Why take a gap year? 6 Minute English — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English
2. 0:08and I'm Neil. And joining me
3. 0:10to do this is Georgina.
4. 0:12Georgina: Hello.
5. 0:12Neil: Now, Georgina, I know you
6. 0:14went to university
7. 0:15to study for a degree but before
8. 0:17you moved from college to university,
9. 0:20did you take a year off?
10. 0:22Georgina: I did.
11. 0:23Neil: Well, you're not alone.
12. 0:26Many students choose to take a break
13. 0:27from their studies
14. 0:29to travel or gain work experience
15. 0:31before moving on to university.
16. 0:33Georgina: Yes, and this is what
17. 0:34we call a 'gap year'.
18. 0:35Neil: And in this programme we're
19. 0:37talking about taking a gap year
20. 0:39and why doing this
21. 0:40has become more important than ever.
22. 0:43But first, as always, I need
23. 0:45to challenge you and our
24. 0:46listeners, Georgina, to answer a question.
25. 0:48Are you ready?
26. 0:49Georgina: Ready and waiting, Neil!
27. 0:51Neil: According to the Institute of Fiscal
28. 0:53Studies, which subject studied
29. 0:55at university will lead to the highest
30. 0:58average earnings
31. 0:59five years after graduating? Is it...
32. 1:02a) Law, b) Veterinary science,
33. 1:06or c) Medicine and dentistry?
34. 1:09What do you think, Georgina?
35. 1:10Georgina: Well, all are subjects
36. 1:12that involve lots of studying...
37. 1:14but as a guess, I think those studying
38. 1:16veterinary science end up working
39. 1:19as vets and earning the most money ...
40. 1:21so it's b), I think.
41. 1:23Neil: OK. Well, we'll find out if you're right
42. 1:25at the end of the programme.
43. 1:27Let's get back to talking about gap years -
44. 1:30as the name suggests, it's a break
45. 1:32or gap in between your studies
46. 1:35- we might also call it a year out.
47. 1:37It's not a new concept - meaning idea -
48. 1:39and there are a number of reasons
49. 1:41why someone may choose to take one.
50. 1:44Georgina: That's right. The BBC's
51. 1:46Smart Consumer podcast looked at
52. 1:48this and heard from two students -
53. 1:50one, Meg, took a gap year and
54. 1:52the other, Tom, didn't.
55. 1:54Let's hear from them now...
56. 1:57Meg: I knew I wanted to go to university,
57. 1:58but... I decided I'll do it after a year out, and
58. 2:00that way I can wait till I get my official
59. 2:02results and apply to university with those
60. 2:04rather than getting predicted grades
61. 2:06and then, you know, potentially
62. 2:07being surprised and
63. 2:08not being able to follow the path I wanted.
64. 2:11I just always had in the back my mind that
65. 2:13I'd spend a year doing
66. 2:14something productive and something
67. 2:16that would just be good fun.
68. 2:18Tom: It's not something that I really knew
69. 2:20about to be honest, I think, until I started
70. 2:22university. It was a bit of an alien concept
71. 2:25to me. It's something I've never
72. 2:26thought about - it would have been
73. 2:28far too expensive and it's not something
74. 2:29that would have been able to rely on
75. 2:31my parents or family members for.
76. 2:34Neil: Two different experiences there. So
77. 2:37Meg said she had 'in the back of my mind'
78. 2:40doing a gap year.
79. 2:41That means she had the idea
80. 2:43but didn't think about it frequently - it
81. 2:45was stored deep in her memory.
82. 2:47Georgina: And she had the idea of doing
83. 2:50something productive - that means
84. 2:52leading to a good
85. 2:53or useful outcome - and, of course,
86. 2:55having fun at the same time!
87. 2:57Neil: She also wanted to do something
88. 2:59while she waited for her exam results
89. 3:02to come in, rather than applying
90. 3:03for a university place based on predicted
91. 3:06results which may turn out to be wrong.
92. 3:09If something is predicted, it's an
93. 3:11estimation of what is likely to happen in
94. 3:13the future based on current information.
95. 3:17Georgina: Now, Tom had
96. 3:18a different experience.
97. 3:20He wasn't really aware of the gap year
98. 3:22and described it as an alien concept -
99. 3:25so an idea that is strange and not familiar.
100. 3:28Neil: Tom also mentioned a gap year
101. 3:30would have been too expensive - but
102. 3:32according to Chris Rea from
103. 3:34the organisation Prospects, it needn't
104. 3:36cost a lot of money. Speaking on
105. 3:38BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme,
106. 3:42he says it's about gaining skills
107. 3:44and being more employable...
108. 3:46Chris Rea: I think the experience
109. 3:47of the gap year has become actually
110. 3:49much more practical, partly as I say
111. 3:51to do with university participation
112. 3:53increasing, but also because
113. 3:54of the demands on developing skills,
114. 3:57specifically employability skills.
115. 3:59Actually from an employer's point
116. 4:01of view, certainly, any form of experience
117. 4:03and skills acquisition
118. 4:04that you've undertaken is valuable.
119. 4:07Neil: According to Chris Rea,
120. 4:08the focus these days is for a gap year
121. 4:11to be more practical - this adjective
122. 4:13describes the learning of
123. 4:15real skills which can be usefully applied.
124. 4:18Georgina: Yes, and these are skills that
125. 4:20help you compete for a place
126. 4:22at university and ultimately make you
127. 4:24more employable - they
128. 4:25help you get a job.
129. 4:26Neil: Right, but which job might earn you
130. 4:29the most money, Georgina? Earlier I asked
131. 4:32you, according to the Institute
132. 4:34of Fiscal Studies, which subject
133. 4:35studied at university will lead to the
134. 4:38highest average earnings, five years
135. 4:41after graduating? Is it...
136. 4:42a) Law, b) Veterinary science,
137. 4:45or c) Medicine and dentistry.
138. 4:47What do you say, Georgina?
139. 4:49Georgina: I said veterinary science.
140. 4:51Was I correct?
141. 4:52Neil: Sadly you weren't.
142. 4:53The correct answer
143. 4:54is c) Medicine and dentistry.
144. 4:57According to research in the UK,
145. 4:58graduates of medicine and dentistry
146. 5:00earn an average of £46,700.
147. 5:05Georgina: That's more than
148. 5:06an English teacher
149. 5:07I suspect, but that's not going to stop us
150. 5:09recapping today's vocabulary.
151. 5:12Neil: OK. So, we've been talking about
152. 5:14a gap year - that's a year between leaving
153. 5:16school and starting university that is
154. 5:18usually spent travelling or working.
155. 5:20Georgina: When we say something is
156. 5:22at the back of my mind, we mean
157. 5:24an idea we don't think about
158. 5:25frequently but keep stored deep
159. 5:27in our memory.
160. 5:29Neil: And when something is productive -
161. 5:31it describes something that leads
162. 5:33to a good or useful outcome.
163. 5:35Georgina: Next, we mentioned
164. 5:36the word predicted.
165. 5:38If something is predicted, it's
166. 5:39an estimation of what is likely
167. 5:41to happen in the future
168. 5:42based on current information.
169. 5:44Neil: An alien concept is an idea that is
170. 5:46strange and not familiar.
171. 5:48Georgina: And when you're
172. 5:49doing something practical,
173. 5:51you're doing something that is real and
174. 5:53useful because you learn skills that
175. 5:55can be used in the future.
176. 5:57Neil: Thank you, Georgina, for that
177. 5:58practical run through of our vocabulary.
178. 6:01So that's all from 6 Minute English
179. 6:02for now. Goodbye!
180. 6:04Georgina: Bye!