The Replay effect

This week's column is by Audio Editor Rita Forbes.

Quick! What do computer hackers, climate change and Chinese dissidents have in common?

Yes, they all begin with the letter "C", but that's not the answer I'm looking for. They all make an appearance in this month's Replay section on Spotlight Audio.

Replay guides us through recent news events, letting us hear the voices of people involved in them. We also explain the language they use. In past months, we've learned vocabulary and idioms from people like Barack Obama, Richard Branson and Sting.

Replay deals with some very interesting topics in February:

• In a segment about the WikiLeaks scandal, we hear not only from the US Justice Department, but also from a computer hacker known as "Coldblood".
• We then listen in on policymakers at the Cancún climate conference.
• And we hear about Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was given the Nobel Peace Prize but wasn't able to receive it because he was in prison.

I always learn something from Replay, whether it's something I missed in the news or an interesting facet of language that I'd never considered before. I also enjoy the various accents, which come from all over the English-speaking world.

Learn English from people in the news: order a two-month trial subscription to Spotlight Audio. You may become as much of a fan of Replay as I am!

*From 2 to 8 February, you can hear part of Replay in this week's free podcast. Users of Spotlight Premium can get the transcript as well as download past podcasts.