LISTENERS’ CORNER page 20 Another angle
Illustration: Film stills from a documentary film about volunteering abroad with cross-cultural
Solutions, an organization which specializes in short-term volunteer abroad programmes.
A) The topic
1) Use the pictures to imagine where the scene is set and imagine a story involving all these
people
A young man is lying on the beach. He must be on holiday. He could be supervising the
young man's homework. I suppose he's helping him with his homework. The other
characters are brown-skinned and dark-haired. They might be from India or South
America. The man in picture 2 may be one of the characters' father or teacher.
The man on the beach could have fallen in love with the girl when he was on holiday in India or South
America. He's introduced to her family and meets her father in picture three. He might be helping her
younger brother with his homework.
The man who is relaxing on the beach in picture 1 could be a teacher in India. The older man in
picture 2 might be one of his students' fathers or the headmaster of the school where he works. In
picture 3, he could be supervising one of his students. The girl in picture 4 must be another student.
B) Open your ears CD 1 track 10: Can you deduce what the recording is about?
The first sentence was certainly spoken by the man in picture 1 as he mentions holidays. The
second sentence was spoken by a man who speaks English with an accent, which could be an
Indian accent. As he speaks of children and of a learning experience, we can imagine that the
sentence was uttered by the middle-aged man in picture 2. We can hear the same voice in the third
and in the first sentences. The man speaks of the different life. So he might have decided to change
his routine and teach Indian children instead of lying on the beach.
C) Listen CD 1 Tracks 11-13: Workbook correction page 16
D) In your own words
4) Explain what Jason decided to do and why he made such a decision
Jason decided to join a volunteer program abroad and to share his own experience with Indian
students. He must have taught them English as he works in a financial environment, he might have
taught them mathematics as well. He decided to do something different during his holidays because he
was bored with spending time on the beach. He explains that he wanted to see things from a different
angle.
5) What impact has this experience had on his life?
Jason sounds quite enthusiastic. Obviously this experience had a very positive impact on his life. He
explains that it enabled him to make a cultural jump and to interact with people from another culture.
Thanks to the CCS program , he learnt about India and Hindi and made friends with people from all of
the world. So, for him there should be no hesitation about joining the program. He is absolutely
convinced that this is the right thing to do.
YOUR TASK: Interview a student
Student A is the reporter asking questions
Student B is the volunteer student who explains how important this experience has been
for you.