0:02 From BBC Learning English .
0:06 Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English . I'm Alice .
0:10 So , it's nearly exam time again
0:13 and the subject of today's show is how to prepare well for an exam .
0:17 I've got some great tips , actually , Alice .
0:19 Oh , have you really ? Can you remind me what grades you got at school ?
0:23 Er , yes , well , something like . . .
0:26 Oh , so you didn't get very good grades ?
0:29 Mm , I probably should've started revising earlier .
0:33 But my learning strategies were very good .
0:36 Well , when you ' revise ' for an exam you ' study information you learned before ' .
0:41 OK , Rob , I'd love to hear more about your learning strategies ,
0:45 but first here's today's quiz question for you .
0:48 What's the word for a system , such as use of special poems or rhymes ,
0:54 to help you remember something ?
1:02 I'll go for b ) Mnemonics .
1:05 Well , we'll find out whether you got the answer right or not later on in the show .
1:09 Now , according to current scientific research ,
1:13 some study methods popular with students aren't actually very effective .
1:17 Don't tell me — putting your textbook under your pillow at night doesn't work .
1:22 Did you try doing that , Rob ?
1:23 Yes , I did , but without much success .
1:26 Maybe I was using the wrong kind of pillow ? !
1:28 Well , let's talk about more conventional methods
1:32 than the book - under - the - pillow one .
1:34 These include summarising , highlighting or underlining text to help you remember it .
1:40 I do love a pack of highlighting pens though .
1:43 Oh , yes , me too . And actually , highlighting text was one of my top tips .
1:48 But I used to get so absorbed with the highlighting ,
1:51 I'm not sure I was actually learning anything useful .
1:53 My notebooks were works of art though !
1:55 Yes , and that's the point made by John Dunlosky ,
1:59 Professor of Psychology at Kent State University in the US ,
2:03 who says that you need to do more than just highlight information .
2:07 You need to test yourself on it . Let's hear from him now .
2:12 Students who can basically test themselves
2:15 or try to retrieve material from their memory
2:18 are going to learn that material in the long run a lot better .
2:21 So , for instance , maybe you start by reading a textbook
2:24 using your favourite highlighter and favourite colours ,
2:26 but then you go back and make flashcards of all the critical concepts
2:30 and instead of just rereading those , you basically try to test yourselves on them .
2:36 Professor John Dunlosky there .
2:38 So he says trying to memorise the material isn't enough .
2:42 You need to do something with it ,
2:44 for example , making flashcards of ' critical ' — or ' important ' — concepts
2:49 and then testing yourself on them .
2:50 By repeatedly testing yourself on something , you strengthen the pathways
2:55 between ' neurons ' — or ' nerve cells ' — in the brain .
2:58 And the more often you do this , the easier it becomes to retrieve information .
3:02 And ' retrieve ' means ' to get something back ' .
3:05 That's right . When you repeatedly test yourself over a longer period of time —
3:10 for example , over months or weeks — this is called ' distributed practice ' —
3:16 and psychologists believe this is a very effective way to learn .
3:19 It sounds like hard work though , doesn't it ?
3:21 I prefer the ' cramming ' method —
3:24 which means ' to try and learn lots of information in a short period of time ' ,
3:28 for example , the night before the exam .
3:32 We don't cram to learn other things ,
3:35 like music or dancing , or football or language learning .
3:39 It's far more effective to join a conversation class
3:42 and practise speaking every week
3:44 than to practise for hours in front of the mirror the night before your oral exam !
3:48 Hm , that's a good point .
3:50 In fact , I used to sing irregular French verbs to myself ,
3:53 every day in the shower , for weeks before my French exam ,
3:57 and that helped me remember them more easily .
4:01 Making different types of associations with what you're trying to learn —
4:04 for example , musical associations — is meant to be effective .
4:08 Let's listen now to Professor Dunlosky talking about visual associations .
4:14 I would encourage students as they're reading to try to elaborate mentally ,
4:17 using images as they're reading ,
4:19 to kind of develop a more vivid picture of what they're reading .
4:22 Again , that'll help quite a bit for some kinds of studies —
4:24 maybe history and so forth — and a little bit less so for more conceptual studies .
4:28 And if you ' elaborate ' on something , it means you ' add more information ' —
4:33 in this case , mental pictures .
4:36 So , creating mental pictures is useful for some subjects , like history or languages .
4:42 But ' conceptual ' subjects — ones ' based on abstract ideas rather than things ' —
4:47 like maths , for example , it might not be so easy to associate ideas with pictures .
