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| Ihre 10 Minuten Englisch pro Woche |
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Dear email,
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Have I ever mentioned that one of my most precious possessions is my folding bike? I bought it a couple of years ago so that, whatever the weather, I could cycle at least part of the way to work. It’s also an excellent topic for small talk. While other colleagues chat about traffic jams and delays on public transport, I’m complimented on my bike and told, “That must keep you really fit.” In fact, the distance from my flat to the office doesn’t really count as a workout. I just love being outside in any weather. If commuting is a topic of conversation in your workplace, too, you’ll find useful vocabulary in this newsletter.
Other popular small-talk topics include, of course, holidays. I love holidays on or around water. I’m not a fan of cruises and certainly not those on cruisezilla-size ships – see below – but I did once take a boat from Venice to Corfu. It was just a ferry, but I enjoyed every minute of the 25-hour trip and am considering the same journey this summer.
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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precious: kostbar | folding bike: Klapprad | co-host: Co-Moderator(in)
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Word of the Week
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cruisezilla
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Did you know... ? The Titanic would look small next to most modern cruise ships. And so would an ocean liner from 25 years ago. The biggest ships have doubled in size over the last quarter of a century. The word “cruisezilla” – combining “cruise” and Godzilla – tries to convey the monstrous dimensions of those huge ships.
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cruise: Kreuzfahrt | ocean liner: Ozeanriese | convey: vermitteln, transportieren
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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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Travel
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Oregon: into the wild
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Meet a bear, eat seaweed, blow glass and experience the wild, untamed landscapes of the American Northwest.
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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seaweed: Seetang | untamed: ungezähmt | subscriber: Abonnent(in)
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© Image: Shutterstock.com
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Podcast
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“What hasn’t changed is that you need to practise English if you are to speak English”
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In the latest issue of our podcast, English please!, Inez Sharp, Dagmar Taylor and Ian McMaster – all of them (former) English trainers – discuss what language learning means in 2025. Have learning apps, AI translations and online platforms fundamentally changed the way we study a foreign language?
Some things stay the same: “There’s one reason why people don’t learn the language in my experience,” says former editor in chief and teacher Ian McMaster. “And that’s because they stop.” So keep it up – and subscribe to our podcast.
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AI (artificial intelligence): KI (künstliche Intelligenz) | keep sth. up: an etw. dranbleiben | subscribe to sth.: etw. abonnieren
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© Image: vimart via canva.com
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Profile
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A scientist saving lives
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In January 2024, Cameroon became the first country in the world to roll out malaria vaccinations. It is the culmination of six decades of research. Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, who is 94, was among the early researchers of the disease, extracting compounds that, over the years, have helped save millions of lives.
In 1967, during the Vietnam War, North Vietnam asked China for help in developing a malaria treatment. The covert Project 523, an antimalarial medication project, involved more than 500 Chinese scientists – with Chinese scientist Tu Youyou at the helm. Despite screening over 240,000 compounds, science had not been able to find an effective treatment for malaria. In the early 1970s, Tu wondered if Chinese herbs might be more fruitful. She found a 1,600-year-old text on traditional Chinese medicine with a recipe that involved sweet wormwood. In AD 400, it had been used to treat “intermittent fevers” – most likely a reference to malaria. Tu discovered that when extracted at a low temperature, a compound found in the plant was completely effective in treating the disease in mice and monkeys. The extract became known as “artemisinin”.
Although her work was groundbreaking, international recognition didn’t come until the 1980s. In 2011, the Lasker Foundation, an American medical research organization, gave Tu its Clinical Medical Research Award, calling the discovery of artemisinin “arguably the most important pharmaceutical intervention in the last half-century”. Then, in 2015, Tu won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work. While she’s not interested in becoming famous, she did admit: “Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world.”
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roll sth. out: etw. einführen | vaccination: Impfung | research: Forschung | researcher: Forscher(in) | extract sth.: hier: etw. isolieren | compound: Bestandteil, (chemische) Verbindung | covert: geheim, verdeckt | at the helm: in führender Position | screen sth.: etw. genau überprüfen | herb: Kraut | fruitful: erfolgreich | recipe: Rezept | sweet wormwood: Einjähriger Beifuß, Artemisia annua | intermittent fever: Wechselfieber | groundbreaking: bahnbrechend | recognition: Anerkennung | foundation: Stiftung | arguably: wohl, vermutlich
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© Image: Nobel Prize Outreach AB. Photo: A. Mahmoud
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Quiz
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What is pendeln in English?
