Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Brian Lynn.

I'm Anna Mateo.

This program is made for English learners, so we speak a bit slower, and we use words and sentences especially written for people learning English.

Here are the stories we have for you on today's program.

Mario Ritter Jr. brings us a story about an important place in U.S. history,

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

I'll return later with a science story.

Then I will bring you words and their stories. Today I talk about power couples. And we finish the program with the lesson of the day. Jill Robbins and Andrew Smith talk about words that

sound alike but are spelled, and have different meanings.

But first, here is Mario Ritter Jr.

The Gettysburg National Military Park is in the small town of Gettysburg in the eastern

state of Pennsylvania. Much of the area around Gettysburg in the eastern state of Pennsylvania. Much of the area around Gettysburg

still looks like it did in the 1860s during the American Civil War. The town is in the middle

of Good Farmland. Roads pass through Gettysburg that lead to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other eastern

cities.

It is hard to believe that two huge armies fought there.

One fighting force was the United States Army of the potomac commanded by general george meade the other was the confederate army of northern virginia led by general robert e lee

lee's troops had moved north into Pennsylvania from Virginia. Lee believed that a southern

win of a battle on northern land would force a negotiated settlement of the Civil War and mean

independence for the Confederate States.

The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863, about 170,000 soldiers fought for three days.

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