This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about the three countries which have applied for membership in the European Union. There’s “On This Day”, “Ollia’s Happy Moment”, plenty of good music, and of course, the new quiz question. Just 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.
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, Africa Calling, 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 excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!
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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: My beloved music teacher from St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, Dr Gerald Muller, 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 above 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!
This week’s quiz: In early May, French President Emmanuel Macron was in Strasbourg to address the European Commission. He presented ideas for a new European political community, which we reported on in our article “Macron advocates for creation of a 'European political community beyond the bloc”. I asked you to send me the names of the three countries, all former USSR satellite states, that want to join the European Union.
The answer is: Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.
As RFI Club member and long-time RFI English listener Vladimir Gudzenko from Moscow noted in his winning quiz entry: “The common problem in these countries is that all they are partly occupied by Russia! For Moldova, there is the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria, occupied by Russia. In Georgia, there are two self-proclaimed independent countries, also occupied by Russia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Then in Ukraine, there is the Crimea and the Donbas and Lugansk regions, also self-proclaimed independent countries.”
EU membership takes a very long time, and for these three countries, with these very particular complications, it won’t be easy …
As Macron noted: "Even if we gave them candidate status tomorrow, we all know perfectly well that the process of allowing them to join would take several years, in truth doubtless several decades."
So Macron proposed a "European political community", which would: “… allow democratic European nations ... to find a new space for political cooperation, security, cooperation in energy, transport, investment, infrastructure, the movement of people."
The winners are: Salehin An Nahiyann from the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Sameen Riaz, from the RFI Listeners Club in Sheikhupura City, Pakistan.
There’s RFI English listener Pradip Basak from West Bengal, India, and RFI Listener Club members Sagor Mia – who is also the president of the “Let's go on the right path and tell the truth, radio listener club” in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh - and Vladimir Gudzenko who lives near Moscow, in Russia.
Congratulations winners!
Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from the opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Christoph Willibald Gluck, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan, with Karlheinz Zoeller, flutist; “Brazilian Breeze” by David Grisman, performed by Grisman and his quintet; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Lugt, Schwestern” from Richard Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold, sung by Diana Newman, Annie Rosen, Lindsay Ammann, and Samuel Youn, with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Do you have a musical request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr
This week’s question ... You have to listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, refer to our article “G7 aims to raise $600 billion to counter China's Belt and Road” to help you find the answer.
You have until 1 August to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 6 August 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 to form your own official RFI Club, click here.
