The English Race — Meet the Contestants
Interview · 1 of 4
Meet Mina Koné
Who is she?
Aminata “Mina” Koné
Anyama, Côte d’Ivoire · Age 23 · Journalism student
Mina is one of four contestants competing in The English Race, a language competition that takes teams across Britain and Europe. She grew up in Anyama — a town north of Abidjan — raised by her grandmother, Maman Adjoua. She moves between three languages every day: Dioula at home, French at university, and English in the race. In this interview, she talks about what brought her here — and why winning means more than a prize.
1
Pre-Reading: New Vocabulary
Study these words before you read the interview.
| Word / Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| scholarship | money given to a student to help pay for education, usually because they are talented or have worked hard | She won a scholarship to study at the university — her fees were paid in full. |
| obligation | a duty, or a strong feeling that you should do something for others because of what they have done for you | He felt an obligation to support his family after they had sacrificed so much for him. |
| multilingual | able to speak several languages well | Growing up near the border, she became multilingual without really trying. |
| register | the style or level of language you use in a particular situation — more formal with some people, more relaxed with others | He used a formal register in his email to the professor, but texted his friend in very different language. |
| archive | an official collection of records, documents, or stories — usually kept by a library, government, or institution | The city’s history is kept in a public archive that anyone can visit. |
| resilient | able to recover and keep going after something difficult happens | She had a hard start in life, but she is incredibly resilient. |
Connect each sentence to the vocabulary word it best describes.
Tap a sentence on the left to select it, then tap the correct word on the right.
Sentence
Word
“I feel I must succeed — to show that the people who believed in me were right.”
multilingual
“I can speak three languages — I just use whichever one fits the moment.”
resilient
“When I write to my professor, I choose my words much more carefully than when I text my friends.”
obligation
“The university offered to pay all my tuition because of my exam results.”
archive
“Even after everything that happened, she kept going — she never gave up.”
scholarship
“Someday, I want her story to be officially recorded so people don’t forget her.”
register
Listen to Mina’s Interview
2
Read and Listen: The Interview
Fill in the gaps as you read. Use the word bank to help you.
Gap-fill: Six words from the vocabulary list appear as gaps in the interview. Choose the correct word for each gap.
scholarship
obligation
multilingual
register
archive
resilient
Interviewer
Mina, welcome. You come from Anyama — can you tell us a little about where that is?
Mina
Anyama is a town just north of Abidjan. Not far — maybe twenty minutes by car — but it has its own feeling. It is quieter. Less busy. When I was growing up, I knew everyone on my street, and most of them knew my grandmother.
Interviewer
Your grandmother raised you, is that right?
Mina
Yes. From when I was seven years old. She is — she is not someone you can describe quickly. She is very practical. She never had much money, but she always knew how to make things work. She taught me that you can be poor and still have dignity. That is not a small lesson.
Interviewer
She sounds like an extraordinary woman. Does she know about the race?
Mina
(a short pause) She knows I am competing. She does not fully understand what it is. When I explained it, she said: “So people are watching you answer questions in English? And this is a prize?” (a quiet laugh) I told her yes. She said, “All right. Don’t embarrass us.”
Interviewer
And how did you come to study in Abidjan?
Mina
I won a
to study communications at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It was — I won’t pretend it wasn’t everything. Without it, I could not have gone. My grandmother could not have paid. So when I received the letter, I think I just sat with it for a long time before I told her.
Interviewer
You work with three languages every day — Dioula, French, and English. Does it ever feel complicated?
Mina
No. It feels natural. When you grow up
, you don’t think about it — you just use whatever language fits the moment. Dioula is for home. French is for school, for work, for official things. English is the competition. (pause) But also, English is something I chose. The other two were given to me. That is different.
Interviewer
What do you mean by that?
Mina
I mean that Dioula is my mother tongue — actually, it is my grandmother’s tongue, and I inherited it. And French is the language of my education, of the system. But English — I went looking for it. I found it. So it belongs to me in a different way.
Interviewer
Does your English change depending on the situation?
Mina
Yes, of course. Everyone’s does. I know the word for this —
. When I am with the other contestants, I speak more freely. When I am in a challenge, I am more careful. More constructed. Sometimes I think the careful version sounds more correct, but less like me.
📖 Language Note: Register
Mina is talking about register — the way we change how we speak depending on who we are talking to and why. Think about how Mina speaks in the race challenges compared to how she speaks with her grandmother on the phone. Same person, very different language choices. You do this too — probably without noticing.
Interviewer
Is that frustrating — having a more careful version that sounds less like you?
Mina
Sometimes. But I think it is true in any language. My grandmother is sharper in the market than she is at home. She changes too. It is just less visible when you are completely comfortable in a language.
Interviewer
What made you apply for the English Race?
Mina
I saw it and I thought: this is something I can win. (directly, no apology) That sounds arrogant. But I also thought — if I win, people like me can see that someone like me wins. That is not arrogance. That is what I owe them. That is a sense of
.
Interviewer
Obligation to whom?
Mina
To everyone from Anyama who never got a
. To my grandmother, whose story will probably never be kept in any official
. I want to put something into the world that says: we are here. We have always been here.
Interviewer
One last question — what has surprised you most about the race so far?
Mina
(thinking) Minho. (pause) He is — I was wrong about him at first. I thought he would be very closed. Very competitive. And he is competitive. But he is also — he waits. He pays attention. I did not expect that.
Interviewer
Thank you, Mina.
Mina
Thank you.
3
Comprehension Check
Tap the best answer for each question. Feedback appears immediately.
Where is Anyama?
How did Mina’s grandmother react when she heard about the race?
Why does Mina say English belongs to her “in a different way” from her other languages?
What does Mina mean when she talks about a sense of obligation?
What surprised Mina about Minho?
4
Think and Discuss
There are no right or wrong answers. Talk with a partner, or write in your journal.
- Mina talks about languages belonging to her in different ways — her grandmother’s language, the language of school, and the language she chose. Which language or languages do you use at home? Which do you use at school or work? Do they feel different to you?
- Mina says English is different because she chose it. Do you feel that way about any language you have learned? Does choosing a language change how you feel about it?
- Mina wants her grandmother’s story to be remembered — even though it will probably never appear in any official archive. Is there someone in your life whose story you think is important? What would you want people to know about them?
Next in the series : Minho Kang