple français ne se laissera pas influencer et

manipuler par ces actes de violence en ouvrant la voie à l’amalgame et au racisme, des sujets déjà bien trop sensibles en France.

Les attentats de Charlie Hebdo avaient, à l’époque, entraîné une montée du racisme assez fulgurante envers les musulmans, ce que l’on peut voir se reproduire à l’heure ac-tuelle. L’intention des terroristes est de semer la discorde, je pense qu’il est important de rester soudé.

D’autre part, il ne faut pas oublier que certains pays du Moyen-Orient subissent des attaques tout aussi fa-

tales de manière quasi permanente. Malheureusement, la situation est loin d’être résolue. J’espère par-des-sus tout, bien évidemment, que l’on arrivera à limiter le nombre de victimes innocentes à l’avenir.

subir: to suffer/undergorappeler: to remindl’amalgame (m): conflatingsensible: sensitivefulgurant(e): swiftsemer la discorde: to sow discordsoudé = ensemble/solidairele Moyen-Orient = the Middle-East

Feeling for France

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Txt l@ngu@g3No one can doubt that the

use of slang, abbreviations and text-speak has ex-

ploded over the last decade, and not just in the English language. Around the world, new words are popping up all over the place to describe modern ideas, or shorten old ones into as few as two or three letters. In this article, I venture into the farthest corners of the Internet, trawling through .de and .fr domains, in search of the under-ground world of informal conversa-tion - to compile a list of the best, weirdest, and hardest-to-type slang words I can find.

Slang and abbreviation has been ever-present throughout history, recorded on Roman inscriptions or scrawled on stone tablets. In 2011, the word ‘lol’, described by the Oxford English Dictionary as “an Internet initialism”, was added to their list of English vocabulary. While in many languages the English abbreviation for ‘laugh out loud’ is the main slang word used, owing to its widespread use online, the French equivalent, ‘mdr’, ‘mort de rire’, also exists. The translation: ‘dying of laughter’; perhaps not so funny, given that nine people throughout history actually have.

Another good French acronym is ‘G1id2kdo’. As random as this might look, when pronouncing every in-dividual letter and number, it turns into ‘J’ai une idée de cadeau’ (‘I have an idea for a present’). Many other examples of the French text language are based on phonetics (the sounds of numbers or signs), such as @2m1 = à demain (see you tomorrow). This is highly economi-cal in a language like French, where one sound can be composed of many different letter combinations: o can be written o, os (bone), eau (water), au (in the), haut (high), and their plural equivalents.

Spanish is similarly creative: ‘100pre’ = siempre (always), ‘b7s’ = besitos (kisses), ‘mxo’ = mucho (a

lot) are just a few examples. An in-teresting feature is the x in Spanish text language which can replace ‘por’, as that’s the mathematical symbol for ‘’by’ in English. There-fore, xq can be used to mean ‘por qué’ (why) and ‘porque’ (because), while ‘xfa’ is por favor (please). Got it? Because that’s not all: x also re-places the sound ‘ch’, as in the foot-baller Xavi. Therefore you might come across a Spanish conversation like this:

hla, tq mxo. Hola, te quiero mucho. (Hi, I like you lots.)

yo tb, x100pre. Yo también, por siempre. (Me too, for always.)

mxos b7s.Muchos besitos. (Many kisses.)

grax, xau. Gracias, chao. (Thanks, bye.)

Other languages are more fond of acronyms in the text language, such as German. For example: lG = liebe Grüße (heartfelt regards), gN8 = gute Nacht (good night), ild = ich liebe dich (I love you), hdgdl = hab dich ganz doll lieb (I like you alot). Note the capitalisation of nouns, which even in text language Ger-mans won’t disregard!

So that was a brief snapshot of the world of slang in other languag-es.

TTYL, M9.

Alasdair Czaplewski explains how texting is the new 21st century language

FC BAYERN Leading the WayJames Gordon explores how the world of football has responded to the recent refugee crisis

In 2015 so far, it is estimated that 522,000 refugees have arrived on the shores of Europe - almost

double the 280,000 that came in all of 2014. The majority are fleeing from the war zones of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, or the extreme poverty of sub-Saharan Africa, often seeking asylum in France, Germany, or the UK. Out of the target countries, Germany is by far the most accepting of refugees, with Angela Merkel promising to take in up to 800,000 asylum seekers over the coming year. Bar a few small-scale protests by neo-nazi and anti-

islamists, the German Volk have generally been very welcoming towards immigrants. This extends to the world of sport - FC Bayern is one of the many clubs that has followed and supported the influx of immigrants.

