In Japan, a calendar featuring the Russian President – Vladimir Putin Official Calendar 2019 – is dominating calendar sales across the country and outselling those featuring Japanese celebrities! According to The Loft chainstore, which has exclusive rights over the sales, Putin’s calendars were more popular in the run-up to the New Year than those of Japanese actor Kei Tanaka and Olympic men’s figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu. According to the Japanese media, many of the people buying this item are women, and are drawn to Putin’s unconventional style and open machismo.
to feature/présenter; ici, mettre en vedette - to outsell, sold, sold/se vendre mieux que - according to/d'après, selon - chainstore/chaîne de magasins - run-up/période précédant (un événement) - item/article, produit - to be drawn to/être attiré par
For this year’s Christmas season, Royal Mail has installed a musical letterbox in each of the UK capitals: Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. These four letterboxes are fitted with sensors that trigger either the sound of sleigh bells, a Christmas song or a jolly message from Santa Claus every time a letter is dropped. And, of course, they are covered in snowflakes. Merry Christmas!
Lake Waitaki village, located on the South Island, was built in the 1930s but has been deserted since 1989. Originally built as workers accommodation for workers who laboured the Waitaki dam, it was sold by the state to a private buyer in 1991 before passing through several hands over the years. It consists of eight three-bed homes, 14 hectares of land, a restaurant, a lodge and nine garages. You can buy it for £1.4m.
to be up for sale/être à vendre - accommodation/logement - to labour/ici, construire - dam/barrage - through/à travers, par; ici, entre - bed/ici, chambre(s) - land/terrain - lodge/pavillon
A video of a Scottish grandmother giggling uncontrollably while reading a picture book to her baby grandson has gone viral on the Internet. The book in question, The Wonky Donkey, written by New Zealand author Craig Smith, was first released in 2009. Thanks to this unexpected Internet success, sales of the book have suddenly skyrocketed worldwide! In New Zealand, its publisher is rushing to print another 50,000 copies. The book is also being reprinted in the United Kingdom. “The video is gold. Watching Janice read and laugh was just delightful, and like many, her infectious laugh had me laughing too,” said Craig Smith.
to giggle/glousser, rire - to go, went, gone viral/se propager rapidement - The Wonky Donkey/littéralement, l'âne bizarre, bancal - to release/publier – unexpected/inattendu - to skyrocket/grimper en flèche – worldwide/dans le monde entier – publisher/éditeur - to rush (to)/se hâter (de) - to print/imprimer – copy/exemplaire – delightful/adorable – infectious/contagieux, communicatif
A temporary United States Pizza Museum has just opened its doors in Chicago. The pop-up museum, which is 2,910 square feet, will remain open until the end of October but may stay in Chicago for longer if it attracts enough visitors. It features both present-day and historical pizza-related items such as menus, rare boxes, vintage ads and artworks. If the city of Chicago is known for its signature deep-dish pizza, the city of New York is also renowned for its own style of pizza – the thin crust pizza – and the food feud between the two cities is legendary. This may explain why so many New Yorkers tweeted offended and disappointed messages online when they first heard about the location of the new museum...
pop-up/ici, éphémère - square foot (pl.feet)/pied carré (0,09 mètre carré) - to remain/rester - to feature/présenter - item/objet - ad = advertisement/publicité – artwork/œuvre(s) d'art - deep-dish pizza/pizza à la garniture très épaisse servie dans un plat creux (deep dish) inventée à Chicago en 1943 – renowned/célèbre, réputé – thin/mince - feud/rivalité – disappointed/de déception
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, has named her baby girl after a town. The baby, whose full name is Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, has her second name taken from the mountain and small rural town of Te Aroha, which means "love" in the Te Reo Māori language. Jacinda Ardern, who grew up in a nearby town, under Mount Te Aroha, said: "It was our way of reflecting the amount of love that this baby has been shown before she even arrived". Locals were ecstatic at this announcement, saying that this name has put their town on the map. They also invited the Prime Minister to take part in the traditional Māori ceremony of burying the afterbirth in the earth of Te Aroha.
