环球英语 — 69：Listener Mail 78

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Hello. I’m Ruby 1 Jones.

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And I’m Joshua Leo. Welcome to Spotlight 2. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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Welcome to our listener mail program. Today, we start with a letter from William, in Venezuela. William writes:

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“Probably next year I will travel to the European Union or England to take intensive 3 English classes. Can you suggest a city or good school to take these classes?”

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This is a very important question for many listeners. There are so many language schools and universities that offer English programs. How can you choose a good one?

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Spotlight does not endorse 4 any schools. That is, Spotlight does not suggest any particular schools. But we can suggest some ways to find a good school.

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First, ask other people. Do you know anyone who has studied the subject? What school did he or she attend? What did this person think about the school, and the course , the learning 5 program? Are there other programs that he or she knows about?

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Next, try to talk to someone at the school. They will be able to give you more information about the programs they offer, and the cost. They may also suggest some former students to speak with. If possible, you should visit the school. But this may not be possible - for example, if the school is in another country. In this case, communicating with the school can be very helpful - over e-mail, through the mail, or over the telephone.

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Finally, there is a lot of information on the internet. We especially suggest the British Council’s website. You will find a link to it on the script 6 page for this program on our website: http://www.radio.english.net.

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Our next letter comes from Jenny in Ecuador. She wrote:

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“I am studying to be an English teacher. Spotlight is a great tool to improve my skills. For example, I wrote a report about leadership, and I used your programs about Jesus Christ 7, Mahatma Gandhi, and great women like Michelle Bachelet, the president of Chile. On another occasion 8, I wrote a report about the history of ice cream, and Pandora’s Box, and some others.”

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Leadership is a key part of any community - including in the area of education. Jenny also wrote about this area:

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“I was listening to your program about World Teacher’s Day. … I wanted to tell you that this job is hard, but also encouraging and difficult. For example, here in a public school we have 40 or 50 students in a class. It is difficult for all the students to learn. But we do everything possible to teach them the best way. It is very tiring but if you love what you do you will be happy. We have other problems like the pay or the bad structure of schools.”

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Jenny has many good ideas about education. Teachers are very important. But often, there is not enough money for education. This can cause the problems that she describes. Teachers who continue to work in these situations are heroes. But Jenny goes on to write about the many good things of this job:

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“But on the other side, we have love and affection 9 of a lot of students - we consider them like our children because we are with them every day. We help them with English, but the most important thing we teach is how to be a good person, a good citizen, a good son.”

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We hope that all teachers feel this way!

Jenny also gives us the topic for our hodgepodge:

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“In my country, the teacher’s day is on April 13, because we remember a special teacher - Juan Montalvo. He was a great writer and teacher.”

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Many people consider Juan Montalvo to be one of the great Latin 10 American writers of the nineteenth century. He was born in the city of Ambato, Ecuador in 1832. And this is where he is buried today. There are many amazing memorials to him there.

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Many people celebrated 11 Montalvo during his life. But many other people strongly disagreed with his ideas. He spoke 12 out against the then presidents of Ecuador. Because of this, he lived out of the country for most of his life.

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Montalvo cared deeply about politics and political problems. In particular, Montalvo was concerned about indifference 13 - the feeling of not caring. He wrote these words about it:

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There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference.

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Indifference is a problem for many people in our world today. It is the feeling of not caring anymore. It is not a strong feeling, such as hatred 14, or anger. In this sense it is soft. But it can cause many problems. Anyone who has experienced 15 indifference knows this. If you love someone, but they feel nothing for you - that is a terrible feeling. And in a country, if the citizens are indifferent 16 to the political problems, corruption 17 can spread. Montalvo fought against these problems. And his writing continues to inspire and encourage the people of his country.

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Our last letter today comes from Andrei in Belarus:

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“Belarus is a small and friendly republic. It is located in the center of Europe; our neighbours are Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.”

“I was really impressed by the program about coconut 18 power, because I like pieces about nature. ... It was a pleasure to me, hearing about vegetables and pure environmental vehicle fuel. To my mind, we all must look for safer ways to use the fruits of progress and invention.”

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Creativity and invention are truly gifts from God. They help us to develop new solutions to difficult problems. We encourage Andrei, and all of our listeners to develop these skills! Thank you for your comments Andrei.

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Andrei also shares that he is interested in meeting other Spotlight listeners in Belarus. A good way to meet other listeners is to start a listeners’ club. Invite other people to join you at a particular time and place. Then, you can listen to a program and discuss the ideas. For more information, look at the script page for this program on our website.

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Well, that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you to William, Jenny and Andrei for adding to today’s program. And thank you to everyone who wrote to Spotlight this month. If you would like to share your comments and questions with Spotlight, please write to radio @ english . net.