My mother made me ill for years until a doctor unmasked her
Lives Less Ordinary

My mother made me ill for years until a doctor unmasked her

B1IntermediateSeptember 28, 202640 min

Nina Blom's early years were plagued by mysterious, serious illnesses. Growing up in the Netherlands in the 1970s and 80s, Nina seemed at first to be a typical child, playing with dolls and enjoying singing and dancing. But soon, her mother became convinced that Nina was gravely ill. She kept sending Nina to hospitals for tests and treatments again and again - 16 times in just a few years. And she seemed to enjoy Nina's sickness and pain. Eventually, Nina was made to use a wheelchair and was told by her mother that she had an unstoppable muscle disease. <...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

.

I

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B22:20
  • C18:16
  • B215:13
  • B216:59
  • B222:25
  • C127:24
  • B233:07
  • B240:25

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B1

B1 · Intermediate

Fine if you can follow simple news

A1 43%A2 30%B1 20%B2 7%C1 0%
  • 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 140 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 76 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I was really fond of music. Music was everything to me, so I listened to the radio. But when When my mother saw I was enjoying the music, she got the music off.

1:05

So I begin to learn not to express myself as enjoying, so sometimes she let the music on. But I always had a hope that someone sees what is happening and then maybe rescue me. This is Lives Less Ordinary from the BBC World Service.

1:37

I'm India Rachison. Today's story belongs to this woman, Nina Blom. And it needs a bit of a deep breath. It's one of those stories that makes you stop.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (39 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy