The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

health and medicine, education and economics. The education reports include a 28-part series, updated every two years, on how foreign stu- dents can study at colleges and uni- versities in the U.S. The weekend short features are timely background reports about news events and a lighthearted program about Ameri- can idioms and phrases called “Words and Their Stories.” These short programs are fol- lowed by a different 15-minute fea- ture each day. These are “This is America,” “Science in the News,” “Explorations,” “The Making of a Nation,” and “American Mosaic,” which includes popular music and an answer to a listener’s question each week. The weekend shows are “People in America,” about famous Americans from history, business, science and the arts; and “American Stories,” adaptations of short stories. In a typical week these programs might be about the life and music of Johnny Cash, Asian-American writers, nanotechnology, the latest exploration of Mars, writing the U.S. Constitution, the American health care sys- tem, hip-hop music or an adaptation of an award-win- ning novel for young adults. This format of up-to-the-minute, objective news fol- lowed by informative features is very popular with lis- teners. However, last year, for the first time, Special English changed its news format during the war in Iraq. We temporarily suspended our short features and expanded the daily news shows from 10 to 15 minutes. This new format enabled us to broadcast in-depth backgrounders to explain important issues relating to the war. A Popular Teaching Tool Though not designed as a teaching program, Special English has become a very popular tool for teaching English. In many countries, English teachers require their students to listen to Special English broadcasts. Teachers around the world use Special English as a teaching tool — from private teach- ers in Cuba, to elementary school teachers in Thailand, to university professors in Vietnam, China, Japan, Iran and several other countries. Many Peace Corps workers also use our materials for teaching English. Universities, governments and pri- vate companies adapt Special English materials for use in their own English-teaching projects. China National Radio has been broadcasting Special English fea- tures for several years. Listeners also are able to learn English on their own. Prince Norodom Ranaridh of Cambodia visited the Voice of America in 1991, and told then-director Chase Untermeyer that he was able to speak English because of VOA. The prince had listened to Special English since arriving in exile in Thailand eight years earlier. A few years ago, another VOA director, Sandy Ungar, reported after a visit to Vietnam that practically every Vietnamese person he met knew and listened to Special English. Many people have written to tell us that learning English improved their lives by helping them get a better education and a better job. People around the world practice their listening and speaking skills by recording our programs and playing them repeatedly. In the past, we have received letters from individuals who make a special effort to listen even when our programs are not broadcast in prime time. A group of college students in Iran said they take turns getting up in the middle of the night to record our programs in order to listen and translate them as homework. An older listener in Kuwait wrote to us that before going to sleep he drinks four large cups of warm water mixed with fruit juice so he can wake up at 3:30 a.m. for the Special English broadcast. People with Internet access have it much easier. They can listen to our programs any time they want. For the past several years, listeners have been able to stream or download programs from the Special English Web site while reading the text. And they can receive scripts of features every week by e-mail. This e-mail subscription service is especially popular with listeners in China whose access to our Web site is blocked by their government. The Special English Web site, F O C U S 36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 The format of up-to- the-minute, objective news followed by informative features is very popular with listeners. Shelley Gollust is chief of the Special English Branch of the Voice of America. She has worked for VOA for more than 20 years. In 1986, she served as community liaison officer at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.