English & the UK: Birmingham

Welcome - English & the UK - Birmingham 

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: We recommend that you listen to this podcast on the Premier Skills English website because that is where we have the transcript, language examples, activities, quizzes and a discussion page to help you understand everything we talk about.

Jack: However, if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave answers to our questions in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you. 

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re continuing our new mini-series of podcasts that focus on English and the UK. In these podcasts, you will learn more about cities in the UK and at the same time lots of useful English words and phrases.

Jack: In each podcast, we focus on one UK city. In our last podcast, we spoke about London and the things you can see and do in the city.

Rich: And we looked at the language we use to recommend things to people. We introduced phrases such as ‘If I were you, I’d see the important sights in the morning’, ‘Tottenham’s new stadium is worth visiting ’ and ‘the Science Museum is an absolute must-see’. 

Jack: If you want to go back and do this lesson you can find it on the Premier Skills English website by clicking skills > listen > podcasts. If you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts you’ll find it in the playlist, it’s called ‘English & the UK: London’.

Rich: In this episode, we are going to talk about the UK’s second biggest city - Birmingham. 

Jack: You will hear me and Rich talking about some of the things that we know about Birmingham.

Rich: And I’m going to surprise Jack with some things that he doesn’t know about Birmingham.

Jack: You will hear the roleplay in two parts, after each part we will focus on the language you heard. In this episode, we’ll be looking at the language you need to give surprising facts and phrases we use to show surprise or disbelief. 

Rich: Phrases like Did you know that ..?, Believe it or not, but … and ‘you’re pulling my leg’.

Jack: We’ll also ask you to tell us a few surprising facts about a city you know well in this week’s task a little later on. 

Rich: All the cities we focus on in this series are home to Premier League teams so listen out for the football connections in the podcast.

Jack: One of those connections is our football phrase section so don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because that’s when we ask you to guess our weekly football phrase.

Football Phrase 1 

Jack: But, before we look at all that, let’s look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week we’ll give you one more chance to guess and give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Rich: It was my phrase last week and it was a tricky one. I said it would be.

Jack: I think it might have been too difficult but we did get a couple of listeners who told us the right answer. So a big well done to Romakisel a Tottenham fan from Russia!

Rich: Romakisel is new on the Premier Skills English website too so a big welcome from us. And of course, Luibomyr from Ukraine got the correct answer too. His football English is nearly always spot on.

Jack: OK, it was a very difficult phrase last week so let’s give everyone another chance to guess it. We’ll give you the answer at the end of the show. 

Rich: OK, here we go. The football phrase last week was to throw the kitchen sink at something. This phrase means to do everything in your power to do something. In football, it usually describes a team that is attacking with everything they have to score a goal and break down a strong defence. 

Jack: Very hard! We’ll tell you the answer to this football phrase at the end of the show and I’m going to think of a phrase that is a little bit easier than that one for you to guess this week.

Rich: And if you can guess Jack’s football phrase and write it in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website, we will announce your name in next week’s show. 

Introduction to Roleplay

Jack: You are now going to listen to roleplay 1. 

Rich: You will hear me and Jack talking about what we know about Birmingham in the UK.

Jack: After the roleplay, we will ask you to think about the conversation and we’ll talk about the language we use.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question. The question for this roleplay is: What does Jack know about Birmingham?

Roleplay 1

Jack: I never knew that your dad was from Birmingham, Rich. Does he speak with a Brummie accent?

Rich:  Not really. He hasn’t lived there for years so he’s lost most of his accent, but it comes out occasionally, especially when he’s angry!

Jack: Is it difficult to understand?

Rich: No, not really, but there are lots of words and phrases that you will only hear in Birmingham.

Jack: Like what?

Rich: I remember as a kid my nan nan, that’s what we’d call my grandmother, would always say ‘all right bab’ to me.

Jack: Ahh! This is like hello, how are you?

Rich: Yes, more or less. All right? Is like hello and ‘bab’ is a word that is often used as a term of endearment to family and friends or even strangers in shops and stuff. Do you know Birmingham?

