Two ambitious oral history projects - one in the USA and another in the UK - have been capturing the voices of their nation in conversation. The recordings are not only fascinating snapshots of contemporary British and American society, featuring people from all walks of life talking about a wide range of topics, but also provide an excellent source of real-life dialogues to listen to if you want to improve your understanding of spoken British or American English.
The American project:
Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 40,000 interviews from nearly 80,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, providing Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of their lives
The British project
BBC – Radio 4 The Listening Project – Home.
Inspired by StoryCorps, the BBC has recently launched its very own Listening Project in partnership with the British Library. The project consists in asking people all over the UK to record and share an intimate conversation with a close friend or relative. The aim is to build a unique picture of British lives today and to preserve them for future generations.