Fans of Bayern Munich, a club based in Bavaria, near the Austrian and Czech borders, have offered their support to refugees over the past year by unfurling massive banners in the Allianz Arena (Bayern’s stadium), reading ‘Refugees Welcome’. In September, the club itself

donated the substantial sum of €1 million (£730,000) to help refugees arriving in the city, and also revealed plans to set up training camps for young arriving refugees, where they will provide food, German lessons and football equipment. Furthermore, refugee children were invited to appear as Bayern mascots in their match against Augsburg, with the players entering “holding the hand of a German child and a refugee’s child”, signifying unity between the two groups - they were given a hero’s welcome as they entered

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the Allianz pitch. Club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge explained that “Bayern sees it as a social responsibility to help the refugees”.

However, it is not only Bayern which has directly supported refugees: fans of almost all Bundesliga clubs can be seen holding up “Refugees Welcome” or “Welcome to Germany” banners, while many clubs have invited a number of refugees to watch games from the stands. Borussia Dortmund, for example, invited 220 refugees to watch their Europa league game against Odd, while Mainz gave out to 200 free tickets to their Bundesliga game against Hannover. Outside of Germany, clubs such as Real Madrid, Celtic and Porto have been donating to the cause - most notably, Roma pledged to give €575,000 (£420,000) to charities helping those affected by the refugee crisis.

The refugees have already started to repay their generous hosts, as one Syrian refugee, Mohammed Jaddou, seeks to reach the Bundesliga - the talented 17 year-old is the former captain of the Syrian under-17 national team, with a number of clubs fighting for his signature. Aside from the odd success story, for many German football fans, the refugees’ gratitude is enough to repay their hospitality.

• DieMarke“Fanta”wurdeinDeutschlandalsErsatzfürCocaColageboren,dadieZutatenfürCocaColaSirupimzweitenWeltkriegnichtnachDeutschlandimportiertwerdenkonnten.

The brand “Fanta” originated in Germany as a substitute for Coca Cola, because the ingredients for Coca-Cola syrup couldn’t be imported into Nazi Germany during WWII.

• DiedeutscheSprachewareinmaldieLinguaFranca

inZentral-,Ost-undNordeuropaundistimmernochdieSprachemitdenmeistenMuttersprachlerninEuropa.

The German language was once the lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe, and remains the language with the most native speakers in Europe.

• EsgibteineBarbie-PuppenachdemModellder

deutschenBundeskanzlerinAngelaMerkel. There is a Barbie doll modelled on Germany’s current

Chancellor Angela Merkel. • DieschmalsteStraßederWeltistinReutlingen.Sie

heißtSpreuerhofstraßeundistanihremschmalstenPunkt31cm(einFuß)breit.

The world’s narrowest street is in Reutlingen. It is called Spreuerhofstraße and is 31 cm (one foot) wide at its narrowest point.

• EsgibteinMuseuminBerlin,dasderCurrywurst

gewidmetist. There is a museum in Berlin decidated to the

“currywurst” (a popular take on an old favourite involving pieces of pork sausage covered in a spicy ketchup sauce).

• InDeutschlandgibtesmehrkulturelleAktivitäten

undSehenswürdigkeitenalsinjedemanderenLand–esgibt6.200Museen,820Theater,130Berufsorchesterund8.800Bibliotheken.

Germany has more cultural activities and places than any other country – it has 6,200 museums, 820 theatres, 130 professional orchestras and 8,800 libraries.

• “Schadenfreude”beschreibtdiesesGefühlder

FreudeundZufriedenheit,dasmanmanchmalbeimUnglückandererverspürt.

“Schadenfreude” is a German word for that feeling of joy and slight satisfaction you sometimes get from the misfortune of others.

Germany Fact File

‘But in every picture that you see, every picture of a boat on the Mediterranean, every picture of a family trudging through southern Europe, there are football shirts. Knockoff Barcelona or Real Madrid strips, the bright red of Manchester United or the deep blue of Chelsea, on thin bodies with desperate faces.

