RoPeCast

After quite a while we throw another glimpse at the work of Prof Stephen Reicher, researcher of group behaviour at the University of St. Andrews. Roger continues to explain the key aspects illustrating them with Donald Trump's methods and success as a leader. And we are going to learn the secret of being a leader which boils down to a pretty simple recipe afterall: group identity! OtherOne important concept mentioned only in passing is that of "othering" as explained in the introductory paragraph of this Wikipedia entry.

Roger is back in the studio to tackle the topic of Donald Trump's use of twitter together with RoPeCast technician Chris. Roger presents some interesting studies and analyses that show how Trump's usage of the social internet platform has evolved over time. Join them now and listen in! Two linguists use their skills to inspect 21,739 Trump tweetsUse this link if you want to read up on the studies which Roger referenced.

These days it seems everybody is talking about the impeachment process and party politics in the US. We are taking a big step back to look differently at the picture and approach two American presidents from an entirely different angle. Roger has read articles and done some of his own research on their linguistic peculiarities: How do they speak and act and what words do they use? Chris, who's today's guest in the studio, is quite surprised about the linguistic evidence, and maybe so are you ..? Listen in!

Ginny is back in the studio, but this time with Peter. He's presenting his personal take on the differences between German or European and US culture to her. Their views on things turn out to be rather contrary, particularly when it comes to boundaries and the attitude towards enclosed spaces in the two cultures. Listen in now to learn from a lively illustrated example how the same aspect of a culture can appear totally different and only depend on your personal perspective and stance towards it.

Why not join Roger and his colleague Ginny on a journey to the centre of the universe? Ginny shares her impressions of what it's like when you first come to China as a westerner, when English eventually fails as lingua franca and so does standard Chinese, i.e. Mandarin. But not to despair, people who live in the centre of the universe will know what you need. It's food and always food in China. That much at least they do have in common with the Saarlanders producing this podcast! ;-)

Some time back we dealt with English as a lingua franca. Today we are revisiting that topic with a narrower focus: Chinese students are travelling the world and attending western universities, in America, Britain and also Germany. Today's guest is Roger's friend and former colleague Ginny, who lived and worked in China for a while. She provides insights on where exactly the cultural similarities and differences lie, and how you can make Chinese people and particularly Chinese students feel welcome in your country, not only by using English as a lingua franca. Filial piety Read up on the concept of reverence towards your elders as it is established in China and other East-Asian countries.

Roger's explanation of the finer points of the current Brexit situation continues. Today Peter will get an answer to his question from last episode: He'll finally get to know what the so-called "backstop" is actually about and why so many Brits consider it problematic. Now the RoPeCast team is holding their breath for tomorrow's parliamentary decision.

Political language can sometimes be rather cryptic. Currently, that is definitely the case with all the issues surrounding the "Brexit". We will solve the problem ... Well, that is, we'll clear up the language-related parts. We leave politics and the British economy for someone else to deal with and hope for the best.

After two busy but not overly productive months, the RoPeCast tech departments sends out apologies for a delay in production and some issues with the MP3 podlog. Roger and Peter wish you a pleasant and relaxing festive season.

Carry is back in the studio with some more insights on phonetics. Today she and Roger focus on pronunciation problems typical for learners from a certain area and what teachers can do about those. Be aware, while the episode takes reference to Germany and the Saarland foremost, many of the problems mentioned are relevant for speakers of other native languages, too. Our Russian listeners for example might also be affected by what is referenced with the German term "Auslautverhärtung", that is the de-voicing of word final consonants (think: мороз vs. морозный). Listen in and try it out! And don't forget to hold your larynx while doing so. English vowel chart Illustrating the vowels for the British standard "Received Pronunciation". German vowel chart Compare it to the German vowels system as shown here. Notice some of the vowels mentioned here are not natively German and occur in loanwords etc.

Carrie and Roger continue their discussion about the quirks and pitfalls for non-native speakers when dealing with English. Today they dive deeper and come to the conclusion that phonetics and accent are not the biggest problems to overcome for a student of English ...

You may have recognised the title as a modified version of the saying "Think before you speak!" We have changed it into a good piece of advice for English learners, based on what today's guest tells Roger about her research on phonetics for foreign learners of English. Pronunciator Oh, and if you wonder after listening... Yes the word really exists and wasn't invented for this podcast. ;-) IPA-Chart And this is the promised link to an interactive chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Heike is back with Roger for a more detailed look into gender studies. They are discussing what this particular field of social sciences is about, who does and who maybe should study it, and what aspects there are in terms of research topics and interdisciplinary facets. The UdS Gender Studies Certificate If you want to read up on Saarland University's gender study course, follow this link for more information.

