The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

www.voaspecialenglish.com, a nd our e-mail subscription service are among the most popular at VOA. For the past two years, Special English Television has been broad- cast by satellite around the world. Each day, a Special English announcer reads one of the short reports on development, agricul- ture, health, education or econom- ics while the text scrolls below. This has proved to be such a good teaching tool that China Educational Television has been broadcasting these videotapes, with definitions of key words in Mandarin, for almost a year. Devoted Listeners Over the years, Special English has forged a strong link with millions of people around the world. Listeners in several countries including Nigeria and Pakistan have formed Special English clubs. While we do not know exactly how many people listen to Special English, we receive much feedback. During one week in June we had a contest, asking listeners to send us an e-mail telling about themselves and their favorite Special English program. During that week, we received almost 500 e-mails from 49 countries. The highest numbers of e-mails came from China, Nigeria, Vietnam, Japan, India and Iran. While these listeners ranged in age from 9 to 75, the largest number were college students, graduate stu- dents or teachers in their 20s and 30s. Although we broadcast many programs about popular music and culture for young people, we were surprised to learn what the respondents listed as their favorite program: our 234-part weekly series about the history of the United States, called “The Making of a Nation.” Several of these listeners said learning about American democracy gave them hope for their own countries. Typically we receive about 500 e-mails and 100 let- ters every month from all corners of the globe. We hear from listeners in Ethiopia and Ghana, Yemen and Iraq, Sweden and Italy, Kosovo and Cuba. We get let- ters from young people in universities and refugee camps. A listener in Eritrea says he translates almost all of our programs into the local language and sends them to the local radio station, which broadcasts them. He says he does this so that fellow citizens who do not understand English can get the latest informa- tion. But even Americans living over- seas listen to Special English. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Francie Bremer, wife of Amb. L. Paul (“Jerry”) Bremer, the chief civilian administrator in Iraq. When I told her where I work, I thought I would have to explain all about Special English. But she knew all about it. She and her husband listened to Special English during their early years in the Foreign Service. “We were post- ed to Malawi from 1968 to 1970,” Ms. Bremer said. “Jerry was the junior officer there. Everybody would listen to Special English. … This was a fascinating time and we learned all the news about America — from the riots to the moon walk.” F O C U S J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 37 Typically we receive about 500 e-mails and 100 letters every month from all corners of the globe.