nearby/voisin, proche - to reflect/refléter - amount/quantité – local/habitant (de la ville) – ecstatic/ravi - to put, put, put sth on the map/faire connaître qqch (map/carte) - to bury/ensevelir, enfouir – afterbirth/placenta
The Dutch city of Leeuwarden, which was made European capital of culture 2018, commissioned 11 fountains by international artists to adorn several cities in the province of Friesland. However, a group of local artists from the city of Workum were not happy with the lion fountain that British artist Cornelia Parker designed for their city, stating: “[...] it’s ironic that the Frisian population was not involved in the decision-making and that no Frisian artist has been asked to design a fountain.” To protest this “elitist” art project, artist Henk de Boer created a fountain adorned with more than 220 wooden penises, which has a public toilet inside. He drew his inspiration from the Dutch expression “Jan Lul”, used to describe someone who is excluded. The crowdfunded fountain is portable and will tour several other Frisian cities in the forthcoming months...
Dutch/néerlandais - to commission/commander - to adorn/orner, décorer - several/plusieurs - however/cependant - to design/concevoir - to state/déclarer - to involve/impliquer - decision-making/prise de décision - to draw, drew, drawn inspiration from/s’inspirer de - willy (fam.)/zizi (fam.) - to crowdfund/produire (qqch) grâce au financement participatif - to tour/ici, faire le tour - forthcoming/à venir
According to new data, the consumption of chocolate is on the increase worldwide. The British, in particular, are consuming more chocolate with an average of 8.4 kg of per person in 2017. Overall, the increase is due in part to the importance of "seasonal products as a whole," with a lot of holiday-themed chocolates on offer, especially for Easter. The report also shows that the production of chocolate bites has risen a lot in the last five years, potentially because they provide an easier way to measure intake and are more compatible with a healthy lifestyle.
data/données ici, statistiques - to be on the increase/être en hausse - overall/globalement - seasonal/de saison - as a whole/dans l'ensemble - holiday-themed/ici, pour les fêtes - Easter/Pâques - bite/bouchée - intake/ici, apport calorique - healthy/sain
Belgian monks from Saint Sixtus abbey were shocked when they discovered that the Dutch supermarket brand Jan Linders was selling their brew at very high price, without their permission or knowledge. A spokesman for the abbey said: “A price of nearly €10 per bottle goes against the ethical standards and values that the monks live by. Every beer lover knows that the Trappists of Westvleteren do not pursue profit maximisation.” Under the abbey’s rules, the beer can only be purchased on site in small quantities. The monks have taken legal action against the company.
monk/moine – abbey/abbaye – Dutch/néerlandais – brand/marque, nom; ici, enseigne – brew/ici, bière (to brew/brasser) – spokesman/porte-parole – nearly/presque - to go, went, gone against/aller à l'encontre de – standards/principes (éthiques) - to live by/ici, respecter, appliquer - to pursue/ici, être à la recherche de – profit/bénéfice (commercial) – under/d'après, en vertu de – rules/règlement - to purchase/acheter - to take, took, taken legal action against/intenter un procès à-contre
For nearly 30 years, British rock musician Steve Ludwin has been injecting himself with snake venom for “self-immunization”, despite medical experts’ warnings. He has been shooting venom into his skin from some of the world’s deadliest snakes. But what had looked like madness for years may revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have worked with Steve Ludwin for four years, taking bone marrow and blood samples from him in order to develop the first human-derived anti-venom. If they manage to create this anti-venom, it could save thousands of lives.
venom/venin - warning/mise en garde, avertissement - to shoot, shot, shot/ici, s'injecter - deadly/mortel - madness/folie - researcher/chercheur - bone marrow/moelle osseuse - blood/(de) sang, sanguin - sample/prélèvement
Abonnez-vous
au magazine Vocable anglais
pour seulement
4€08
par mois
Mon compte
Mon panier
