The World Cup at Tti

For those who are interested in football and those who are not, the FIFA World Cup brings together everyone from around the world!

At Tti School of English we are starting to feel the football fever.  The staff have created a sweepstake and are excited (see photo)!!

(Left to right:  John-Brazil, Luke-Russia and Portugal, Nathan, Sam-Switzerland, Marianne-Ghana, Argentina and ENGLAND!, Joe-USA, Kirsty-Croatia, Costa Rica and Korean Republic, Camilla-Nigeria and Mexico)

Below are the thoughts of some of the Tti team on the countries they “pulled out the hat” and what they think about this famous sporting competition.

Sian, Senior RegistrarAs my husband is from Portugal, we often go to Stockwell in South London to watch major football competitions, like the World Cup. Stockwell is the heart of the Portuguese community in London and there is always an excellent atmosphere during the big matches, not mention great food and good beer! If the match goes well then celebrations often go on into the early hours of the morning. I don’t think the residents of Stockwell will get much sleep if Portugal play well in this World Cup! Forca Portugal!

Marianne, Teacher:   As you can imagine, being a Brazilian, the World Cup means a lot to me. I have great childhood memories of getting together with our neighbours and friends to decorate and paint our street. After the match we would all celebrate outside with music and food and we would talk about the match for hours.   

There are 2 teams that I want to do really well in this World Cup, they are, of course, Brazil and England. I was quite glad that I pulled out England in the staff sweepstake and I’ll be rooting for them fervently but unfortunately I don’t think they will win. I also pulled out Ghana and Argentina and I think the latter has a good chance of taking the cup home (I really, really hope they don’t).    

My best world cup memories are the two times Brazil won it! I feel quite special because there aren’t many nationalities that can say they have seen their team win twice and I did, in 1994 and 2002. There is nothing like it! Really. You feel happy for days and suddenly become very patriotic. So Go Brazil 2014!

Gemma, Principal:  My best memory of the World Cup is watching Holland beat Brazil in 2010.  I was in Amsterdam and watched it on a large screen in the park dressed in orange (to fit in with the crowds)!  Great atmosphere!   In the sweepstake I have Germany.  I was quite pleased until I heard that a European team has never won the World Cup in South America- oh!  I’ll be watching some of the games with friends and family both at home and out around London. Today I’ll watch Spain play in the Spanish bar Camino.  

Luke, Teacher:  I have always really loved the World Cup. Having grown up in London, I have many friends from all over the world so it’s a good chance to get together, watch the games and discuss our different cultures.  In the staff sweepstake I pulled out Portugal and Russia.  I’m not too confident about Russia’s chances this year but Portugal may have a chance. However, Christiano Ronaldo has had a long and difficult season this year and may not be at full fitness which would be pivotal to their success. Personally, I can’t see any team winning the competition other than Brazil or Messi’s Argentina.

Sonia, Registrar:  I’m Spanish, so my best World Cup moment was when Andres Iniesta scored the goal in 2010! Winning the World Cup for the first time in our history was amazing! Fans from all over Spain burst onto the street to celebrate the triumph! I hope we can celebrate it again this year! I want the final to be Brazil against Spain!  Spain to win and then I will celebrate in the same way I celebrated Spain winning the European tournament –  in Leicester Square with all the other Londoners from Spain and around the world! 

Camilla, Director of Studies:  My teams this world cup are Mexico and Nigeria, not looking good for the sweep stake, but you never know!!  My friend sent me a fantastic link to “A comprehensive guide to football by someone who knows absolutely nothing about it”. If there are any fellow non football fanatics check it out on buzzfeed.com, it really helps during the world cup and is quite funny too (real English sense of humour!!)

Yesterday, in our Study Lounge, we celebrated the opening of the tournament with the students.  Luke and Marianne held a football quiz with the students.  They watched the best moments from previous World Cups whilst creating our Tti World Cup board to track the scores and progress of the teams.

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Did you know…?

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a website with English language exercises?  Click below for their football language vocabulary and quizzes to test your knowledge!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/vocabulary/football.shtm

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