English for Wizards

Fun with British English

By John Moore

BBCラジオ4の番組"The World Tonight"のサイト。BBCは10のラジオ局で番組を提供している。

This week I'd like to talk about another truly great Web site with an amazing array of content, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) (http://www.bbc.co.uk).

But first, here's a confession: I think British people are funny. Just hearing someone speak with a British accent makes me start to laugh.

No, I'm not making fun of our British friends. In fact, I think they are actually trying to be funny. This attitude of mine comes from watching British comedy shows, such as Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Mr. Bean. But it also comes from the special kind of subtle humor that British people like. You never know if they're joking or not, so I always assume they are. Ha ha! Yes, Tony Blair is funny. The Queen is funny. And David Beckham is really funny.

Who is to blame for my misconception? The BBC, of course. People in Japan probably think of the BBC mainly as a news channel. And indeed, there is a lot of good BBC news online. The main news site (http://news.bbc.co.uk) offers hundreds of text articles that you can read, and you can also enjoy audio and video reports, if you click on the "Watch/Listen to BBC News" button at the top-right.

For even more news, try the BBC World Service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/), or you can try the BBCi Asian Network site, specifically for East Asian news (http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork).

But the BBC is much more than news. It also runs 10 radio networks and eight TV channels with general-interest programming. Some of this is already online, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv and http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio. But the BBC now has much bigger plans: It wants to put its entire archive of TV shows online for free (see http://slate.msn.com/id/2087512). Wow! This is totally excellent.

There's more. The BBC also has a special site just for English learners (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish ), where you can read news texts while you listen to them being read. There are some quiz activities, grammar and vocabulary tips, downloadable PDF study guides and a companion Web site for teachers.

The BBC is great for kids, too. Take a look at the BBC Schools site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/), which has something for all ages, including a nice collection of interactive Shockwave games.

With so much content offered by the BBC, you definitely don't want to limit yourself to just studying American language and culture. And the British are always good for a laugh, too!

Shukan ST: Oct. 10, 2003

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