Special English

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Special English

Special English is a controlled version of the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
first used on October 19, 1959 and presently employed by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
broadcasting

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is distribution of Sound and/or video Signalling s which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
service Voice of America

Voice of America

Voice of America is the official external Radio broadcasting and television broadcasting service of the Federal government of the United States....
in daily broadcasts. The news is read slowly, using a limited vocabulary (about 1500 words) and simplified grammar. There is a short pause between adjacent words so that word boundaries are easily discerned. The intended audience of Special English are people who have studied English in school, but do not speak it in daily usage.

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Encyclopedia

Special English is a controlled version of the English language

English language

United States

Broadcasting

Voice of America

Examples

For example, a December 2, 2002 script describes diabetes in this manner:

"The World Health Organization

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health....
estimates that as many as one-hundred-twenty-million people have the disease diabetes. Diabetes is the name for several diseases with one thing in common: there is too much glucose

Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
, or sugar, in the blood. The disease develops when the body does not produce enough insulin

Insulin

Insulin is a hormone with extensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems . Insulin causes most of the body's cells to take up glucose from the blood , storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stops use of fat as an energy source....
or produces no insulin. Or the disease develops when the body cannot use insulin."

Another script from April 4, 2004 talks about the Rolling Stones:

"The popularity of the Beatles led the way for more rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a form of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its roots lay mainly in rhythm and blues, Country music, folk music, gospel music, and jazz....
bands from England to become popular in America. The Rolling Stones was the most important of these bands. The Rolling Stones is one of the few groups from the nineteen-sixties

1960s

The 1960s list of decades were the years from the start of 1960 to the end of 1969. The term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends in the west, particularly United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Italy, and Ger...
that is still performing and recording today. In nineteen sixty-five, the group recorded one of its most famous songs, 'Satisfaction'."

For those listeners whose own language is not English, it not only provides clear and simple news and information, but also helps them improve their use of American English

American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
. In some countries such as the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
, Special English is increasingly popular for junior and intermediate English learners.

Specialized English

Specialized English

Specialized English is a controlled language version of the English language used for radio broadcasting, easier for non-native speakers of English....
is a dialect of Special English developed initially by Feba Radio

Feba Radio

Feba Radio is a broadcasting network. It is driven by Christian values rather than by government or commercial aims. It was established in 1959 in UK as the Far Eastern Broadcasting Associates - associated with Far East Broadcasting Company operating in USA and Philippines and the Far East Broadcasting Associates of India ....
, Words of Hope and The Back to God Hour. The same parameters apply as for Special English—slow speed, short sentences and restricted vocabulary. The vocabulary (word list) is over 90% identical to that of VoA Special English.

The BBC and China Radio International have both used the name "Special English" for slow speed English broadcasts, but they do not appear to have applied the full methodology of the VoA original.

Special English

Examples

See also

External links