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In 1959, the Voice of America began to broadcast special programs for English learners. Some language experts thought the idea would fail but millions of listeners have welcomed Special English which is read one-third slower than the 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 and 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. Visitors to voaspecialenglish.com 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 watch videos in Special English while accessing the Word Book. English language learners can also access the service at voaspecialenglish.com/mobile. As Special English expands into social media, the goal of the program remains a commitment to follow English learners wherever their interests take them.
