I was in France one day after this song came out and took France by storm but somehow it passed me by even though I was in three different contexts during my stay.

I would love to use it in my monthly newsletter which I send out as part of the service offered by my website for French learners at http://anne_fox.homestead.com as I am sure that this sort of cheeky response to current events is just what would engage young learners but I can't because of the bad language on the video and because it condones the head butting sort of.

'Zidane hit him. We lost the World Cup but we had a good laugh anyway.'

Le rital il a eu mal
Zidane il a frappé
L'italien ne va pas bien
Zidane il a tapé
L'arbitre l'a vu à la télé
Zidane il a frappé
Mais la coupe on l'a ratée
On a quand même bien rigolé

Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé
Coup de boule
Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé
Coup de boule
Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé
Coup de boule
Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé

Trézéguet n'a pas joué
Quand il a joué il a raté
Il a tout fait capoter
La coupe on l'a ratée
Barthez n'a rien arrêté
C'est pourtant pas compliqué
Les sponsors sont tous fâchés
Mais Chirac a bien parlé
 

The song has apparantly shot to the number 1 spot in France and been translated into other languages (though not yet English). Compared to the dismal offerings usually produced before the World Cup, this one makes a refreshing change. Perhaps it is a new tradition in the making?

While we were on holiday in France two weeks ago our children wanted to buy a computer game and so we agreed. Back home now we have installed the French version of Zoo Empire, a zoo management program. I was interested to see whether any language learning could occur from a program designed purely for leisure and not for language learning purposes.

 It is of course early days but the early obstacle of unfamiliarity seems to have been overcome so that they can get on with some serious gameplay of looking after the animals and making sure that they thrive. I was heavily used to translate in the first hour but after that they seemed perfectly able to manage alone with only the occasional cry for help.

I am not kidding myself that this is going to make them fluent but I am intrigued as to how much passive learning could happen in this environment. I am also conscious of the high degree of communication which is now achieved through icons, layout and standard procedures which minimises the need for language but still it will be interesting to see if they remain interested in it enough to go back to it (they also have Zoo Tycoon in English) and if they are able to progress to some of the more advanced features later.

I have just uploaded my completed version of the next episode of the Absolutely Intercultural podcast (guess it will be available sometime tomorrow) which has really made me think about the issue of balance; the concept as used by the BBC and other mass media.

The last show concentrated on the Lebanon and this show concentrates on Israel. I could of course have chosen to postpone the Israeli edition but it was one I have been preparing over a number of weeks and there is an obvious connection between the two topics. But this is NOT balance and is not intended to be in any way.

Balance as used by the BBC (because I grew up in the UK) refers to making sure that all relevant groups are given a voice. But ours is not a political production, at least not political with a capital P. To do justice to the Middle East conflict then we would have to have an 8 programme series in the style recently shown on Danish TV. Even that missed out some important viewpoints I felt even though I am no Middle East expert.

No, it wasn't about balance at all, it was just about a related topic. But I am concerned that others might think that we consider this to be in some way balanced.

I know a lot of people who might be interested in this recent report from Future Lab in the UK which explores the issue of how teachers learn with a view to working out how best to disseminate ways of learning with the new technologies.

This seems to be the right way round of going about it. Find out how teachers adopt new practices and why and then look at where ICT chimes with prior beliefs and practices and introduce it as a way of making good practice more efficient.