welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program
from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed
for English learners, so we speak a little slower
and we use words and phrases, especially written for people
learning English today. Ana mateo and Dan Riddell
tell us why small coffee growers
in several countries are worried they may not be able to sell to Europe after new rules take effect. Brian Lin presents
this week's Technology report. We close
the show
by hearing today's lesson of the day. But first, here are Ana and Dan. Coffee growers
in many countries are worried about a new European rule
designed to prevent deforestation. And deforestation describes
when developers cut down trees to make room for crops, buildings
or land where cattle can graze. The new rule goes into effect at the end of 2024. It covers products like coffee, cocoa, soy, palm oil,
wood, rubber and beef. The European Union says all of those products result in tree
c
utting. The United Nations says deforestation is the world's second leading cause of carbon emissions after the burning of fossil fuels. Large producers must show their products come from land where trees have not been cut down
since 2020. Smaller producers must do the same, but will be permitted
to sell their products until July 20, 25. A report from the World
Wildlife Fund showed that Europe's imports of products
linked to forest clearing caused the second most deforestation
in the world in 20
17. That year, China was first. An expert said the new European rule could help prevent more deforestation
and push farmers around the world
to plant trees, vines and grasses. Helen Belfield is a policy director
at Global Canopy, a nonprofit organization based in Britain. It suggests businesses
change their production methods that hurt the environment. She said the new EU rules could force governments to help farmers
make changes. On the other hand, farmers could just sell to countries outside o
f the EU. The world's top coffee producers
include Vietnam, Ethiopia and Peru. Growers and those countries worry
they will no longer be able to sell in Europe. The new EU rules could help coffee farmers like Lavon Tom of Vietnam, who has taken the environment
into account. He first planted coffee in the Central Highlands area in 1995. At the time, he cleared land so he could grow
as much coffee as possible. But in 2019,
he changed his growing methods. Instead of using lots of fertilizers and pes
ticides, he started planting tamarind trees that add nutrients to the soil. He added black pepper, vines and grass, which helps to keep the soil moist and prevents erosion. The changes
qualified his coffee as organic, which opened new markets and made his coffee more valuable. He did not produce more, but his profits went up, he said. Vietnam hopes
that more farmers will make changes which will permit them to sell in Europe
and maintain the nation's rank as the world's
second largest coffee prod
ucer. The news is not as good for those in Ethiopia and Peru. Orders for Ethiopian coffee are already
falling, and Peru's farmers
who are in the Amazon River area may not be able to provide
information required by the EU. There will be winners and losers, Barfield said. Vietnam depends on Europe for 40% of its coffee sales. As soon as the new rules came out, the country began
working to maintain its market share. Vietnam news officials
worked with small farmers to make sure their land met
the ne
w EU requirements. In addition, it made a database is showing where its coffee came from. Farmers like Tom got special certificates from international agencies that proved how his beans were grown. Tom said the extra work will be worth it because even if his costs are higher, he can get more money for his coffee. Otherwise, we will always be laborers, he said. Small Vietnamese farmers still must get ready for the new rules. They will need technology to prove where their beans came from and that
their
land is certified by the EU. They will also need to be sure the qualified beans are not mixed with banned beans. From the harvest to shipment. New systems
must be put into place to prevent errors. Brazil is another big coffee
producing nation since it already sells a lot to Europe. Experts say most of its products already meet EU requirements, but farmers in Peru and Ethiopia may need more time. Gizzard work
Who is head of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association, he said collecting data
about the land of millions of small farmers
will be a problem that requires a huge amount of resources. He said Guys that said orders from Europe are already falling. Some coffee
exporters are thinking about selling to the Middle East and China instead. Ethiopian coffee
sells well in those places. These regulations are going to have a tremendous impact,
Gizzard said. I'm on a mateo and I'm Dan Friedel. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a law that bans children in the state under th
e age of 14 from having a social media account. The measure requires parental permission before 14 and 15 year olds can sign up for personal social media
accounts. In Florida. Supporters say the bill protects children from possible online harm, including threats to mental health
and privacy. Critics have said the law might violate
the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of free speech. Some opponents have said they think parents, not the government,
should be the ones to decide which
restrictions are best
for their child. Mehta, the parent company of Facebook,
opposed the legislation. For example, Florida's legislature passed the law earlier
this month. It was the second version of the measure. The first version, which passed Florida's legislature in February,