Jack: I’ve been to Birmingham a few times but I don’t know it that well.

Rich: I’m sure you know lots of things about Birmingham.

Jack: Well, I know that it’s got three universities, the University of Birmingham is well known. What else do I know? It’s got a Premier League football team - Aston Villa - they got promoted last season. And what else? Shopping. It’s really famous for shopping … not sure what else.

Rich: You don’t know very much about Birmingham, do you? OK, I think I should tell you a few things that might surprise you.

Language Focus 1

Rich: Did you get the answer to the question? What does Jack know about Birmingham?

Jack: Well, the answer is not much really. I know that it’s got a famous university, a Premier League football team and it’s a good place to go shopping.

Rich: Not good enough! In the next roleplay, I’m going to tell Jack a few surprising things about Birmingham but first, let’s look at a few of the words and phrases we have just used.

Jack: OK, so I asked Rich if his dad spoke with a Brummie accent. First, let’s look at that word - accent. An accent is the way someone pronounces words.

Rich: In the UK, accents often depend on geography - where you are from. There are lots of different accents in the UK.

Jack: The word Brummie describes someone or something from the city of Birmingham so people from the city speak with a Brummie accent.

Rich: Many regions or cities in the UK have special names for the people or things from there. A cockney or cockney accent is from London, a scouser is from Liverpool and a scouse accent is from Liverpool and a Geordie or a Geordie accent is from Newcastle.

Jack: In the roleplay, Rich used the phrase ‘A term of endearment’. A ‘term of endearment’ is a word that is used to show affection towards someone.

Rich: Some common terms of endearment are ‘darling’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘dear’ and ‘love’.

Jack: Many terms of endearment are used in specific cities or regions. In Birmingham, it’s common to use the word ‘bab’ in this way.

Rich: Some others are hen in Glasgow, pet in Newcastle, babes in Essex and love in the North of England.

Jack: If someone calls you ‘pet’ or ‘love’ they don’t want you to be their pet or love it’s just a term of endearment so don’t take offence or get angry about it. They are being friendly.

Roleplay 2

Jack: You are now going to listen to roleplay 2. 

Rich: I’m going to tell Jack some surprising things about Birmingham.

Jack: After the roleplay, we will ask you to think about the conversation and we’ll talk about the language we use.

Rich: While you listen, we want you to answer a question. The question for this roleplay is: What do you think Jack is most surprised by?

...

Jack: OK, so surprise me. What do I not know about Birmingham?

Rich: Right, I’m going to tell you five surprising facts about Birmingham that I’m sure you don’t know.

Jack: I’m sure I won’t.

Rich: Did you know that Birmingham has more canals than Venice?

Jack: Get away! It does not. 

Rich: It does. Birmingham has 56 kilometres of canals and is the heart of the canal network in England. Most of the canals were built during the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries when Birmingham expanded and became an important centre of industry.

Jack: OK, tell me something else I don’t know.

Rich: So, you know Birmingham has a Premier League club.

Jack: Yep, Aston Villa.

Rich: And you know they’ve won the European Cup.

Jack: Yes, I do; though it was quite a long time ago!

Rich: So, what’s Aston Villa’s nickname.

Jack: Easy. The Villains.

Rich: How do you spell it?

Jack: V-I-L-L-A-I-N-S Villains meaning like the bad guys; the criminals.

Rich: Believe it or not, their nickname is Villans. V-I-L-L-A-N-S. No second ‘I’ so nothing to do with criminals and anyway I think most fans prefer to just say the Villa.

Jack: Well, you learn something new every day. Give me another.

Rich: OK, Birmingham fact number three. You may not believe this but curry is from Birmingham.

Jack: You’re pulling my leg! It’s not true. Curry is from India.

Rich: Alright I’ll give you that, but more specifically the curry dish Balti is believed to have been created in Birmingham in the 1970s and since then curry has become the most popular dish in the UK.

Jack: I love a Chicken Balti. 

