Mahamat Adamou

BBC Learning English

People and Places

Mahamat Adamou

Yvonne: You’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com and this is “People and Places”.

Hello, I’m Yvonne Archer¹ – and today’s guest…

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

Hello, my name is Mahamat Ahmed Adamou I come from Chad. It’s a country in central

Africa. My mother tongue is Arabic.

Yvonne: The people of Chad speak many different local languages but their country has two official languages – French and Arabic. So French and Arabic are spoken and understood by most people. But did you notice the useful phrase Mahamat used to tell us which language he grew up speaking? Someone’s ‘mother tongue’ tells us which language someone’s parents and family speak and even which language the person thinks in!

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

My mother tongue is Arabic.

Yvonne: Chad is very large country, about six times the size of Great Britain, and most of us probably think it’s mainly made up of sand. But is that the case? What does Chad looks like – what kind of ‘landscape’ does it have?

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

People have a lot of misconceptions about Chad. They think of Chad as vast deserts but it’s not true. I mean, actually, Chad is very varied² in terms of landscape. So roughly you have, in
the north, the biggest part in the north is desert, and in the south, it’s savannah and in between,
you have what we call ‘the Sahel’ which is the beginning of the savannah and the end of the desert.

Yvonne: As Mahamat put it, many of us a lot of ‘misconceptions’ – we have the wrong idea about Chad’s landscape. It’s not only made up of ‘vast deserts’ – extremely large sandy areas. But did you manage to follow what it does look like? In the north, there’s mainly desert, in the south, Mahamat described the landscape as ‘savannah’ – so it’s rich with many rivers and vegetation³. Then
‘in between’ – separating the desert and the savannah - there’s ‘the Sahel’ –

which is where Mahamat is from.

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

The biggest part in the north is desert, and in the south, it’s savannah and in between, you have what we call ‘the sahail’ which is the beginning of the savannah and the end of the desert. You come across the oases⁴, and in the extreme north, then you have the Tibestian Region which is really fantastic, it’s a lunar landscape.

Yvonne: Mahamat describes the extreme north of Chad as having ‘a lunar landscape’ – so wow - it looks like you could be on the moon! You’re listening to “People and Places” from bbclearningenglish.com

At the age of 20, Mahamat went away to journalism⁵ school in Cameroon. But when he got home three years later, things didn’t go as he'd ‘envisaged⁶’ – as he'd expected, hoped or imagined. As Mahamat continues with his story, listen out for the key words and phrases ‘political situation’, ‘press freedom’
‘activist⁷’. Can you guess what did happen when he got back to Chad?

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou
 
I wanted to start working as a journalist – that’s where trouble came. And I saw that I couldn’t do my job as I envisaged in Chad considering the political situation. So I’ve been a bit (of an) activist about defending press freedom, and of course, that doesn’t go well with the leaders.

Yvonne: Mahamat became a journalist in Chad, as planned, but he also became an

‘activist’. He tried to help make it possible for the press - or media – to do its job properly, freely and without fear of being stopped or unfairly influenced by the government and other powerful people. But life became rather dangerous
for Mahamat so he left of the United States. And one opportunity led to another, and another, and another – and Mahamat, a journalist in Washington,
eventually became a BBC journalist here in London!

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

I was like: "How is it (like) to go and work for the BBC? Ah, let me just go and try it." And I’ve been here for 7 years. So, it's kind of - ah, it’s an interesting experience - but my heart is always back in Chad.

Yvonne: Despite the ‘volatile⁸’ situation – sudden periods of violent conflict – Mahamat still tries to visit his family and friends as often as he can. And he plans to return home as soon as he can to make a contribution. Mahamat would like to
‘start up’ or begin a new project or business, for example, so he'd like to

'generate⁹’ – create jobs for people back home in Chad.

Mahamat Ahmed Adamou

The only reason I’ve been away is, of course, because of the political situation which is very volatile, but definitely and ultimately¹⁰, I will return to Chad because I think I still have to contribute. Definitely, I want to be creative – don’t ask me exactly, what I’m going to do - but I just don’t see myself going back working for government or whoever. But I want to start up something which is original and which can generate, you know, jobs for other people. And I have plenty of ideas, but I have to work on them. Yeah…

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

3 vegetation   

n.植物，草木，（植物）生长

参考例句：

• As we drove towards the desert,the vegetation became sparse.我们驱车前往沙漠，沿途的草木渐渐变得稀疏。
• The earth bore a thick green mantle of vegetation.大地覆盖着一层厚厚的绿色植物。

4 oases   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲( oasis的名词复数 )；（困苦中）令人快慰的地方（或时刻）；乐土；乐事

参考例句：

• There was a hundred miles between the two oases. 这两片绿洲间有一百英里。 来自辞典例句
• Where underground water comes to the surface, there are oases. 地下水流到地表的地方，就成为了绿洲。 来自互联网

5 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

6 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

9 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

10 ultimately   

adv.最后地，最终地，首要地，基本地

参考例句：

• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience.那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。
• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。