 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. Coming up on the program, Gregory Stockle has a story about an upcoming solar eclipse. Faith Perlow and Brian Lin have this week's health and lifestyle report about mosquitoes being bred to fight dengue. Later, Jill Robbins and Andrew Smith present the English lesson of the day. Millions of people in the Americas will be in a position to see a solar eclipse on October 14th. Whether permitting, viewers will be able to see the moon as it is passing in front of the sun during the eclipse. The astronomical event can be seen in parts of the United States, Mexico, and several countries in Central America and South America. A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between Earth and the sun. The moon blocks the view of some or all of the sun's face as it passes in front of the sun. The one that will happen on October 14th is called an annular solar eclipse. This happens when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, at a time when the moon is at or close to its farthest point from our planet. Because the moon is farther than usual from Earth during an annular solar eclipse, the moon will not completely cover the sun, like a total eclipse. It will instead look like a dark circle on top of the sun's larger, bright face in the sky. As a result, the eclipse will momentarily look like a ring of fire surrounding the dark circle of the moon. A total eclipse will happen on April 8th, 2024. It will pass over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The U.S. Space Agency, NASA, says the path in the United States, where the maximum amount of sun will be covered, runs through several states, beginning at 1613 GMT. It will start in the state of Oregon and then pass through California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The path then crosses over parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before ending at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean. People in much larger parts of North America, Central America, and South America will be able to see less of the sun covered, but it is still something to witness. Experts warn that it is unsafe to look directly at the bright sun without using specialized eye protection designed for seeing the sun. Eyes can become damaged when looking at the sun without protection. As the sun is never fully blocked by the moon in an annular solar eclipse, it is never safe to look directly at it without such eye protection. Viewing it through a camera, binoculars, or telescope without making use of a special filter for the sun can cause severe eye injury, experts say. They advise using safe viewing glasses for the sun, or a safe handheld viewer for the sun at all times during an annular solar eclipse. They note that regular sunglasses are not safe for viewing the sun. I'm Gregory Stockle. For many years, preventing dengue fever in Honduras has meant teaching people to avoid mosquito bites. Now, Hondurans are being taught a more effective way to control the disease, and it goes against everything they have learned. Recently, a small group of people cheered as Hector Enriquez freed mosquitoes from a glass jar. Enriquez did that to bring attention to a program to suppress the viral disease dengue fever. He did so by releasing millions of special mosquitoes in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. Scientists bred the mosquitoes. The small insects carry bacteria called Wolbachia that stop the spread of the disease. When these mosquitoes reproduce, they pass on the bacteria and reduce future outbreaks. The non-profit World Mosquito Program based in Australia launched the new plan for battling dengue, and it is being tested in more than 10 countries. With more than half the world's population at risk of dengue infection, the World Health Organization is watching the mosquito releases in Honduras and other places closely in order to expand the plan worldwide. In Honduras, about 10,000 people are known to be sickened by dengue each year. The health organization Doctors Without Borders is partnering with the mosquito program over the next six months to release 9 million mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria. There is a desperate need for new approaches, said Scott O'Neill, founder of the Mosquito Program. Scientists have made progress in recent years to reduce the threat of infectious diseases, including diseases spread by mosquitoes, like malaria. But dengue is the exception. Its rate of infection keeps going up. Public health studies estimate that around 400 million people across about 130 countries get infected each year with dengue. An estimated 40,000 people die each year from it. Traditional methods of preventing mosquito-borne illnesses have not been effective against dengue. The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that most commonly spread dengue are resistant to insecticides. They are most active during the day, when people are not protected by bed nets. And the dengue virus is harder to control through vaccines. We Need Better Tools, said Raman Velayudhan, a researcher from the WHO's Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Program. Wolbachia is definitely a long-term, sustainable solution. Velayudhan and other experts from the WHO plan to promote further testing of Wolbachia bacteria in other parts of the world. The Wolbachia bacteria exist naturally in about 60% of mosquitoes, but not in the Aedes aegypti. About 40 years ago, scientists aimed to use Wolbachia to drive down mosquito populations. Because male mosquitoes carrying the bacteria only produce offspring with females that also have it, scientists would release infected male mosquitoes into the wild to breed with uninfected females. But they made a surprising discovery. Those carrying