Who are you listening to?

I started working as an Editor for the British publishing company Macmillan last October. I work in the English Language department and help to check everything is correct and accurate in the textbooks before they are printed. I am also involved in planning the content of the textbook: activities, pictures, design and audio. Last December I attended a recording session in London where several actors read scripts that will eventually become the CD which accompanies every copy of The Business 2.0 (this is the book I work on!). This was lots of fun and very surprising. I say surprising because, having spent roughly ten years of my life teaching English and listening to a variety of class Cds, you start to recognise a lot of the voices you hear. For example, you might be listening to an activity in Total English and you realise it’s the same actor who does a listening activity in Business one:one. It’s always the same people! So, back to the recording session – imagine my surprise when the actors start to read the scripts and I completely recognise all of their voices! It was so strange. I felt quite shy as I was talking to them – as if they were celebrities! I told them I had heard their voices on many occasions over the years and they were very nice and polite, but it seems that this kind of work isn’t their main job. Most of them star in a BBC Radio 4 drama called ‘The Archers’. This is an extremely popular radio drama with over five million listeners and the first episode was broadcast over sixty years ago! It’s funny to think the people you are listening to in your lessons are actually VERY famous in the UK!
I think ‘The Archers’ could have a blog entry all to itself so maybe I will leave that until next time. Until then, enjoy your listening activities!

Here is a link to a documentary about the making of The Archers:
YouTube – The Archers – Behind the Scenes Pt 1

Here is a link for more information about The Business 2.0:
The Business 2.0