2001 | The World of English

The Winner Takes it All

Or - the first past the post gets the most in the UK's General Election, which this year was a bit of a foregone conclusion...

The British Labour Party - a marriage of late 19th century trade unionism, Christian socialism and a very English form of Marxism (i.e. not very Marxist) - managed in the first election of the 21st century on 7th June this year to achieve something it had not managed throughout the last century - in fact, for its entire 101-year history. It won a second general election after a first term in office.

2001

A Lyrical Exchange

The music's fabulous, the lyrics go from the simple to the surreal. But do they mean anything? And does it really matter?

2001

No Dope, No Hope?

"You are what you eat" is a favourite health catchphrase, but in sport it seems more and more to be a case of: "You are when you cheat."

2001

Get a Diet, Get Fat

In the all-American health kick, it's not sport but food that's at the center of the obsession with healthy living. But have they got it all wrong?

2001

Spooked Out!

At first glance, the village of Pluckley in the English county of Kent may look quite innocent. But behind its neat and tidy exterior theres a phantasmal world of mystery, doom and death.

2001

End of a Decade, End of an Era

There won't be many waves of Volunteers before the Poles will have caught up...This will be one of the world's great and limited engagements. Poland will not need us for long. - E. Timothy Carroll, Peace Corps Country Director 1991-1994

2001

How to Marry an Englishman

The Empire has faded, but English surnames are colonising Central Europe at a rate of knots. Here's your guide, ladies, to bagging a Brit. Polish gentlemen, please don't feel too put out there are some useful tips for you, too.

2001

E-Lit: Novel Networking

We say everyone has a novel in him. Boring as our own lives may seem to ourselves, they could be packaged and described so as to be interesting to another person - the reader. With a dose of literary flair!

Thanks to the popularity of creative writing courses, everyone, it seems, is finally writing that novel - or at least a short story or two and some poems. Poetry and fiction readings at coffeehouses have become popular in some circles, but apart from this, how do all these new writers find an audience? How do they get in touch with readers?

2001

The Notting Hill Thrill

Perhaps made famous to foreigners thanks to Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in the film of the same name, this part of London is really on the map because of the annual carnival in August, second only to Rio de Janeiro's.

If you imagine the Notting Hill Carnival as a colourful, loud and fast moving pageant, you are wrong. It is far more resplendent and clamorous, and way too crowded to move with any speed at all - the streets are not as wide as in Rio!

2001

Exotica, Neurotica

There are many things you learn when you enter into an intercultural relationship. And you are always learning. Remember, though, that often these things are just the natural processes of getting to know your partner over the years. Don't get drawn into the misapprehension that he won't do the washing up because he's British; maybe a Polish man is far less likely to! That's men for you. Nor that he might prefer to watch an important international footie match to spending a romantic evening with you listening to soothing music. We're all the same.

2001

Free Speech

Try getting your tongue around one of Europe's 225 languages in the European Year of Languages 2001.

Language learning is something you can do throughout your lifetime - you are never too old or too young to learn a language! Learning a new tongue is always a challenge, but if it is approached in the right way, it will be enjoyable and provide an immense feeling of satisfaction. It will give a practical skill that can add to the appreciation of other cultures, improve employment prospects and make travel more rewarding.

2001

Failure - a winter's tale

Americans and their New Year's Resolutions: as the world grows a year older it's always a good time to change those natural faults that make us human - but it's always a lost cause.

2001

Big project for small Polish farms

The World of English spoke with Prof. Louis Moore from Penn State University about agriculture and the extension service program in Poland.

WOE: Whose idea was it that Penn State's extension service should come to Poland?

2001

An Amazing Story

After reading this story, be careful where you ski this winter - and remember to wrap up warm, because miracles don't fall off trees, and this is truly a miraculous story of life returning from an icy grave.

2001

Exiled on the Emerald Isle

During and after the Second World War, a small community of Polish people developed in Ireland. The two peoples shared religion and a history of oppression, while marriage brought them closer together.

2001

A Poet for the People

Benjamin Zephaniah, one of Britain's leading poets, merges politics and reggae with incisive wit. He was born in Birmingham in the industrial heartland of England, a far cry from his Jamaican roots, but his popularity has since spread around the globe, even earning him a no.1 slot in Yugoslavia!

2001

A Bard's Eye View

Irish poet and Polish poetry specialist Barry Keane explores the motions and emotions of the poetry translator.

Anyone who has been to conferences on the art of translation may recall the sea of linguistic terms used by academics to describe the process of transferring meaning from one language to another. Yet, while the theoreticians are often present in large numbers at these conferences, the actual hands on translators are generally diving for cover in the dark corner of some pub on the other side of the planet.

2001

DIY, Do and Die?

Think twice before you launch yourself into the world of home improvements, for many perils await you. Life is beautiful - so don't fiddle with it!

It is a curious fact about the British that they have never quite come to terms with the idea that weekends are for resting. Saturday and Sunday are, indeed, the busiest days of the week for many people in Britain. During the week activity has to slow down because they are at work, but come the weekend Brits can indulge in their twin passions, DIY and gardening.

2001

Poetry for the Street

Turbulent times followed Poland's independence in 1918, as Poles came to terms with their freedom. To put into words the emotions of a nation, poet Julian Tuwim tried to rid poetry of its elitist image. How far did he succeed?

2001

This is America

What is the world's best-known country? Most people around the world these days would reply: the United States of America. Variously known as the U.S., U.S.A., the States or simply America, this is the most heavily populated country of North America, although Canada to the north, which has fewer people than Poland, is far bigger territorially. Second question: who, or what, is an American? Read on and you'll find out.

2001