Wolbachia did not spread dengue or other related diseases, including yellow fever, zika, and chikungunya. And since infected females pass on Wolbachia to their offspring, they will eventually replace a local mosquito population with one that carries the virus-blocking bacteria. This involves a change in thinking. Scientists are now replacing mosquitoes instead of killing them. O'Neill's laboratory first tested the replacement plan in Australia in 2011. The World Mosquito Program has run tests affecting 11 million people across 14 countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Fiji, and Vietnam. In 2019, a large field test in Indonesia showed a 76% drop in reported dengue cases after Wolbachia infected mosquitoes were released. Scientists are still not sure how Wolbachia bacteria blocks the spread of the virus. And it is not clear whether the bacteria will work equally well against all versions or strains of the virus. It also is not clear if some strains might become resistant over time. D. Reiner is a mosquito researcher at the University of Washington. He said, it's certainly not a one and done fix, forever guaranteed. The World Mosquito Program breeds 30 million mosquitoes a week at a factory in Medellin, Colombia. Science workers confirm that the new mosquitoes are infected with Wolbachia. Their eggs are dried and sent off to test areas for release. The Doctors Without Borders team in Honduras recently went around Tegucigalpa to enlist local help in incubating mosquito eggs bred in the Medellin factory. They received permission to hang glass jars from tree branches that contained water and mosquito eggs. After about 10 days, the mosquitoes would hatch and fly off. That same day, workers from Doctors Without Borders released thousands of dengue-fighting mosquitoes into the air. Some of the most common questions from the community were about whether Wolbachia would harm people or the environment. Workers said that the bites from the special mosquitoes were harmless. Maria Fernanda Marín is a 19-year-old student working for Doctors Without Borders. She showed neighbors a photo of her arm covered in bites to help earn their trust. Lordus Betancourt is a 63-year-old volunteer with the Doctors Without Borders team. She had been sickened by dengue several times and was not sure about the new plan at first. But Betancourt now urges her neighbors to let the good mosquitoes grow in their yards. I tell people not to be afraid that this isn't anything bad, to have trust, Betancourt said. They are going to bite you, but you won't get dengue. I'm Faith Perlow. And I'm Brian Lynn. You just heard Faith Perlow and Brian Lynn present this week's health and lifestyle story. Welcome back to the show, Faith. Thanks, Dan. It's great to be here and talk about something a little different than everyday grammar or ask a teacher. Faith, your story is about how mosquitoes are being bred to help control the spread of dengue. The mosquitoes being bred and released carry a certain kind of bacteria that prevents the spread of dengue. Can you explain a little more about this bacteria? Of course, Dan. This story is very interesting. Scientists have a solution to fight dengue-spreading mosquitoes by replacing them with mosquitoes that have Wolbachia bacteria. The Wolbachia blocks the dengue virus. Female mosquitoes will eventually pass on the bacteria to their offspring. So all of the new mosquitoes will have the bacteria already in them. Do scientists think this could be a long-term solution? Scientists say it's not a one-and-done solution. There are still a lot of uncertainties. They are not sure how the Wolbachia bacteria stops the dengue virus. And over time, some strains of the virus may become resistant to the bacteria. Did you explain to our listeners what one-and-done means? One-and-done is an informal expression. It means done once and not again. Almost like an easy, quick solution. But because of the uncertainties of how the Wolbachia bacteria fights the dengue virus, this solution right now is not one-and-done. It could be temporary, or they might have to change or add other solutions to continue fighting the spread of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases. Great. Thanks for clarifying the story for us, Faith. Name is Anna Matteo. And my name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to the 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 Matteo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Being in Washington gives Anna the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. And she likes that a lot. Or as she would say, she thinks that's awesome. Anna thinks a lot of things are awesome. She is a very enthusiastic person. If you're enthusiastic, it means you have a lot of positive feelings and energy about something. She's quite enthusiastic. To her, it's so fantastic, living in the capital, the capital known as D.C. Well, thanks for that little jingle, Andrew. Well, maybe it will help people remember the words enthusiastic and fantastic. Maybe. So as we were saying, Anna likes to meet people from different parts of the world. And in Lesson 16, she is excited. This is very exciting. Excuse me. As I was saying, Anna is excited because she gets to interview tourists who are visiting Washington, D.C. Please listen to her first interview. Hello. Washington, D.C. has many tourists. People from different countries come here. Today, my job is to interview tourists. I have to learn why they come here. This is very exciting. Excuse me. I'm Anna Mateo from The News. Do you have time for an interview? Sure, I have time. What is your name? My name is Sabrina. What country are you from? I'm from Bangladesh. So you are Bangladeshi. That's right. My nationality is Bangladeshi. Do you like Washington, D.C.? Yes. The city is very