It started in May of nineteen sixty-nine. Some people can remember when THE MAKING OF A NATION was on the radio two times a week. People who grew up listening to it are old enough now to listen with their own children, or even their grandchildren. The series tells a story. You can think of it not just as a series of programs about the history of America and its people, but a series of lessons. The subjects include exploration, revolution, civil war, social and political change, the rise of industry and modern technology, and more. In a sense, THE MAKING OF A NATION is a living history. Yet some of the announcers are no longer even alive after all these years. Here and there, too, the language may sound a little dated. For example, some of the programs call black people Negroes. The use of that term may be historically correct, but today the socially accepted name is African-American. The Voice of America has been broadcasting programs in Special English since 1959. Special English is VOA’s method of communicating with English learners around the world in a way that is easy to understand. The vocabulary is limited to about 1,500 words. The sentences are short. The speed is slower than normal. Special English programs are broadcast on the Voice of America, on radio stations around the world, on satellite television and on the Internet. These programs present the latest world news as well as information about science, medicine, education, economics, American history and life in the United States.