This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about France’s nuclear reactors. There’s the bonus question and the “Listeners Corner” with Michael Fitzpatrick, listener news, and “Music from Erwan”. All that, and the new quiz question, too, so click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy!
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.
The ePOP video competition is coming up! It starts soon – we’ll have precise information for you in the coming days – but don’t get left behind! Start now!
The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment, and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people …you are to create a three-minute video about climate change, the environment, pollution - told by the people it affects. So put on your thinking caps and prepare your subject, so you’re ready to go when the competition opens, which is very soon. And by the way – the prizes are incredibly generous!
To read about past competitions and watch some of the videos from previous years, go to the ePOP website.
It’s time to think about World Radio Day, too – it’s on 13 February as always, and this year’s theme is “Radio and Peace”. We’ll have a great big WRD celebration on The Sound Kitchen, with your greetings to your fellow radio lovers around the world.
Once you have decided what you want to say, get under a blanket (it makes for better sound) and record your greeting on your phone. Send it to us as an attachment in an e-mail to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr Don’t wait until the last minute!
Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!
Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!
In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more.
There’s Paris Perspective, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.
As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our staff of 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” on the upper left-hand side 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 which 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 (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) 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!
And don’t forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the independent RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven’t yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognized RFI English club, go to the Facebook link above, and fill out the questionnaire !!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click “decline”).
There’s a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club too. Just click on the link and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click “Decline”, which I don’t like to do!
We have new RFI Listeners Club members to welcome: Liu Wei from Guangdong Province in China; Hafizur Rahaman from Purba Bardhaman in West Bengal, India, and R.S. Vijay Kumar from Visakhapatnam, India.
Welcome, Liu Wei! Welcome, Hafizur Rahaman! Welcome R.S. Vijay Kumar! So glad you have joined us! Be sure you join the RFI Listeners Club Facebook page!
You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at english.service@rfi.fr and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you receive a premium prize, AND, you can join our Facebook page, the RFI Listeners Club page. You must ask to join the group, and you must furnish your RFI Listeners Club membership number. I’ll approve you, and off you go!
This week’s quiz: On 3 December, I asked you a question about the environment. Earlier that week, the French government announced that a coal-fired power plant would be re-booted to get the country through the winter. There were worries that the electricity supply here would not be able to keep up with demand over the winter – due to the conflict in Ukraine, and maintenance problems with some nuclear plants. France relies on nuclear for about 70 percent of its electricity.
You were to re-read our article “France reboots coal-fired power plant to boost winter electricity supplies” and answer this question: how many nuclear reactors are there in France?
The answer is: 56. However, as you read in our article, around two dozen of those reactors have been offline for months, mostly due to fears over micro-cracks discovered in the emergency cooling systems.
Aside from the coal plant that will be kept active until the end of March, there is only one other coal-fired power station still open in France.
In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?”
The winners are: RFI English listener Khondaker Rafiqul Islam, who’s the president of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Khondaker is also the winner of this week’s bonus question.
Khondaker Rafiqul Islam said the best advice he ever had was from his mother. This is what he wrote: “She was a very pious woman, and she lived very simply. I was only nine years old when she told me: ‘always speak the truth, never quarrel with others, spend your time working, reading, and writing, and build your life independently.’
“I think,” Khondaker continued, “Everybody can follow her simple advice, and prosper.”
Congratulations Khondakar!
Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Sakirun Islam Mitu, who’s a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh; Faheem Noor, the president of the RFI World United Listeners Organization in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan; RFI Listeners Club member Vladimir Gudzenko from Lukhovitsy, Russia, and RFI English listener Momotaz Parvin Naju from Bogura, Bangladesh.
Congratulations winners!
Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “The Tortoise” from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andre Previn; “Autumn Leaves” by Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prévert, performed by the Bill Evans Trio; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Bluesette” by Toots Thieleman, performed by the composer and his ensemble.
Do you have a musical request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr
This week’s question ... you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Michael Fitzpatrick’s article “France tightens hunting regulations but stops short of weekend ban” to help you with the answer.
You have until 6 February 2023 to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 11 February podcast. When you enter, be sure you 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
or
By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.
To find out how you can 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, click here.