This time Roger invited Heike, an expert for gender studies. She is going to explain to us, how the term gender evolved from a mere grammatical phenomenon to what may very well be the most discussed topic of social and linguistic sciences in the last decades. We'll hear about many facets: From the influential heads that started the discussion up to the current situation and influences on our everyday life.

Peter is back in jazzy 2018 for another episode with Saul Rubin, his guitar teacher from New York. Today Peter asks about the jargon of Jazz music and how that differs from other styles' vocabulary. Talking about music is not an easy task afterall. Finally, Saul can solve the mystery of the Real Book's name for Peter. Just listen in to learn how that name came about and why you could be faking a song if you play it from the Real Book. Please note: We recommend watching this episode as vidcast. See the YouTube link on the right.

You probably remember our Christmas specials about holiday traditions and music from the past years. This December we thought we'd make music our topic again (this time as a regular episode) with a focus on some music vocabulary. Peter's guest today is Saul Rubin, a renowned Jazz guitar player from New York. Saul tells Peter about the special feature of his guitar. Please note: We recommend watching this episode as vidcast. See the YouTube link on the right.

Roger and Neil continue their discussion of the "Teaching Excellence Framework" that has been established in England and Wales to judge the quality of teaching in higher education. Neil illustrates how increasing competition between education institutions can turn out rather problematic, and Roger adds how he thinks it unlikely that something similar could be established in Germany.

Roger is talking to his brother Neil, who's back for another episode. This time they look into ways of measuring the quality of university teaching, the approach taken in the UK and potential problems affecting the "measuring process". Can the results of such an inquiry really be unbiased? The TEF project Read up here on the TEF, the "Teaching Excellence Framework" currently being established in the UK

After last episode's discussion about cultural values in fixed expressions, our two hosts return to a topic they've already delved into a long while ago: Proverbs. Peter mentions a new cool proverb that he's come across but Roger reminds him, that proverbs in general are really not that frequent in language. But Peter doesn't give up on his favourite easily ... Episode 19 The first episode dealing with proverbs that Roger references

Did you ever wonder where the Rolling Stones got their name from? Peter did and asked Roger about it. Roger suspects it's derived from an English language expression, which he explains to Peter. That explanation leads to a discussion about how much of a culture's value system is reflected in its language, expressions and proverbs.

Last time we dealt with culturally specific concepts that do not easily translate, because they are missing their counterparts in other languages. This time our two hosts find a bunch of peculiar things in the American school system, that don't exist in Germany and - to some extent - are also foreign to Brits.

When Peter arrives late for the recording of this episode he has a very good excuse: He was looking for a word. A word that doesn't exist. You wonder how that's possible and why Peter still made it for the recording? Well, Roger saves him some of the trouble. Listen in now...

We are back with David Erent and English as a lingua franca. David and Peter are going to look at how the use of English outside of its native territories affects other languages and speaker communities such as the French, the Finns, and the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.

French? - Finnish? - Swedish? - Arabic? - Hungarian? - Croatian? - I thought we were here to learn English? We are indeed! And today's guest, David Erent from Helsinki, is going to explain to Peter and to you how English comes into play to resolve the truly Babylonian confusion in his life.

As promised last time, Neil Charlton is back to explain what happened in this year's general elections in Britain. Peter wants to know what factors played the biggest role for the surprising results they had.

Does that title ring a bell? Yes, we are referring back to our special episode number ten that we recorded on -the day after- Britain voted to leave the EU. Today Neil Charlton is back, almost exactly a year after those events, and he is telling us about BrExit reality today. Peter wants to know if people have realised what this decision really meant and how it affects life in Britain at this point.

While our last two episodes dealt with the specific vocabulary for bakery products in Britain and the United States, Roger and Peter are looking into a figurative use of these words in proverbs, idioms and other fixed expressions this time. Would you believe us if we told you this episode is really the icing on the cake of the current mini-series? Or do you think it's rather a cherry?

Roger and Peter are looking into bakery products again, while focussing on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean this time. Peter explains to Roger how Americans tackle the bread and butter issue. Cereals This web page offers additional information on the topic of grains and cereals. Read this to prepare for some serious shopping and baking.

Peter is hungry. So he takes the liberty to eat away at a croissant while recording. This gets our two hosts involved in a conversation about the peculiarities of British bakery products, and Peter learns a lot about scones and cream tea, buttered crumpets, buns and pasties. Do you know what all of these are? Just listen to this episode.

Roger received some feedback by other native speakers concerning his usage of the word soccer: They sad he wasn't using proper English (as in British) English there. But Roger being the experienced linguist did some thorough research on the topic and is now sharing the insights he gained...

