Road Podcast

“Global Migration ”
 BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

6 Minute English Global Migration

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob and this is 6

Minute English and I'm joined
this week by Jennifer. Hello
Jennifer.
Jennifer:Hello Rob.
Rob: This week we're discussing
global migration – that's the
movement of people around
the world and particularly those
who are moving abroad to look
 for new work. Is this something
you have done Jen?
Yes, when I was a student I
Jennifer:moved to France to teach
English for a while.
Rob: A very good job but luckily for
us, you came back to live in the
UK. Many people are forced to
emigrate – or leave their home
country – to go and work
abroad and they never return
home. We'll talk more about
that shortly and also look at
some of the language
associated with migration. But
let's start with today's question.
And this is a question for me to
Jennifer:
answer?
Rob: Of course it is! So, according to
figures from the United
Nations, which one of these
countries has the largest
number of immigrants as a
percentage of its national
population? Is it:

a) United States of America

b) Qatar
c) Turkey
I think this is an easy one. I
Jennifer:think it will be a) The United
States of America.
Rob: Well, I'll let you know the
answer at the end of the
programme. Now let's talk
more about global migration.
It's something the BBC has
been looking at following
research by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). We know
people move from country to
country for all kinds of reasons
– to join other members of
their family, because of war in
their own country, or just to
find a better lifestyle.
Jennifer:But the biggest reason is to find
work – people who do this are
called economic migrants.
Their profession – or area of
work they specialise in – may
not be needed where they live.
Or the pay may not be very
good but their skills might be in
demand in another part of the
world, so they are forced to
move there to get a job and
earn more money.
Rob: This is a problem for developing
countries because it means
skilled people are leaving to
work in richer countries – this is
what is called a brain drain.
Around 214 million people are
 international migrants – people
living and working in a different
country from the one in which
they were born. So what kind
of work are we talking about?
Jennifer:All kinds of things. We know
that people in healthcare often
move abroad to places like the
UK and Australia to work as
dentists, doctors or nurses. In
other countries, such as
Belgium, there is a need for
chefs. And in countries like
Norway, there is a demand for
psychologists.
Rob: I've also heard that in countries
that have been affected by the
financial crisis, such as Ireland
 and Greece, there is a need for
accountants. And countries
such as Brazil and France are on
the lookout for electronic
engineers.
Jennifer:But these are all highly-skilled
jobs that require qualified
people – people with specialist
training and qualifications.
Sometimes people with such
skills take on a job where they
are overqualified, such as doing
a cleaning job or serving in a
cafe.
Rob: So many of the immigrants'
skills are just going to waste
and, as we have mentioned,
their home country is losing
 skills that could have helped
improve the local economy
there.
Jennifer:However, there is evidence that
many migrants are working
abroad to send money to family
back at home – these are called
remittances. They are seen as
an important source of funds
for economic development. In
fact, official figures show that
last year $US400bn of this
money was being sent back to
developing countries.
Rob: It must be hard for people to
uproot – or move from their
home – leave the family behind
and go overseas. And it can also
 be a challenge to get
permission to work abroad.
Jennifer:Yes, you mean getting a
working visa – that's a stamp in
your passport that allows you
to work in a certain country. In
Australia for example, points
are awarded to
people with skills that are needed in
the country; those who get the right
amount of points are allowed in.
Rob: This system allows a country to
adapt to the changes in skills
needed to keep the economy
growing. Other countries only issue
a working visa if someone has been
offered a specific job.
Jennifer:Of course, migrants may hope that
the new country's streets are
paved with gold – or that they
think it's an easy place to get rich –
but if it's not, they can at least get
some work experience that will
benefit them when they get home:
a sort of brain gain!
Rob: Hmm, how's your brain Jen? It's
time now to reveal the answer to
today's question. Earlier I asked
you, according to figures from the
United Nations, which one of these
countries has the largest number of
immigrants as a percentage of its
national population?
And I said a) The United States of
Jennifer:
America.
Rob: And you are wrong. The answer is
Qatar. Around 75% of its
population are
immigrants – so that's people who
have moved there but were not
born there. The USA has many
more immigrants but they only
make up around 12% of the
population. OK, well, it's almost
time to go but before we do,
Jennifer could you remind us of
some of the words we have heard
today.
Jennifer:Yes. We heard:
global
migration
emigrate
economic
migrants a
brain drain
qualified
overqualified
remittances
to uproot a
working visa
streets are
 paved with
gold

Rob: Thanks Jennifer. Well, that's all we

have time for today. Please join us
again soon for 6 Minute English
from bbclearningenglish.
Both: Bye.

Vocabulary and definitions

global the movement of

migration people around the
world
emigrate leave your home
country to permanently
live somewhere else
economic people who go to work
migrants in another country
because there is better
work and /or pay
a brain drain a situation where many
highly skilled people
leave a country to go
and work somewhere
else
qualified having the correct
training to do a specific
job
overqualified having too much
training and knowledge
 for the job you are
doing
remittances an amount of money
that is sent to someone
to uproot (in this context) to leave
your home and move
somewhere else
a working a stamp in your
visa passport, or piece of
official paper, allowing
you to work in a country
the streets (an idiomatic
are paved description of) a place
with gold where people think they
will easily become rich
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