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Le blog d'Eureka
Conseils, astuces & articles

The May Day bank holiday

4/30/2018

 


Useful words
a bank holiday or public holiday: jour ferié
Good Friday: Vendredi Saint
Easter Monday: Lundi de Pâques
Boxing Day = 26th December
a maypole (n): mât enrubané
fireworks (n): feu d’atifice

 
We are entering the month of May which, in France, is a month full of public holidays and long weekends – great for employees but not so great for employers! But what happens in the UK?
British public holidays, or bank holidays as we usually call them, are a little different from our neighbouring European countries. For a start, we have fewer of them and the number is the same every year, always 8 in total: 1st January, the first and last Mondays in May, Good Friday, Easter Monday, the last Monday in August, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (if Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on the weekend, we get the Monday and Tuesday as holiday instead).
There are no public holidays for remembering the dead, the two World Wars or other Christian religious holidays such as Ascension Day and Assumption Day. While Northern Ireland has a day’s holiday for St Patrick’s Day, and people in Scotland can take a holiday on St Andrew’s Day (if they agree to work on another bank holiday) there is no public holiday on St George’s Day in England nor St David’s Day in Wales. Even the day on which we have fireworks (Guy Fawkes Night, 5th November) isn’t a holiday. In fact, we don’t even have a national day. Maybe this is because we never had a revolution, just a civil war which involved beheading a king only to restore the monarchy 11 years later!
So what about the 1st May? Well, in the UK it’s known as May Day and celebrations of this day go back to the Roman period when people celebrated the goddess of flowers. These festivities were later mixed with pagan Celtic and Anglo Saxon traditions and the day was celebrated as the first day of summer. The farmers had finished sowing the fields and so they could take a day’s holiday. Traditions included village fêtes, the crowning of a May Queen and the famous dancing round the maypole with long ribbons - go to this link to see some photos: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/gallery/maypole-dancing-9137285.
The maypole dance is thought to have been brought to the UK by the Germanic tribes but no one knows for sure the reasons behind the dance – maybe it comes from a time when trees were sacred or maybe it’s a symbol of fertility. The tradition is kept alive today in villages around the UK as well as in primary schools – I can remember doing the dance myself when I was 6 years old!
The 1st of May is not, however, a bank holiday in the UK unless it falls on a Monday. So this year, 2018, the May Day bank holiday is in fact on Monday 7th May! Who said things were easy to understand?!
In the rest of the world, the 1st of May is also known as International Worker’s Day or Labour Day, which was started in the USA in the 1890s with the rise of trade unions and the 8 hour working day. While workers’ protests do take place in the UK, we associate this day much more with the end of spring and the arrival of summer and dancing round the maypole.
Back in 2011 there were rumours that the British government was going to get rid of the May Day bank holiday and replace it with one in October, to celebrate a United Kingdom Day! We are still waiting….


April 26th, 2018

4/26/2018

 

Alexander, Arthur or James? What do you think the name of the new Royal Baby will be? If you are right you could win a lot of money!

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Useful words:
to gamble (v) or to bet on something (v) : parier sur, jouer sur, faire un pari sur
a gambler (n) : parieur, parieuse
a bet (n) : un pari
a bookmaker’s or betting shop : bookmaker, PMU
the odds (n pl) : la côte

 
The UK is a nation of gamblers – we love to gamble on anything and everything and the big betting shops make it possible. Most of the betting takes place in sport. If we can’t play the sport, we can at least be involved by watching it and betting on it. In fact, in the past, the word sportsman was used as a synonym for a gambler!

In 2017, over £ 13 billion was bet by the British public in betting shops (on the horses or on football results for example), on the Internet, in casinos and arcades, in Bingo halls or by buying lottery tickets. The money is so big that the National Lottery is the main sponsor of our Olympic sports team.

But we also love to gamble on other things which are called novelty bets and the big bookmakers will always offer odds. For example, we can gamble on what song will be Number One at Christmas; which actor will be the next James Bond; if it will snow or not on Christmas Day; whether the UK will vote yes or no in the referendum on Brexit (we know the answer to that one!); who will win a TV reality programme; whether the next Royal Baby will be a boy or a girl; and of course, what the name of the new Royal Baby will be!

