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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. In the next few minutes we’re going to be asking whether you’re after value for money when you’re shopping for fashion; or fashion that’s made with values. We’re all after a bargain on the high street. But how often do you stop to consider how some stores seem to stock low-cost/high fashion items quicker and more cheaply than others? Fulfilling our needs for fast fashion means increased production and competition in clothing made in countries with low-wage economies. Our reporter Mark has been to the high street to find out more.

Here in a typical British high street there are plenty of bargains to be had. Handbags at £3.99, T-shirts for a fiver and shoes for under a tenner - all roughly equivalent to the price of an everyday meal. But how many of the people shopping in this high street have stopped to think about how it’s possible to sell clothes so cheaply? Is it because some companies are turning a blind-eye to the exploitation in the countries where these items are made? Ruth Rothelson is an expert on ethical shopping from the Ethical Consumer Research Association, who amongst other things produced the magazine ‘Ethical Consumer’.

Ruth, just tell us what the Ethical Consumer Research Association is.

OK, well the Ethical Consumer Research Association exists to provide information for shoppers, letting them know what the companies are doing behind the brands that they see on the shelves.

So what makes an ethical shopper?

Very broadly speaking, people who are concerned about ethical issues want to know that the product they’re buying hasn’t been made at the expense of the people who are producing it, whether it’s in this country or abroad. They might also be concerned with other kinds of issues: whether the company is involved in armaments, or whether they’re donating money to certain political parties. And that as a shopper, you might not want to give your money to that party so therefore you might not want to buy a product from a company who is supporting a political party that you don’t agree with.

And is there any kind of rule of thumb? Is something that’s more expensive, for example, likely to be more ethical?

Unfortunately it isn’t always the case that the more expensive something is, the more ethical it is. We can buy very cheap products and it’s very likely that when products are cheap, something has suffered in order to get it to us. Whether it’s the person making it or the animals or the environment. Quality however, is often a good indicator whether something, especially with clothes, has been made well. And unfortunately a lot of ethical products will cost more because they reflect the real cost of bringing that thing into the shops. So something that has been made in a factory where the workers have been paid a proper wage will cost you more to buy, simply because the people making it are getting paid enough to live on.

Do you have to be well off then to be an ethical shopper?

It really depends. You don’t have to be rich to be an ethical shopper. One way of thinking about ethical shopping is thinking about buying less. Sometimes we buy an awful lot more than we need. We buy more items of clothing than we need. So being an ethical shopper really means thinking a bit before you go and spend your money in the shops. Some things may cost a little bit more in the short-run, but be worth it in the long-run. If you are paying for quality, something will last you longer and then save you money. And sometimes you can buy things second hand. There’s a lot of charity shops on the high street to buy, good clothes. Sometimes you can look a lot better than someone who’s just bought off the high street because you can have quite a unique look, and the quality that you find in most second hand shops is really very good these days. So it’s about thinking before you shop.

Thanks Ruth. Now among the shoppers here I’ve got Lauren and Bella. Starting with you Bella, would you consider shopping ethically?

Definitely for food. And clothing, well, when I buy clothes I wouldn’t want to think of them being made in a sweat shop.

Lauren you do shop ethically. But you’ve got a slightly different take on it haven’t you.

Yeah I suppose I shop ethically but my original thing for that was that I like to wear clothes that are different from everyone else. So I would start shopping for vintage clothes. So ethically, obviously they’re second hand so…also I buy a lot of clothes from market stalls, from fashion students maybe. So they’re all made here, so they would be made ethically as well.

Thanks Lauren, thanks Bella. Well it’s an interesting debate, and I’ll certainly be doing my clothes shopping with a little bit more care in future.

Our reporter Mark, out among the dedicated and ethical followers of fashion there. And that’s it for this time. Please remember that the opinions expressed in Trend UK are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the views of the British Council. Don’t forget, you can find out what the British Council is doing on contemporary UK by using your local British Council Information Centre or by checking our website www.britishcouncil.org, that’s www.britishcouncil [all one word] .org. Just follow the links under ‘Contact Us’. And while you’re on the website you can also update your English by checking out the words and phrases in the Trend UK online glossary. And tell us what you think by sending us a comment or voting in the online poll. But for now, from me and all the Trend UK Team, bye bye.

Tricky Words

A fiver means 5 pounds sterling and a tenner of course is equal to 10 pounds.

