Spain is in a recession. More than one in five Spaniards don’t have jobs. Spain’s unemployment is the highest of the seventeen countries that use the Euro. However, one part of the economy is doing well in Spain – English classes.
The EF Education First Company said Spain is a “low proficiency” country in English. Spain is below Italy and a little above Taiwan.
A fifth of the world speaks Spanish. There are many Spanish language TV shows and movies. Spaniards can also watch Hollywood movies dubbed in Spanish. They can watch news from Latin AmericaRichard Vaughan is one of the few English voices on Spanish TV.
“Hello and welcome back to another half-hour segment of Cloverdale’s Corner. Today is Tuesday, and Lourdes has had to leave, but we still have four people here . . .”
Richard Vaughan is from Texas. For thirty-five years, he’s lived in Spain. He owns that country’s biggest English teaching company. His company has its own TV channel. “Aprende Ingles” – Learn English – is Spain’s only national channel in English. People watch his channel and take his classes to get a better job.
“People don’t learn English here for cultural reasons. Some do. But the motive is always, 99% of the time, professional.”
Go on reading with VOA and practice on this topic using some flash gadgets on vocabulary and general comprehension as you can see on the picture.
And if you are brave enough, try to listen before reading.
