How The BBC WorldService Improved my vocabulary

I have listened to the BBC WorldService for like six years now, and it was kind of bizarre for someone of my age group to be obsessed with radio when smartphones exist but this is how it all started.

In the year 2014, my family relocated to Numan, a town near the state capital called Yola located in Adamawa State, Nigeria. We relocated there temporarily in the month of  November 2014 because Bokoharam insurgents infiltrated our home town and left us with no choice than to run away.

My coming there feels kind of uncomfortable but I was ready to adapt, knowing that it wasn't permanent. 

One day when we went for shopping in the town's roadside market which was actively engaged with commercial motorbikes carrying passengers, hawkers, fish sellers with big basins, irritating sounds from grinding machines and ear-deafening music from the roadside kiosk, there was only one thought ringing in my mind, which was the idea of getting a small radio.

I kind of developed an interest in radio while listening to Radio Nigeria  programmes in my early teens, even though the radio signal was poor.

 It intrigues me to know that I can learn more from listening and it was something that I just discovered for the first time. I always thought that radio was boring having noticed that it was only old men that are fond of listening to it.

Therefore, after giving it a thought I decided to buy a small size radio from one of the hawkers selling torchlights and small-sized electronics.

I am the kind of person that is obsessed with vocabulary building. Anytime I read a book and I came across an unfamiliar word, I would like to know it immediately or write it down to check later.

One evening when the yellow sun was setting down the horizon and the clouds were illuminated with a radiant golden glow, I was sitting on a medium-sized cemented slab near an overhead tank, looking at the gorgeous view while listening to Round Table discussion on CRI radio,  an English programme on the Chinese radio. After a while, as I was tunning my radio, I stumbled on BBC world service.

My Dad was this kind of a radio person, sometimes I do overhead him listening to the English version of BBC Hausa which happens to be BBC world service but that only happens whenever he was trying to tune his radio. 

So that evening I decided to listen to BBC world service and I developed an interest because I kind of like the way they speak(The British accent)  and I was hoping to develop such fluency someday and also The news and reports tend to move with the world trends and most importantly I heard them mention words I know nothing about. 

I also fell in love with their programmes such as The why factor?   which happens to be my favourite and it's about why we do the things we do, there are others such as the documentary, the inquiry, Inspiring personal stories from Outlook, Crowd science, Health check, Global beats, Focus on Africa,  the conversation and so on.

Anytime I listened to their programmes and they mentioned new words, I always feel the urge to write it down and check later. As a result of that, I decided to get a vocabulary book so that I can write down new words as I listen and not forget later. There was this word that drives me crazy and I think it's one of the reasons why I got a vocabulary book. This word is a "referendum" and I first heard it when they were reporting news on Greece debt crisis in 2015. They keep on mentioning it in the news and my mind was going crazy! What does it mean I said.

After a while, it came to the point that I no longer use my vocabulary book because I understood everything. When I left Numan town for school after the Boko haram insurgents were defeated in Mubi town, where my school was located, I lost the use of my radio and I then reverted to downloading the programmes online as a podcast. I downloaded tons and I even got a plethora of them on my laptop.

Whenever I am home for break, I use to listen to BBC world service now with an old bigger radio which has a long strip of wire as the improvised antenna fixed to my metallic window frame. We don't have electricity at home as a result of the fight with Boko haram. So my perfect evening is just always by my window.

I know what I was gaining, learning, and enjoying from BBC world service. They inspire me to be a better writer because I love writing and their stories are just inspiring. I wish others can hear what I  hear and learn. You too can learn a lot from this radio station which has been functioning for decades and you don't even need a radio like mine, you can go online and download their podcast or BBC iPlayer radio app on google store.

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