Turning a blind eye is used to describe the process of ignoring unpopular orders or inconvenient facts or activities.

Ethical refers to something which is morally or socially acceptable. 

Another word for weapons is armaments. 

If you are well-off you have no financial worries and are moderately rich.

In the long run refers to a future time period usually in a business sense. 

A charity shop is a shop that sells second-hand goods to raise money for charity. 

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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council.

In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about sports in visible workforce.

In the UK something like twenty two million adults take part in formal volunteering every year. And of those, six million get involved in sport on a regular basis. These volunteers help to run more than one hundred thousand sports related clubs and organisations, and they don’t get paid a single penny for doing it. In fact interest is on the rise - not surprising given that 2005 was the year of the volunteer and the year that London successfully bid to host the 2012 Olympics. So how and why do people get involved? Our reporter Mark went to meet the sporting volunteers.

I’m at a conference being run by the Step into Sport Initiative. With me is Peter Knight from the Youth Sport Trust which helps organise these sessions. Peter, tell us about Step into Sport.

It’s the key between the school (the education environment) and the sports clubs; providing that link around leadership and volunteering.

And what’s the range of volunteering?

When people would say volunteering initially they’d think of coaches. And that’s one end of the spectrum. But we…you know, it goes right across the board. It goes right down to the people that cut the oranges up maybe for a match or make the tea. So it’s a very very diverse range of opportunities and a lot of people bring a lot of different skills to it.

And why do people get involved?

It’s sort of personal preference should we say. What they’re going to get from it – are they putting something back into their community? Is it for their personal development? You know, the young people here today will be looking for their personal development. It’ll be about raising their self-esteem, raising their confidence. I think when you look round you’ll see that there are young people here who aren’t your archetypal young people top-end performers as far as sport is concerned. That really for me is the reason it’s a diversification of people who are going to be engaged in sport and physical activity.

Thanks Peter. Well let’s go and find out what some of the attraction is for some of the volunteers here.

It is fun. And you do get to see your sport develop I suppose. It is the grass-roots and you get to help them improve their performance and you see where your sport will go in the future.

It’s important that we get across to the youth of today that volunteers are needed within sports and we hopefully pass on our skills to them to volunteer in future sporting events.

Teambuilding is important to people’s future, and sport gives a fantastic opportunity for that. Obviously you get the individual events, but team events is life skills and kids need to learn that from a young age to progress for the future.

Well one thing these young people have in common is that they all seem to enjoying devoting their time and energy to sport.

Away from the conference now, I’ve come to meet Olympic rower Gwinn Batten. Now Gwinn, you won a silver medal for Britain in the Sydney Olympics in 2000; Would you say that volunteers helped you achieve that?

Really your talking about just the very best doctors that we have in Britain, just the very best physios as far as elite sport are concerned. But how did they learn those skills along the way? Say for example the team doctor – she would have spend many many training camps on many many weekends as a volunteer working closely with our elite teams. The support staff that are around our top teams have normal jobs and then they just come together for set events, whether those be the Commonwealth Games or the Olympic Games.

What motivates volunteers?

The skills that you develop in sport is a very hot-house environment especially in competitive sport. You’re putting yourself under/in quite a pressurised situation. And it’s very interesting to see how you react and how you learn to develop those people skills, those life skills, which when you go back into the workplace, when it’s a much less hot-house environment, in most people’s cases, you can actually say, ‘well actually, I was quite good at this’. Or you know your strengths, you know your weaknesses you have developed in that sport environment. And when you go back, you know, you just have so much more confidence in dealing with people and sort of working together and operating round those life skill areas.

So would you recommend it?

Sport is through our entire culture here in Britain. You need to find out what skills you have as a person. You know, whether or not you’re somebody who is very organised or whether or not, you’re someone who’s very good at inspiring or looking after people. And then you need to also find which sport suits your make-up as such. And different sports have different personalities. And so choosing the sport you want to be involved in and then choosing the skills that you have, and then going to your local rowing club (if it’s rowing that you choose), or your local sports club, or even your school if there’s a sports section in the school and offering your services. Most sports clubs whether they’re schools, universities or club-level will be crying out volunteers.

