Podcasts · Thinking in English
367. The Strange Story of Christmas Island: Exploitation, Occupation, and Refugees! (English Vocabulary Lesson)
· 20 min · S1 E367
Episode 367. The Strange Story of Christmas Island: Exploitation, Occupation, and Refugees! (English Vocabulary Lesson)
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Welcome to a special Thinking in English Christmas episode!
Today’s lesson isn’t about Santa Claus, reindeer, Christmas trees, or anything you might normally expect at this time of year. Instead, I want to talk about a place that literally carries the name Christmas: Christmas Island.
Christmas Island sounds like a cheerful and festive place. Photos of the island show bright blue oceans, white beaches, tropical forests, and its famous red crabs that are often featured in nature documentaries.
But behind the beautiful scenery and joyful name lies a far more complicated, and often dark, history. Christmas Island has been home to exploited migrant workers, brutal colonial mining operations, Japanese wartime occupation, and, more recently, Australia’s controversial refugee detention centre.
So today, in this Christmas special, let’s explore why one of the world’s most festive-sounding islands has such a complex past, while learning some new English vocabulary!
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