ESOL citizenship video and interview transcript

Geography and History

017 Abigail Hackett

The words removed below are the key words used most by this speaker.

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1. Wendy: Can you tell me about your job?

2. Abigail: Yes, I work for the museums, [1] and [2] council. My role in the council is to support the museums, [3] and [4] in Yorkshire to work with adult learners and to work particularly with adults who are working on their literacy skills.

3. Wendy: And do you, does that mean you get out to see the [5] and galleries yourself? Do you go out for [6] for instance?

4. Abigail: Yes I do a little bit. I get to go all around Yorkshire and Humberside and I work a lot with the education staff in the museums and I work with the reader development librarians in [7] as well on all the different initiatives and resources and activities that they want to run to work with adult learners.

5. Wendy: And do you develop materials for students to use?

6. Abigail: That's usually what the different staff in museums and [8] do, especially quite a lot of the [9] put together things like activity packs or resources or activity sheets that tutors can use in class or their students could use if they came along to the building themselves.

7. Wendy: And do you have a web site for information?

8. Abigail: Yes, do you want the address?

9. Wendy: OK.

10. Abigail: Yes, we've got a web site which has all [10] of information about museums, [11] and [12] and [13] of examples of resources and case-studies as well. And that web site is: www.mlay-skillsforlife.org.uk

11. Wendy: Why should people visit museums and art galleries, and libraries?

12. Abigail: Well, all across Yorkshire and Humberside there's such a huge diversity or variety of different types of museums, [14] and [15] that you can visit. And a lot of them are free as well, so I think people are really missing out if they don't go and find out what's in their local area and it'll be different from area to area what's available and what sort of museums and collections, you know, are near you locally, but there's all [16] of things out there. It's [17] worth finding out what's there and exploring.

13. Wendy: How can people find out about the history of their area?

14. Abigail: Well the role of museums is to [18] objects that are from the past and different museums will [19] different objects but a lot of local museums have a collecting policy which means they [20] all [21] of objects that are connected to the local area. So it might be objects from that area that people used in the past or it might be things that were made in the local area or it might be archaeological objects that have been discovered, so that's one really good way.

15. Another source of information will be your local library which will very often have [22] of [23] which give information on local history and sometimes [24] have got an actual local history library within them that you can go and have a look at. And often [25] have [26] which might [27] things like old photographs or newspaper cuttings and all [28] of fascinating old [29] and pictures which can really sort of bring to life what it would be like in this area in the past.

16. Wendy: What different types of museums are there?

17. Abigail: Well, the range of museums that can exist across the country is as broad as the range of things that people might want to [30] , so it ranges from everything really, I mean, of course, there's places like art galleries and also museums that [31] in particular types of art like sculpture or textiles. Then there's museums that might [32] in a particular area so, for example, there's national museums that [33] in, for example, photography or railways or coal-mining.

18. Wendy: Are there museums for children?

19. Abigail: A lot of them, a lot of museums have got an [34] lot to offer children, some are really hands on and have got a lot of interactive things, so for example, there's specific children's museums which are just geared up for children and they've got all [35] of activities and games. And a lot of museums will put on events as well and so they'll be things like, perhaps story [36] or craft [37] that you can bring the whole family along to.

20. Wendy: Can anyone visit the museums?

21. Abigail: Oh yes, [38] they're certainly not places where only the people who know an [39] lot, or who are very academic, need to go. The museums today are very accessible really and will explain a lot of information, so, there should be something for everybody who [40] .

22. Wendy: How can people join their local [41] or city libraries?

23. Abigail: Well you can go into any of the branches of your local library so, as well as there being [42] in city centres and town centres. There's [43] of local ones as well. There should be one quite near to wherever you live. You can go in by [44] and completing a form and you just need to ask the library staff on the front desk.

24. There's also, a lot of the [45] now offer online [46] so you could ask about that and you sometimes need to bring identification, which shows what your address is and where you live. But if you go into your local library the staff will be able to help you out with that and let you know what information you need to bring in.

25. Wendy: And what can people find in their [47] once they've joined?

26. Abigail: Well, once you've joined the library then there's a whole host of different facilities that you can use, and some of those facilities are available before you join as well, so you could always go into the library without being a member and just have a walk round, sort of get used to the space. As well as having, of course, a huge selection of [48] which you can borrow for free from the library, a lot of [49] have a lot of other things to offer as well.

27. One of the very popular things that a lot of [50] offer now is free internet access. So you can come in and use the computers and you can also do things like get on to the internet and print out information and [51] as well. And [52] , as well as [53] they might offer things like CDs or videos, things like audio, talking [54] can be really good for people who are wanting to improve their speaking and listening skills.

28. Wendy: Are there specific study [55] as well?

29. Abigail: Yes, there can be in some [56] things like dictionaries. Some [57] have got foreign language sections as well, so you could find [58] there, there's also always children's sections with [59] of [60] for children and those areas of the library are set out bright and colourful and they've got things like toys and pictures and they often run events as well like, story-telling events for example.

30. Wendy: How can you find out information, if you don't know where to find a book or web sites, how can you find out?

31. Abigail: Well, all of the [61] in the library are classified and divided into various different themes and sections to make it a bit easier to find what you're looking for but also there's [62] of library staff on hand and you can always go and ask them to help you find the information that you need. If you need help finding things on the internet or getting more familiar with that, a lot of the [63] run things like I.T. taster [64] or sort of, getting to know your computer [65] so you can always find out if your local [66] are offering them.

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