Welcome to Spotlight’s Listener Mail Program. I’m Colin Lowther.
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And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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In today’s listener mail program we will travel around the world. We will read comments about something everyone seems to be talking about – food! We will hear about breakfast, the first meal of the day. And we will talk about the kind of food you can buy on the street. We will also hear opinions about BASE jumping. BASE jumpers jump from very high places. Are they brave or insane? Join us for Spotlight’s Listener Mail program.
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What do you eat for the first meal of the day? This is the question we asked you in our program “Breakfast: The First Meal”. Many people eat breakfast. Some parts of this meal are similar around the world. For example, people in many places have some form of bread for breakfast! However, other parts of this meal are very different. Many people told us what they eat for breakfast. Commenter Brazilian Teenager wrote:
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“In Brazil, people usually have something like bread with some butter on it. They will also have a cup of black coffee or sometimes milk and a glass of juice.”
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Namchelsea and Thanh are from Vietnam. They agreed that breakfast was not the most important meal in Vietnam. But Thanh described many of the things that Vietnamese people sometimes do eat for breakfast.
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“In Vietnam, people often have breakfast with many different kinds of food such as bread, cooked egg with bread, Thai rice, cooked rice with baked pork meat, noodle soup, crab rice noodle, and soya milk if they like it. Even though breakfast is not the main meal in Vietnam, we still eat it to make sure we have enough energy for the work day.”
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Dela thought breakfast should be a time to eat some healthy foods.
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“In my country, the Czech Republic, some people have bread and butter with ham on it and a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast. Others like to drink milk, or yogurt with jam or honey. Only a few people eat foods like fruit and vegetables that are necessary for good health. It is bad, and it should change.”
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And NightlyOwl agreed. She wrote:
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“I live in Ukraine. People who like to live a healthy life usually eat omelettes or oatmeal with dried fruit or granola.”
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Thank you all for your comments! If you would like to tell us what YOU eat for breakfast, or listen to the program “Breakfast: The First Meal”, you can visit our website at www.radioenglish.net.
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We go now on another trip around the world to learn about where people may get their food! This time we are talking about street food. Street food is food that people can buy on the street. They buy it from a cart that moves from place to place. Or they can buy it from a small sheltered area called a stall. We told about street food in our program “Street Food Around the World”. Many people wrote to us to tell us about street food where they lived. Alfons told about a few special treats from where he lives.
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“In the Czech Republic our usual street food is a frankfurter in a roll or sausage with bread. It is very unhealthy food. In Prague, in the Wenceslaus square, there is a very famous street food. It is called “Trdlenik”. It is a sweet baked food.
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And if you are ever in Rome, you may want to investigate this suggestion from Vomax:
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“In the central part of Italy, there is a traditional food called “porcetta”. It is pork cooked in a wood oven. Then it is cut and served in a particular kind of bread at a street stall. It is delicious. Many tourists enjoy it when they come to visit Rome.
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Fredip told us a wonderful story. Making street food was one way his family survived through a difficult time. It helped his family become closer to each other. He writes:
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“I am from Quito, Ecuador. When I was unemployed, my wife and my son and daughters started a small business making street food. They prepared “tripa misqui”. In the Quichua language this means “small intestine”. It comes from a cow. It is washed. After that, it is prepared with a sauce of garlic, onion, and spices. Finally, it is cooked over a fire. This food is offered with cooked potatoes or “mote”, which is a special kind of cooked corn. We thank God because I did get a good job. But that time was a period of coming together for our family.”
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Thank you for that wonderful story! And thanks to Vomax and Alfons too for writing to us.
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Our last comments come from our program called “Brave or Insane?” In that program we told about the extreme sport of BASE jumping. People who do this sport jump off very tall structures like mountains or very tall buildings. We asked if you thought the people who do this sport were brave or just insane. People had strong opinions about this program! Tod did not think BASE jumping was a good idea.
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“I think it is insane. It does not sound right to call BASE jumpers brave. Have they thought about why they jump like that? What is the goal of the action? Or do they just do it because it feels interesting? They should think of the bad things that could happen, and their family. Brave? I think it is definitely not the right word in this case.”
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But Rain Bows thought it sounded very exciting. She wrote:
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“It is definitely Insane! I would rather jump out of a moving airplane than BASE jump. But it sounds amazing... I hope one of these days I can dream about BASE jumping.”
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Wsbaser posted a link to a video about BASE jumping. He added:
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“Since I have seen this video it has become my dream... I will do it. It is just a question of time.
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Well, wsbaser - I hope you achieve your dream! Please let us know if you do!
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And thank you to all who have written to us. Do you have a question for Spotlight? Is there something you would like to hear about in a Spotlight program? You can email us your ideas at [email protected]. Or you can find us on Facebook. Just search for Spotlight Radio. Finally, leave a comment on the script page of any program. We hope to hear from you soon!
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The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes have been adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can hear this program again, and read it, on the internet at https://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Listener Mail 128.”
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!