VOA慢速英语--收听广播帮助移民与家人保持联系
时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(七)月
Call-to-Listen Radio Helps Immigrants 2 Stay Connected with Home
Every Wednesday night, Boubacar Ba goes to a radio production studio in New York City and prepares for his show.
The program, called Radio Mali USA, is a show by Malians for Malians around the world.
With a tall glass of water and a few news stories in hand, Ba readies for whatever may happen in his open-ended conversations with listeners. It is a few minutes after the normal start time, and he has yet to say a word. But there are already a hundred or more listeners waiting to speak with him.
“My show, sometimes it goes to three hours, because the cab 3 drivers, they don’t want it to end.”
His radio station broadcasts in Fulani and Bambara, two languages of Mali.
In the United States, many immigrants speak in languages that are rarely spoken across the country. So, staying connected to local news and culture can be hard. In many immigrant 1 communities, call-to-listen radio programs are designed to fill this need. You call a local telephone number or use a mobile 4 phone app to hear the programs.
Such programs offer a brief escape from day-to-day struggles facing immigrants, including the ones without legal documents.
Ba is one 7,000 world broadcasters allied 5 with Zeno Media. The company offers diaspora populations the chance to connect to news from their home countries in their home languages. The company says it has listeners in over 150 countries.
‘I would be lonely’
Baruch Herzfeld is the founder 6 and president of Zeno Media. He says its programs are designed for immigrants whose jobs require them to spend a lot of time alone.
“If I was a security 7 guard in a building, and I didn’t have that much human interaction 8, I was thinking, ‘What can I provide to this person to entertain them or to make their day better?’ I thought to myself, ‘If I was doing this, I would be very, very lonely.’”
Without the issue of limited phone data plans, Herzfeld says the company provides listeners with more hometown news. And, he says, the program format 9 leads to honest conversation.
Zeno Media says an average program lasts about 90 minutes. It claims that all the shows produced in 2017 added up to 10.5 billion minutes of programming.
“Their world exists in a geography that’s 3,000 miles from where they’re from,” Herzfeld said about listeners. “We try and build technology that decreases the limits that geography previously 10 put on staying connected.”
A form of relief
Boubacar Ba became a political news broadcaster in 2009. He says news of Mali is most important for his listeners. Second are U.S. immigration issues.
After President Donald Trump 11 ordered immigration policies like the travel ban, Ba says, there has been a sharp increase in interest in the subject. He says the interest has grown the most among undocumented listeners. Sometimes, he brings in lawyers or other specialists, and also offers his own advice.
“Mainly, try to stay underground. That’s the main advice we tell those who don’t have papers. Don’t expose yourself too much.”
Ba also tells them to avoid illegal activities.
His work as a community leader and broadcaster are often connected. Without a station like his, he says, many immigrants might not have a place to express their opinions.
The discussions 12 that Zeno Media’s programs make possible, he says, are helpful, a way to “pull back from all the noise.”
On Monday, his show deals with civics. On Tuesdays, he offers a language class on how to say English terms in Bambara. On Thursdays, the subject is religion and on Fridays, culture. The weekend is for music and sports.
Joseph Kwesi Kwentsir is a broadcaster from Kumasi, Ghana. His program, which has about 1,600 listeners, also can be heard through Zeno Media. He says his listeners like hearing news about Ghana.
Although he and Ba have different listeners, Kwentsir says their programs let people take part meaningfully from any part of the world.
Herzfeld said that, when listeners in one country get involved in the programs, people in their home country can hear them and “That’s really, really exciting.”
I’m Alice Bryant.
Words in This Story
studio – n. a place where radio or television programs are broadcast
conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people
app – n. a computer program that performs a special function
diaspora – n. a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived
interaction – n. the act of talking or doing things with other people
entertain – v. to provide or be entertainment for someone
data – n. information that is produced or stored by a computer
format – n. the form, design, or arrangement of something, such as a book or television or radio program
geography – n. (informally) place or location
underground – adv. in or into a place that is hidden or secret
- Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
- I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。
- Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
- Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The cab drove over his legs.马车从他腿上碾过。
- Shall we walk or take a cab?我们步行还是坐出租车?
- The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
- She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后,活动量就大多了。
- Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
- Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。
- He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
- According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
- A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
- There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时,机场的保安措施很严密。
- The interaction of the two groups produced many good ideas.两个组的相互交流产生了许多好主意。
- Price is determined through the interaction of demand and supply.价格在供需的相互作用中形成。
- Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
- The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。
- The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
- Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
- He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
- The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
- Discussions are held on an informal basis within the department. 讨论限于在本部门内非正式地进行。
- Her specialist input to the discussions has been very useful. 她在这些讨论中提供的专家建议很有助益。