Группа Learning English http://vkontakte.ru/club17650165 Продолжение транскрипта: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/readinggroup_prog10.pdf
Gary: Hello. Today: books for Africa ... a favourite book of a reading group member …and magazines and how they can help you to read in English. But first, I'm joined in the studio by Nicola Cadbury who works for an organisation called Book Aid International. Nicola, welcome to The Reading Group. Nicola: Hello Gary: Well tell us about the work of Book Aid International – what do you aim to do? Nicola: Well essentially we're working to support education and reading in the developing world. We work in about 40 countries but much of our support is focussed on Africa where there are very extreme levels of poverty and there's also a very small local publishing industry and a very small number of people who can afford books of their own so essentially we're bringing books to young readers and old readers alike to make sure that they really get the most form their education and lifelong learning experiences that libraries can offer. Gary: It's based very much on a belief in the value of books and reading, is that right? Nicola: Yes, we're definitely all book lovers at Book Aid International, it has to be said. We really think that books are the vital key really to educational prospects. In many African countries classes are very large and there's a tendency for teachers to have to teach by rote. So reading is really vital not just to learn basic literacy skills and to build on them but so that children read around the subject and learn more than theyt can do in an often very crowded classroom situation. Gary: So how does this work in practice – tell us about a project that's happening at the moment Nicola One of our major projects is in Ethiopia actually which is one of Africa's poorest countries. There's very high levels of poverty in Ethiopia. There's a very small almost tiny almost non-existent local publishing industry so we're actually working with a variety of partner organisations over there and they ensure that books we supply can get out to readers in lots of areas all around the country. Gary: So books are getting to schools and reaching people in rural communities and colleges and libraries. And how is reading going to help people in a country like Ethiopia? Nicola: The main thing here is that reading is the key to literacy. People must learn to read and also have the habit of reading in order to have well embedded literacy skills and to maintain those literacy skills throughout life and there's employment prospects – there's the basic level of participating in society. Gary: Another project the organisation is working on is in Sierra Leone working with libraries. Tell us about that one. Nicola: In Sierra Leone we're actually, our main partner there is the Sierra Leone library board. Recent conflict meant that virtually their entire library network was destroyed but there're very very proactive staff out there. So they'be been building up small community libraries in areas of particular need. Gary: What's going on in those libraries in Sierra Leone? Nicola: Well what they've done is they've actually got really very colourful picture books, very exciting story-lines, many of which were donated by Book Aid International and they've just run sort of special reading groups trying to enthuse children about books, getting them to read these lovely illustrated books and then to talk back with the group, share what they found enjoyable about it and just to get kids talking about reading and finally reading all the time and I think that's been really exciting. Gary: Well finally, Nicola, you've brought along a book with you, "A Life Like Mine", it's called.