Get Out of Here!James Fotherby questions the Madridistas’ rights to boo their players

The Bernabeu is no longer exclusively known as the home of the best players in the world; it is now also known as the home of the most

unsupportive fans in the world. For the Madridistas are guilty for booing their players, as they have jeered and whistled at the likes of the legendary Alfredo Di Stéfano, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and, most recently, Gareth Bale. Real Madrid fans boo their plays regardless of the result, they boo players when they score goals, they boo players even when they single-handedly win matches. For example, when Real suffered a 4-0 defeat against their rivals Barça in November this year, the music speakers in the Bernabeu had to be turned up to maximum volume to try and blot out the sound of the booing. However, it would be unfair to suggest the Madridistas are the only football fans guilty of booing their players: booing and jeering is present in almost every league across the world, and we are simply left asking, why?

Perhaps, the fans boo their players because they expect more from them, as they are usually accustomed to a higher standard, or perhaps they boo to show their discontent, in the hope of triggering a change. But regardless of the motive, the overwhelming presence of booing in football raises the question: has sport changed? Another question raised from witnessing countless games end in negative and spiteful chants is: do fans have the right to boo? They buy the tickets and the merchandise, spend their weekends in the stadiums watching the games, and they are clearly affected by their club’s performance. So why shouldn’t the fans boo?

In my opinion, there is no place for booing in football, and any other sport for that matter. It appears that I am of the out-dated view that the core values of any sport are mutual respect and support. Without these key principles, sport is no longer a game filled with passion, enjoyment and a general love for the game, but rather a financial transaction between fan and club whereupon winning becomes all important. Vindictive booing not only ruins the reputation of football, but it undermines sport and its true nature, as a whole. If booing isn’t clamped down on, the mentalities of the fans will not change - booing will only become a more common occurrence in matches, and the original meaning behind the sport might be lost altogether.

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Vindictive booing not only ruins the reputation of football, but it undermines sport and its true nature

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Gerard Piqué: El Futbolista más Odiado

James Gordon looks at the currently most hated Spanish footballer

Gerard Piqué es posiblemente el mejor futbalista defensor español,

pero es odiado por casi todos los aficionados españoles. Aunque a los aficionados de Barcelona le encanta, el odio de sus adversarios está claro durante cada derby y partido nacional. Siempre hay mucho abucheo cuando Piqué recibe el balón. ¿Por qué? En corto, su actitud y pasión por Barcelona le hace aparecer como un pendejo.

Piqué es el enemigo número

uno de los madridistas, debido a su odio abierto por Real Madrid que ha demostrado en varios insultos en años recientes como “siempre querré Real a perder”. Además, Piqué apoya la independencia de Catalunya (una región en España) - un asunto político que es impopular entre los españoles. Piqué es tan impopular, que el partido nacional en noviembre contra Inglaterra fue movido del estadio Bernabeu en Madrid a Alicante por miedo al abucheo.

odiado = hated > el odio = hatredlos aficionados / hinchas = fansel abucheo = booingel pendejo = idiot el adversario / enemigo = enemydebido a = due toquerré = I will wantapoyar = to supportel asunto = matterpor miedo a = out of fear of

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Nimbia NumbersA flavour of the Linguistics Olympiad given to us from Anthony Bracey

Do you remember how to say 78 in French? And in German? It’s soixante dix-huit (60+10+8) and achtundsiebzig (8+70). Languages use systems

to express their numerical systems, and they can be quite different and complex, although they’re always highly logical.

One of the world’s most interesting numerical systems is that of Nimbia, a dialect of the Gwandara language, which is spoken by about 30,000 people in northern Nigeria. Nimbia is a duodecimal system, which means the number 12 is its base. Higher numbers consist of additions and multiplications of 12. You don’t need to know any Nimbia to figure out the numerical system, a little (or a lot) of brain power will do.

