Radio Ga Ga

As long as I can remember I've liked the radio. As a youngster I was perturbed when some programme we listened to on the radio most weeks had finished when we got home late. The idea of programmed programmes was way beyond my comprehension. Lots of programmes, from the Clitheroe Kid to the Today Programme are a part of my history.

I like radio because it does not demand your attention in the same way as television. You can do the ironing to either but you can't drive or shower or clean the cooker to the TV. I also find television egocentric - about personallity - whereas radio is much more about the content. I never did take to that zoo radio style where the presenters loved the sound of their own voice much more than the music. Informative too. So much information on the radio.

Spanish radio is pretty good. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in that, at times, sections of it waft past my ears without me understanding a word especially when it's just normal people talking - as distinct from something scripted or at least planned - but normally I keep up.

I've mentioned before that the state broadcaster's contemporary music channel is Radio 3. I've complained about the presenters talking too much and playing too much old music. Nonetheless I still listen to Radio 3 quite often. A repeating trailer has been for a programme called The Selector " A bilingual programme of contemporary music in Spanish and English." Finally I got round to listening to a few programmes on the "A la carta" section of their website - just like the BBC iPlayer.

Now English is everywhere in Spain. Just odd words you understand but T shirts, shop displays, adverts, pundits on the telly and radio all use English all the time. Usually the words are mispronounced and misused - a bit like me being put right in Sainsbury's about the pronunciation of chorizo - ah! choritso - when I tried the vaguely more Spanish pronunciation of choreetho. I have real problems understanding English words in the mouths of Spaniards and even worse trouble saying English words so that Spaniards can understand them. In my opinion it's one reason why I have to fight so hard with my students to get them to mouth certain English sounds.

Anyway, back at The Selector and some chap called Nicolas Jackson is the presenter. He comes from Manchester and was at Oxford but, that apart, I know little else about him. His Spanish sounds pretty good to me but I'm sure his accent would make Spaniards laugh just like they did at the start of the film Capitán Alatriste when Viggo Mortensen, who learned his Spanish in Argentina, began to speak. The programme features modern British bands and Nicolas mixes Spanish and English in an unbroken stream. He sometimes slips and pronounces the English the Spanish way but generally it's well done. I liked tit bits like explaining that Mancunian is the gentilicio for people from Manchester or that The Glitches were named for fallos tecnicos but more than anything it's nice to hear British words pronounced correctly. Good music too. And well done the British Council for getting involved.