Alexis Kekeh
People and Places
Alexis Kekeh
Alexis: My name is Alexis. I’m from Togo.
William: … and I’m William Kremer. Welcome to
People and Places!
One of my favourite things about living in London is the
incredible 2 mix of people that you find here. Go for a short
walk in almost any part of this city, and you’re more than
likely to pass people from every continent in the world.
Some of them will be tourists enjoying a holiday in
Britain, some will be students and others will be people
who have come to this country to live and to work.
Today we’re going to hear from someone who has decided 3 to
settle in London. His name is Alexis… but where’s he from
and what does he do?
Alexis: My name is Alexis. I’m from Togo. Er, at the
moment I’m living in
London…er… I’ve got a small clinic. I’m a
physiotherapist.
William: Alexis is from Togo – that’s a country in
West Africa, next to Ghana. He is a physiotherapist. A
physiotherapist is someone who helps people who have
suffered muscle injury. After you’ve been in hospital,
your doctor might send you to a physiotherapist to help you
build up your strength.
Alexis was nineteen years old when he left Togo. At the
time, he had two great loves in his life. What were they?
Alexis: I was nineteen. I was… I had just finished my
degree in French business law… I was a footballer and I
was er… involved in politics.
William: Alexis said that he’d been a footballer
and that he’d been involved in politics.
Alexis played football for his university and for a semi-
professional team. He was so promising 4 a player that he was
offered a place in the national under-16 squad 5 to go to the
World Cup. Amazingly, he turned this offer down and he
decided not to become a professional footballer. Why?
Alexis: Sometimes you have to make your choice and my dad
made my choice for me.
So basically 6, he said, you know, ‘You concentrate on your
studies first and football will come later. My son is going
to uni – and that’s the end of the matter.’ So. I didn’
t go.
William: If someone concentrates on something, he
puts all his energy towards it. Alexis didn’t continue his
football career because his father made him concentrate on
his studies. Alexis said, ‘Sometimes you have to make your
choice and my dad made my choice for me.’
So is Alexis now angry that his dad made him concentrate on
his studies and stopped him from playing football?
Alexis: Oh, I think he probably made the right choice for
me… because, erm, when I came to England I tried to play
professionally, damaged my knee in the process and so ended
up not going anywhere in football – so I have to fall back
on my education. And I think erm… he probably was wiser
than me.
William: Well, Alexis said that his dad probably
made the right choice for him. When he came to England
later on he damaged his knee and so had to fall back on his
education. In this context 7, ‘to fall back on something’
means to make use of
something when your original plans don’t work out. Alexis
’s father knew that if Alexis got a good education, he
would always have that to fall back on if he needed.
Sadly, Alexis’s other interest, politics, soon got him
into trouble. At the start of
1991, President Gnassingbe Eyadema had been in power for 24
years and there was no political opposition 8. The
universities were centres of pro-democracy campaigning, and
Alexis and his friends used to organise 9 demonstrations 10 and
distribute leaflets 11 calling for a revolution. But instead
of change taking place, the President strengthened his
position, and Alexis and many of his friends left the
country. How did Alexis feel when he arrived in the UK?
Alexis: When I came to London from the bus stop I realised
that maybe this is the place for me cos I didn’t have any
English at all at the time… you know I only have a piece
of paper with the address where I was going and I had this
lady who actually took my hand, show me to the bus and say
‘Make sure that he gets off at this station’… and I
think after that it marked me, deeply. As an immi…
immigrant 12, you want to feel welcome. And I think she made
me welcome.
William: Alexis felt immediately that London might
be the place for him. He described how a lady took him by
the hand, showed him to his bus and told the driver to make
sure he got off at his station. ‘I think she made me
welcome’, he said.
Don’t forget that if you would like to download the script 13
from this programme, you can do so on the People and Places
website on BBC Learning English dot com. Goodbye!
- When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
- Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
- Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
- Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
- We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
- The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
- A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。
- His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
- Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。
- You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
- This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
- It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。
- Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
- The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
- Leaflets have been delivered to every household. 传单已发送到每家每户。
- They stood there, giving out the leaflets to the passers-by. 他们站在那里，向过路人散发传单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- 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。