Gwinn Batten, thank you. Our sporting reporter Mark there. And that’s it for this time. Please remember that the opinions expressed in Trend UK are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the views of the British Council. Don’t forget, you can find out what the British Council is up to on sport by checking our website www.britishcouncil.org, that’s www.britishcouncil [all one word] .org. Just follow the links under ‘Education’. And while you’re on the website you can also update your English by checking out the words and phrases in the Trend UK online glossary. And tell us what you think by sending us a comment or voting in the online poll. But for now, from me and all the Trend UK Team, Bye Bye.

Tricky Words

volunteer - a person who performs a service for free

self-esteem - how a person feels about himself/herself 

archetypal - the original form of which all other things are modelled

diversification - the condition of being varied 

grass roots - the foundation or source of something 

physios - (short for physiotherapist) a therapist dealing with any physical wekanesses or difficulties 

inspire - to encourage or urge on someone 

cry out for something - to need someting badly 

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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. In the next few minutes we’re going to be seeing what it’s like to live and work as a young professional in the UK. Creative industries play a key role in the UK’s economic growth. It’s a sector which covers activities such as architecture, publishing, film, fashion, music, radio and TV; and software. And it accounts for almost ten percent of the UK economy. Creative industries often attract young people who feel naturally draw to them, in the hope that they can make their mark, their fortune or both, whilst expressing themselves in their chosen field. That’s the dream but what are the realities? Our reporter Mark brought together a group of young creative professionals from the film industry to find out.

Assemble a group of young people who work in the UK’s burgeoning creative sector and you won’t be short of opinions. By and large, they’re all under 30, all extremely enthusiastic and they’ve all got something to shout about.

I’m a film and video editor.

I work in television as a lighting camera woman.

I’m a freelance cameraman and editor. S

o what’s it like working in a creative industry here in the UK?

It can be fantastic. You know everything has highs and lows I think. But the highs can be particularly high. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, I’ve worked for about two years as an editor so far so…last year I worked on Nanny McPhee which was Emma Thompson’s latest offering and I was an assistant on Seed of Chucky which is part of the famous Childs Play Franchise. Which is a good experience that was a relatively large Hollywood Film.

I do an awful lot of sport, which is shooting live cycling and things like that. I also shoot the odd commercial and I’ve done some documentary work for television.

Breaking into the industry is very difficult. And certainly for the first two years that I was trying to break in I had to spend a lot of time working as a carpenter. Or doing whatever I could, painting and decorating, to get by, whilst you are pursuing contacts really. But then when you get more and more established, you get more and more contacts and at the same time you get better and better. The work you do is much better. You know, it gets much easier.

And do you have to work long hours?

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen hour days, it’s not unusual. There are limits set within the law, but of course everyone does usually do whatever’s required to get the material in the can.

What about the social side of things? Do you go out much? Do you have time to go out much?

In terms of meeting people it’s a very mixed bag. I often work on my own, so I’m effectively I’m directing myself doing camera work and then I’ll go edit, and then I’ll direct myself editing and you know I’m completely on my own for days at a time working on a project. On other projects which are much more collaborative, you meet an awful lot of people, and obviously you’ve got a lot in common and with some of them I’ve developed really very good relationships that you know, now I think you could call friendships. So yeah, socially it can be great.

You have a great social life with the people that you work with but organising social life outside of that, if you’re working seventy two hour weeks, can be pretty rough. The flip-side of the coin is that if you’re not working at all, you’ve got all the time in the world. But remember that people who work in other industries don’t really understand your stop-start lifestyle. So it can take extra effort to meet up with people.

And where do you hope to be in about, say, ten years?

Really fast broadband is going to change the way we work. In terms of transferring big amounts of data around and stuff, it’s going to get easier and easier. So I do think that in 10 years time I’m certain, you know, you’ll want some ‘face time’ as they say for meetings and all that sort of stuff. And physically, for filming some things you’ll have to be there. But very often, it won’t matter where on earth you are in the world so I am actually planning on buying a place in Portugal or Spain and continue my post-production stuff overseas.

Would you recommend it as a career, or do you have any advice for people who are thinking of taking it up?

I would definitely encourage people to come to Britain to work in the creative industries; they are some of the best in the world in terms of content, ideas, execution. The creatives and the technicians in this country are fantastic. My one tip would be: make sure that you’ve got that endurance, that capacity, that capacity to endure because you’re going to be faced with long hours, some difficult people and occasions where you’re paid very little if anything at all. So make sure that you’re determined and focused on working in these industries. You can’t be a tourist so to speak.

