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LEVEL B1+

Shadowing the newsreader

Listen to the newsreader read out each line and then practise saying it. Record your own voice line by line and submit your voiceover.

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Before sunrise, men form large crowds around the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul's ancient market.

They are porters, a job which has been done since Ottoman times.

The porters deliver packs of clothes and fabrics on their backs, sometimes as heavy as 200 kilogrammes in weight.

The huge loads are taken up narrow streets and steps to reach waiting tradespeople.

Shop owner Kamil Beldek relies on porters.

However, many small businesses have relocated outside the bazaar to get easier access.

It's feared that Istanbul's porter tradition may now die.

This porter, Mehemet Toktas, followed his uncle into the profession.

He is confident that the job is too tough for today's younger generations.

Necdet Sakaoglu specialises in the history of the porters.

He's examined their role since the 19th century, and he's convinced that porters have always had the same fears.

The porters agree among themselves exactly where they can deliver to, and who for.

Sakaoglu believes that the long tradition is here to stay, because there's no alternative.

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