The seven numerals 14, 15, 19, 26, 27, 36, 43 are written below in Nimbia. Can you figure out which ones are which? Clue: “mbe” or “ni” mean plus

Tuni

Tuni mbe da

Gume Bi

12

13

24

Gume ugu ni bo’o

Tuni mbe bi

Gume bi ni bi

Tuni mbe ugu

Gume bi ni ugu

Tuni mbe bo’o

Gume ugu

25313839

If you’ve got it, try these equalities.gwom + shide = tuni mbe furuda + furu = biyargume ugu - gwom = biyar x ugu + kwadawo = tuni x tunitager = bi x bo’o - shidewo bi ni ugu - wo mbe tuni = gume kwada ni ugugwom - da = tawan

Work out the following Nimbia numbers in numerals:kwada wo bo’o ni da wo mbe gume bo’o ni furu gume ugu ni tawan

Work out the following numerals in Nimbia:21 103 7371514

Answers

13, 15, 19, 25, 60, 79, 94kwada 11

wo bo’o ni da 1009 (144 x 7 + 1)wo mbe gume bo’o ni furu 232 (144 + 12 x 7 + 4)

gume ugu ni tawan 45 (12 x 3 + 9)21 tuni mbe tawan (12 + 9)

103 gume tager ni bo’o (12 x 8 + 7)737 wo biyar ni tuni mbe biyar (144 x 5 + 12 + 5)

1514 wo gwom ni gume shide ni bi (144 x 10 + 12 x 6 + 2)

If you did this well, try to work out the numerals in Nimbia on the right - this is what you have to do in a Linguistics Olympiad!

The Chinese script is one of the only fully non-phonetic scripts in the world. In other words,

the characters do not represent any sound but rather simply just a word. This is demonstrated quite nicely by the fact that the same script is read completely differently in many different areas of China, the main two dialects being Mandarin and Cantonese. If this is the case, then how does the script originate? And how have the characters evolved to their current form? The key word here is evolved.

Over the last 3,300 years, the Chinese script has changed drastically with most characters being simplified significantly and the script as a whole standardised. Some of the first characters created were, perhaps unsurprisingly, pictorial representations of material objects. Although they have become much more abstract

today, many characters still retain the shape of the object they represent. As such, these are known as Pictographic Characters. The character for tree is a good case in point. Obviously, this method is fine for material objects but becomes a problem when trying to represent more abstract concepts or ideas. To represent these, an abstract sign is used or alternatively, a new stroke is added to an existing pictographic concept to indicate something new; for example a root is a line beneath the character for tree.

These are known as Indicative Characters. Further than this, there are 4 more main types of character: Associative, Picto-phonetic, Explanative and Phonetic loan characters. Associative Characters are probably the most common out of the four and are when two or more pictographic characters are combined to infer a new meaning,

e.g. wood is two trees put together. Having been formed over time,

these characters have also simplified significantly since they were first created. Interestingly, the main cause of this was the need to keep records. The need to have regular and understandable records meant that the script was standardised from many different artistic forms and heavily simplified to make writing much easier. The main features of this simplification were combining and straightening lines. Although it has changed so much over the last 3000 years, the Chinese script is still in the continuous process of evolving and could be unrecognisable in the next few millennia.

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Chinese Scripts -from paintings to symbols

Joe Kelly explains how Chinese scripts evolved

On the 3rd April this year, the French government passed a radical new law

which effectively banned size zero models (a yet undefined BMI, but definitely below 18.5*) and the use of photoshop to achieve a thinner appearance, in an attempt to tackle the high number of anorexia cases, around 40,000 in France per year. Any modeling agency that persists to use underweight models could receive a hefty fine or even a short prison sentence. France now joins the likes of Italy, Israel and Spain (all of which have introduced similar anti-anorexia legislations) in implementing a more extreme method of tackling the fast growing number of cases of anorexia. Regardless of the law’s good intention, it has received a rather mixed reception.

Supporters of the size zero ban, which include the likes of the French President François Hollande and former British model Caryn Franklin, have praised the French government for taking an active approach in combating the problem at its source: the fashion industry. Other supporters, such as the socialist MP and neurologist Dr. Olivier Véran, believes the legislation triggers a much needed change of mentalities within the fashion industry over what is considered acceptable in terms

of weight. Dr.Véran also firmly believes that the new legislation will be effective, and will not need further amendments since the ‘prospect of punishment will have a regulatory effect on the entire sector’.

