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The Guggenheim opened in October of nineteen fifty-nine. That same month, the Voice of America began to broadcast special programs for English learners. Some language experts thought the idea would fail. But millions of listeners welcomed Special English.
Special English is read one-third slower than VOA's other English programs. The slower speed is combined with an extra effort to make the writing easy to understand.
Most of the words come from a vocabulary list that gets updated about every ten years. It began with one thousand words. Today it has about five hundred more. But writers can use any other words they need to report a story if the meaning is clear.
VOA Special English is an example of a controlled language. Another example is called Simplified Technical English. This language was developed to make it easier to understand and translate documents used at aircraft repair centers around the world.
Special English is popular because it helps people learn American English while they learn about world news, science, American life and other subjects. The first broadcast was ten minutes of news to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
There was no special announcement. Announcer Paul Parks just said, "Here is the news in Special English." Feature programs were added later, starting with Special English versions of short stories by famous writers. That program, AMERICAN STORIES, can be heard each Saturday.
Today, Special English writers do a lot more original reporting and the programs are more lively. But one thing has never changed. Special English has a loyal following -- in homes, cars and classrooms throughout the world.
Some people are second-generation fans whose own children are now growing up with Special English. And not just on radio, but also TV and the Web: voaspecialenglish.com is one of VOA's most heavily visited sites.
Visitors can read and listen to programs, write comments, find shows they missed and sign up to receive programs by weekly e-mail. They can download MP3s and podcasts and access the Word Book. And they can watch videos in Special English. There is also voaspecialenglish.com/mobile. And Special English is expanding into social media. The goal, as always, is to follow English learners wherever their interests take them.
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