Some people are so certain that England will win that they have painted their entire houses in the national colours ! (Houses like this are normally supposed to be black and white!) However, amongst all the speculation (an amazing number of ‘armchair experts’ appear during these competitions),  if you’re looking for a safer way to predict the outcome then how about this? In a recent edition of the magazine Wired there was a review on a new book just published called “Why England Lose”. England’s performance at major football competitions is pretty terrible – since 1966 nothing won at all – and so there are plenty of analysts out there who know (or claim to know) the answers. The authors of the book – Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski have analysed all sorts of economic data to help them predict a country’s chances of being successful in major football competitions. They claim to have identified the key factors which can influence success – these being population, GDP, and experience. The assumption is that if you have a bigger population you have more players to choose from, GDP is an indication of the wealth of your country and therefore what the training facilities and general levels of support might be like, and experience at playing football which is clearly an important factor. This would explain why India (massive population but no experience doesn’t do well. why China with a massive population and increasing amounts of experience is getting better, but why Serbia with a small population but wealth and experience does better. Their formula gives the edge one team has over the other in a game and they claim can be used to successfully predict the outcome. The formula? The goal difference (GD) = 0.137log(pop(i)/pop(j))+0.145log(y(i)/y(j))+0.739log (exp(i)/exp(j))(+0.657 home advantage when South Africa play). Well, whatever that all means the only really important thing for us is whether England are going to win – and unsurprisingly the answer is no. The formula predicts the 4 semi finalists to be Serbia, Spain, Germany and Brazil, with Serbia and Brazil going onto the final and Brazil being the winners. Got to be worth a bet!

And of course the social programme at UIC will include several live viewings of the matches – especially where they feature teams which our student body represent. Our top 10 nationalities at the moment (those who are actually in the world cup finals) are (in no particular order): Germany, S.Korea, France, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Japan, England. So for students in the school choose one of these to support and join in with us.

The new UK government is giving plenty of reasons for the UK not to join the Euro and have the same currency as the rest of Europe, and while it is true it would be so much easier to travel around Europe with one currency, and perhaps there are economic advantages to there being an extended Eurozone there is one compelling reason not to lose the pounds. This is the richness and variety of slang that surrounds the pounds and the British currency. The way we talk about money is a reflection of a long history and a particular relationship with a currency. The UK has only had decimal currency since 1971 – before that it was even more idiosyncratic with pounds, shillings and pence and with that an even richer linguistic story. I doubt that people feel this kind of affection for the Euro!

When you are a student at UIC in London you may be surprised how many different ways there are of talking about money – here are some to give you a bit of help! If you really want to have a look in more detail at the history of money in the UK then this website – businessballs.com is a fantastic source of material wiwth some wionderful stories

An Ayrton = £10 (rhyming slang with Ayrton Senna and a tenner the Brazilian racing driver)

Big Ben = £10 (again rhyming slang)

Brass, Dosh, Bread, spondoolicks, Wonga, Wedge, (wedged-up = having a lot of money in your pocket),Wad are all alternative slang expressions for money!

Fiver = £5

Ton = £100

G or a grand = £1000

Monkey = £500

Pony = £25

Quid = £1

Score = £20

Shrapnel = loose change / coins

Sov = £1 (short for a soverign which was an old gold pound coin)

There are also some reasons why you should check out the situaiton – various notes go out of circulation for example the old design for the £20 has just been taken out . If you have any of these you’ll need to go to a bank and change them – shops won’t accept them. Check the Bank of England website for the latest on what is valid currency.

And finally here are a few idioms which use money and which will help you on your journey to fluency!

Money doesn’t grow on trees = you have to work to get money – there is no easy way fo getting it without working!

Money for old rope = being paid for doign somethign which is very easy and requires no skill or effort

Money talks = you can usually get what you want by spending money – perhaps bribing someone

Money to burn = you have too much money – usually becasue you are too rich

At UIC we know that one of the most popular pastimes of our students is shopping – in fact one of the reasons people want to visit London is to shop, and with the exchange rates the way they are at the moment it can make more and more sense to buy things in London.  The pound is at a very low rate to the Euro and to many other currencies which offer great opportunities for bargain hunting. This is a small guide to where you should look!

One of the criticisms you’ll hear of English towns and cities is that they are all the same  – the same shops appearing again and again. You’ll certainly find chain shops like Boots, WHSmith, Ryman, Marks & Spencer, Next,  in most  high streets in England which can make them all appear the same! In London however, you tend not to get the same mix of shops – even thoughyou can find all these shops they are spread out more and so There are several areas of London where you can find specialist shops all together – for example New Bond Street is home to pretty much all the designer shops (Armani, Versace etc), Tottenham Court Road has dozens of shops selling electrical goods and computers at one end and many furniture shops at the other end; Denmark Street has 10 or so guitar shops! There are markets in all different areas of London – check out the UIC 10 best - and department Stores in 2 main areas – Oxford Street (Selfridges, John Lewis, House of Fraser) and Knightsbridge (Harrods, Harvey Nichols). You might also find areas like Covent Garden interesting – where you can find a huge range of shops and market stalls. London is also home to the biggest urban mall in Europe in Westfield (at Shepherds Bush) which has hundreds of shops ranging form the ordinary high street shops to very up-market fashion shops and everything else in between. If you head to the West End you’ll find Oxford Street (with shops like Primark, HMV, Disney Shop and 2 huge Marks & Spencer along with the department stores) and Regent Street with more famous shops – Hamleys (for toys) which runs from Oxford  Circus to Piccadilly Circus. You might also like to visit some of the ‘villages’ around the centre of London – Marylebone, Highgate, Islington, Richmond, Greenwich where you can find more local shops and get a taste of life outside the centre!

Like most other things, if you want any advice then just come into the school office and let us know what you’d like to do – we have many years of shopping experience between us and whether its a bicycle, a book, or some particular fashion item I’m sure we can help you.

And don’t forget shopping can also be a great way to practise your English – reading, speaking, arguing over prices … just another opportunity to make the most of your stay in London.