Criticism of the new legislation has come largely from within the fashion world. One such critic includes the secretary general of Synam*, Isabelle Saint-Felix. She has argued that it is wrong “to conflate anorexia with the thinness of models” as it “ignores the fact that anorexia is a psychogenic illness”. Isabelle, like many others, raises the point that the new law neglects the numerous potential causes of anorexia, ranging from personality and behavioral traits to biological and genetic factors and environmental factors, and simply focuses on one: size zero models. It has therefore been suggested that instead of focusing on one potential cause, more emphasis should be put on researching the other causes and increasing the number of services and resources available so that proper support for anorexia sufferers can be given.

Others use the nature versus nurture argument to attack the new legislation. The question that faces both supporters and critics alike

is: are models that are “too” skinny really anorexic? Gérald Marie, chairman of Oui Management and former president of Elite Model Management Europe, insists there is a clear difference between skinniness and anorexia, and that the two shouldn’t be thought as synonymous with one another. Gérald claims “there is anorexia and there are girls who are thin, very thin, naturally and you can make them eat all day and they would stay thin.” Other critics, who similarly believe that extreme skinniness doesn’t automatically point towards anorexia, have suggested that instead of assessing the health of a model by judging their physical appearance or using the BMI system, which might unfairly discriminate naturally extremely skinny women, the models’ emotional, mental and physical health should be assessed through other, more accurate means.

The final, and arguably greatest criticism of the new legislation is that it does not redefine the idea of beauty. Although the law bans models who have a BMI lower than 18.5, most models are still far thinner than the average French woman, who has a BMI of 23.2. Critics have therefore suggested that it would be better to introduce a quota for modeling agencies,

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Zero Responsibility forAnorexiaJames Fotherby discusses the new French legislation on size zero

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whereupon they have to use a range of women with different BMIs, thus encouraging the idea that beauty is not determined by thinness.

It is still too early to see the effects of France’s new legislation, and whilst it is undoubtable that actions need to be taken to tackle the issue of anorexia, I am of the opinion that the emphasis of the legislation is directed in the wrong areas. I think it is naïve to think that putting a BMI limit on French models, or even clamping down on pro-ana websites or even social-media trends, such as the ‘thigh-gap’, will magically change the way anorexia sufferers or potential anorexia sufferers will think. In my opinion, the only way there will be a change in the way people think about skinniness is through encouraging, teaching and redefining the idea that beauty is not external, but internal.

* The World Health Organisation considers people with a BMI of 18.5 to be underweight, 18 to be malnourished and 17 to be severely malnourished.

*Synam: national syndicate of modeling agencies

• LesjeansentoiledenimsontoriginairesdelavilledeNîmesenFrance.

Denim jeans originate from the city of Nîmes in France • Napoléonnevoulaitpasquesessoldatss’essuient

lenezsurleursmanchesdeveste,alorsilamisdesboutonssurlesmanches.MerciNapoléon!

Napoleon didn’t want his soldiers wiping their nose on their blazers, so he had buttons sewn on their sleeves. Cheers Napoleon!

• Leconseild’administrationdelamodeàParisdoit

validerlescandidaturesdeceuxquiveulentdevenircréateurdeHauteCouture.

The governing body of fashion in Paris must validate the applications of people who want to become fashion designer.

• GabrielleBonheurChanel(lapersonnequiacréé

lamarqueChanel)étaitchanteuseavantdedevenircréatricedemode.

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (the woman who created the Chanel brand) used to be a singer before becoming a fashion designer.

• RenéLacosteétaitjoueurdetennisavantd’être

créateurdemode.Sessupporteursl’appelaientlecrocodile,etcommeilaimaitsonsurnom,ilafaitcoudreunpetitcrocodilesursesvêtementsquandiljouaitautennis.

René Lacoste used to be a tennis player before being a fashion designer. His fans used to call him the crocodile, and because he liked his nickname, he put the crocodile brand on his tennis gear.

• Tupensesquelebéretestfrançais?Cen’estpasvrai,

carenréalitélebéretdatedestempsromains;ilsutilisaientlesbéretspourlessoldats.

You think the beret is french? It’s not true, as in reality the beret dates back to the roman times; they used the berets for the soldiers.

France Fact File

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SambaSamba, as seen by Maud Cottrell

Après le succès phénoménal d’Intouchables, il n’était pas facile pour Olivier Nakache

et Eric Toledano de réaliser un nouveau film.

