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BBC Learning English
People and Places
Albert Little- US VSO in Jamaica
Yvonne: Welcome to "People and Places" – where we meet
interesting people and find
out about interesting places with bbclearningenglish.com.
Hello, I'm Yvonne
On a recent visit to Jamaica, which is about 550 miles or
885 kilometres South of Miami, I met an interesting man who
is a long way from home. So I wanted to know why he's there
and what language he's been learning. Jamaicans speak
English and so does he… don't they speak the same kind of
English?
Albert Little
My name is Albert Little and I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana
from the United States…
Yvonne: Albert Little is an American and he obviously
speaks American English…more on that later. But what is he
doing in such a rural part of Jamaica – deep in the
countryside where most people are farmers – and away from
the places where tourists usually go? Try to catch Albert's
two reasons for his presence in Jamaica…
Albert Little
One thing about me is that I love to travel so I looked
into the Peace Corps2 and I thought of it as an opportunity
to learn about different cultures and things like that.
Yvonne: Albert loves to travel and he enjoys learning about
other cultures and thought it would provide him with a good
opportunity – a great chance – to do both.
The Peace Corps is an American organisation3 which has been
running for more
than 40 years and Albert Little is one of about 170,000
voluntary workers. So far, volunteers like Albert, have left their home and way
of life in the United States to work for no pay in about
170 different countries around the world. They work with
local communities to help in areas such as education, youth
work, community development, the environment and IT –
Information Technology.
Albert was sent to Jamaica to work in the field of IT – so
he helps local people make the best use of the information
technology that's available to them. Albert didn't go to
Africa because he didn't have all the medical test results
that were needed. And, Albert didn't go to South America
because he didn't have enough time to sort out his flat and
his car before he had to leave the United States. Listen
again, but this time, try to catch the American English
word Albert uses for 'flat', the term he uses to mean 'to
make arrangements' or 'to sort out', and
the term he uses to talk about not having enough time…
Albert Little
When I first joined the Peace Corps, they were going to
send me to Africa but I did not get medically cleared for
that. So then they were going to send me to South America,
and the
time-frame for me to move out of my apartment and deal with
my car and everything was too short.
Yvonne: Albert couldn't go to South America because the
'time-frame was too short' –
he didn't have enough time 'to deal with' – to sort out
his car and his 'apartment'
– the American English word for 'flat'. So, off he went to
Jamaica and the first thing he had to do was complete a two
month training course. Albert obviously speaks American
English, but in Jamaica, he's been learning another kind of
English. Let's find out what it is…
The training period basically focuses on things like
language, learning the patois4, cultures,
some of the social norms5 and things like that.
Yvonne: Albert's been learning about Jamaican culture –
its traditions, and as he put it in American English: 'the
social norms' - how to behave amongst Jamaican people so
that he doesn't upset them.. But why is Albert also
learning 'patois' – Jamaican English – when they can all
understand each other?
Albert Little
One of the major things about integration6 is that, you
know, you have to be able to communicate with the people.
And also in terms of safety, you know, if someone
approaches you, it would be good to know, you know, the
chat - the patois… because when they first see you, they
think 'tourists'.
Yvonne: Albert and the Peace Corps believe that being able
to speak 'patois' – Jamaican English – can help to keep
him safe because people might not just see him as a rich
tourist – a visitor to the island. And speaking with
people using their own type of English helps Albert to
integrate7 – it becomes easier for him to live and work
within Jamaican communities. So, what can he say in patois
so far?
Albert Little
Well right now, it's mainly just some greetings. You know,
I say 'waa gwaan' or 'w'appen' or, you know, things like
that. But I can't really, you know, go into an in-depth
conversation in patios8, not yet anyway.
Yvonne: 'Waa gwaan?' – what's going on? And 'w'appen?' –
what's happening?... Are greetings, ways of saying 'hello'.
And Albert hopes he'll be able to say lots more soon. But
for now, he's happy to tell us in American English:
My main objective9 is really to make people self-sustainable
in terms of technology so they
won't have to rely on someone to do things for them - you
know, just everyday things to keep pace with the rest of
the world. You know, to see people live and the struggles
that they have to go through day by day, I feel really
blessed.
1 archer | |
n.射手,弓箭手 | |
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2 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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3 organisation | |
n.组织,安排,团体,有机休 | |
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4 patois | |
n.方言;混合语 | |
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5 norms | |
n. 规范 名词norm的复数形式 | |
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6 integration | |
n.一体化,联合,结合 | |
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7 integrate | |
v.(使)结合,(使)一体化 adj.完整的,综合的 | |
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8 patios | |
n.露台,平台( patio的名词复数 ) | |
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9 objective | |
adj.客观的;n.目标,目的 | |
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