Thames Watermen And Lighterman

Watermen and lightermen do a very old and important job in London. But what is it? In today's programme we listen to a news clip about the job and learn some words connected with training and work. 

You can download the script and audio for this programme from the 'Extras' section below. Vocabulary freight Anything which is transported but which isn't alive Example: 'Large quantities of freight used to be transported along the Thames' an apprentice Somebody who is working in a job and training at the same time. Examples: 'Derek became an apprentice to a local plumber' 'Geoffrey started his career as an apprentice at a carpentry company' an apprenticeship This is the period of training an apprentice does at a company at the start of his or her career. to qualify In the context of this story, people qualify for a job when they have the skills, certificates or experience they need to start doing it. Example: 'After a six-month apprenticeship, Geoffrey qualified as a carpenter' a regime In the clip in this programme, a regime is a strict system which helps people achieve a goal Example: 'I want to run a marathon next year so I'm on a training regime'. Note that this word is also often used to describe systems of government which people think are bad. 'that way inclined' This expression can mean that you are not very interested in something, or that you do not have the talent to do something well. Examples: 'I don't go to Church much - I'm not that way inclined, really.' 'I was no good at Art at school. I guess I'm just not that way inclined.' Cockney This is the traditional accent of London's working people (who are sometimes called 'Cockneys'). Example: 'She grew up in the East End and has a strong Cockney accent.' Listen to words from the programme (mp3 - 400 kb)  Extras: Programme script (pdf - 22 k) Download this programme (mp3 - 1.6 mb)  Download the original news report (mp3 - 1.2 mb)   More about the Cockney accent

The original BBC page is here

William: A sound familiar to all Londoners - a noisy boat moving along the River
Thames.

My name’s William Kremer and this is London Life. The people who move
boats along this part of the Thames have a very old job. They’re called
watermen and lightermen. But what’s the difference between a waterman and a
lighterman? Listen to this short news clip for the answer:
Journalist: It takes a five year apprenticeship to qualify as a Thames waterman (carrying
passengers) or a lighterman (carrying freight), and that regime has been in
place since the sixteenth century.
William: Don’t worry if you missed some of that, you’ll be listening to the clip again.
The answer is that watermen are in charge of boats which carry passengers, so,
people. Lightermen are in charge of boats which carry freight. Freight is
simply anything that is transported but which isn’t alive – so, it could be
building supplies, or food, or products from a factory. Recently, watermen and
lightermen have been in the news in London. That’s because on January 1st
2007 an official change occurred that will affect their work. The clip we heard
just now is from a journalist who is reporting on this change. Let’s listen to a
longer section of his report – and as you listen, try to work out what the change
is.London Life © BBC Learning English
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bbclearningenglish.com
Journalist: It takes a five year apprenticeship to qualify as a Thames waterman (carrying
passengers) or a lighterman (carrying freight), and that regime has been in
place since the sixteenth century. Well, not any more: from January 1st, it’s
been replaced by a new National Boatmasters’ Licence for Inland Waterways
which will reduce the qualification time to just two years, plus six months of
local training.
William: Did you catch it? Since the sixteenth century – so, for the last five hundred
years – if you wanted to become a waterman or a lighterman you first had to be
an apprentice for five years. Now, an apprentice does an apprenticeship. An
apprenticeship is a period of training that you do while you’re working in a job
in order to learn all the skills of that job. When you have done everything you
need to do before you start the job properly, you have qualified for the job. Of
course, there are different ways to qualify for different jobs – maybe for your
job you had to study a course at college or take an exam. But the traditional
way of qualifying as a waterman or lighterman is by doing an apprenticeship
for five years – and this is what has been changed. Listen again:
Journalist: It takes a five year apprenticeship to qualify as a Thames waterman (carrying
passengers) or a lighterman (carrying freight), and that regime has been in
place since the sixteenth century. Well, not any more: from January 1st, it’s
been replaced by a new National Boatmasters’ Licence for Inland Waterways
which will reduce the qualification time to just two years, plus six months of
local training.
William: The journalist said that the old regime, or system, of apprenticeships has been
replaced by a Boastmasters’ Licence, which will allow people to qualify in just
two years, plus six months of training.London Life © BBC Learning English
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bbclearningenglish.com
[STING]
Next we’re going to hear a conversation between a journalist and Bert
Andrews, a waterman whose family have been doing the job for nearly a
hundred years. How long was Bert’s apprenticeship?
Journalist: So you studied for seven years to get your licence. Seven years is an awfully
long time – you can become a doctor in seven years.
Bert: Yes, unfortunately I wasn’t that way inclined, but erm… The minimum is five
years, at the moment. Personally, I done seven on me father’s advice and
erm… I’m still learning today.
William: He was an apprentice for seven years. It takes seven years to qualify as a
doctor but Bert said he wasn’t ‘that way inclined’ – which means he either
wasn’t interested in becoming a doctor or he didn’t have the natural talent that
the job needed.
Now if you were listening very carefully to Bert, you might have noticed some
interesting grammar. Listen again:
Bert: Yes, unfortunately I wasn’t that way inclined, but erm… The minimum is five
years, at the moment. Personally, I done seven on me father’s advice and
erm… I’m still learning today.
William: Bert is talking about the apprenticeship he did as a young man, but instead of
saying ‘I did seven years’ he says ‘I done seven years.’ Bert is using the
subject together with the past participle – done – in the same way that we
would normally use the past tense. Now, he isn’t an English student who has
made a mistake with his grammar, this is just the way he talks naturally. Bert London Life © BBC Learning English
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bbclearningenglish.com
has a strong Cockney accent – the traditional accent of London’s working
people. He also says ‘me father’ instead of ‘my father’ – which is also quite
common in spoken English. Listen again:
Bert: Yes, unfortunately I wasn’t that way inclined, but erm… The minimum is five
years, at the moment. Personally, I done seven on me father’s advice and
erm… I’m still learning today.
William: If you go to the London Life page on bbclearningenglish.com you can listen
again to the full news report that we featured in today’s programme and also
listen again to today’s vocabulary. You’ll also see some links to find out more
about the Cockney accent. Goodbye!