Britain is a fantastic place to work in the creative industries because there is a very huge buzz, very high training and people are really passionate about what they do. But it’s also extremely competitive and the number of places for people to work in is a lot smaller than the number of people trying to get work. So you have to be very tenacious, you have to really really want to do it. It is I glamorous, it’s long hard hours and you have to be pretty thick skinned. So give it a try and if you care about it, do it. But if not, you can make a lot more money a lot more easily doing something else.

Yes I would recommend it as a career, it’s enormously enjoyable, much more creative than most people’s jobs are, much more varied than most people’s jobs are. Financially, I hate to say it but I’m now doing really quite well. In terms of the advice I’d give to someone, don’t give up because there’ll be endless barriers in your way where people…you know you get all these false horizons where you think you’re about to get a big break and then, you know, it just turns into nothing and then never never make any mistakes…that’s the most important thing of all because you only get one change. If it’s your first job with someone and you stuff it up well that’s it the phone’s not going to ring again. So that’s it – be careful don’t make any mistakes!

Well as a young professional in a creative industry myself, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. And you do get to meet the nicest people.

Our young creative professional reporter Mark there. And that’s it for this time. Please remember that the opinions expressed in Trend UK are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the views of the British Council. Don’t forget, you can find out what the British Council is doing in the field of creative industries by checking our website www.britishcouncil.org, that’s www.britishcouncil [all one word] .org. Just follow the links under ‘Arts’. And while you’re on the website you can also update your English by checking out the words and phrases in the Trend UK online glossary. And tell us what you think by sending us a comment or voting in the online poll. But for now, from me and all the Trend UK Team, bye bye.

Glossary

If you are drawn to someting you are attracted to it.

Burgeoning means growing or developing.

If you work freelance, you work for yourself rather than being employed by a company.

To shoot means to make a photograph or film.

If something is a mixed bag it is a collection of different kinds of things.

The flip-side of the coin often means the less popular aspect of something.

Face time is another way of saying a 'face-to-face meeting'.

If you are tenacious, you are unyielding or you never give up.

Thick-skinned means not easily offended.

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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about modern manners. It’s an argument that, on the face of it, has been going on between the generations, for hundreds of generations. Older people can often be heard saying the youth of today lack the basics in good behaviour and with newspapers and the media focusing on the anti-social activities of a minority of young people, it’s easy for them to be branded with a negative stereotype. So are British manners really getting worse? Our reporter Mark went to find out.

Well I’ve come to a typical UK high-street on a weekday to talk to the young Mums and Dads, business people, elderly people and students that are out doing their shopping. So we should get an interesting mix of views. Let’s go see what people think.

Excuse me Sir, would you say that manners are getting better or worse in the UK?

I actually think they’re getting worse. I think that the standards are declining generally. I think they are getting worse but not terribly so. Generally in busses and trains I think that people’s manners have improved in many ways. There are cultural differences, and you might meet someone from a different culture and your set of manners will quite be different to theirs.

Well, is it all a question of individual taste or is there some common ground? With me here is Simon Fanshaw, author of a book called ‘The Done Thing’, all about modern British manners. Simon, What are the basic do’s and don’ts?

I think one of the things that’s confusing for people is when they come here is there appears to be hundreds and hundreds of rules, hundreds of things you should and shouldn’t do. And the truth of it is that most of them are about class. And lots of them are trip-wires actually for people who don’t know them. So what I tried to do in my book was take it back to the first principle and say look – there are anthropological reasons why we have certain kinds of manners. So I’ll give you a very good example, in Britain there are sort of two ways of holding a knife very broadly. And broadly speaking the middle-classes hold it with the index finger on the top, gripped in the hand. And working-class people hold it like a pen. Tiny a class depiction and people mercilessly exploit it if they want to. The truth of it is, the one way not to hold a knife at the table, is clasped in your fist, raised as if to kill your guest. And what does that tell us about eating? Well what that tells us about eating is two things, which is never confuse your guests with either the food or the enemy. Don’t eat them and don’t kill them. That’s about how you should hold your knife, because actually manners are really about the reduction of violence. There’s a lot in there about reducing violence. So that’s just an illustration of what one tries to do so actually when you look at real table manners they’re about people feeling comfortable with each other, sharing food around a table. Very important human thing.

