Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.com

Hello this is six minute English from BBC learning English. I'm Phil and I'm Georgie. In the words of a famous 1960s pop song

breaking up is hard to do. Divorce when a married couple who no longer want to be

together separate can be one of life's toughest

experiences.

During the 1990s divorce rates in Europe and America were the highest in the world,

with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce

But since then the trend has reversed and divorce rates in the West have slowed

Meanwhile however the number of couples divorcing in other parts of the world is on the rise.

In this program, we'll be hearing how divorces talked about in different countries,

and as usual we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary.

But first I have a question for you Georgie.

In Britain one day of the year in particular is known by divorce lawyers and relationship

counselors as divorce day. But which day is it? A. Christmas Day. B. The first Monday of the New Year, or C, Midsummer's Day, the 24th of June.

I think Divorce Day is the first Monday of the year. Okay, Georgie, we'll find out if that's the correct answer later in the program.

Getting married very young and differences between partners' backgrounds or interests are two common causes for couples to grow apart.

Today, Marina Adshade is a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies the economics of sex and

relationships. But her life has a very different beginning as she told

BBC World Service program the the Global Story.

I married really young, I had no education, I married somebody who was older than me, who had

a lot of education and our relationship worked well for a while. And then in my late 20s I decided to go back to school.

I no longer wanted to be a stay-at-home mother, which was what I was doing in my 20s.

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