Losing your mother tongue - 6 Minute English

What does it mean for a child refugee to lose their first language? Sam and Rob hear the story of a woman who replaced her native Czech for English when her family had to leave their home country, and they teach you new vocabulary along the way.

❓❓❓ This week's question:
According to the United Nations, how many people around the world are currently living as displaced refugees?
a) 3 million
b) 53 million
c) 103 million
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Vocabulary

✔️ mother tongue
native language; the first language you learn from your parents as a child

✔️ (someone is) dunked into
suddenly placed into a new, unfamiliar situation for a short time before being removed again

✔️ have faith
have confidence or trust in something or someone

✔️ sort itself out
(phrasal verb) stop being a problem without anyone having to do anything

✔️ full-fledged
complete; fully developed

✔️ either-or
situation where only a choice between two options, with no third alternative, is possible

[Cover: Getty Images]
You can download the transcript and audio for this programme here: ???? https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2023

More 6 Minute English episodes:

⭐ The hidden life of buffets: https://youtu.be/vP3VOKBcloo
⭐ Doomscrolling: Why do we do it: https://youtu.be/WsKg6HsoDaw
⭐ Can AI have a mind of its own: https://youtu.be/tHZRXN_pVi8
⭐ Climate change: Are there too many people: https://youtu.be/qoNRZKgLDhg
⭐ Songwriting: https://youtu.be/X5YjfOKBffU
⭐ The hidden life of buffets: https://youtu.be/8p7HytjrKj4

???????????? SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos to help you improve your English: https://www.youtube.com/bbclearningen...

Visit our website ???? https://www.bbclearningenglish.com
Follow us on Instagram ???? https://www.instagram.com/bbclearning...
Follow us on Twitter ???? https://www.twitter.com/bbcle
Find us on Facebook ???? https://www.facebook.com/bbclearninge...

Get our app:
Android ???? bit.ly/2PeLcf6
iPhone ???? apple.co/2wmG2GU

We like receiving and reading your comments - please use English when you comment ????

#learnenglish #mothertongue #6minuteenglish