At the time of writing, Arthur is the favourite with odds of 9/4. James follows with odds of 7/2 and Alexander is 10/1. If you decide to place a bet on Louis you could win more money as the odds are 20/1 !  But hurry, as the Palace will certainly announce the name very soon even if parents have, by law, 42 days after the birth to register the name (21 days in Scotland). Slightly longer than in France!


England or the UK?!

4/13/2018

 
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England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, the British Isles, so many names for one country! Not to mention Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And talking of Ireland, what’s the difference between Ireland, Southern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Eire?!
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No wonder foreigners are confused – especially as even we ourselves often make mistakes when talking about our country. So here is a simplified explanation of what’s what on the other side of the English Channel!

Geographically, the collection of islands across the water from France are known as The British Isles. The two biggest islands are Great Britain and Ireland but there are also lots of little islands as well such as the Isle of Wight, the Island of Skye and many, many more.
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Politically, within the British Isles, there are two states: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with its capital in London (abbreviated to the UK), and The Republic of Ireland with its capital in Dublin. The UK is a monarchy with the pound (£) as its currency. The Republic of Ireland, as the name suggests, is a republic with the euro (€) as its currency. The Republic of Ireland is sometimes referred to as Southern Ireland and by its Irish language name, Eire.

4 Home Nations
Inside the UK, there are 4 home nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the past, these nations were distinct, independent nations with people of different origins. The people of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were originally Celtic and the people of England mainly Germanic. They also spoke different languages. Unification through domination by England took many hundreds of years and many wars! This is why the Welsh, the Irish and the Scottish are so attached to their heritage.

The Capitals
The capital of England is London and the people are English. (Language: English)
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh and the people are Scottish. Official languages: English and Scottish Gaelic spoken by 1% of the population.
The capital of Wales is Cardiff and the people are Welsh. Official languages: English and Welsh spoken by 20% of the population and compulsory in school.
The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast and the people are Northern Irish. Official languages: English and Irish Gaelic spoken by just 0.2% of the population. More people speak Irish Gaelic in the Republic of Ireland.
The capital of the UK is London and the people are usually referred to as British which unfortunately excludes the Northern Irish. But it’s not possible to say UKish!

Political Autonomy
Since 1998, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own parliament/assembly with authority to govern local affairs (education, finance, agriculture, industry etc). Matters of national concern such as defense, national security, international relations etc. are managed by the UK Parliament in London.

Sporting teams
So what happens when it comes to sport? Well in rugby for example, there’s the English, Welsh and Scottish teams, and the Northern Irish play for Ireland! In football however, there is a Northern Irish team (as well as a Welsh, Scottish and English team). But for the Olympics it’s even more complicated as the UK team is known as Team GB which the Northern Irish are obviously not happy about and so many decide to represent the Republic of Ireland!

Angleterre isn’t the UK!
So if we can’t agree – how can others understand?!
But one thing is sure, if you hear French journalists talking about Angleterre, they are probably not using the correct term unless they are talking about just England!

So now that you know the differences, I’m sure that you won’t make the same mistake! 

Grammar Tips : present and past

4/12/2018

 
 Present simple or present continuous? Past simple or present perfect? These questions can cause panic for many students of English because it’s not the same in French! So how do you decide when to use which tense?
The main thing is to think in English, NOT in French however tempting that may be! Try and learn the rules in English: first the structure (which auxiliary to use, how to form the negative and interrogative). Secondly, try to learn some key concepts, for example the present simple is used for permanent things, habits and routines, the present continuous is used for present events which are temporary. Finally, try and learn some key words or phrases which are associated with each tense. For example: since, just and yet are usually used with the present perfect. Finally you need to practise! The more you practise, the easier it will be. Promise!
But remember, if you think in French you’ll most probably make a mistake!
Here is a table to help you identify the main differences between these five tenses.
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    Philippa Stacey

    Philippa Stacey a fondé Eureka en 2007. Elle vit et enseigne l’anglais aux professionnels en France depuis 1993.
    Eureka est un organisme de formation en langue anglaise certifié et agréé qui intervient essentiellement dans le Nord Isère. 

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