Samba, un sans-papiers sénégalais, vit en France depuis 10 ans où il a un petit boulot dans la restauration. Malheureusement, il n’a jamais pu régulariser sa situation. Alors qu’il doit être

expulsé, deux femmes qui travaillent pour une association d’aide aux sans-papiers décident de l’aider. Parmi elles, Alice va tout faire pour aider Samba à obtenir ses papiers…

Ce film s’est inspiré d’un livre qui raconte l’histoire vraie d’un immigré clandestin malien. Les réalisateurs se sont documentés, ils ont enquêté et le film traite

de thèmes graves tels que l’immigration, le travail au noir, la précarité.

Samba est tout simplement une comédie sociale pleine de solidarité et d’humour. La fin du film est heureuse et donne un peu d’espoir en ce qui concerne les solutions aux problèmes très complexes de l’immigration.

Il faut le voir absolument!

PhoenixAlex Bilyi reviews Phoenix

Der Film “Phoenix” (2014) erzählt die Geschichte einer Nachtclubsängerin

namens Nelly, gespielt von Nina Hoss. Sie ist eine jüdische Überlebende des Konzentrationslagers der Nazis. Durch eine Schussverletzung hat sich ihr Aussehen stark verändert. Die Veränderung ist so groß, dass ihr Mann Johnny, gespielt von Ronald Zehrfeld, sie nicht mehr erkennt. Nelly offenbart ihre

Identität jedoch nicht, denn sie möchte herausfinden, ob er sie vor dem Krieg an die Nazis verraten hat. Doch es kommt alles anders als sie es sich wünscht.

In dem Film fokussiert sich der Regisseur, Christian Petzold, nicht auf dem Krieg.

Der Film zeigt kein Blut und ist kein “typischer” Nazifilm.

Jedoch ist er berührend und löst viele Emotionen beim Zuschauer aus. Unerwartet

entstehen viele gemischte Gefühle. Nina Hoss verkörpert die Rolle der Menschen, die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg erfahren mussten, was es heißt von Freunden und Familie verraten zu werden. Dieser Schmerz wird insbesondere durch ihre Gangart ausgedrückt, die sehr schmerzvoll erscheint.

Meines Erachtens nach ist “Phoenix” ein Meisterwerk und absolut sehenswert.

Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de NerviosOne of Almodóvar’s classics reviewed by James Gordon

Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios, estrenada en 1988, fue la

primera película de Almodóvar que tuvo éxito internacional. Es su cuarto largometraje más exitoso en ventas de taquilla y premios – ganó cinco Goyas y fue nominada para un Oscar.

La trama de esta comedia ligera cuenta un día en la vida de la actriz Pepa (Carmen Maura) y sus amigas Candela y Marisa. La protagonista está deprimida y desesperada porque su novio le ha

dejado. Por eso intenta recuperarlo pero, inevitablemente, hay una serie de pequeñas catástrofes.

Como muchas otras películas de Almodóvar, la trama se complica rápidamente y entretenidamente, tal y como se cuenta una historia triste de una manera divertida.

La película, que también fue adaptada para el teatro (la vi en un teatro de Londres el año pasado), es bastante emocionante y de ritmo rápido, con aspectos de romance, tragedia y comedia combinados con un argumento

frenético. Quizás la popularidad global de la película es debido a su realismo y a los personajes con los que uno puede identificarse fácilmente: es probable que la mayoría del público ya haya experimentado las mismas emociones aunque casi no haya hombres en la película.

Desde mi punto de vista, esta es la mejor película de Almodóvar, gracias a su combinación de emociones y humor, que frecuentemente me hizo reír. Por eso, os aconsejo que la veáis.

