Footballer Joe Cole learning French

Joe Cole embraces life with Lille to reinvigorate his England hopes
Winger has refound his joie de vivre since moving to France, so much so he has gone back to school to learn the language

The Guardian

Fabio Capello will go to South Africa without his interpreter

Fabio Capello believes he no longer needs the daily help of an interpreter and the FA felt they couldn’t justify taking Danny Tartaglia to the tournament if he was rarely going to be required.


Daily Mail

Arts and language subjects miss out on funding

Dramatic changes to the UK's academic landscape over the past seven years mean the country's expertise in languages is danger of being lost.

Data published today shows research into some European languages has dropped as universities have shifted their focus to sports science and media studies in response to student demand. And the government's determination to protect funding for science means less money to go round for higher numbers of academics in arts and humanities.

The Guardian

Football transfers face test penalty

British clubs are prepared to pay vast sums for star players from abroad, but new visa rules that require them to pass a language assessment could jeopardise future deals, reports Richard Foster

The Guardian
Friday 16 January 2009

Arsène Wenger talks about learning languages.

Even for non-Arsenal fans these are great clips of Arsène Wenger talking positively about learning languages. They are produced by the Arsenal Double Club (one of this year’s winners of the European Award for Languages - www.cilt.org.uk/eal/doubleclub.htm) and are really inspiring.

There are two clips and each is available in two formats. The ".wmv"file might be best if using a Windows machine and the ".mov" if an Apple Mac. You may need to download the clips completely before being able to play them. You can access the clips at the following URLs:
Clip 1:http://privateweb.arsenal.com/languages/wenger1.wmv
http://privateweb.arsenal.com/languages/wenger1.mov 2:http://privateweb.arsenal.com/languages/wenger2.wmv
http://privateweb.arsenal.com/languages/wenger2.mov
The WMVs will play on a Windows machine straight away in Windows Media Player. To play .mov - use www.apple.com/quicktime

Golf tour tells players they must speak English | Sport | The Guardian

Golf tour tells players they must speak English Sport The Guardian

Sir Alex Ferguson learning French

TOUGH-talking Sir Alex Ferguson is becoming fluent in French – thanks to lessons from his Gallic stars.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
The Sun