Learning English

We've heard about Typhoon Haiyan, the lives of people in the Kalahari desert and about the work of BBC Media Action producer Jackie Dalton. But what about you? Have you experienced a disaster - big or small - or an emergency? How did you cope?

Read the text and complete the activity

To do

In fewer than 100 words, write your story.

Try to use the new vocabulary from this unit if appropriate, as well as:

1. can
2. could
3. be able to
4. manage to

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Here are a few of the comments that we received.

Irina, Russia

I don't have an experience to survive in extreme situations. I live in a place where does no awful disaster like typhoons, cyclones, tsunamis happen. Sometimes we can feel little vibration from the earthquakes happening in other places. We can also be affected by strong winds, floods and forest fires.

However I would like to tell you a story happened in my life how I was able to rescue a boy. Several years ago I had a breathtaking adventure - rafting a mountain stream. Our raft overturned and all the people were in the river. One of them was a ten-year-old boy. I was able to reach another raft but suddenly I saw this scared boy who couldn't fight the river. Immediately I swam to him and managed to help him.

Trinh Viet Linh, Vietnam 

When I was a school boy, I had to go the forests to collect wood to sell for small change.

One day, we just got the forest when it poured down with rain as dog and cat. What we did was to escape from the forest as quick as possible otherwise we was able to be isolated in the forest. Unfortunately, the water rose rapidly in the streams and the flow was too strong and we couldn't manage to cross. We cut tree and made a shelter that was able to keep us stay dry. We were isolated ravenously for a week. We had to collect eatable leaves and catch geckos for food and we finally managed to survive.

Antonio, Brazil

Hi, I am Antonio, from Brazil.

Luckily, we don't have many natural disaster in my country, so I hardly could find out a experience to talk about. It happened a few years ago, when I was in holiday in Europe: a flood in the city where I live. My home is quite near to a river, and the water lever was rising quickly, threatening to reach my house. 

Thanks to internet I managed to monitor every day the level of the water. If the water was to enter the house, I was able to contact my brother and so he could managed to remove my belongings.  

Luckily that wasn't necessary and I was able to continue my trip without more worries. 

Ewa, Poland

Few years ago me and my husband we were able to take care of my four years old nephew in his house. In the middle of the night I woke up feeling a smoke in the room we were sleeping in. First I woke up my husband then I managed to take my nephew downstairs. Whole house was full of smoke but we couldn't see any flames. We were able to call for fire brigade and after few minutes they came. We've stayed safe outdoor when the firemen were looking for the cause of the smoke.
Finally they found it. The electric heating system was broken - the firemen managed to secure him.
Now I can remember this event as adventure, since it finished happily for us.

Adrianio

I was playing tennis but my opponent, very soon, he realised I was not able to play as usual. Sunny time was my answer. And we manage to go on and played all the hour.  I couldn’t understand what was happening to me, I was suffering a pain on my left arm I never felt before. I said don’t worry Adriano you can go on, playing.  But under the shower  I couldn’t  recognise  nor my face neither my eyes,  I decide to go straight forward to the hospital because I felt it was  a heart stroke . At the light corner  a police car stopped next to us, I said to my friend: I ask them to take me to the hospital,  otherwise  I will die here.

And now I am writing to you , I was not able to win my tennis match , but I managed to save my life.

thank you for the help your BBC learning english site gives to all of us, all over the world.

Adil Slougui, Algeria

In 2003, A strong earthquake triggered the of Boumerdes. There was a lot of people who couldn't manage to reach further areas and died at the hit. The infrastructure was highly damaged including: buildings, houses, roads and hospitals in both cities: Boumerdes and Algiers, consequently close to 200000 people left homeless and injured. The government moved all their power to rescue the at-risk population by moving them to prefab houses and providing free food and health services. The disaster caused too much damage at mental and physical scale but it brought out the best of us.

Mario, Italy

When I was 7 years old, there was a big earthquake where I live in southern Italy. My family and I managed to run away from the seven-storey building we lived in and reach safety. Unfortunately, our flat remained so severely damaged that we couldn't live there anymore and had to move to another city. In spite of everything, We were very lucky because a building, not so far away from my home, collapsed killing many people. Suddenly, my life changed completely and what I'll never forget is the discovery of terror and desperation in adults' eyes.

