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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
Susan Owensby

The oh-so-British traditions at Wimbledon

Sound Kitchen podcast RFI

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about strawberries and cream at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. You’ll take an aural trip to Mexico for the country’s Independence Day, join Paul Myers for the “Listeners Corner”, and groove on Erwan Rome’s “Music from Erwan”. All that, and the new quiz question, too, so click on the “Play” button 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 music requests, so get them in! Send your music 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 that will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, 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!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show.

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: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, 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. NB: 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 recognised 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 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: On 8 July, I asked you a question about the Wimbledon tennis tournament. RFI English journalist (and Sound Kitchen co-host) Paul Myers was there, and wrote an article about Wimbledon traditions, “Strawberries and cream, grass and whites ... where else but Wimbledon?” You were to send in the answer to this question: Who is behind the strawberry and cream dish – who invented it, or first put the two together – at least, according to legend.

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “… the theory goes that the combination became synonymous with the competition because spectators at the inaugural final were offered the pairing as the event fell at the high point of the strawberry season.

And that mix was chosen because Cardinal Thomas Wolsey – a mover and a shaker in the court of King Henry VIII – served strawberries and cream together at a banquet for the king in 1509.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India: “What have you done that made someone happy?”

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us!

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State, Nigeria. Nasyr is also the winner of this week’s bonus question – congratulations, Nasyr!

The other winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Samir Mukhopadhyay from West Bengal, India and Mrs. Kamini Khatoon from Odisha, India, as well as RFI English listeners Malik Allah Bachaya Khokhar from the Sungat Radio Listeners Club in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan and Akherunnesa Gini from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “El Son de la Negra” by Blas Galindo, performed by the Mariachi Arriba Juarez ensemble; “Los Laureles” by José Lopez sung by Linda Ronstadt; “Consort Music” composed by Henry VIII, King of England; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and "Sonnika/Patronba" written by Yahael Camara Onono and performed by the Balimaya Project with singer Mariam Tounkara Koné.

Do you have a music request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

This week’s question ... you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “After G20, Macron visits Bangladesh, Biden goes to Vietnam to strengthen alliances”, to help you with the answer.

You have until 9 October to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 14 October 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 form your own official RFI Club, click here.

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