4:53 Now what about Albert Einstein ? People say he was a very visual thinker .
4:57 Well , you've got me there , Rob .
4:59 I don't know the answer to that ,
5:01 but I can give you the answer to today's quiz question .
5:04 I asked what's the word for a system ,
5:07 such as use of special poems or rhymes to help you remember something ?
5:22 — Great ! — Well done !
5:23 Research on mnemonics suggests they are a good strategy
5:27 for learning certain kinds of things , like how to spell difficult words .
5:31 For example , the first letters of this sentence —
5:34 " big elephants cause accidents under small elephants " spells " because " .
5:41 Now , do you think you can remember the words we heard today , Rob ?
5:52 distributed practice ,
5:58 Well , that's the end of today's 6 Minute English . Remember to join us again soon !
6:02 — Bye - bye ! — Bye - bye !
6:06 From BBC Learning English .
6:09 Hello . This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English . I'm Phil .
6:15 Some people remember their school days as the best time of their lives .
6:20 For others , it was the worst . Did you enjoy school , Georgie ?
6:24 Most of the time , yes , but there was one thing I didn't like — the school rules !
6:30 Luckily , that's not a problem for pupils at the Bamboo School in Thailand ,
6:35 because there , the children , not the teachers , make the rules !
6:39 Children at the Bamboo School
6:41 are responsible for every part of running the school ,
6:45 from buying food for the kitchens
6:47 to disciplining fellow students and even hiring new staff .
6:51 It's a school run by students , for students .
6:55 Yes . In this programme , we'll be hearing about the Bamboo School ,
6:59 a unique school where the children ' call the shots ' —
7:02 they have ' the power to make the decisions ' .
7:05 We'll also be learning some useful new vocabulary ,
7:08 and before you ask , Phil , yes , the Bamboo School really is made of bamboo !
7:14 Sounds good , Georgie . But first , I have a question for you .
7:19 The Bamboo School is a private school
7:22 for poorer children who can't afford school fees .
7:26 Bamboo School children get educated for free but have to do something in return .
7:34 Is it a ) Teach lessons ?
7:42 Hmm , I guess they have to learn English .
7:45 OK , Georgie , I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme .
7:50 The idea behind the Bamboo School is simple —
7:53 teaching children responsibility by letting them run their own school .
7:58 The school doesn't employ cooks , gardeners or cleaners — it's all done by the pupils .
8:04 Twice a week , children go to the vegetable market with a school officer
8:09 and buy food for all 150 students .
8:13 The prices are then carefully checked by other students , like Nooneem ,
8:17 who manages the food accounts .
8:18 Here's Nooneem speaking with William Kramer ,
8:21 reporter for BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World .
8:26 I am interested in accounting to begin with , so I get excited by it .
8:31 When I actually get to do it , I enjoy it a lot , since we are doing the actual job .
8:36 With this hands - on experience ,
8:38 we see the school's real spending and the things we purchased .
8:42 So , you went to a local school before , just in this area ?
8:46 What are the differences between that school and this school ?
8:50 My old school wasn't like this . It was just classes and then home .
8:55 Here , I get to try so many things , gain real world experience ,
8:59 and work on my leadership skills with my friends .
9:02 I never had these opportunities before and the school has been amazing !
9:06 Nooneem says shopping at the market is a ' hands - on ' experience —
9:11 she's ' actively involved in doing something practical ' ,
9:14 rather than getting someone else to do it .
9:17 She enjoys managing the food accounts , because it's real world experience .
9:22 The phrase ' real world ' describes how the world works in reality ,
9:26 rather than someone's idea of it , which might be unrealistic .
9:30 Children at the Bamboo School
9:32 get opportunities to try something new and different outside the classroom ,
9:37 increasing the chances they'll find something they're really good at .
9:41 Of course , there are some adults — every school needs teachers .
9:46 But what's special is how children are trusted ,
9:49 and respond positively to that trust .
9:52 Here's reporter William Kramer again , speaking with Myra Anubi
9:56 for BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World .
10:01 So , just to be clear ,
10:02 it seems like the grown - ups are still in charge in the classrooms ,
10:06 but outside it's the kids who run stuff .
10:09 Yeah , I think that's broadly right ,
10:12 and I think one of the things that's interesting about this school
10:14 is it manages to be quite conventional in some ways
10:18 and really innovative , even radical , in others .