Sam Lo, Taiwan

I have ever experienced the most disastrous earthquake in Taiwan history on 21 September, 1999, and I was 11 years old at that time. The earthquake happened at the midnight, so I was woken up by the severely shaking. I managed to get up from my bed and run to my parents’ room, but I couldn’t. The shaking made me fall down again and again, and I wasn’t able to do anything but cry. Fortunately, my father came to my room and brought my mother and me to go outside our home. It was the most terrible disaster experience in my life.

Axel, Mexico

Unfortunately here in Mexico has past a lot of tragedies but thanks to heaven I never have been there but I have had the fortune to be able to help other people with some donations of money and medicine for people that needed.

I feel really happy when I can help, because that makes me a better person and let me to teach my children that they also can help others and that their help its valuable.

Marisol, Spain

My worst experience was long time ago. I can talk about this because i'm alive, but others person can't talk it because they did die that night.

We were going out from Madrid. My father was driving the car on the highway. Suddenly, he saw a big truck without lights on in front of us. It went by the opposite lane in the highway. My father couldn't see it but he saw another car turned right and he managed to turn right too. Who was able to do that? He was a drunk man. He had done a clallenge.

Hyewon

Maybe it's on going disaster around us in dailylife... Have you ever thought that someone or some group of people can eavesdrop you without your permission? Today there are too many devices which made of high technologies and they give you various benefits and comvenient. But ironically, there are also dark sides of these because of technologies that can make benefits. How do you think about it and if you were eavesdroped by others? What would you do to deal with? Are there any exit? To me, at first, if it's possible, I want to ask them why because I think it's a kind of curious and interesting. Then, of course what I really wanted is they stop it.

Francois, France

I experienced an emergency 4 years ago in the Jordan desert. We made a trip with my son when he was bitten by a snake. Fortunately I was able to call a guide who took care of him and drove him to a small desert hospital where he was given an anti-venom injection. Then, this desert hospital managed to find a military ambulance that drove him to the military hospital of Aqaba far from 70 km. I joined him 2 hours later. I wish I had been able to speak English with the doctors! If I had, I would have been able to know how he recovered and how long it would take. Today, I always wonder how I was able to rescue him and how I manage to do it. As you can understand, it was really a shock for me. That's why I learn English.

Dennis, Taiwan

It was September 21st, 1999. The 921 earthquake hit Taiwan, the cute island I lived, mercilessly. It did cause great damage to us. The destructive quake destroyed buildings, flattened homes, and toppled schools when people were soundly asleep. Many residents which include my friends and relatives, lost their precious lives without warning beforehand. My father regarded it as an unfunny joke at first when having emergency calls at midnight. He managed to clarify the authenticity then he knew that it was truly a cruel reality. I wish I were able to do something, but regretfully I couldn't even help search for survivors. What a pity.

Carolina, Chile

My country, Chile, through all its history has been struck by earthquakes, volcanoes eruptions, alluviums and even tsunamis. At least and luckily, we do not have to deal with typhoons and hurricane neither.
Due to those natural disasters, thousand Chilean people have had to live in shelters. But Chilean people have managed to cope. Many volunteers, aid agencies and charities have helped people which lost everything, houses, crops, animals and even relatives. As if that weren't enough, last week in southern Chile one volcano has erupted three times in eight days. Thousand people are not able to live in their houses because they would be totally destroyed for the gravel and ashes. They lost their crops and animals.

Sadly we are not able to prevent this kind of disaster like a typhoon or a hurricane. Nevertheless, all these blows have done that Chilean people have had to learn how deal with these natural unpredictable disasters and cope them.

Hiroyuki

4 years ago, we were struck by huge earthquake in Japan. At that time, I conducted the experiment with my collabolator. The earthquake made the door closed. Then we managed to open the door, and we were able to go out from the building. The trains were able to run, then we managed to go back home by walk.
That was a terrible. But we were more lucky than people in Tohoku area. they suffered from the blackout of electricity, no water supply for several days. That’s incredible.

