Surely it should be less hassle and more fun. Is there a trick to pulling it off in Cyprus?
By Philippa Tracy
As I struggle in Alpha Mega with my Google translate app in one hand, hovering over the instructions on a tin of Mr Muscle oven cleaner in the other, I do wonder if my Greek should be better by now. Very probably. But I am not alone in my failures. And possibly for good reason. When I watched the Eurovision song contest last weekend (not something I usually do), I also felt better. I noticed that the hosts presented in English, and quite a few of the songs were also performed in English. Why? It is the lingua franca of diplomacy, technology, education and business. Even some forms of entertainment. And yes, that category does include Eurovision. Which is all a very convenient excuse for not learning Greek. Or is it?
Back in 2017, in the midst of post-Brexit negotiations and rising tensions, then president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said that, “slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe.” Apparently really quite slowly at Eurovision.
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