The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35 everal American visitors to Chinese cities have recounted similar versions of the fol- lowing experience. Walking down a street on a warm summer evening, they heard coming from every window a newscast, spoken very slowly in simple English. They could walk the entire length of the street without missing any of the broadcast. What they heard was Special English, one of the most popular products of the Voice of America. VOA broadcast the first Special English pro- gram on Oct. 19, 1959. It was an experiment to communicate by radio with people whose native language was not English. Experts said the goal was admirable, but the method would not work. Countless listeners have proved them wrong. Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA, and they still are. Over the years, the role of Special English has expand- ed. It helps people learn American English while they learn about life and popular culture in the United States and stay informed about world news and developments in science. It provides listeners, including native English speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere. A Unique Program Three elements make Special English unique: We use a core vocabulary of 1,500 words that are published in a workbook and posted on our Web site. We write short sentences in the active voice that contain only one idea, avoiding unnecessary phrases, idioms and slang. Finally, Special English broadcasters read at a slower pace than standard English. This helps people learning English hear each word clearly, and enables people who are fluent English speak- ers to understand complex subjects. Yet while the format is simple, the content is not. We describe complex topical subjects in a way that is easy to understand. Eleven full-time staff members and four part-time contract workers write and edit all the news and fea- ture programs in a specialized for- mat. We broadcast around the world six times a day, seven days a week. Each half-hour broadcast begins with 10 minutes of the latest news, followed by 20 minutes of feature program- ming. A different four- or five-minute feature is broad- cast each day. During the week there are reports about important issues in developing countries, agriculture, I NTERESTING AND SUBSTANTIVE , S PECIAL E NGLISH PROGRAMS QUICKLY BECAME SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR ON VOA — AND THEY STILL ARE . B Y S HELLEY G OLLUST F O C U S O N U . S . B R O A D C A S T I N G S VOA’ S S PECIAL E NGLISH P ROGRAM I S R EALLY S PECIAL In many countries English teachers require their students to listen to Special English broadcasts.