4 days Ago By Susan Owensby
Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winner's names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music ..
. so be sure and listen every week. Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your music requests, so get them in! Send your music requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.
fr Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all! Facebook: Be sure to send your photos to [email protected] for the RFI English Listeners Forum banner! More tech news: Did you know we have a YouTube channel ? Just go to YouTube and write “RFI English” in the search bar, and there we are! Be sure to subscribe to see all our videos. Would you like to learn French? RFI is here to help you! Our website “Le Français facile avec RFI” has news broadcasts in slow, simple French, as well as bilingual radio dramas (with real actors!) and exercises to practice what you have heard.
Go to our website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”. According to your score, you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level. Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of “Le Français facile” service told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it.
” She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour” and now she heads this key RFI department – so stick with it! Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts! In addition to the news articles on our site , with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts that will leave you hungry for more. There’s Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, The International Report, and of course, The Sound Kitchen . We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis .
Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with! To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page.
You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone. To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. Teachers take note! I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students.
If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.
fr If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St.
Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants , and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too.
They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that’s how I worked on my French, reading books that were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.
Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni ([email protected]) from our Listener Relations department in your RFI Club correspondence.
Remember to copy me ([email protected]) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.
B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload! This week’s quiz: On 1 March, I asked you a question about the UN General Assembly vote on 24 February. You were to re-read our article “French president Macron set to brief EU leaders over details of Trump talks”, and send in the answer to this question: With which country or countries did the US align its votes at the UN General Assembly meeting? The answer is, to quote our article: “As the talks between Macron and Trump were taking place, the US sided with Russia in two votes at the United Nations to avoid condemning Russia's campaign against Ukraine - a shift from the stance of the previous US administration.
” The resolution, co-sponsored by Ukraine and European Union countries, condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. The US vote marked a significant policy shift, as the country aligned with Russia, Belarus, and North Korea in opposing the resolution. The resolution was adopted with 93 votes in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstentions.
Countries that abstained included India, China, and the United Arab Emirates. The second vote was a U.S.
-introduced resolution, which did not mention Russian aggression and called for a swift end to the conflict. This resolution was adopted after an amendment, proposed by France, acknowledged Russia's invasion. The amended U.
S. resolution received 93 votes in favor, eight against, and 73 abstentions, with the U.S.
abstaining from the final vote on its own resolution. In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What was the breaking point that made you quit a job?” Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us! The winners are: Jocelyne D'Errico, a Parisian who lives in New Zealand. Jocelyne is also this week’s bonus question winner.
Congratulations on your double win, Jocelyne. Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria; Nafisa Khatun, the president of the RFI Mahila Shrota Sangha Club in West Bengal, India; RFI English listeners Shihab Al Islam from Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Rimil Paul from West Bengal, India. Congratulations, winners! Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: The traditional Bangladeshi “Ki Jadu Korila”; “Ballade Russe” by E.
Dermenko, played by Nicolas Kedroff; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane, performed by Gary Bartz. Do you have a music request? Send it to [email protected] This week’s question .
.. you must listen to the show to participate.
After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Jan van der Made’s article “France’s wine industry is in crisis. Can this Nigerian consultant save it?” which will help you with the answer. You have until 21 April to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 26 April podcast.
When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. Send your answers to: english.service@rfi.
fr or Susan Owensby RFI – The Sound Kitchen 80, rue Camille Desmoulins 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France Click here to learn how to win a special Sound Kitchen prize . Click here to find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or form your own official RFI Club..