This episode's title refers to a remark that Roger made in episode 100. Today our two hosts are elaborating on why using dictionaries can be problematic and what exactly Roger had in mind. Of course, they will also let you know how to avoid the worst trouble. 13. More than words This is the first episode in an earlier mini-series, where we recommended a range of learners' dictionaries. Look back here for some recommendations on what to buy. LDOCE online The free online version of a well-known British learners' dictionary. Merriam-Webster An American mono-lingual dictionary with a lot of additional information.

No, we have not switched to binary language, and April the 1st is only tomorrow. This is really all about the meaning of the number 101. Our 101st episode is all dealing with its rather peculiar ordinal. And it can mean quite different things, depending on its cultural background. 1984 Read up on the novel mentioned and learn about its even wider influence on language and media.

This is a very special episode for three reasons: ▸ First of all, it's our 100th. ▸ Then its the first that we have video-taped in front of a live audience. ▸ And lastly, it's special because we received an award. What award that is and how to translate the respective terminology into English is our topic for this RoPeCast. We also want to thank our listeners new and old for subscribing to us and following our show in the last years! And of course, stay tuned for more ...

Again, Roger and Peter are looking into metaphors for time. Peter noticed that time is not always money in the English language and together they try to put things into frame for you. And more questions arise out of this ... Is time linear? No, this is not about physics - it's culture, really, and economy!

Do you know what a metaphor is? And if you do, do you know how important a role metaphors play in everyday language? They are really worth investing some time into: If you know the central metaphors of a culture and language, a lot of words and phrases revolving around those central concepts can be logically explained and then memorised a lot more easily! Listen as Roger and Peter share some insights about metaphors in language. Metaphor This Wikipedia article explains the metaphor in detail. Summary This site gives you a very brief overview about "Metaphors we live by", the book that inspired this episode.

No, this is not about Karl Marx! Instead we are thinking about how teaching and learning can be more effective and more fun for both the teacher and the student. Based on what we read in "The gardener and the carpenter" we conclude this double episode with thoughts on how things need to change for and between teachers and learners.

One of Roger's book recommendations "The Gardener and the Carpenter" was picked up by Peter recently and so the two start thinking about a language teacher's gardening and woodworking - figuratively speaking. And so Roger recounts some experiences with English teachers he visited at school and tells us what he thinks made a great language class.

Roger and Peter are glad to welcome you to a new year of RoPeCast and English learning opportunities. To start off with, they make another new year's resolution concerning tips for teachers. Peter then starts with a tip for people into training their own or their students' presentation skills: When it comes to rhetoric, watch and learn from president Obama! Obama's farewell address A prime example of his brilliance as an orator. An annotated transcript of the speech If you want more detailed information.

Time for a very short summary of the past twelve months and some new year's resolutions. It's just a few days before New Year's Eve. Your RoPeCast team wishes you and your loved ones all the best for 2017. Stay tuned!

This episode concludes our pre-Christmas series of book recommendations with comics respectively graphic novels. Peter has brought a selection of his favourites: Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons: Watchmen A group of somewhat different superheroes has to deal with a murder case at the brink of World War III. David Small: Stitches The son of an X-ray doctor looses a vocal chord and his voice to cancer. Allison Bechtel: Fun home An autobiographical story of a homosexual coming-out. Joyce Farmer: Special exits The last four years of an elderly couple and how their daughter copes with her aging parents' peculiarities. Craig Thompson: Blankets The coming of age story of a boy, his first love and the ensuing problems with his devout Christian parents. G. B. Trudeau: The Doonesbury Chronicles The first collection of a famous American newspaper comic strip G. B. Trudeau: Planet Doonesbury An edition of later comics from the same series, with a very special advertisement on its front cover, that Peter reads out in the episode.

We're back already - as promised - with the third installment of pre-Christmas book recommendations for your personal wish- or shopping-lists. Roger is back with some really interesting non-fiction works, and of course Peter has one to add from his shelf. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run The autobiography of the Boss. "'nuff said!" Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, fast and slow A nobel prize winner's insights on how our brain works. Karen Joy Fowler: We are all completely beside ourselves A novel about a family and a mysterious disappearance. But all based on fact and a good read to think about what's going on in science nowadays. Alison Gopnik: The gardener and the carpenter A book about parenting, what to do and what not to. Our question to be discussed in another episode: Does this have implications for language learning?

