Kite Flying

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Every year, the sky above Berck-sur-mer becomes a playground for animal figures and comic heroes. For one week, kite owners from twenty countries entertain audiences with their flying skills.

It’s the 33rd time the International Kite Festival is taking place here in the small town on the Opal Coast of France.

Festival Goer, Male, one: “This is a great hobby and it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s like an addiction. Once you’ve started you’re hooked.”

Festival Goer, Female, two: “I love it, I come every year to look at the kites.”

Festival Goer, Female, three: “You see a lot of unusual ones. It’s really impressive to see what they can do.”

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The French team “Start Air” are the reigning sport-kite world champions. They prefer sporty streamlined kites. As Benoît Flament explains, they can be ultra-light, light or medium weight.

Benoît Flament, Start Air Team Member: “We choose the kites according to the strength of the wind. If the wind comes from below, like today, this kind is the best, because it catches the gusts optimally.”

Here Benoît Flament and his three friends are preparing for their next show. They won the world champion title last year for precision.

Maxime Desavoye issues the commands.

Maxime Desavoye, Start Air Team Member: “I like flying kites because you do it with others out in the fresh air. You never really know how things will go, so you need a lot of practice in order to pull off a good show.”

A few meters away, competitors from Kuwait are sending up the longest kite at the festival. It’s a stingray. They practiced their routine in the desert.

Kuwaiti Kite Team Member: “The size of it is 1,550 square meters. Yes, it’s huge.”

Another large sized participant is a children’s book figure: Fauchi the Dragon. It was built by German designer Meik Schlenger.

Red Alert, a team from Moscow is practicing for a later performance with French kiting enthusiasts, including the “Start Air”champions. Mike Loskov is a regular guest here.

Mike Loskov, Red Alert Team Member: “For the last nine years, we came here to fly kites and we have a lot of friends here. It’s a nice week, doing what you love. It’s perfect.”

The French-Russian team encounters adverse wind conditions during the show. But many formations are successful, despite the lulls and sudden, strong gusts.

Benoît knows the tricks.

Benoît Flament, Start Air Team Member: “We sometimes let the kites float in the air to recover a little. You have to know your limits, like in every sport.”

Every second year, a new world champion is chosen in Berck-sur-mer. The next one will be in April 2020, when enthusiasts will gladly “Go fly a kite!”

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Questions

Kite Flying. Many people gather to fly kites at Berck-sur-mer all year round. True or false? Is this a new festival? Is this festival old or new?

Boomerang. Describe the weather at the kite festival.

Hang Gliding. Are all the kite enthusiasts come from France? Are all the kite fliers French? What nationalities participated in the festival and competition?

Skydiving. Does it take place in the middle of France? Is the kite festival getting more popular, less popular or remaining the same?

Paragliding. Did the Kuwaiti and German kite teams fly small, medium-size or huge kites?

Pigeon Flying. Describe the kites from Kuwait and Germany.

Frisbee. What kind of kites did Start Air, the French kite team and Red Alert, the Russian kite team fly? Were their kites small, medium-sided, big or very large?

Windsurfing. The French and Russian teams simply flew their kites in the air. Is this right or wrong?
 
 
 
Hot Air Balloon. My friends and I have kites. Yes or no? Have you flown a kite?

Biplane. Do people in your town, city, region and country fly kites? Is kite flying popular?

Rock Climbing. Have there been kite flying festivals? Are there kite festivals in your city or country?

Zero-Gravity Flight. What might happen in the future?

Space Walk. Have you made a kite? Should people make kites?