VOA标准英语2014--在非洲，新技术帮助教女人阅读

 

In Africa, New Technologies Help Teach Women to Read 在非洲，新技术帮助教女人阅读

More Africans are communicating via text, social media and email.

In Senegal, literacy experts are using the new technologies to motivate and teach women to read. The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization rolled out the program in Dakar in 2012, but is now expanding it to six other African countries.

Mariama Daffe, one of the program's participants, is learning to write and work with numbers.

She sits in front her TV at her house in the Diamaguène part of Pikine, a low-income suburb of Dakar. Daffe started this at-home study program a year ago at the age of 39.

UNESCO partnered with the Ministry¹ of Education to create these literacy modules². They run daily on state television. Some days, it is counting, other days, it is spelling.

The lessons have made some of the women more independent.

“These days I have my mobile phone and I can read messages and I can send messages too,” Daffe said. “I do not have to go to anyone else to give them my mobile phone to read it for me.”

After finishing her lesson, Daffe prepares dinner for her husband and three kids. She finds the lessons to be convenient and manages to fit in three modules a week even though she works full-time³ and commutes⁴ two hours by bus each day.

Senegal has limited funds to teach literacy and at-home study programs are cheap and easy to manage. However, some women do prefer the classroom.

At an elementary school just 10 minutes down the road from Daffe's house, women practice writing French in cursive on the chalkboard.

At least two-thirds of illiterate⁵ adults in Senegal are women, but Astou Keita, who is 39, says it is never too late to learn.

“My kids laugh at me. They think it is funny that I started learning at this age," she said. "When I make mistakes, they correct me. But I feel very proud of it and I have nothing to regret.”

Instructor⁶ Mamadou Diallo rigs up the interactive⁷ display wall using a projector⁸ and his laptop. The students use the wall during the math portion of the class.

Diallo says the first time the women saw the interactive display wall, they were mesmerized⁹ and anxious to try it. He told them "first we need to work on the chalkboard before we can start the math." He says it has been a joy for them to learn how to use new technology.

Diallo turns to the class and asks a student to read the word problem and perform the first calculation. Mame Ndack Mboup, 50, raises her hand and begins reading the writing on the chalkboard.

“We are going to the store to buy three chickens for 3,500 CFA each,” she said, reading out loud. “How much money will it cost in total?”

She takes the pen and pauses before she begins to write. She then calculates on the wall, multiplying 3,500 by three.

UNESCO gives money to each class to invest. Mame Ndack Mboup is treasurer¹⁰ for the class-run business. The women buy food in bulk and sell it for profit. They practice these transactions in the classroom.

Mboup says they started with about $100 and brought onions in bulk for $1 a kilo. The women sold the onions at the market for $1.20 a kilo. So far the class has earned $700.

Classes are held in the evenings, three nights a week.

The classes are free and the women can come as long as they want. UNESCO is expanding the program to Kenya, Nigeria and Gambia with up to six other African countries adopting similar literacy programs this year.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 modules   

n.模块( module的名词复数 )；单元；（宇宙飞船上各个独立的）舱；组件

参考例句：

• The course consists of ten core modules and five optional modules. 这门课程包括十个必修单元和五个选修单元。
• Our English course is divided into modules on poetry, drama, and novels. 我们的英语课分为诗歌、戏剧和小说等单元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

4 commutes   

上下班路程( commute的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She commutes from Oxford to London every day. 她每天上下班往返于牛津与伦敦之间。
• Barbara lives in Oxford and commutes. 芭芭拉住在牛津，通勤往来。

5 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

6 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

7 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

8 projector   

n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机

参考例句：

• There is a new projector in my office.我的办公室里有一架新的幻灯机。
• How long will it take to set up the projector?把这个放映机安放好需要多长时间？

9 mesmerized   

v.使入迷( mesmerize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country girl stood by the road, mesmerized at the speed of cars racing past. 村姑站在路旁被疾驶而过的一辆辆车迷住了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My 14-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the movie Titanic. 我14岁的女儿完全被电影《泰坦尼克号》迷住了。 来自互联网

10 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。