10:21 At the Bamboo School , the ' grown - ups ' — another word for ' adults ' —
10:25 are still in charge in the classroom ,
10:28 but it's the kids , or children , who run everything .
10:32 It's a radical idea and means that besides lessons , there's lots of work to be done .
10:38 Children do two hours of ' community service ' ,
10:41 that's ' work that is done without pay to help people in a community ' , every week .
10:46 Anyway , I think it's time to reveal the answer to your question .
10:50 Yes , we just heard that kids go to the Bamboo School for free ,
10:55 but do something in return . But what ?
10:58 Georgie guessed it was learning English ,
11:00 which was the wrong answer , I'm afraid .
11:04 In fact , pupils at the school have to plant trees , 400 of them every year !
11:11 Right , let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme
11:15 about a school where the ' kids ' , or ' children ' , ' call the shots ' ,
11:19 a phrase meaning ' have the power to make the important decisions ' .
11:24 ' Hands - on ' experience means ' being actively involved
11:27 ' in doing something practical ,
11:29 ' rather than just talking about it , or getting someone else to do it ' .
11:33 The phrase ' real world ' is used to describe ' how the world really is ,
11:38 ' rather than someone's idea of it , which may be unrealistic or untypical ' .
11:43 A ' grown - up ' is ' an informal word for an adult ' ,
11:46 and a ' kid ' is ' an informal word for a child ' .
11:49 And finally , ' community service '
11:52 is ' work that is done without pay to help people in a community ' .
11:56 Once again , our six minutes are up , but remember to join us again next time
12:01 for more trending topics and useful vocabulary , here at 6 Minute English .
12:06 — Goodbye for now . — Bye !
12:10 From BBC Learning English .
12:13 Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English . I'm Alice .
12:16 And I'm Neil . Hello .
12:18 Hello , Neil . You went to university , didn't you ?
12:20 Ah , yes , university — the best days of my life .
12:24 I made fantastic friends , went to great parties .
12:28 Well , yeah , I did some work , but probably not enough .
12:33 Mm , well , the subject of today's show is student mental health .
12:37 So , Neil , do you think you're looking back at your university days
12:40 ' through rose - tinted spectacles ' ?
12:42 And that means ' looking at a situation as being better than it really was ' .
12:46 I did feel out of my comfort zone when I arrived .
12:49 Yes , everyone seemed to know everyone . Knew where to go .
12:53 Yes , well , being ' out of your comfort zone '
12:55 means ' being in a situation that you aren't familiar with
12:58 ' and which makes you feel nervous ' .
13:01 Did you talk to anyone about your feelings , Neil ?
13:03 Did you get any ' counselling ' ?
13:06 And that means ' professional help with personal or psychological problems ' .
13:12 I'm one of those men who isn't good at talking about their feelings , Alice .
13:16 — Oh , right . — I just felt a bit ' homesick ' ,
13:18 that's all — I ' missed my friends and family ' .
13:21 — Oh , dear ! — But let's move on , shall we !
13:23 Why don't you ask me today's quiz question ?
13:25 All right then , so here it is .
13:27 In a survey of students at Imperial College London ,
13:31 how many students said they suffered from high levels of stress
13:35 or a mental health condition during their time at college ?
13:38 Was it a ) One out of four ?
13:44 Or c ) Three out of four ?
13:47 Well , I'm going to go for c ) Three out of four ,
13:50 because I do think that university life can be more stressful than people realise .
13:54 Yes . And ' stress ' means ' pressure or worry caused by a difficult situation ' .
13:59 OK , we'll find out if you're right or wrong later on .
14:03 Now , in the UK , there has been a rise in students using counselling services .
14:10 Well , let's listen to Kirsty , a student at Exeter University ,
14:14 talking about why she has had problems .
14:16 And here's a question for you while you listen —
14:19 did she enjoy her first days in college ?
14:23 No . The thing is , it's a real balancing act .
14:26 When I first got to university ,
14:28 I don't think I'd really realised that I'd forgotten how to make friends .
14:32 You know , I'd been with the same school friends for seven years ,
14:34 and so I was trying to balance , you know , social success with academic success ,
14:41 whilst learning how to look after myself at quite a young age .
14:45 And I think that's the experience of a lot of young people
14:47 and people really struggle with it .
14:51 What's a ' balancing act ' , Alice ?
14:53 It's where you ' try to give your attention to two or more things at the same time ' .
14:58 So here , Kirsty is trying to balance making new friends
15:01 with doing her academic work and learning to look after herself .
15:05 What does Kirsty mean when she says she's learning to look after herself ?
