In view of England’s humiliating ejection from the European Cup competition vide their defeat at the hands of Croatia, perhaps we should at last concede that we will never capture the former glories of the 1966 World Cup Team. We seem to forever fall back upon this great sporting achievement and bask in past glories; but let’s not forget that we’ve only won the cup once…a long time ago and our achievements in most other competitions is mediocre at best.

Birthdays are often marked by many diverse modes of celebration, but the upcoming 90th birthday of Estonia is to be marked by a somewhat unique type of commemoration…a beauty contest to decide the ‘prettiest’ language.

Apparently, the Estonian Education Minister Tonis Lukas wishes to engage the assistance of his counterparts worldwide to persuade school pupils to send in recordings of sentences of up to seven words for the contest.

There is no other way to say this, but I LOVE the Czech Republic. Since I first set foot there some years ago (at that time the Communists were still in power), I have adored everything about the place. The country is a paradise of forests and scattered villages, the old architecture is a mixture of Gothic, Baroque and Rococo, the people are helpful and warm hearted and the food is out of this world.

Some while ago I recall reading that there was supposedly some link between the Welsh and the Berber peoples of North Africa. I seem to remember that the crux of this theory was that the Welsh were decedents of a people of Iberian stock who migrated to Wales via Asia long ago in antiquity.

These primeval wanderers are supposed to have been part of a group called the Hamitic people and the remnants of these people are represented by ancient Egyptians and by the modern day Berbers.

I went on a trip to north western Wales the other day and whilst in a pub, I was fortunate enough to overhear a group of native Welsh speakers in conversation; noting my interest, they welcomed me into their throng and I was treated to some basic Welsh lessons.

Now I must admit, that although being proficient in a language from each one of the Germanic, Slavic and Latin family of languages, this particular version of Celtic language totally eluded any of my efforts to get to grips with it.

That vast behemoth - the UN, is universally known for its huge army of interpreters, translators and auxiliary support staff, in fact when last counted, there were some 2,000 of them and still rising. The logistics of every meeting of the European Parliament are such that some 60 interpreters are required in order for all possible cross-language permutations to be accommodated.