And are things actually getting worse?

Very broadly speaking, we all rub along together pretty well actually, we don’t do so badly. The trouble with bad manners is that when you experience it it completely occupies your field of vision. So you feel completely knocked back and rather hurt by somebody.

Should foreigners, say, comply with British manners when in Britain or just be themselves?

Well I think one issue we should be very gentile with is because we’re not terribly good at understanding that there are lots of different customs from round the world, so you know, be gentile. But I think the thing what I would say to anybody going to any other culture, any other country in the world: Number one – be curious, ask yourself. The other thing is don’t think there’s a right and a wrong way to do things in terms of little funny details. Always remember that fundamentals matter more than anything else. ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ is a gift and a grace in any language so treat people in the fundamental purpose of manners which is to make life easier. If I can give you a definition of manners, is it the reduction of actual or potential violence between strangers. So always seek to defuse conflict, always seek to reach out and offer yourself to other people, always seek to open the door and let them through. Always do those kind of things because actually you’ll find people love it and they’ll respond to you.

Simon Fanshaw, it would be very bad manners of me not to say, ‘thank you’ for coming to talk to us.

Our reporter Mark, minding his p’s and q’s there. And that’s it for this time. Please remember that the opinions expressed in Trend UK are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the views of the British Council. Don’t forget, you keep up with contemporary UK by using our local British Council Information Centre. Or by checking our website www.britishcouncil.org, that’s www.britishcouncil [all one word] .org. Just follow the links under ‘Contact Us’. And while you’re on the website you can also update your English by checking out the words and phrases in the Trend UK online glossary. And tell us what you think by sending us a comment or voting in the online poll. But for now, from me and all the Trend UK Team, bye bye.

Tricky Words

A stereotype is a popularly held belief about a type of person or a group of people which does not take into account individual differences.

A trip-wire here means a mistake that you can easily make without knowing.

Anthropological means concerned with the study of humankind.

Mercilessly means without pity.

If you comply, you act in accordance with someone's rukes, commands or wishes. 

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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about mates and money. Moving away from home to go to university can be a stressful time. First, there are all the social pressures that can be encountered. And then there’s the strain on your pocket, what with living expenses, books and going out with your friends. And on top of all that, you’ve got to study as well. So, is there a way to be careful with your money and have a good and productive time? Our reporter Mark went to meet the students at a large UK university to find out.

Looking around the Student Union at this university, everyone seems to be having a good time but the reality is that students are often on a tight budget and going out with your friends for a meal or a drink is often something that has to be thought about quite carefully. I’ve assembled a group of typical students here who are going to tell us what it’s like to have so many social opportunities and yet be on a budget. And hopefully they can give us the tips for having the best and cheapest of times.

How do you find the cost of living here?

Very expensive.

Everything including clothing accommodation, travelling, everything is expensive here.

In terms of: housing…transport especially.

So what do you think you spend most on?

Transport I think. Yeah, food if you eat at home, it’s very cheap. The train. In a week was spending more than one hundred pounds.

And how do you afford clothing? I mean ‘trendy’ isn’t cheap.

I’m from China, and actually in my place there’s also nice clothes there, so I normally bring my clothes here! He he-he.

So you don’t shop here? You shop at home.

Yeah all that from home. Except jackets, I love jackets so I make sure if there’s any sale going around, especially Boxing Day I go and loot the shopping centre and buy all the stuff and get cheap prices.

And what’s the social side like?

I love it because has so many cultures, I was so shocked actually it took me quite some time. Because it’s Chinese, Japanese, African people. I like that, to me it’s very interesting.

I like to go for movies with my friends once a month like that, and also for dinner.

I’m a very social person, I love socialising with people and meeting new people and I love partying. Thankfully I don’t drink and I don’t smoke so only expenses like, you know, maybe entry fee to the disco clubs and something like that.

And do you have any money saving tips for other people who might want to come and work or study here in the UK?

You just have to watch anything you buy, just don’t impulse buy things.

If you rent a house, with your friends then it will be cheaper.

I teach a lot, I teach piano and the violin, so that covers a little bit of what I want to spend on clothes and stuff and extras yeah.

I bought DVD player can watch all the movies at home ha-ha! So I can entertain myself at home. Cheaper ha-ha.