15:10 Well , to ' look after someone ' means ' to protect or take care of someone '
15:14 and in this case , Kirsty's learning to take care of herself —
15:17 for example , doing her own shopping and cooking .
15:20 OK , let's listen to Dr Ruth Caleb
15:23 of the counselling service at Brunel University in London
15:26 talking about what practical stuff students could learn
15:30 before leaving for university that might make life easier for them .
15:36 Certain things that I think it would be very , very helpful for students
15:40 to have put in place are an ability to do the practical things of life —
15:44 to do the washing , to do the cleaning and so on , being able to cook .
15:49 Budgeting is extremely important in university life .
15:54 And also spending time on your own comfortably .
16:00 Yes , that's excellent advice . I couldn't boil an egg when I arrived at uni .
16:04 Oh , really ? Can you do it now , Neil ?
16:06 — Mm , just about , just about . — Yeah ? Oh , great , OK .
16:08 And what about ' budgeting ' ?
16:09 This means ' planning how much money you have and how you will spend it ' .
16:13 I'm still pretty bad at that .
16:16 However , I am very good at spending time on my own comfortably .
16:20 Yes , I can believe that — feet up , watching TV with a takeaway .
16:24 Takeaway , of course a takeaway , cos I can't cook anything .
16:26 — No . — Not even an egg !
16:27 You know me so well .
16:29 So how about the answer to today's quiz question , Alice ?
16:33 All right then . I asked in a survey of students at Imperial College London ,
16:37 how many said they suffered from high levels of stress
16:40 or a mental health condition during their time at college ?
16:45 Was it a ) One out of four ?
16:53 Or c ) Three out of four ?
16:55 And I said c ) Three out of four .
16:58 Yes . And you are correct ! Well done , Neil !
17:02 The survey , completed by over 1,000 students ,
17:05 also found that almost 70 % of those that suffer from stress
17:09 do so at least once a week , and 9 % of students feel stressed constantly .
17:15 ' Stressed ' means ' anxious and worried ' .
17:17 Well , I feel anxious just thinking about all that stress .
17:21 — Mm . — Can we hear today's words again ?
17:23 We certainly can . They are through rose - tinted spectacles ,
17:29 out of your comfort zone ,
17:43 look after yourself ,
17:52 Well , that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute English .
17:56 We hope you've had a stress - free time .
17:58 Please do join us again soon . You know where to find us , don't you ?
18:02 Go to BBC Learning English dot com where you'll find grammar points ,
18:06 vocabulary and more editions of 6 Minute English .
18:14 From BBC Learning English .
18:18 Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English .
18:20 — I'm Rob . — And I'm Neil , hello .
18:23 Well , Neil , I've got a question for you straight away .
18:25 Were you a summer baby ? Were you born in the summer ?
18:29 Er , yes , I was actually . Late summer .
18:32 OK . And did you go to university ?
18:38 Strange questions here , Rob .
18:40 Not really . My questions do make sense , because we're talking about
18:44 the impact when you were born has on how well you perform at school .
18:48 OK . Are you calling me stupid here , Rob ?
18:52 Nothing like that ! Well , maybe .
18:54 But let's wait and see what the experts have to say .
18:57 But before that , I've got another question for you .
18:59 OK then . Let's see if I'm clever enough to answer it !
19:03 OK . Well , based on birth records between 1973 and 1999 ,
19:09 what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States ?
19:14 Is it a ) The 1st of January ?
19:17 b ) The 16th of September ?
19:20 Or c ) The 30th of March ?
19:22 I'm gonna guess the 30th of March .
19:24 OK . Well , we'll hear the answer at the end of the programme . Another question now .
19:29 According to research ,
19:31 are summer - born babies ' more likely ' or ' less likely ' to go to university ?
19:36 Well , we're going to hear from an expert , Lorraine Dearden ,
19:40 who's Professor of Economics and Social Statistics at University College London .
19:45 She was interviewed by the BBC about summer - born babies .
19:49 She talks about the research . How well do they do in tests ? How do they ' perform ' ?
19:56 All the research has shown that summer - born kids
19:59 perform much worse in tests , right through up until the age of 18
20:05 and even they're less likely to attend higher education .
20:09 I mean , those are startling statistics — 20 % less likely to go to university .
20:14 That was Professor Lorraine Deardon
20:16 with some really , really surprising ' statistics ' —
20:19 ' startling ' statistics , in fact .
20:21 Yes , she says summer - born kids perform much worse in tests .