We are back with the next batch of our Christmas book recommendations. Sylke Loew is in the studio to share her expertise on today's genre: Crime stories. Have a look at her recommendations: Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency A middle-aged lady in Botswana opens a detective agency and helps people deal with their problems. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles Sherlock Holmes has to solve a mysterious case involving a gigantic dog. E.C. Diskin: The Green Line An aspiring young lawyer gets onto the wrong train and ends up in the darker parts of Chicago

This year - instead of broadcasting one long Christmas special - we decided to produce a special mini-series dealing with book recommendations that could inspire some of your Christmas shopping. In each episode we will pick out one particular genre of novels. This time we're looking into fantasy stories. Our guest is Christoph Klein, who brings along some good (or should we say fantastic) reads. And if you can recommend more English fantasy novels, let us all know below in a comment! Tim Burton: The Nightmare before Christmas Burton's famous stop-motion movie turned into a learner-friendly reader with reduced vocabulary (600 headwords) and an accompanying audio version of the book on CD. C. S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia A series of seven books, loosely tied together, telling the story of several children's great adventures in a parallel world called Narnia. J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter We don't need to explain much about this modern classic, seven-book series. Go ahead and read the original, especially, if you've only seen the movies so far. There's so much more to discover in this fantastic world. Ben Aaronovitch: Rivers of London A series of fantasy stories as well as detective novels. Peter Grant is a junior police officer in London when he realises he's got a special talent. And soon he finds himself with a new superior, a detective chief inspector and wizard, investigating supernatural crime in the London area and brokering treaties with river gods.

It really does feel like the BrExit vote all over again - For the second time in a year, the decision of voters has led to a more than surprising and unsettling result. Peter and his special guest David Nott from Iowa discuss how Donald Trump was able to be elected the 45th US president - and what this may mean for the future of "God's Own Country". RoPeCast Special #X10 Our review of the BrExit vote on "The day after".

Have you also wondered how the American people came to choose between two presidential candidates who are both rather unpopular? Who voted for them in the first place? In this episode you get an inside view on how the system of the American primaries works. 26. Vote till you drop - the U.S. electoral system Listen also to this episode if you want to learn more about the presidential elections in general, before hearing about the primaries.

A candid(ate) special! Listen in to the plans we have for our podcast in the coming months. To fully appreciate the contents of this episode you may want to watch it on YouTube.

In this third and last instalment of our mini-series on English gardens, Roger and his guest Peter bring their account of English gardening history to the modern day. Apart from learning about new interesting gardens, "gardeners" and concepts, three important societies are presented, that care for public gardens in the United Kingdom. In other words: three starting points for finding gardens to visit on your trip to Britain. Gertrude Jekyll An article about the influential "arts & crafts" garden designer. Find a garden The homepage allowing to search for gardens organised under the National Garden Scheme, NGS. RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Royal Horticultural Society's website about the annual Chelsea Flower Show. NationalTrust.org The homepage of the British National Trust.

And we're back with more insights on English gardens. Roger and his guest Peter (again not our host of the same name), continue looking at what makes a park and garden typically English. This time they talk about the later elements of the typical English landscape garden, leading to the reintroduction of formal elements in the Victorian age. William Hogarth: "The family of George II The description of this painting (showing a royal garden scence) references the quote Roger mentions: "the appearance of beautiful nature" from a letter from the same period. The text also mentions some influential gardens, and some statements about this - back then - "new" style of gardens. Stourhead The web presence of one of the big gardens mentioned in this episode Kew Gardens The second garden that is referenced in the course of this episode The Lost Gardens of Heligan Heligan is the Cornish word for 'willow' and this is the third influential garden mentioned.

You probably know box trees: Small and hard leaved trees that are often used to create shaped bushes or symmetric hedges in many green areas around the world. Romans were already quite fond of them, when they created the first instances of what we call 'gardens' today. Roger's guest is an expert on English gardens and together they look into what makes a garden specifically English. Englischer Garten If you want to get a real look at an English garden, there are examples outside of the British Isles, as the one in Munich that is described in this article. Ha-ha In case you still don't know what a Ha-ha is, have a look at this link to fill in the missing bits of information.

... these are by far not the only things students in the United Kingdom are concerned with, but they may play a little role for some as you will learn. In this episode Roger and his guest conclude the series on Bristol by having a look at university life in Bristol or the U.K. in general. What are the peculiarities of British courses and how do they differ for example from a German university programme? What criteria do you have to meet in order to be admitted to the University of Bristol?

We are continuing our topic from last episode: The city of Bristol. This time we focus more on the current conditions and what makes Bristol an attractive place to visit or live in. Learn about the central feature of the city: Diversity! Be it the eateries in Gloucester Road and elsewhere, the music scene or the altitude levels which many cyclists are facing: You'll find it all from plain and level to the steepest, most challenging hills. Visit Bristol Discover on this page what else Bristol has to offer - if you just stop by as a visitor or stay for longer as a guest student.