Hello and welcome to English with Languissimo®, the podcast in English that will help you reach your goals so that you can lead a better life and career.
My name is Vanessa. I’m the founder and CEO of Languissimo®.
Today, I will talk about 9/11 because it is twenty-two years ago to the day that the New York Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (and the Pentagon in Washington) were the target of a suicide attack that changed our world forever.
- This attack occurred as people were heading to work.
- There were about fifteen thousand (15,000) people in the towers at the time.
- The first plane hit the north tower at 8:46 am which collapsed at 10:28 am.
- The second plane hit the south tower at 9:03 am which collapsed within a few seconds at 9:59 am.
- This attack killed 2753 people. Sixty percent (60%) of them have been formally identified and two were just yesterday thanks to their DNA.
- In 2011, the two holes of the Twin Towers were filled by two huge pools where the names of the victims are engraved all around.
- The national September 11 Memorial and Museum (which was built in the same foundations as the World Trade Center) are a tribute to all the victims of 9/11.
- The World Trade Center towers have been replaced with the « One World Trade Center » tower.
- On each night of September 11 since the attack, twin beams can be seen reaching up into the sky echoing the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers.
Al-Qaïda claimed responsibility for the attacks. The United States of America went to war with Afghanistan a few weeks later.
Some Study Points
- "9/11" refers to the date the attacks happened: September 11. September is the ninth month of the year (9). In the United States of America, when you write the date, you put months before days while in France and in England you put days before months. Confusing, I know.
- "To head to" means "se rendre à".
- “To hit” in that context means “percuter” and “to collapse” “s’effondrer”.
- “Thanks to” means “grâce à” but people in northern America tend to use “because of” (“à cause de”) instead.
- “Each” means “chaque”. “Every” is a synonym. Both are followed by a noun in the singular: each/every night.
- When writing a date in English, use the preposition “on”: on September 11”, “on Christmas Day”.
- "To claim responsibility" means "revendiquer".
- "To go to war" means "entrer en guerre”.
Some Practice Questions
- Where were you during the 9/11 attacks?
- Have you been to New York since?
- Have you visited the national September 11 Memorial and Museum?
Ta da! That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Subscribe to English with Languissimo®, practice, take care and happy Monday! Big hugs 😊