would have completely banned children under age 16 from social media. DeSantis vetoed that version of the bill, saying he thought it was too restrictive
of parental rights. But the governor's office
worked with legisla
tors to come up with a new measure
he could support. The new law leaves it up to parents
to decide whether their 16 and 17 year olds
can sign up for social media accounts. In a statement, DeSantis said research
had repeatedly shown that social media services
can harm children in several major ways. The legislation, he added, is designed to give parents a greater ability
to protect their children. The law is set to take effect on January 1st, 2025, but experts say the measure is likely to face le
gal challenges in court. DeSantis noted that another bill he signed into law two years ago was recently struck down
by a federal appeals court. That law banned employers
from requiring training sessions that included discussions
about race, diversity and other issues. The appeals court
ruled that such training methods, while did the constitutional free speech
rights of employers. The new law was guided through Florida's
House of Representatives by Republican Speaker Paul Renner at a bill signing
ceremony at a school. Renner said a child
who's brain is still developing doesn't have the ability to know
that they're being sucked in to these addictive technologies. He added, Because of that,
we have to step in for them. The bill does not name
any specific social media service, but it states that it targets social media sites using tools to get users to stay online for long periods. The measure does not cover services
that mainly provide email messaging or texting services. The law requires
social media companies to permanently remove personal information collected from close accounts,
and it lets parents bring civil lawsuits against services
failing to do so. Several U.S. states have considered
similar legislation. In March 2023, Utah became the first to enact laws
covering children's use of social media measures in Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas. Soon followed. Several other states are also developing
new rules. The Arkansas law required parental consent
for minors to creat
e new social media accounts. A federal judge blocked the law in August. The judge ruled the legislation was likely unconstitutional. Florida has enacted additional measures aimed at protecting children from possible technological harms. Last year, it became the first state to strongly restrict phones in schools. The law requires
all public schools in Florida to ban students cell phone use and block social media services during class. I'm Brian Lynn. Brian Lynn joins me now to talk more about his
technology
report. Hi, Brian. Thanks for being here. Of course, Ashley. Thank you for having me. In this week's report, you looked at a law
just signed by Florida's governor that bans
social media accounts for children under the age of 14. But experts have warned this kind of law can be difficult to enforce. What enforcement measures will be used? Yes, some technology experts
have predicted this particular law
will be hard to enforce. A big reason for this
is because it can be very difficult fo
r social media companies
to confirm the correct age of children
signing up for accounts on the Internet. So this is the main enforcement method. Tech companies will need to use the third
party age verification systems to identify underage individuals
and any users in the state of Florida found to be under age 14 are to have
those accounts closed by the services. And what actions does the law permit
against social media companies that do not effectively enforce the rules? So the companies do face
penalties if they disobey the law. It states, for example,
that social media services that knowingly permit minors to have
accounts can be punished
with fines up to $50,000 per violation. And in addition,
the law leaves the possibility open for parents to directly sue companies
on behalf of their children if the accounts
are not automatically removed. And in those lawsuits,
parents can sue and receive up to $10,000 in damages if they win. Okay. Well,
thank you again, Brian, for joining me. And
thank you for that report. You're welcome. Thank you, Ashley. VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English
With Honor. The new course aims to teach children
American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website. Learning English taught VOA News.com. Hello, my name is Ana Mateo, and my name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to Lesson of the Day
on the
Learning English podcast. Welcome to the part of the show
where we help you do more with our series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Mateo in her work in life in Washington, D.C.. In a recent lesson of the day
on the Learning English podcast, Jill and I talked about people watching. It's something Ana enjoys doing on her
lunch break at work. Here's Ana In less than 15 of the series. Hello. People from all over the world
come to Washington, D.C.. When I'm at work,
I love eating lunch o
utside. I like to watch people walking by. They all look very different. Today,
my friend Ashley is eating lunch with me. Ashley. Today, the weather is beautiful, isn't it? Yes, it is. Oh, we have to return to work. No, we have time. Let's people watch a little more. Okay. Ana enjoys
noticing the differences and similarities between the people she sees
walk by her friend Kiana likes to watch people, too,
and joins her. The weather is beautiful
and people watching is fun. I love people watching,
too. Well, have a seat. It is fun to see how people are different
