Rebels defeat Assad in Syria: 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, rebels defeat Assad in Syria.

Hello, I'm Neil.

And I'm Pippa.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in 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 let's hear more about this story.

Syrian rebels have taken control of the country

after defeating Bashar al-Assad and his forces.

Assad, who ruled the country for 24 years,

has fled Syria to live in Russia.

Many Syrians are celebrating the end of Assad's rule,

but the future of the country is uncertain.

Let's have our first headline.

After Ousting Assad, Syrian Rebels Rush to Impose Order in Damascus.

That's from the Wall Street Journal.

And that headline again: After Ousting Assad,

Syrian Rebels Rush to Impose Order in Damascus.

And that's from the Wall Street Journal.

So this headline is about the uncertain situation in Syria

and the rebels who want to impose order.

That means restore calm and organisation.

But we're interested in this word ousting.

So oust is the verb.

What does it mean to oust someone, Neil?

Well, if you oust someone, it means you force them to leave their job

or position.

And you can also be ousted.

And that means you've been forced to leave your job or position.

Okay, so Bashar al-Assad, he was the president of Syria,

and now he's been ousted,

he's been forced to leave his job. That's right.

So we often use oust when we're talking about positions of power,

for example, a CEO might be ousted from the company,

or a local council might decide to oust the mayor.

And we can also use oust to talk about sports and competitions.

For example, I hope my team don't get ousted from the playoffs this year.

But just note that oust is quite formal, so we see it a lot in stories

about power and politics rather than personal everyday situations.

We've had oust, force someone to leave their job or position.

For example, the headteacher has been ousted by the school governors.

He was corrupt.

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

Today we're talking about recent events in Syria

where rebel forces have taken control of the country

from the Assad government.

So Bashar al-Assad has left Syria to live in Russia.

Before the attack by the rebels, he had controlled Syria for 24 years.

The conflict began in 2011, when the violent response

to anti-government protests led to a civil war.

Since then, more than half a million people have been killed

and around half of Syria's population has been displaced,

forced to move because of the war.

In the end, Assad's defeat was quick and surprised people around the world.

Let's have another headline.

This one is from AP News.

How it happened: Two seismic weeks that toppled Syria's government.

And that headline again,

How it happened: Two seismic weeks that toppled Syria's government.

And that headline is from AP News.

This headline gives a timeline of the events of the last two weeks.

And the headline describes the two weeks as seismic.

Now seismic, I think I've heard this used to talk about earthquakes.

Is that right, Pippa? Yes. That's right.

Seismic is usually used to describe something related to

or caused by an earthquake.

For example, we might talk about seismic activity

and this means the movement of the Earth because of an earthquake.

But there's no real earthquake in the headline, is there?

No seismic is being used metaphorically

in the headline to show that the change in Syria is big and powerful,

like an earthquake would be.

And we often use seismic to describe situations that are shocking

and could have a big impact on lots of people - changes in government,

big events in wars, shocking news stories.

And similarly, you might hear earthquake used metaphorically too.

a surprising election, might be called a political earthquake,

for example, as it has a large and powerful impact on a country.

So we've had seismic, describes a large and powerful impact,

like an earthquake. For example,

the new law is a seismic change for human rights in the country.

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

We're talking about the change of power in Syria

after President Assad was defeated at the weekend.

Around the world, lots of people have been surprised by

the fast change in the war and the rebels' victory over Assad.

There's also uncertainty over what will happen now in Syria.

There are lots of different groups who were fighting in the war,

and some of them continue to fight each other for control.

The Israeli military has also been taking action in Syria

since the defeat of Assad.

Israel says this is to prevent weapons from falling

into the hands of Islamic extremists.

But other countries, such as Turkey, have criticised the military action.

Let's have another headline.

This one's from Foreign Policy magazine.

How the World Got Syria Wrong.

That headline again from Foreign Policy magazine. How the World Got Syria Wrong.

This headline is from an article about the international reaction

to the situation in Syria.

Yes, we're interested in the phrase got Syria wrong.

Can you explain, Pippa?

Yes, we know the word wrong.

It means incorrect or not right.

If you literally get something wrong, like a maths problem

for example, you don't get the right answer.

Yes, of course, but in the headline, the phrase is got Syria wrong.

Now, Syria isn't a maths problem.

No, if we get something or someone wrong in this way,

it means that we misunderstand that thing or person.

So in the headline the world got Syria wrong,

it means the world misunderstood the Syrian war

by thinking that President Assad couldn't be defeated by the rebels.

Remember, this headline is the opinion of the author.

And we can use get something wrong

in another interesting way.

We can use the expression with me, so we could say, don't get me wrong.

And that means don't misunderstand me.

We use this if we're saying something that might be controversial

or that might upset someone

and we want to be clear.

Yes. For example, you asked me, Pippa,

for my feedback on a work project.

And don't get me wrong, I think you've done a great job.

But you could strengthen your conclusion.

We've had get something or someone wrong, misunderstand something or someone.

For example, I got the new CEO wrong.

She cares a lot about her employees.

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 this program, try our Learning English for Work series.

To learn more complicated English phrases and work jargon,

visit bbclearningenglish.com.

And don't forget to follow us on social media. Search BBC Learning English.

Bye for now. Bye.