Hip-hoppers Fahot and Fozzey to host an educational radio show
There is a famous Russian saying: “talented people are talented in everything” – two musicians of the hip-hop band TNMK Oleh Mykhaylyuta a.k.a. “Fahot,” and Oleksandr Sydorenko a.k.a. “Fozzey,” obviously have taken this saying quite seriously, indulging in all kinds of activities besides their main occupation – music.
The two hip-hoppers are about to try on yet another image – that of English teachers. They will host an educational radio show called “Rock English with Tanok na Maydani Kongo” on Ukrainian National Radio beginning in November. The program is a united project of the National Radio Company of Ukraine, the British Council and BBC Ukrainian. BBC producers and script writers will be putting the program together.
Previously, both Fahot and Fozzey have tried their hands at being TV presenters. Also, quite recently they both appeared in the Russian comedy “Nenasytniye” (The Insatiable) and Fahot took part in the Ukrainian dubbing of “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel, putting Ukrainian words in Johnny Depp’s mouth. Fahot and Fozzey are not the first celebrities to engage into language teaching. A few years ago DJ Pasha, a popular radio deejay at the time and now also a talk show host, released his own English-learning tape course “English with DJ Pasha.” As much as I can judge, his own pronunciation of English is far from perfect, which I observed when he hosted Eurovision 2005 in Kyiv. The pronunciation is likely to be better on the upcoming program, as Fahot and Fozzey will be hosting the show together with the teachers of the British Council in Ukraine Linda MacLachlan and Fiona Hamilton. The radio course will consist of 24 lessons, each seven to eight minutes long. It is targeted at teenagers and young people who already have some knowledge of English and want to increase their vocabulary, especially in the field of modern music – that’s where TNMK step in.