On 30/08/2010 00:47, Graham. wrote:
i doubt the writer is a native English-speaker

Maybe.

- but he/she may have learnt English from American instructors.

On a short wave radio? (LOL)

IME More likely copied and pasted from leftpondian tracts.

Derek

Voice of America used to broadcast the news in "Special English"
which simply meant i t w a s r e a d v e r y s l o w l y

Are you sure you're not getting confused with the BBC World Service (in
the days when it was The European Service of the BBC and The General
Overseas Service).

"The next programme is the news in English, r e a d s l o w l y"

I used to find it was an excellent way of absorbing the news, as the
pace was not so slow as to be annoying but gave the brain just that
little bit of extra time to concentrate.

These days I hear the start of the news and, by the time I realise
what's happening, they've got to the weather summary and I haven't taken
in a thing!

An intereresting experiment, when I was in my teens, was to listen to
the news from Radio Moscow and The Voice of America. Then listen to the
news from the BBC - often it was only then that you could connect the
other two!

--

Terry