beautiful. What do you like to do in Washington, D.C.? I like history. So I like walking around and looking at all the monuments and memorials. They make history come alive. Washington has many monuments and memorials. The Washington Monument is behind us. Which is your favorite? I really like Lincoln Memorial. It is very beautiful. And it feels like Abraham Lincoln is still alive. Awesome. Thank you for your time, Sabrina. You're welcome. Visiting the monuments and memorials in D.C. is also important to many Americans. And you'll notice that the word memorial sounds similar to the word memory. That's because the two words share the same root, the Latin word memoria. And a memorial is something that pays respect to the memory of the lives of people who have died. Washington, D.C. has memorials to presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, to the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., and to soldiers who have fought in wars. Examples of these are the Vietnam Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Memorials can be inspiring, but also somber at the same time. That's right. Somber means serious or sad. And when we talk about the monuments in Washington, most of those include the memorials. A monument is a large structure, usually made out of stone, built to remind people of a famous person or a famous historical event. And the adjective monumental means very large or very important. So for example, we can say that the Apollo moon landings were a monumental achievement. And Anna would probably say the moon landings were awesome. And I think she's right. They were pretty amazing. Speaking of Anna, I noticed something she said pretty quickly when she was interviewing tourists. She used the common expression, a couple of. In English, the exact meaning of a couple is two of anything. So if you want a couple of apples, that means you want two apples. But native speakers are not always so exact. When they say a couple of, they just mean a few or a small number. Let's listen to Anna say that. We'll listen a couple of times. In this case, exactly two. Oh, excuse me. I am Anna Matteo from The News. Do you have time for a couple of questions? Hello, I am Anna Matteo from The News. Do you have time to answer a couple of questions? A couple of is one of those expressions native speakers usually say quickly. Instead of saying of, we just say a because it's quicker. Lesson 16 of Let's Learn English has a pronunciation video that helps you practice this. Let's listen. When English speakers use the expression a couple of to talk about two things, they often say of quickly. It sounds like a cupola. Listen to Anna ask a tourist to answer a couple of questions. Excuse me. I am Anna Matteo from The News. Do you have time for a couple of questions? I noticed another thing Anna said when she asked tourists for an interview. We're going to listen to a couple of examples. Excuse me. I am Anna Matteo from The News. Do you have time for a couple of questions? Hello, I am Anna Matteo from The News. Do you have time to answer a couple of questions? You'll notice that in the first example, Anna said each of the three words do you have clearly. Anna started speaking more quickly in the second example. You can still hear each of the three words, but the words do you sound like one word? Do you? Do you have time to answer a couple of questions? And what would happen if Anna started speaking even faster? Do you have is such a common and short phrase that native speakers usually say it very quickly like this. Do you have? The word you becomes reduced to the sound yeah. So it sounds like this. Do you have? I think this might be easy and fun for our listeners to practice saying quickly. Then first to Jill and me as we ask and answer questions. Then we'll give you a chance to listen and repeat. Do you have it? I don't have it. Do you want it? I don't want it. Do you need it? I don't need it. Do you know it? I don't know it. Do you see it? I don't see it. Do you have to? I don't have to. Do you like it? I don't like it. Do you mean it? I don't mean it. Now listen just to the question and then repeat it with your own voice. Do you have it? Do you want it? Do you need it? Do you know it? Do you see it? Do you feel it? Do you have to? Do you like it? Do you mean it? Good job listeners. You've probably noticed that if you want to sound more like a native speaker, you have to learn to put small words together quickly and not say each vowel sound the way you do when you are speaking slowly. Do you want to repeat some of those phrases one more time? Sure. Listen to me say these phrases quickly and if you have something to write with, try to jot down what I'm saying. Jot down means to write quickly. Jot is spelled J-O-T. Okay I'm going to count to three and then say them quickly. Listeners are you ready? One, two, three. Do you have it? Do you want it? Do you need it? Do you know it? Do you see it? Do you feel it? Do you have to? Do you like it? Do you mean it? I think that list is too fast to jot down all at once, but don't worry. You can go back and listen again. Andrew, I noticed that when you read the list quickly, it had an even beat, almost like music. That's right. And listening to the rhythm of English can be helpful for learning how to pronounce it well. So you can clap your hands while you listen, like this. Do you have it? Do you want it? Do you need it? Do you know it? Do you see it? Do you feel it? Do you have to? Do you like it? Do you mean it? Keep listening for the ways native speakers say small words and short phrases quickly. And then try to imitate what you hear. Learn English and other VOA programs. And thanks for listening to The Lesson of the Day on the Learning English Podcast. 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.