About the Author

Hilary P. https://adeptenglish.com/authors/hilary/ is a professional psychotherapist and has

practised in the United Kingdom for over 20 years. Hilary has a keen interest in language learning,
with a classical language educational background. Hilary's particular interests & experience is in
psychology, education & learning, especially online learning and language acquisition.

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Transcript For Learn English Article 572

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 English Listening Practice A Letter From Afghanistan
People Do Learn English Through Listening
A letter, written in English by a teenage girl in Afghanistan, is **the topic for today’s English listening
practice https://adeptenglish.com/english/listening/**. It’s a solemn reminder that there are many
who are not as fortunate as us and that education is a gift that not everyone receives.

One thing that really struck me about this letter is how much it reminded me of studying history at
school. How people, in the past, could not go to school because they were poor or because they
had the wrong skin colour. That denying people an education was a "Thing of the past". To think
some parts of the world are still like this is a reminder we still have a lot of work to do.

It’s difficult to really understand the problems of people who live thousands of miles away in a
strange country with different customs. But there are some things, basic things we can all
understand, the need for food, safe homes and looking after and educating our children.

I hope this lesson helps

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hZGVwdGVuZ2xpc2guY29tL2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdC8
you to learn English today. I also hope it makes you think about a little girl a thousand miles away.

Transcript: English Listening Practice A Letter From

Afghanistan
Hi there. Today I'm going to talk about something which I heard on BBC Radio Four
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001b3zt a few weeks ago. It's a letter from an Afghan school
girl, a girl in Afghanistan. And she's describing her experience under the Taliban and how she is
being stopped from going to school and how she feels about that.

> Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will **help you to speak English
fluently**. All you have to do is listen https://open.spotify.com/show/7ixeOS7ezPTZSaISIx2TTw. So
start listening now and find out how it works.

A letter from Afghanistan

It's quite a heartfelt piece and I wanted to share it with you as she writes very, very well in English. So

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this podcast https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/learn-english-through-listening/id1134891957 is
for anyone who is living under a regime where you are denied education, denied access to English,
language learning. And my hope is that people are able to use the free resources
https://adeptenglish.com/downloads that Adept English provides in these circumstances. And don't
forget whatever your circumstances, if you are learning English on your own, if you are teaching
yourself English, then don't forget to sign up for our free course https://7rules.adeptenglish.com/,
The Seven Rules of Adept English https://adeptenglish.com/language-courses/free-7-rules-of-
adept-english/.

These Seven Rules help you identify the best method, the quickest method, the most efficient
method for learning English. Well worth signing up for, and it just needs you to put an email address
in on our website at adeptenglish.com.

Comparison of the lives of women

OK. I would say during my lifetime, in the UK, that things have changed a great deal for women. It's
not that things are entirely equal. I don't think the battle is entirely won. I think that if you look at the
senior management in most large companies, you will find that it is still dominated by men.

However, there is a lot less holding women back than there used to be. Women who were born in
the UK in the early part or the mid part of the 1900s, probably right until the sixties or the seventies
were held back, I would say. They did have access to education. They had some access to
employment and jobs, but when they married and when they had children that access certainly
used to close down.

It's a little different now, it's somewhat better. We're not entirely there on equality, but we're getting
closer. And I can honestly say in my life now it's hard to think of where I'm held back because I'm a
woman. It's very different of course, if you are living in a country like Afghanistan, especially under
the rule of the Taliban.

Education is important to equality between men and women

One of the most important things for me has been my education. I was very fortunate to have access
to a grammar school education and a university education in the UK. I cannot imagine what it is like
for girls who are denied an education.

In Afghanistan, since the Taliban took over again, girls have been prevented from going to school

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/girls-in-afghanistan-school-taliban. Women
have been blocked from their jobs and it's made impossible for women and girls to travel any
distance without a male companion, a male from their family usually. So it's not just education
that's blocked. It's lots of forms of freedom.

The letter strikes a chord

So when I heard this letter from the girl in Afghanistan on the radio, it 'struck a chord'. That means I
had an emotional reaction to it. This girl's English is good. She talks about how she learned English
listening to the BBC on the radio and that she's now teaching her brothers and sisters.

So most of her letter is fairly easy to understand. It will be clear to you. The only part I was unsure of,
she refers to her father as her 'Babajan' (?). And I think this means 'father' in either Persian or Pashto,
but if anyone can shed any light on this, can educate me about this, I'd be really pleased!

The letter itself

She writes as follows and I'll read it directly to you.

"August 15th, 2021 was a Sunday. In the afternoon, I was studying for my mid-term tests. I heard that
there were crowds running, shouting, and calling that the Taliban had come to Kabul and ordering
women and girls to go to their homes. I stopped studying. I felt afraid. There was a call from school
that 'Maybe tomorrow we won't have the exam'.

What was happening was beginning to really frighten me. I'm 16 years old. And I am amazed that I
have kept myself alive for this long. I was born in an insecure province, in an insecure country.
Afghanistan has been recognized by UNICEF https://www.unicef.org/ as the worst place to be born
for a child. My childhood is a living example of the Taliban terror. I don't remember a day when I
lived without the fear of losing my loved ones.

I lost my father because of the Taliban's attack in our area. And since then, our family has struggled a
lot. I miss my Babajan. I feel we have all lost our childhood. That feeling of 'doing things just for the
hell of it' - that almost feels like a dream, a thing that happened too long ago. It feels as though it
never existed in the first place. That day, a year ago, I stopped being a girl who lived a simple life,
going to school and helping my mother at home.

My life changed. By late afternoon, the Taliban were in the city. On television, we saw them, all men,

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sitting in the parliament chairs, walking in the halls of the presidential palace and raising their white
flag. It didn't feel possible that the Taliban with just their motorbikes could destroy many armies,
including America's.

I'm lucky I speak English. I learn it listening to the BBC. And I'm now teaching my siblings by listening
to the radio. But today it feels like being a girl is a big crime in a country like Afghanistan. For a while,
I have asked myself, 'Why can't I study? What are these men frightened of?'

The only thing they seem to want us to learn is that girls are not of any value. My father wanted me
to learn and he was a good man. The Taliban are trampling on hope and freedom. They are hanging
us with ropes of despair. I do not know where we will go, whether we will stay or go, whether we will
survive or be killed.

I read all the time and I write. Nothing will stop me from learning. I face many obstacles, but it all
makes me stronger."

Quote for C Joybell Cm

The Afghan girl then quotes C Joybell C - that's a pen name.

"I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to
love it because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air, with no landing in sight that we force
our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight.

And as we fly, we may still not know where we are going, but the miracle is in the unfolding of the
wings. You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings,
the winds will carry you."

She ends with her own words.

"Being a girl in Afghanistan is harder than anything else in the world. Please don't forget that we
have to support each other. Please don't forget Afghan girls."

An insight and an inspiration

I found this piece of writing a real insight into the experience of an Afghan girl, living under the
regime of the Taliban. It made me think how fortunate we are, those of us who have access to
education.

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And it also made me think how resourceful people become when they are denied learning. It's still
possible for this girl to learn English through the BBC on the radio, despite her circumstances. That's
testament to the human spirit, isn't it I think? I just wanted to share that with you.

Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.

> Thank you so much for listening. Please help me **tell others about this podcast by reviewing or
rating it**. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free
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Links
* UNICEF https://www.unicef.org/

* BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001b3zt

* Guardian Article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/girls-in-afghanistan-school-

taliban

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