Don’t drink too much ha-ha.

Well, plenty of good advice here from the students. Thanks to all of you for coming along.

Our reporter Mark with the students there. And that’s it for this time.

Please remember that the opinions expressed in Trend UK are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the views of the British Council. Don’t forget, you can find out about studying in the UK by checking our website www.britishcouncil.org, that’s www.britishcouncil [all one word] .org. Just follow the links under ‘Learning’. And while you’re on the website you can also update your English by checking out the words and phrases in the Trend UK online glossary. And tell us what you think by sending us a comment or voting in the online poll. But for now, from me and all the Trend UK Team, bye bye.

Tricky Words

If something is more than you can usually afford we say this is a strain on the pocket.

The Student Union is a place on campus that hosts student services such as a canteen, bar, lounge, health facilities etc. 

If you don't have much available income to spend we say that you are on a tight budget. 

Trendy means fashionable or up with the latest ideas. 

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas day. In the UK most shops have a sale which begins on this day.

If you loot something, you steal or obtain it illegally.

An impulse buy is one in which you have a sudden desire to buy something that you see in a shop. 

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Hello and welcome to Trend UK, your shortcut to popular culture from the British Council. In the next few minutes we’re going to be talking about new words and phrases.

New words enter the English language all the time, in fact English has always been in a state of evolution and in recent years more and more words and phrases have entered the language, partly due to the increased willingness of lexicographers to include them in the dictionaries. But where do all these words come from? Our reporter Mark has been finding out.

If you want to know what words like screenager and splod mean the man to ask is John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. John what’s your favourite new word at the moment?

Really I don't have favourite words, but let’s say that one of my favourite new words is screenager, which is a young person or a teenager who spends a lot of time in front of the computer.

Any other favourites John?

Some of those rather unpleasant words like splod, somebody who is mostly inept, a splody person, but as I said I don’t really have favourite words because all words as far as I’m concerned are objects of scientific study.

And where do these new words and phrases come from?

Well, words come out of the culture the represent and they describe so if you’ve got a new development in medicine for example, bird flu, then you’ll get the new word coming out of that. If there’s a military conflict that may well bring all sorts of new words to the fore. Going back in time the First and Second World Wars were times of great creativity of language because people from different countries met each other and exchanged their words and words developed from there. So really words come from, they come from the playground, they come from politics, they come from any area of life because every area of life is changing from day to day.

How do you keep up with the huge weight of new words you have to evaluate?

Well, it’s not just me, we’ve got something like 60 editors working on the Oxford dictionary and we also have readers and word spotters throughout the world who are sending us information in. In the old days they used to write them out on index cards when they came across some in books, but nowadays they tend to type them onto their computers and send them into the central computer here. It’s an enormous issue, but one which we just about manage to keep under control. We don’t include words just because we’ve seen one example of them we have to wait for evidence of general currency to build up in our computer files before we start putting the word in the dictionary. So a lot of the time it’s collecting data, letting it build up and then reviewing it and then seeing what you’ve got and so that’s how we manage the work.

And why is it John that English has more words than any other language?

It certainly has more words than other European languages and probably of any other language in the world. English is put together from so many different bits. Originally it was a Germanic language and then after the Norman Conquest there was an enormous influx of French words. It comes from a country, the United Kingdom, which has been quite an expansive, trading, colonial power in the past and that’s brought all sorts of other new words into the language because words come in through contact often and so yes, it’s a very receptive language and this contrasts really with many of the other European languages who because they are smaller than English are concerned that they may well suffer what they call loss of domain, in other words, there may be areas where their language may not be used, in university teaching for example, or in business or whatever, in preference for English say and they tend to be much more concerned about maintaining and defending their language. English is really so large that it doesn’t really bother about that. It also doesn’t have a central academy that imposes a policy on the language – we don’t really have any language policies here, we really allow the language to be self-regulating.

John Simpson of the Oxford English dictionary – thank you!

Tricky Words

in a state of evolution - to be in a state of change over time

a lexicographer - a compiler or writer of a dictionary

a military conflict - a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war

to be inept at something - to be generally incompetent or not very good at something

pick up new words - to learn or get  to know words, usually accidentally

impose a policy on something - to force a plan of action on something

bring to the fore - to highlight something or make it noticeable

an influx of something - a rapid flowing in of something, perhaps too much