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un sans-papiers: an illigal immigrantrégulariser: in this context to become a legal immigrantmalien: une personne du Malile travail au noir: illegal workla précarité: job insecurity

überleben: to survivedie Schussverletzung: shot woundverändern (verändert): to change (changed)erkennen: to recognizeoffenbaren: to revealherausfinden (ob): to find out (if)verraten: to betraydas Gefühl: emotionder Schmwerz - schmerzvoll: the pain - painfullverkörpern (ausdrücken): to express

estrenado/a: releasedun largometraje: feature filmel éxito: success - exitoso: successfulligero/a: lightel premio Goya: Goya award (Spanish BAFTAs)la ventas de taquilla: ticket salesla trama: the plotrecuperar: to get backentretenido/a: entertainingun argumento: a plotdebido a / gracias a: due/thanks toreír: to laughaconsejar: to advise

Hola, ¿qué tal? Harry Donoghue interviews our Spanish assistant Ana Blanco

¿CómodescubrióelcolegiodeAbingdon?How did you find out

about Abingdon school?

DescubríAbingdonatravésdeunoscompañerosdetrabajoqueelañopasadomerecomendaronelpuesto.¡Quésuerte!I discovered Abingdon through some work colleagues, who recommended the post to me last year. What luck! ¿CuáleselmejoraspectodelavidaenAbingdon?What is the best aspect of Abingdon life?

Megustaquetodoestámuycerca;poderiratrabajarenmenosdecincominutos,loquéesgenialporqueelañopasadoenLondres,tardabamuchomástiempo.También,Abingdonesunsitiobastantebonito,ymegustamucho.OtraventajaesqueOxfordyLondresestánmuycerca.I like that everything is very close; being able to go to work in less than five minutes is brilliant, because last year in London, it took far more time. Also, Abingdon is quite a nice place and I like it a lot. Another advantage is that Oxford and London are very close.

¿Quélegustahacerensutiempolibre?What do you like to do in your free time?

Cuandonoestoytrabajandoenelcolegio,meencantasalirconmisamigosdepaseo,atomaralgoodefiesta.Además,mediviertemuchoescucharmúsicaeiraconciertos.MigrupofavoritoespañolsellamaElCantoDelLoco,¡sonincreíbles!Porotrolado,megustamuchoeldeporte,porejemploelfútbolyelbaloncesto(soydelRealMadrid)peroenespeciallaFórmula1,¡meapasiona!Whenever I am not

working, I love going out for a walk with my friends, for a drink or partying. Moreover, I enjoy listening to music and going to live concerts. My favourite Spanish band is called El Canto del Loco, they are amazing! On the other hand, I really like sports, such as basketball and football (I support Real Madrid) but especially Formula 1: I’m crazy about it!

¿PodríadescribirlasdiferenciasentrelavidaenEspañayaquíenInglaterra?Could you describe

the differences between Spanish and English life?

Lasprincipalesdiferenciasparamísoneltiempoylacomida.Enmiciudad,Albacete,haceelmismofríoqueaquíeninvierno,peroenveranohacemuchísimomáscalor.Conrespectoalacomida,echodemenosplatostípicosespañolescomolasmigasolapaellaytambiénloshorariossoncompletamentediferentes.Porejemplo,lacenaesalasseisdelatarde,peroenEspañaceno

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alasnueve.The main differences for me are the weather and the food. In my city, Albacete, it’s as cold as it is here during the winter, but in the summer it is so much hotter. In regards to the food, I miss some typical Spanish dishes like migas or paella, and also the meal times are completely different. For example, in England, dinner’s at six in the afternoon, but in Spain I have dinner at nine.

¿Ylasdiferenciasentrelosinglesesylosespañoles?And the differences between English and Spanish people?

Porejemplo,losinglesesdicenmuyamenudo‘gracias’y‘losiento’,loqueesmuybueno,aunqueesgraciosoquecuandotútechocasconalguien,eslaotrapersonalaquedicelosiento.Yporotrolado,losespañolestenemosmáscelebracionesquelosingleses¡yporesolagentepiensaqueestamossiempredefiesta!English people say ‘thanks’ and ‘sorry’ a lot, which is very good, although it is funny that when you bump into someone, the other person apologies. And on the other hand, Spanish people have more celebrations than English people, which is why people think that we are always partying!

¿EsmuydiferenteelsistemadeeducacióninglésdelsistemaenEspaña?Is the English education system different to the education system in Spain?

Esdiferente,sobretodolosA-levelsqueenEspañaseríaelBachillerato,porqueaquí,solohacestresocuatroasignaturasyenEspañatenemosochoonueve.Yademás,enEspaña,tenemosexámenesdurantetodoelaño.It is very different, especially with A-levels, which in Spain would be the ‘Bachillerato’, because here you only do three or four subjects, but in Spain we have eight or nine. Also, in Spain, we have exams throughout the whole year.