Juan Carlos, Colombia

Fortunately I've never suffered natural disasters or things like that, But when I was a child, I suffered a several burns in my chest with water hot. My parents were able to attend me very quickly after of that incident. They managed to avoid damages in my skin with home remedies.

Now 20 years after, my chest don't have any scar. I can't remember what exactly happened those days but I'm very thankful with they. now I have a child as the same age that I had when happened that accident and I don't like that he is alone in my house.

Mario, Mexico

My experience was in August of 2003, we were having a seson of strong rains and in the city that I was born (Salamanca), it has a river that go through the city. Those days the levels of water were increasing quickly. We couldn't cope this levels, so we made package of land around the river side.
Everybody could see everyday how much the water levers were growing but unfortunately we could't manage the problem so in some neighbourhoods the water enter to the houses of the people. The government didn't be able to talk with the population and said them what the problem could affect the city, neither told the true about how much support had been receiving from different parts.

Now I can say that this was my most important experience in a disaster.

Patricio, Argentina

When I was 10 years old I broke my elbow while I played with my friends. I fall down from a tree and my elbow hit directly with the ground.
Fortunately, my coach of tennis was able to help me and managed to the hospital. I was not able to move the elbow for 45 days, because I had had a plaster.
When the doctor removed the plaster, I was able to rehabilitate my elbow, suprisingly I managed to rehabilitate it in less time than I thought... So I was able to play tennis quickly.

Laura, Colombia

Actually, we never have suffered a disaster in my city, but I live in a city where it's frequently shakes. Bucaramanga is near to the town of Mesa de los Santos that is Colombia's most seismic place. However, the inhabitants of this area have grown used to having the Earth move beneath their feet. One month ago we could feel a hard quake, it was between 5 or 6 on the Richter scale, but fortunately it was from 100 or more kilometers below the earth’s surface. This quake didn't leave fatalities although there was damages buildings and hairline cracks in walls.

Manuel Juan, Spain

It was in Granada, Spain. It could be in the early 80s, when the summer was beginning. For these days there were local earthquakes from time to time and people in the area felt nervosity; some of them even slept in parks, gardens or in the countryside.

One of these days I was coming out from the block of flats where we lived and suddenly the ground shook. I was able to see the walls and ceiling waving and listen to a dry, scary and terrifying sound. Another neighbour and me managed to walk upstairs towards our flats, where our families were.

My partner had caught our two daughters, one and a half years old and six months, and managed to leave the apartment when I reached the floor. Fortunately the shake stopped and we could come back home. It's breathtaking but emergencies can happen at any time

Manolo, Spain

The worst experience I've ever had were related with Basque terrorism. First, nothing happened to me or people related, just wows.
It was the known as the 'plumber years', and I was living in the center of Madrid, where high-rank generals lived. Every week there was a murder, a blast or someone kidnapped round home. It was a bit stressing. I remembered weeks with more than fifty people killed by the separatism.
I used to pass my holidays at Puerto Banus in Malaga and that year, there was several situations related to it there too.

Catherine, France

It was not a typhoon or a big disaster. It was only a big storm during summer.
We had organized an outdoors show with a lot of people, families, children. We couldn't be sure of the weather. We knew that there was a risk of rain and storm. We were yet in Provence!
At the beginning we could hope to pass through the drops. We managed to end the first part but there were more and more lightnings and thunder and we decided to stop the show and to evacuate the public. We were able to avoid a panic but it couldn't be possible to come back to the casr before the rain began to fall. Everybody were finally safe. I can remember a very stressing moment with a good end.

Denis, Kharkov

It was on 29th june of 1995 in Kharkov. After midday it was raining about half an hour. For this time it was totally destroyed wastewater treatment plant in Dikanevka area. After that city with one and half million citizens was not able to provide water supply and sanitation for one month in very hot summer. Water for washing themselves, cooking and sanitation was brought from near cities in tankers and barrels. Epidemic was able to begin in that time and It was able to lead to deaths of people. But government and military forces were able to keep the situation and finally wastewater treatment plant was repaired.

Next

Well done. Coming up next in News Report, we hear about one British woman's experience during in the 2004 Asian Tsunami, while she was on holiday in Thailand.