20:27 Yes , these summer - born kids perform worse at school ,
20:31 right through until the age of 18 ,
20:33 when they might be thinking about going to university .
20:36 Yes , university . That's ' higher education ' .
20:39 So the professor said , according to research ,
20:41 summer babies are less likely to go to university — 20 % in fact .
20:47 Really ? Well , don't forget , Rob , I told you I'm a summer baby .
20:50 Well , I went to university .
20:52 Yes , of course . These are just ' statistics ' — just ' figures ' .
20:56 But if you are a parent of a child starting school ,
20:58 these statistics are worrying .
21:00 Well , they shouldn't worry .
21:01 There are lots of people who were born in the summer
21:04 that have done very well at university , thank you .
21:06 And some of them are now professors .
21:09 OK . Or BBC presenters , like you , Neil .
21:11 Well , yes , like me . But there is a problem .
21:14 Let's say you have a child . He's a boy , born in August .
21:17 He's now four years old , so he can start school this September .
21:22 But in his class there are students whose birthday is coming very soon ,
21:26 so they're going to be five — that's almost a year older than your child .
21:31 Mm , so parents want their kids to do well at school .
21:34 They're concerned — and now the government is trying to help —
21:38 they're trying to ' address ' those ' concerns ' .
21:41 England's schools minister Nick Gibbs
21:43 says that the government wants to change the ' admissions ' rules for schools .
21:47 The rule now in much of England
21:48 is that children must start school in September after their fourth birthday .
21:52 The schools minister says these rules should be changed .
21:56 " Parents know their children best , " said Mr Gibb .
21:59 Parents don't want to send their children to school before they're ready .
22:02 So here is the ' proposal ' — or ' suggested new rules ' .
22:06 If a child is born in the summer ,
22:07 parents could ' delay ' the child's start of school by up to a year .
22:11 So the child will start school at five years old .
22:14 Great , but does our expert Professor Lorraine Deardon think that's a good idea ?
22:20 Is this the way to address the problem of age difference ?
22:25 I mean , basically , the reason why these children do worse in tests
22:31 right throughout their life is simply that they're up to a year younger
22:34 than their September - born colleagues and this does nothing to address this .
22:40 Professor Lorraine Deardon .
22:42 She says that the new policy does nothing to address the problem of age difference .
22:46 There are still going to be four - year - olds in the class .
22:49 Perhaps there will be more five - year - olds now ,
22:52 because parents can delay their child's start at school .
22:55 Yes , the new policy addresses the concerns of parents
22:58 that their children are not ready for school at four years old .
23:01 But there will always be this age difference in a classroom
23:04 and many of the younger children will do worse in tests .
23:08 Professor Deardon says that the proposal to change the schools admission policy
23:12 does nothing to address this .
23:14 OK , time now for the answer
23:16 to the question I set you at the beginning of the programme .
23:19 I asked based on birth records between 1973 and 1999 ,
23:24 what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States ?
23:28 Is it a ) The 1st of January ? b ) The 16th of September ?
23:31 Or c ) The 30th of March ?
23:34 And I guessed the 30th of March .
23:36 But you are wrong , I'm afraid .
23:38 The answer is actually the 16th of September .
23:40 So happy birthday to anybody who was born then anyway !
23:43 Yeah . OK , Rob . Can you tell us the words we learned today again please ?
23:48 Of course . We heard more likely ,
24:09 address the problem .
24:11 Well , that's the end of 6 Minute English . Please do join us again soon .
24:18 From BBC Learning English .
24:22 Hello . This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English . I'm Phil .
24:27 Are you a big reader , Phil ?
24:29 Sure , I enjoy reading
24:31 and it's also a great way to pass the time on my daily commute to work .
24:35 But reading isn't just a nice thing to do — it's an essential skill ,
24:40 something you need for everyday activities ,
24:43 whether that's finding out the news by reading a newspaper
24:46 or buying groceries by reading the labels .
24:49 And that's why I was shocked by a recent UN report
24:53 estimating that around the world over 700 million adults are ' illiterate ' ,
24:59 which means they ' can't read or write ' .
25:02 Wow ! That's a huge number of people
25:04 excluded from doing basic day - to - day things .
25:07 So , what can be done to get more adults reading and writing ?
25:11 In this programme , we'll be hearing about projects in two very different countries
25:16 trying to do just that .
25:18 And , as usual , we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well .
25:22 But first , I have a question for you , Phil .
