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Skills
Listening

Instructions Listen to the conversation and complete the sentences.

  2. See Text
  1. Ramesh is an
    for the United Nations.
  2. English is his
    language.
  3. Ramesh is
    ; he speaks both Hindi and English.
  4. When he was very young, his mom spoke to him mainly in
    .
  5. He got better at English when he started
    .
  6. His
    would speaks to him in Irish.
  1. Sean: We're here today with Dr. Ramesh O´Hara, an interpreter for the United Nations. Now, Ramesh, your name is a clue to your background, isn't it?
  2. Ramesh: That's right, Sean. I'm part Indian and part Irish.
  3. Sean: That's what I thought!
  4. Ramesh: Yes, my mother is from Delhi originally, and she moved to Ireland to go to college.
  5. Sean: And your father?
  6. Ramesh: He's Irish. And I was born here in Ireland, too.
  7. Sean: And what's your native language?
  8. Ramesh: English is. That's what i grew up speaking. But my mom also used to speak to me in Hindi when I was young, and I'm pretty much bilingual now.
  9. Sean: And do you find one language easier than the other?
  10. Ramesh: Not any more. When I was very little, my Hindi was always more fluent than my English. But when I started kindergarten, my English soon got stronger.
  11. Sean: Didn't you learn Irish at school, too?
  12. Ramesh: Not, the school that I went to didn't teach Irish. But my grandparents would always speak to me in Irish. I never learned to speak it very well, but I can still understand a lot.
  13. Sean: Ramesh, it has been a pleasure talking to you and I hope that you can visit us again soon.
  14. Ramesh: Thank you, Sean. It was nice chatting to you, too.