Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Ruby Jones. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Welcome to our listener mail programme. Today we will hear from listeners in Vietnam, Mongolia and Slovakia. But we begin with a letter from Carlos in Ecuador. He tells us that he enjoys Spotlight programmes. He enjoys learning about different cultures and ways of life around the world. He likes the stories of people's lives. And he hopes that people follow good examples to share a better world. Carlos also tells us about his interesting work. He writes:
Voice 3
‘In my city, Guayaquil, we have a group of volunteers. We give some of our time freely. We make friends with foreign visitors in the city. Our goal is to make sure tourists are safe and have a good time in Guayaquil. Then, he or she can come back. They can tell others about our friendship and love for our city. There are only two programs like this in Latin America - this one and one in Argentina. Here, our group is called ‘Los Dukers.' In Argentina it is called ‘Los Cicerones.'
Voice 1
Los Dukers and Los Cicerones sound like great projects, Carlos! Thanks for telling us about them.
Voice 2
Our next letter is from Urjinkhand in Mongolia. He has translated one of his poems for us to read! It is about two brothers separating. Adam Navis reads us part of his poem:
Voice 3
Inside my heart from a long time ago
There is our childhood just like a dream.
Our memory of younger years was kept forever in my mind.
It exists at the bottom of our hearts like a beautiful picture.
We grew in the same house and played together.
We played with the same toys in our home.
But, destiny took us far away from each other, to different ways of life.
No need to be sad my brother.
Every bird should fly from its home.
It is the law of the universe.
If you have any difficulty call my sister anytime. If you have any sadness, remember parents' teaching.
I wish you a good life under the sun.
We will never forget our brotherhood.
We are always together, united by our blood...'
‘...Life will make new memories for us.'
Voice 2
You are a very skilled writer Urjee! Your poems have deep meaning and are powerful. What influences your writing?
Voice 1
Our next letter comes from Dung in Vietnam. Dung writes:
Voice 3
‘I am a high school student in Vietnam. After this school year, I am going to take the test to enter university. English is very important to me. I will need it for my life and future jobs. Your radio programmes have helped me a lot in learning English. I got mark nine for my first term English test. (Nine is equal to an A!) Thank you very much.
Please make some programmes about Asian countries, like Vietnam. And football is an interesting subject too. Our national football team has just won the AFF cup, that was amazing!'
Voice 1
Congratulations on your country's football success! And congratulations to you for your English results! Keep up the good work! We wish you all the best with your studies.
Voice 2
And now it is time for our Spotlight language Hodgepodge. Today we look at our new website!
Voice 1
In December, we redesigned our website. We hope that many of you have already used it. You may even be listening to this programme through the website. We know that more and more people are doing this.
Voice 2
The new web site still has the same address as the old one - http://www.radio.english.net. Thousands of people from all around the world visit the website each month. So a special hello to you if you are listening to Spotlight on your computer.
Voice 1
The Spotlight team has been planning the new website for a while. We asked our web designer, Marc Miller, to create it for us. He started working on it last year. Marc explains why Spotlight wanted a new website.
Voice 4
‘The Spotlight website had not changed in many years. It needed a fresh look. Also we wanted it to be able to do new things. For example, letting listeners comment on scripts.'
Voice 2
The new website looks very different. But it contains everything the old website did. You can still listen to all our recent Spotlight programmes. You can also save the programs and scripts to your computer. But there are also new parts of the website. Listeners can comment on the scripts they read. You can also play programmes through the website without downloading them.
Voice 1
Soon the website will also have a message board. Spotlight listeners from all over the world will be able to meet here. They will be able to discuss ideas and improve their English together. Marc says that the new website should let listeners do more things.
Voice 4
‘We hope to hear from our listeners. We want to get their opinion on different scripts and issues. We also hope the new site will be easier for listeners to use. We hope that listeners will talk directly to each other on the message boards.'
Voice 2
One person who has already used the new website is Jozef. He lives in Slovakia. He wrote to us through the website. He said,
Voice 3
‘When I started to listen to your programs it was because I was looking for a way to improve my English. Now I like to listen because I learn new things. I like to listen to the listener mail programs. It is interesting to hear ideas from different sides of the world. Now I download scripts to my phone. I wish you plenty of ideas in 2009.'
Voice 2
Thank you Jozef. We are planning on having plenty of new and interesting Spotlight programmes in 2009. We also hope that you enjoy hearing your own words in this Listener Mail program.
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