Spain Fact File• Esestimadoqueun60%delosespañolessonseguidoresodeReal

MadridodeBarcelona. It is estimated that 60% of Spaniards support either Real Madrid or

Barcelona.

• Unestudiorecienterevelóquelosdosequipostienenuntotalcombinadode500millonesaficionadosenelmundo,Barçaconcasi300millonesunpocomásqueReal.

A recent study revealed that the two teams have a combined total of 500 million fans worldwide, Barca with slightly more than Real, at almost 300 million.

• ElúnicopaísfueradeEuropaylasAméricasquetieneEspañolcomosuidiomaoficialeslaGuineaEcuatorial,enelOestedeÁfrica.

The only country outside of Europe and the Americas that has Spanish as its’ official language is Equatorial Guinea, in West Africa.

• En2014vinieron65millonesturistasaEspañaqueeslaterceradestinaciónturísticamáspopularenelmundo,despuésdeFranciaylosEstadosUnidos.

In 2014 Spain welcomed 65 million tourists, making it the third most popular tourist destination in the world after France and the United States.

• Comounodesolamentecuatropaísesenelmundo,elhimnonacionalespañolnotieneletra.

Spain is one of only four countries to have a national anthem that doesn’t have any words.

• Elequipoparalímpicoespañoldebaloncestodelaño2000tuvoquedevolversusmedallasdeoro,porquediezdelosdocedeportistasnoerandiscapacitados.

The Spanish paralympic basketball team of 2000 had to return their gold medals, after it was discovered that ten of the twelve were not disabled.

• ElreymásjovendetodotiempofueAlfonsoXIII,quefuedeclaradoreyeldíaquenacióen1886.

The youngest ever monarch was Alfonso XIII, who was declared King the day he was born, in 1886.

• EnlosEEUUhaymáspersonasquehablanespañolcomolenguamaternaqueenEspaña.

The United States has more native Spanish speakers than Spain.

• LaTomatinaeslaluchadecomidamásgrandeenelmundo:el26deagostode2015elfestivalenelpueblodeBuñolenelnortedeEspañacumplió70años.Vinieron20000personasyusaron170toneladasdetomates.

La Tomatina is the biggest food fight in the world: on 26th August 2015 the festival in the village of Buñol in northern Spain celebrated its 70th birthday. 20,000 people came and used 170 tons of tomatoes.

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Is it too hard to write a ten-word story?

Example: There is always someone with a big nose who knows.

Ist es möglich eine Geschichte in zehn Wörtern zu schreiben?

Beispiel: Luftballon an Hand, im Himmel, trauriges Kind. Genervte Eltern. Zuckerwatte.

Est-ce trop difficile d’écrire une histoire de dix mots?

Exemple: Bouquet de fleurs. Robe blanche. Eglise pleine. Pas de mari!

Piensas que es posible escribir una historia con diez palabras?

Ejemplo: Nochevieja con uvas. Doce campanadas. Beso con otra mujer. Fea.

der Luftballon: balloon, genervt: annoyed, Zuckerwatte: candy flossle mari: husbandlas uvas: grapes, la campanada: bellring, la mujer: woman

Ten Word Stories

Write a ten-word story in French, German or Spanish.

Send it to the Polyglot team and get published.

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The PolyglotContributorsTemana Lai Mink

Laura NavasAlasdair Czaplewski

James GordonAnthony Bracey

Joseph KellyOleksandr BilyiMaud Cottrell

Harry Donoghue

Editor-in-ChiefJames Fotherby

Head of Art and DesignBlake Jones

Supervising EditorRegina Engel-Hart

Printed by LeachPrint

Want to write for The Polyglot?

Contact us at regina.engelhart@abingdon.org.uk

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.

Alors non, je ne vous ferai pas ce cadeau de vous haïr. Vous voulez que j’aie peur, que je regarde mes concitoyens avec un œil méfiant, que je sacrifie ma liberté pour la sécurité. Perdu. So no, I won’t give you the gift of hating you. You want me to be afraid, to view my fellow countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my freedom for security. You lost.

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POLYGLOTIssue 3

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