Rich: Did you know that Birmingham is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK? There has been a lot of immigration from the Indian sub-continent since the 1950s up until the present day and this is very noticeable in the city’s culture and festivals throughout the year.

Jack: It’s true. I saw something in the paper last month that there were around 140,000 people in a park in Birmingham celebrating Eid-ul Fitr the festival to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Rich: OK, I’ve got another Birmingham fact for you. Guess what! Birmingham has the biggest library in Europe.

Jack: You’re kidding. I should have known that. I’ve been there!

Rich: Birmingham library gets over 3 million visitors a year and is actually the 10th most visited place in all of the UK. It also has the UK’s most important William Shakespeare collection. Did you know that William Shakespeare was from Stratford-upon-Avon just south of Birmingham?

Jack: Yes, I did and it’s well worth a day trip. I went to the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre as a birthday treat not long ago. Right, you said you were going to give me five Birmingham facts. One more to go.

Rich: OK, I’m going to go back to football and Aston Villa. This may sound strange, but you know Tom Hanks is an Aston Villa fan.

Jack: The Hollywood actor?

Rich: Yep. He’s an Aston Villa fan.

Jack: You’re having a laugh!

Rich: And if you don’t believe that did you know that Prince William supports the Villa too!

Jack: Yeah! I knew that one I saw him at Wembley when they got promoted!

Language Focus 2

Rich: Did you get the answer to the question? What is Jack most surprised by?

Jack: I was surprised by quite a lot but I suppose what I was most surprised by was Tom Hanks being an Aston Villa fan. That was surprising.

Rich: Let’s look at some of the language we used in the roleplay. I used quite a lot of phrases that can be used to introduce surprising facts or information.

Jack: The phrase Rich used the most was ‘Did you know …?’ This question form is used a lot to introduce information intended to surprise the listener.

Rich: In the roleplay I said things like: Did you know that Birmingham has more canals than Venice? Did you know that Birmingham is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK? and Did you know that William Shakespeare was from Stratford-upon-Avon just south of Birmingham?

Jack: But there are other phrases we can use, too. An informal phrase we often use when speaking is ‘Guess what?’ followed by the information. The person often responds to this question by saying ‘what?’ before the information is given.

Rich: Other common phrases to give a surprising fact use the word ‘believe’. Some examples are: ‘Believe it or not, but … ‘You may not believe this but, ‘You won’t believe this but..’

Jack: When we are given a surprising fact we use different phrases to show that we’re surprised or to show disbelief. I used a variety of phrases to do this in the roleplay. These included: ‘get away!’, ‘You’re kidding!’, ‘You’re pulling my leg’ and ‘you’re having a laugh’.

Rich: We’ll look at this language in more detail on the website. There are more explanations and activities for you to do connected to this lesson on the Premier Skills English website. You’ll find this podcast on the homepage or under skills > listen > podcasts.

Task

Jack: This week we want you to tell us two surprising facts about your city or a city you know well.

Rich: We want you to use the language we used in the roleplays to tell us about these facts. One of your surprising facts should be true and one should be false.

Jack: Please write each fact as a new comment on the website.

Rich: Then we want you to respond to other listener’s facts and use phrases you’ve learned in this podcast like ‘you’re kidding’ or ‘you’re pulling my leg’ about the facts you don’t believe are true.

This week’s football phrase:

Rich: OK, it’s time for this week’s football phrase. It’s Jack’s turn this week so I’m sure the phrase will be nice and easy.

Jack: Well, it won’t be as difficult as your phrase last week that’s for sure. Right, this week’s football phrase is ***-***. The phrase is a type of pass in football when you pass to a teammate, run and your teammate returns the ball to you immediately. It’s often used to get past a defender. If you can count you will surely get this phrase right.

Rich: Yes, that’s definitely easier than mine last week. Let’s see who can get it right. Write your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Jack: Ok, and before we finish here’s the answer to last week’s super difficult football phrase that Rich gave you. The answer was to throw the kitchen sink at something.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. Bye for now and enjoy your football!