or the same. It is for example, Ana, you are tall, but Ashley and I are short. And Kianna,
you and Ashley have brown eyes. I have blue eyes. You two have flat skin, and I have dark
skin. Ashley, You have straight hair. Kiana And I have curly hair. You have very curly hair. Ana These differences
between people are easy to see. We can say that
the differences are obvious, which means easy to see or understand, but other differences
are more subtle. That's spelled s, u, b, t, l, e. But we do not pronounce the letter B in the word. Subtle describes
something that is not immediately obvious or easy to notice. As we were saying in a previous podcast, if you know a culture really well, then you might be able to notice
subtle differences within the culture. Like an American might be able to make a better guess about where a person is from in the US or about their socioeconomic status based on the person's clothes or accent. Or m
aybe some other small details
than a person who is not from the U.S. through the American
might notice more small differences. But we still have to be careful
not to judge other people too quickly. For example, a rich person
and a poor person might wear almost the same kind of informal clothes,
like jeans and a t shirt. Yep, that's right. I remember when I was working in a store,
our manager reminded us that you can never be sure
which customers have a lot of money. A millionaire can look just t
he same as somebody who has almost
no money. You're listening to Lesson of the Day
on the Learning English Podcast. Andrew I noticed you're
using some more advanced vocabulary today. Let's explain the term socio economic. It generally refers to the combination
of the amount of money you make, your education
and certain kinds of power you have. So if you have a lot of education plus a high income plus a high position
in business or government, your socioeconomic status is high. Status can refer t
o the importance and respect
you have in your group or in society, such as your level within a hierarchy. That's another advanced,
but useful word hierarchy. That's spelled h. I. E. R. A. R. C. H. Y. A hierarchy
is a system of organizing people into different levels of importance
or power. The military is probably the best example. There is a clear hierarchy
from the generals at the top to the ordinary soldiers at the bottom with different levels of officers
in between. Let's review
the vocabula
ry we've explained. The words are obvious subtle socioeconomic and hierarchy, obvious and subtle have opposite meanings and socioeconomic status
can refer to one's position in the hierarchy of a society. Jill, A minute ago you said that we have to be careful
not to judge other people too quickly. I certainly agree. And that reminds me of another word
we started to talk about in a previous learning
English podcast. You mean the word stereotype? I do. Could you explain a bit about this word? Sure.
A stereotype is a kind of oversimplified generalization about a group of people based on a fixed image
or idea about that group. And when
you say fixed, you mean unchanging. Yes. Stereotypes
don't allow for much change. They assume that a group of people
always have the same characteristics, and that's just one way they oversimplify
or over generalize. So, for example, if I said something like, Italians love to eat pasta, listen to opera and watch soccer, that would be an obvious example
of ste
reotyping, right? Because while it's true
that a lot of Italians do like soccer or eat pasta, there's
probably millions of people in Italy who do not like to eat pasta
or watch soccer. Just like a lot of Americans do not like to eat hamburgers
and hot dogs. After all, there are about
300 million people in the U.S. with that many people and people
coming from all over the world to live in the U.S. there's quite a bit of cultural variety. And this topic reminds me, there's an interesting talk
our
listeners can watch and listen to online by the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's called The Danger of a Single Story. Adichie grew up in Nigeria. And she talks about how people in Western
countries can have stereotypes
about people from Africa and how she herself sometimes
oversimplified other groups of people. So if we only have a single story or a stereotype about other people,
that means we are missing the complexity of individuals
and the diversity within their culture. Jill Where can p
eople find Adichie's
talk online? The website is TED.com,
and that's spelled P.D.. There are a lot of talks there, and they are often called TED Talks. You can search for the danger
of a single story on the website, and you can also read a transcript
of what she says. I've just found it on my computer. Wow. It says her talk has been viewed over 34 million times. Well, I thought it was interesting
and I guess a lot of other people do, too. Well, Jill, we've gone from honor. People watching at her
lunchbreak to an
inspiring talk by a writer from Nigeria. It's interesting
how one thing leads to another and how one word can lead to another. Let's repeat a few key
vocabulary words from today's podcast. Good idea. I'll say one, then you say one. Okay. Obvious subtle socio economic status hierarchy. Stereotype fixed. And how about inspiring? You said Adichie's talk on
TED.com was inspiring. That's right, I did. And inspiring means
it gives you a strong, positive feeling and perhaps makes
you
want to do something good. And we certainly hope our listeners are
inspired to learn more with the series. Let's learn English. And with the lesson of the day
on the learning English podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories
from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.
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