Learning English

Trump vs Clinton: first US presidential TV debate

Two people want to be the next US president - only one of them can win. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have taken part in the first of a series of TV debates.

Language challenge

There is a French expression that we use in English which literally means head-to-head. Is it:

a) déjà vu
b) tête-à-tête
c) bon voyage

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have clashed over their policies and their characters in the first televised debate of the US Presidential campaign.

The broadcast covered a range of issues including the economy, race relations and security.

Nick Bryant - BBC News
America's never seen a reality show like this. A former First Lady head-to-head with a Manhattan property tycoon and certainly not a presidential debate that was so aggressive and so personal.

It quickly became fight night with Hillary Clinton attacking Donald Trump for failing to release his tax returns and for stiffing people that he did business with. Donald Trump rebuked her over her use of a private email server and for supporting trade deals that exported jobs abroad.

Key words and phrases

to clash
to have an angry argument

head-to-head
in direct competition

to lose your cool
to become angry/lose your temper

To do

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Downloads

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Language challenge - answer

The correct answer is b) tête-à-tête. Careful, though – ‘tête-à-tête' means ‘a private conversation’ while ‘head-to-head’ means ‘in direct competition’.

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Lingohack - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins.