Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute
English, I'm Rob…
Neil: And hello, I'm Neil. And Rob, I have to say,
I am very very excited!
Rob: Why's that, Neil? Are you going on
holiday?
Neil: Come on, Rob, You know why.
The 2018 World Cup is about to start in
Russia. Four weeks of world-class
football to watch. By world-class
I mean 'some of the best in the world'.
Rob: Yes, yes, I know that. But to be
honest, I'll just be taking a passing
interest – I've got better things to do!
Neil: Better things to do? Well, I'm going
to be glued to my TV to watch the 32
countries compete for the title of World
Cup Champions.
And if you love football…
Rob: …or not…
Neil: … we've got some useful vocabulary
to learn.
Rob: But let's start with a question for you to
answer, Neil, to see how much you really
know. Now, the mascot for Russia 2018 is
a wolf called Zabivaka. What does his
name mean in English? Is it…
a) The winner b) The one who scores
or c) Fair play
Neil: Well, my Russian is a little rusty – so
I'll go for a) the winner.
Rob: OK. I'll reveal the answer later.
Neil: OK, but now I have a question for
you, Rob.
Who won the last World Cup in Brazil in 2014?
Rob: Come on! It was Germany, Neil. And
they beat Lionel Messi's Argentina in the
final. Both teams are among the
favourites again this
time, but there'll be lots of countries who
fancy their chances of lifting the World Cup
trophy. That means they think they are
likely to succeed, even though they might not.
Neil: So you do know your football, Rob!
Anyway, the final will take place in the
revamped – or much improved - Luzhniki
Stadium in Moscow on July 15th 2018.
Did I say I was very excited? Well, I'm not
the only one. We asked some people what
they think about the World Cup. And here
are Keith and Jane describing their
feelings…
Keith: It's a four-week festival of football, isn't
it? And everyone kind of gets behind their
country. You also get to know about
football teams in parts of the world you
don't really think about very often, so it's
that double-sided thing of the actual
football itself - which is exciting - but also
the stories that happen off the pitch as well.
Jane: I'm really excited. I can't wait for it
to start. One thing – there's going to be
great telly every night. It's great to see the
underdogs that are going to come
through and have a really sensational
tournament. I think it's the enthusiasm of
the crowds and the love of football that
people have.
Neil: So two football fans there. Keith
used some good alliteration – that's
words beginning with the same letter –
four-week festival of fun. He talked about
people getting behind their country – not
literally going behind their team, but
supporting them. Who are you supporting, Rob?
Rob: Well, my home team is England –
but I'm not confident they'll do well. That
doesn't matter to Jane though – she said
it's fun to see the underdogs do well. The
underdog here means the team
considered to be the weakest and the
least likely to win. You could say Iceland
are the underdogs in this tournament.
Neil: Maybe, Rob. So you can see why
everyone is excited by the World Cup!
Rob: Not everyone, Neil. For many people,
they're not bothered by the tournament.
We could say 'it's not their thing' and there
are different reasons for it. Let's hear
from some other people - Jeff and Inga…
Jeff: There's not a lot of sportsmanship in
it now. I find that it's very corporate and there's
a lot of what I would call cheating going
on – people taking dives, people falling
over because somebody looked at them
the wrong way on the pitch.
Inga: Not really that excited. It's just too
much hype about nothing really. The
World Cup is a great event if you are into
football, but I'm not so I can't be really
bothered.
Rob: There you go, Neil. Some sensible
people there! Jeff thinks football has
changed and now lacks real
sportsmanship – that's fair and honest
behaviour – he even claims some players
cheat.
Neil: I'm not sure about that, Rob. But
maybe he's right about the tournament
becoming very corporate, which means
it's sponsored by big companies
who like to decide how the tournament is
run.
Rob: And Inga thinks there is too much
hype. This means there is a lot of talk and
publicity to make people interested in
something. Well, there is certainly a lot of
talk about the World Cup, but we have to
remember it's not everybody's cup of tea!
Neil: Well, it is my cup of tea, Rob.
Now, can we have the answer to that
question, please?
Rob: Yes. Earlier I said the mascot for
Russia 2018 is a wolf called Zabivaka.
What does his name mean in English?
Was it… a) The winner, b) The one who
scores, or c) Fair play.
Neil: And I said a) The winner – because
football is all about winning, isn't it?
Rob: It's the taking part that is important
Neil, and you took part in my quiz and got
it wrong. The answer is b) The one who
scores. Now let's have a brief reminder of
the vocabulary we've discussed today,
starting with world-class.
Neil: That means 'some of the best in the
world'. We should see some world-class
football in Russia.
Rob: If we're watching it, Neil. Next we
had fancy their chances. If someone
'fancies their chances' they think they are
likely to succeed, but they might not.
Neil: Let's move on to
get behind. If we get behind someone –
like our national football team – we
support them.
Rob: Are you getting behind our national
team, Neil?
Neil: Nope, I'm supporting the underdog
Iceland, Rob. That's a word to describe
the team or person least likely to win.
Next we discussed sportsmanship – that
describes fair and honest behaviour.
Rob: And finally we talked about hype
which means 'lots of talking and publicity
to make people interested in something'.
Well, we've had enough hype about the
World Cup today and we're out of time.
Neil: Yes, but don't forget to join us on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
YouTube for more Learning English
fun. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.
Rob: Bye bye!