ไปดึงคลิปเรื่องคนสเปนหันมาเรียนภาษาอังกฤษเอามาฝากกันครับ มาจาก VOA Special English ที่เป็นช่องพิเศษของสถานีวิทยุเสียงอเมริกาที่ผลิตรายการออกมาเพื่อคนที่เรียนภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาที่สอง หรือภาษาที่สาม โดยเฉพาะ
Spain is struggling(ดิ้นรน) with a recession.(เศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ่) More than one in five Spaniards(คนสเปน) are out of work. The unemployment rate(อัตราว่างงาน) is the highest of the seventeen nations that use(ใช้) the euro.
But one area of the economy(เศรษฐกิจ) that seems to be doing well is English classes.(ชั้นเรียนอังกฤษ) A report this year from the EF Education First company listed(จัด) Spain is a "low proficiency"(รู้ต่ำ) country in English. Spain ranked just below(ต่ำกว่า) Italy and just above Taiwan.About a fifth(หนึ่งในห้า) of the world speaks Spanish.
There are many Spanish language TV shows and movies. Spaniards(คนสเปน) can also watch(ดู) Hollywood movies dubbed(พากษ์) in Spanish or news from Latin America.
One of the few English voices on Spanish TV belongs to Richard Vaughan. Mr. Vaughan is from Texas but for thirty-five years has lived in Spain. He operates(ดำเนินงาน)that country's biggest English teaching company. It even has its own TV channel.(ช่องทีวี) "Aprende Ingles" -- Learn English -- is Spain's only national channel in English.
He says people(ผู้คน) watch his channel and take his classes to get a better job.(งานที่ดีกว่า) "People don't learn English here for cultural reasons.(เหตุผล) Some do. But the motive(แรงจูงใจ) is always, ninety-nine percent of the time, professional.(อาชีพ)" Modern changes in the world economy -- globalization(โลกาภิวัฒน์) -- may offer chances(โอกาส) for a better job in another country.
But economic problems(ปัญหา) at home can also make people feel they have few other choices. The director(ผู้อำนวยการ)of the language center at the London School of Economics says "language learning is up" across(ทั่ว) Europe.
In Spain, some of those studying English hope(หวัง) for jobs in Britain(อังกฤษ) or the United States. But others want to work for international companies with offices in Spain. Many companies(หลายบริษัท) now require workers to be bilingual(รู้สองภาษา) .Dominic Campbell is an American who lives in Madrid and teaches English part time.
He says a lot of jobs now "want at least(อย่างน้อย) Spanish and English. And a lot of them are asking for Spanish, English and French -- especially airlines.(สายการบิน)" He says many of his students thought(คิดว่า) "I've got Spanish, that's all I need. " But people also need jobs.
More than(มากกว่า) forty percent of Spaniards in their twenties(วัย 20-30) are out of work.(ตกงาน) Inigo Gomez has an education degree but could not find a teaching job.(งานสอน) "So I think it's a good idea to go to the United Kingdom and try(ลอง) to find a job as a Spanish teacher." And while he does that, many Spaniards for the first time will be spreading their new education in English at home.
For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti. You can learn English and get the latest news every day at voaspecialenglish.com.
(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 21Jul2011)
