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| Ihre 10 Minuten Englisch pro Woche |
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Dear email,
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When my German colleagues stumble over the pronunciation of an English place name, such as Leicester, they like to point out, somewhat sniffily, just how simple and sensible the German language is in this respect. I beg to differ. Once, as a teenager at a treasure hunt, I spent ages looking at a clue that told me to look in what I read as the “Besenk-Ammer” – before I realized that it was, in fact, the “Besenkammer”. Even those short compound words can be confusing.
In fairness, English has a lot of pronunciation pitfalls. Look at “Mission: Impossible (to pronounce)” to help you with tricky names and, if you’re feeling really adventurous, try to pronounce the name of this Welsh village: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Next week, my co-host Judith Gilbert will be back with more interesting stories for you from around the English-speaking world.
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Inez Sharp
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Editor-in-chief, Spotlight
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stumble over sth.: über etw. stolpern | point sth. out: auf etw. hinweisen | sniffy (ifml.): schnippisch, überheblich | sensible: vernünftig | beg to differ: anderer Ansicht sein | treasure hunt: Schatzsuche, Schnitzeljagd | clue: Hinweis | compound: zusammengesetzt | pitfall: Fallstrick, Tücke | tricky: knifflig, kompliziert | co-host: Co-Moderator(in)
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Word of the Week
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earworm
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Did you know? That tune you can’t get out of your head? It’s called an earworm in English. The word is a direct translation of the German Ohrwurm. Other expressions to describe the same phenomenon are “sticky music” or “stuck song syndrome”.
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sticky: klebrig | stuck: festgeklebt, festgeklemmt
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Anzeige
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Test your English with our Free TOEFL iBT Full Practice Test
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Want reliable feedback on your English skills? Our Free TOEFL iBT Practice Test mirrors the actual exam, giving you an accurate measure of your abilities in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Get accurate results today!
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© Image: ETS Global
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Language
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Mission: Impossible (to pronounce)
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How would you pronounce “Leicester”, “Fulham” and “Salisbury”? Probably incorrectly, we dare to guess. Some British town names are nearly impossible to pronounce. But with a bit of training, you should be able to master most of them.
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dare: sich trauen
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Travel
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Small place, big name
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Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a village on the Isle of Anglesey (Wales), has the longest place name in Britain. Often shortened to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG, the long name for this little village was made official in 1869 as a publicity stunt to attract tourists – and it worked! The population of the village is around 3,000, but it hosts over 200,000 tourists a year, all wanting to buy a platform ticket for its famous railway station. And, of course, everyone tries to pronounce the village’s name. Watch this video to listen to a real professional say it and then try it yourself!
By the way, the meaning of the name is: “The church of St Mary in the hollow of white hazel near the rapid whirlpool by the church of St Tysilio of the red cave.”
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host: beherbergen | hollow: hier: Senke | hazel: Haselnuss-Strauch | whirlpool: Wasserwirbel
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© Photo: iStock.com
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Science and Nature
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Why do we blush?
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Although many animals can change the colour of their skin, humans are thought to be the only animals that blush – or need to, as Mark Twain once joked.
But why do humans turn pink? Charles Darwin called blushing “the most peculiar and most human of all expressions”, but he was unable to prove an evolutionary purpose or function. Most scientists now believe that blushing is a form of social code: an indication that we’ve been caught making a faux pas, or made to feel uncomfortable in a social situation.
Studies show that people who blush when they breach a social norm are viewed less negatively than those who don’t blush. It’s like an apology. And it’s always honest: blushing can’t be faked.
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blush: erröten | peculiar: sonderbar | breach: brechen, verletzen
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Ihr Gutschein für Spotlight
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Sie erhalten die erste Ausgabe unseres Abonnements gratis
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Economy
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Measuring success
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Bhutan is the only nation in the world with a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index – which measures the psychological well-being of its people. For most nations, the essential economic metric is GDP: the gross domestic product. What does GDP say about the economy? And more importantly: what doesn’t not tell us?
As a special gift, our newsletter subscribers can read the online version of the article for free – but only for a week!
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gross: Brutto- | GDP (gross domestic product): BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt) | subscriber: Abonnent(in)
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© Image: Huber Images
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Start-Ups
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Tech dreams
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Start-ups everywhere are struggling with high interest rates, which make future profits look less attractive to investors today. In 2023, Europe produced just a handful of tech unicorns (start-ups valued at over $1 billion) compared with 107 in 2021. And in 2023 alone, 50 unicorns lost their horns, meaning they now have lower valuations.
Despite short-term worries, however, there are good reasons for optimism. Investment in European start-ups has been at a historic high. Between January and September of 2023, Europe created about 14,000 new tech start-ups, compared with 13,000 in America (although the US creates more start-ups overall). If we include Britain in the calculation, there are currently more than 41,000 young tech firms and nearly 4,000 older ones, employing some 2.3 million people across the continent – about twice as many as in early 2019.
This is seen as a sign that Europe’s tech scene is maturing, meaning its founders have more experience. It’s estimated that over 9,000 people who worked for successful unicorns back in the 2000s have since gone on to start companies of their own.
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billion: Milliarde(n) | valuation: Bewertung; hier: Wertansatz | short-term: kurzzeitig | overall: insgesamt | calculation: Berechnung | mature: reifen; hier: den Kinderschuhen entwachsen | founder: Gründer(in)
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© Image: iStock.com
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Im aktuellen Magazin
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Mission: impossible (to pronounce)
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How to pronounce tricky British places & names | The 7 most enchanting forests in the UK | One of the greatest triathletes of all time: Chrissie Wellington
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Podcast
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What’s your favourite song?
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Don’t worry, we’re not going to sing! In the latest episode of English, please!, we talk about inherited songs, misheard lyrics and concert experiences with our kids.
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inherit: erben | mishear: sich verhören, falsch verstehen
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© Image: Andranik Hakobyan via canva.com
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Quiz
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King Charles and the Royals
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A belated happy birthday, King Charles! Yesterday, the British monarch celebrated his 76th birthday. How much do you know about King Charles III and his family?
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belated: verspätet, nachträglich
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© Image: Mick Atkins / Shutterstock.com
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Mitarbeit: Dennis Draber, Judith Gilbert, Susanne Krause, Nadia Lawrence, Mae McCreary, Richard Mote, Rachel Preece, Inez Sharp
Folgen Sie Spotlight und Business Spotlight auf Instagram.
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