Name: BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Travel and tourism' English mega-class!
Uploaded: 2026-01-26T00:55:19.000Z
Duration: 30 min 43 s
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Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

And in this program, we're talking about tourism, but in a very special place.

It's considered the last great wilderness on Earth.

Wilderness means an area with no people and no agriculture because of the difficult living conditions.

Yes, in Antarctica there are only research stations with scientists and a few tourists.

About 37,000 tourists are expected there this season.

Many don't go ashore, but there's no denying that it disturbs the environment.

We're asking if it's fair for tourists to set foot.

That means go to such a sensitive environment.

We'll also use some vocabulary related to Antarctica.

By the way, Neil, do you know a lot about the South Pole?

I've been reading that the ice caps, these, the thick layers of ice permanently covering a vast area of land in the Arctic and Antarctic are melting due to global warming.

And global warming is the increase in world temperatures due to the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

This gas and some others have been stopping the heat from the Earth escaping into space even.

I would like to visit Antarctica before it melts too much.

But penguins aside, what large resource can be found in Antarctica?

Is Antarctica A, the world's largest coal field, B, the world's largest gold source, or C, the world's largest diamond source?

Hmm, I'm gonna have a guess because I don't know that it's coal.

Well, as usual, we'll give you the answer at the end of the program.

I wonder how that very sensitive environment in Antarctica is going to be preserved.

That's why BBC reporter Juliet Rix's visit to Antarctica caught my attention.

I bet she's asking the same question as you, Rob.

Listen to what she has to say about the need to have some level of tourism in the Antarctic.

What word does she use to describe people who defend a cause?

In this case, the preservation of the region?

I'm all too aware that this is not my habitat.

Like a scuba diver under the sea, I'm an alien visitor in the penguins world.

Which makes me wonder, should I be here at all?

Am I just by setting foot on this extraordinary continent, polluting the last great wilderness on Earth?

All visitors leave a footprint, admits Maiturlidub.

And we all tend to go to the same places, the accessible coastline, which is also where the penguins and seals go to breed.

Nonetheless, he argues, carefully controlled tourism is not just ok, but

useful without a native population of its own.

tourism creates a global constituency of people ready to support and indeed fund its preservation.

Not everyone is convinced that the benefits outweigh the risks, but most are pragmatic.

That's what we call people who defend a cause or an idea.

Juliet Ritz's tour guide told her it's good that some people go to Antarctica and then when they get back to their countries, they defend conservation and give money to organisations which work for the preservation of the environment.

Some people might not agree, because if there are some companies making profit, it might be difficult to prevent an increase in tourism to Antarctica.

And what control do they have over the tourists?

Juliet Ricks tells us about the instructions given to her group when they approached Antarctica.

She says that tourists must clean their clothes with a vacuum cleaner before they leave the ship to go on land.

We're given a mandatory briefing before gathering for a vacuum party.

We bio secure ourselves, hoovering our clothes and kit and disinfecting our boots to ensure we introduce no alien species to Antarctica.

There's no eating or smoking on land and we're instructed to take nothing away except photographs and leave nothing behind, not even a bit of yellow snow.

The BBC reporter tells us that the group of tourists has to disinfect their boots.

Disinfect means to clean something using chemicals or in this case, vacuum, to kill or remove bacteria.

This is to avoid the risk of contaminating the region and to go to the toilet before leaving the ship.

The penguins have exclusive rights on that.

But what do you think about visiting Antarctica, Rob?

Are you keen on paying the penguins a visit?

Yeah, I'd like to go, because, as I said, it's all about the penguins.

Well, let's stop dreaming about exotic trips and go back to the question I asked you earlier in the program.

What large resource can be found in Antarctica?

Is it the world's largest coal field, the world's largest gold source, or the world's largest diamond source?

Now, no one is able to mine that coal because the Antarctic Treaty has banned the exploitation of resources for 50 years.

Anyway, we're running out of time, so let's remember some of the words we said today, Neil.

The words were wilderness to set foot, ice caps, global warming advocates to disinfect.

Go to bbclearningenglish.com to find more Six Minute English programmes.

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BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Travel and tourism' English mega-class!

resilience

reveal

vocabulary

scale