Putin in North Korea: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English

this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme,

Vladimir Putin visits North Korea.

- Hello, I'm Neil. - And I'm Beth.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary and the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines

from this episode, as well as a worksheet, on our website,

BBCLearningEnglish.com.

So, Neil, let's hear more about this story.

So, the Russian president Vladimir Putin has met

the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Yes. Putin was welcomed in North Korea with waving crowds and a parade.

Yes, and since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine,

Russia has had poor relationships with Western countries like the UK

and the US, and so Russia has been looking for allies.

Now allies are countries who support each other.

Now, I have a headline here that describes Vladimir Putin's relationship

with Western countries.

This is from Sky News – Putin's visit to North Korea is very much

a diplomatic two-fingers to the West.

OK, so let's listen to that again. From Sky News – Putin's visit

to North Korea is very much a diplomatic two-fingers to the West.

Now, this headline is talking about the political impact of the meeting

between Putin and Kim.

Yes, and we have this strange expression,

'two-fingers', which is actually quite rude, isn't it, Beth?

It is, yeah. 'Two-fingers'

literally describes a rude hand gesture that we have here in Britain.

Yes.

And if you use this two-finger gesture,

you're basically telling someone to go away very, very rudely

and that you don't care about their opinion.

Now, there's an even stronger gesture with one finger

that you might already know. This two- fingered gesture is particularly British

and it is a little bit less extreme,

but it's still very rude, isn't it?

It is, yes.

So, going back to this headline, a 'diplomatic two-fingers' means

that what Putin is doing is considered very rude

and dismissive to Western countries.

So, he isn't literally making this hand gesture,

but his actions could be seen as having a similar intention.

So, like in the headline,

we can say that something is 'a two fingers'

or we can use the verb, which here is 'give two fingers' to something.

Now, there are other hand gestures that we describe using language

to mean things in English.

Here's an example of one which is much nicer than two-fingers.

It's the thumbs up.

So, you might know that a thumbs up is a positive

hand gesture, and we can describe that action to say we approve

of something. We can give something the thumbs up.

My partner gave the thumbs up to my plan

to buy a nice new car.

So, two-fingers is a rude gesture

that means 'go away'.

For example, I decided to give two fingers to my neighbours

and organise a very loud party.

I hope my neighbours aren't listening.

I haven't really organised a party.

Good!

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking

about Vladimir Putin's trip to meet Kim Jong Un in North Korea.

Now, during this visit,

Kim Jong Un has said that he fully supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The US and South Korea have accused North Korea

of supplying Russia with weapons and other equipment.

Now, both countries have denied this,

but they have said that they want to strengthen their military relationship.

So, let's look now at another headline.

This one is from The Economist and it is Vladimir Putin's dangerous

bromance with Kim Jong Un.

Yes. So again, from The Economist – Vladimir Putin's dangerous bromance

with Kim Jong Un.

So this headline is

from an opinion article. That means that is the opinion of the writer and

it's about the impact of Putin and Kim's relationship on the rest of the world.

And we're going to look at this interesting word 'bromance',

which is actually a mix of two words, isn't it, Beth?

It is, yeah.

It's a mix of the word 'romance' which you can see or hear quite easily,

and then a slang word, 'bro'.

Yes, and 'bro' is short for 'brother'

and it can be used to talk about your real brothers,

but also your friends.

You can call your friends 'bro'.

So, Neil, if I call you my bro,

that would be a very informal way

of saying that we were friends.

Yes, because I'm not your brother.

Exactly!

OK, so, 'bromance'.

It's from 'bro' and 'romance' put together,

but what does it actually mean?

Well, it's quite a jokey word, and it's used to talk about a relationship

between two men who understand and admire each other's way

of thinking.

Now, it is important to say this is not

about real romantic relationships between men.

It's an exaggeration. It's a joke.

Yes, we do often use

'bromance' in quite an informal, humorous way.

So, this is quite a playful headline to suggest that Putin and Kim like

and respect each other.

We've had 'bromance' which is a very friendly relationship

between two men.

For example,

I have a bit of a romance with one of my male colleagues at work, Phil.

We get on really well.

This is Learning English from the News, from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about Putin's meetings with Kim Jong Un in North Korea.

Yes. And as we've heard, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine

in February 2022,

Putin has been looking for allies around the world.

So, the two leaders

Putin and Kim have met to discuss how they could help each other in the future.

Yes. And they have signed a deal to help each other in case of "aggression"

against either country.

And the Russian president is also planning to visit Vietnam to talk about trade.

So, here's a headline on the impact of Putin's visit

elsewhere in the world.

This is from the French newspaper Le Monde:

China has mixed feelings about Putin's new cosiness with Kim.

So, again, this headline – China has mixed feelings

about Putin's new cosiness with Kim, and that is from Le Monde.

Yes. And this headline is about China's reaction to the relationship

between Kim and Putin.

The cosiness, that means 'the closeness'.

But we are interested in looking at the phrase 'mixed feelings'.

Yes, a useful one

this, Beth, isn't it, because if you have mixed feelings about something,

it means you don't have

a completely positive or completely negative reaction to something.

It's a mix of both.

So, this headline is saying that China does not know

if this relationship between Putin and Kim is a good or a bad thing.

It has mixed feelings.

So I might have mixed feelings about my birthday.

I like getting birthday presents,

but I don't like getting a year older!

Who does? We almost always 'have mixed feelings',

so we don't 'feel mixed feelings'.

Now, we can also use the phrase 'mixed emotions' and that means the same thing.

So that was mixed feelings –

having positive and negative emotions

about something at the same time.

For example, I have mixed feelings about this book

I'm reading at the moment.

I like the characters, but it's a bit too long.

And that's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed learning this vocabulary,

try The English We Speak, a programme about everyday phrases.

You can find it on our website BBC Learning English dot com.

And don't forget you can follow us on your favourite social media channels.

Look for BBC Learning English. Goodbye for now.

Bye!