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The German verb pendeln is translated differently, depending on the context. Which verb would you use to translate the following sentences?
A. commute | B. shuttle | C. swing
1. Busse pendeln alle 20 Minuten zwischen dem Flughafen und dem Messezentrum.
2. Sie pendelt täglich mit dem Zug zwischen White Plains und Manhattan.
3. Das Pendel in der Standuhr pendelt hin und her.
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© Illustration: Mike Ellis
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Solution: 1. B. “Buses shuttle every 20 minutes between the airport and the trade centre.” 2. A. “She commutes daily by train from White Plains to Manhattan.” 3. C. “The pendulum in the grandfather clock swings back and forth.”
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Vocabulary
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Commuting
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How do you get to your workplace? Commuting can be a nuisance, but also a wonderfully innocuous topic for small talk – if you know the right vocabulary.
NOUNS
commuter: Pendler(in)
rush hour: Stoßzeit, Hauptverkehrszeit
traffic jam: Verkehrsstau
motorway (UK), freeway, highway (US): Autobahn
parking space: Stellplatz (für ein Auto)
car park (UK), parking lot (US): Parkplatz
multi-storey car park (UK), parking garage (US): Parkhaus
charging station: Ladestation
season ticket: Zeitkarte
weekly/monthly/annual ticket/pass: Wochen-/Monats-/Jahreskarte
commuter/local train: Nahverkehrszug
platform: Bahnsteig
interchange/transfer station: Umsteigebahnhof
terminus (UK), end of line (US): Endhaltestelle
delay: Verspätung
ADJECTIVES
crowded: (gedrängt) voll, überfüllt
reliable: zuverlässig
time-consuming: zeitraubend
(very) busy: (sehr) stark befahren
VERBS
be cancelled: ausfallen
be late: Verspätung haben
catch (the bus): (den Bus) gerade noch erreichen
change (buses, trains): umsteigen
take time: dauern, Zeit brauchen
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nuisance: Ärgernis | innocuous: unverfänglich
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© Illustration: Mike Ellis
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Im aktuellen Magazin
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100 essential two-word phrases
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Useful expressions with just two words | The wild nature of Oregan | Edith Wilson: the woman who effectively ran the United States from 1919 to 1921
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Quiz
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Lady Liberty
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It’s arguably the most famous statue in the world, with the seven rays of the crown representing the earth’s seven seas and continents. Did you know it’s possible to climb 162 steps up to the Statue of Liberty’s crown? Test your knowledge of the copper statue and see how many questions you get right in our quiz!
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arguably: wohl | ray: Strahl | copper: Kupfer
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© Image: Alison Courtney / Unsplash.com
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Book Tip
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The Farm Table
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After all the big meals of the festive season, The Farm Table, by the new star of the British food scene, Julius Roberts, takes you back to simple, healthy, seasonal recipes that are, each and every one, delicious. The book is divided into winter, spring, summer and autumn, with recipes suitable for each season. Try Roberts’s version of the pissaladière in winter or his roast chicken with lemon, fennel and potatoes in spring. Almost all the ingredients are things you’ll find in the supermarket.
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festive season: Endejahresfeiertage | pissaladière (Fr.): eine Art Zwiebelkuchen mit Sardellenfilets, Tomaten und Oliven | fennel: Fenchel
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© Image: courtesy of Noah Verrier
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Verlagsangebot
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Gemischter Satz
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Unser Lesertipp für alle Österreich-Freunde! Im kostenlosen ZEIT Österreich-Newsletter „Gemischter Satz“ finden Sie Aktuelles, Bemerkenswertes oder Beiläufiges über die Kultur, die Politik, den Alltag und die Absurditäten des kleinen Landes da im Süden mit seinen Bergen und Weinhängen.
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© Image: Joss Woodhead / Unsplash.com
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Ihnen gefällt „ZEIT für Englisch“?
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Teilen Sie diesen Newsletter ...
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... mit Freundinnen oder Freunden, die ihr Englisch verbessern wollen! Kopieren Sie dazu den Link zur Anmeldeseite und schicken ihn per WhatsApp oder E-Mail weiter.
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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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