25:26 I mentioned a recent UN report
25:28 on the high numbers of people unable to read and write ,
25:31 but illiteracy is not a new problem .
25:35 Since 1967 , the UN has been highlighting the importance of ' literacy ' ,
25:41 ' being able to read and write ' ,
25:42 with a day of celebration called International Literacy Day .
25:47 But when does it take place ?
25:50 Is it a ) The 8th of March ? b ) The 8th of June ?
25:55 Or c ) The 8th of September ?
25:57 I think International Literacy Day is on the 8th of September .
26:02 OK , Phil , we'll find out if that's correct at the end of the programme .
26:08 The biggest reason people grow up illiterate is not going to school ,
26:12 and that's especially true for people living in the coastal towns of Bangladesh .
26:17 Because these towns flood regularly , families are always on the move ,
26:21 making it hard for children to get an education .
26:25 The Friendship Project teaches reading and writing
26:27 to groups of Bangladeshi women and girls .
26:30 They also teach ' numeracy ' ,
26:31 which means ' the ability to do basic maths like counting and adding up ' .
26:35 Here one student , Rashida , explains the impact it's had on her
26:40 to BBC World Service programme People Fixing The World .
26:47 My parents never sent me to school
26:49 and I've suffered from not being able to read and write .
26:51 My children were embarrassed that I was illiterate .
26:54 I couldn't even do basic accounting .
26:56 Until now , I've had to use my fingerprint as a signature as I was illiterate ,
27:01 but now I can sign my name because I can read and write the alphabet ,
27:05 and I'll also be able to keep an account of my expenses .
27:08 No - one can cheat me any more .
27:12 Before the Friendship Project , Rashida couldn't write her ' signature ' —
27:17 her ' name written in her own handwriting ' .
27:20 Instead , she had to use her fingerprint .
27:24 Now , Rashida has learned the alphabet and also some basic maths ,
27:29 so she knows how much money she's spent , and how much she has left .
27:34 This means no - one can ' cheat ' her ,
27:36 can ' trick or swindle ' her into taking her money .
27:40 The Friendship Project is free , and so far over 11,000 adults have completed it .
27:46 But it's not just developing countries that struggle with literacy .
27:50 Our second project takes place much closer to home — the north of England ,
27:55 where charity Read Easy matches adult learners
27:58 with trained volunteers for one - to - one lessons .
28:02 In the UK , one in six adults struggle with reading and writing , including Peter .
28:09 Peter had hearing problems as a child ,
28:12 fell behind at school , and never learned to read .
28:15 Here he is , talking with BBC World Service programme People Fixing The World .
28:22 Everyone takes for granted that you just open a letter and you read it .
28:26 Before I met my wife , I used to have to knock on the neighbour's door —
28:29 " Could you read this for me ? " Can you imagine the embarrassment ?
28:33 I've tried college , twice .
28:35 Nothing worked , so as far as I'm concerned , I'm thick , I'm stupid ,
28:40 I'm just one of those people , it's never gonna work for me . And that was my life .
28:46 Many of us take it for granted that everyone can read and write .
28:50 If you ' take something for granted ' , you ' assume it's true without checking ' .
28:56 Peter had to ask his neighbours to read his letters ,
28:59 something he found very embarrassing .
29:02 He thought he was ' thick ' — ' stupid and unintelligent ' .
29:06 Now , Peter says learning with Read Easy has changed his life .
29:10 He's literate and is reading his way through the Harry Potter books .
29:15 And he always celebrates International Literacy Day .
29:19 Which reminds me of your question , Beth —
29:21 when does the UN's International Literacy Day take place ?
29:26 I said it was on the 8th of September .
29:28 And that was the correct answer !
29:31 OK , let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme ,
29:35 starting with ' illiterate ' , meaning ' unable to read and write ' .
29:39 ' Numeracy ' is ' the ability to understand basic maths , count , and add up ' .
29:45 Your ' signature ' is ' your name written in your own handwriting style ' .
29:49 It shows that something has been written or agreed by you .
29:53 To ' cheat ' someone means to ' trick or deceive them
29:56 ' in order to get their money or valuables ' .
29:59 If you ' take something for granted ' ,
30:01 you ' assume that it's true without checking up ' .
30:04 And finally , the adjective ' thick ' is an informal word for ' stupid ' .
30:08 Once again , our six minutes are up , but remember to join us again next time
30:13 for more trending topics and useful vocabulary , here at 6 Minute English .
30:18 — Goodbye for now ! — Bye !
30:22 From BBC Learning English .
