PODCASTS

Are you looking for a new way to improve your understanding of spoken English?

Podcasts are a great and fun way to do so.

What’s  a podcast?

Many of you will already be familiar with them. For those of you who haven’t heard about podcasts before let me explain briefly.

Podcasts are digital audio or video files or recordings, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer. They are available online and once you download them you can listen to them wherever and whenever you want.

You can download them to your computer, your mp-3 player or your phone. After you download them you can listen to a podcast in the gym, when you go for a run, while you’re doing housework, on the bus, train or in your car... so they are very convenient.

With a little dedication, English language podcasts will help you quickly improve your listening skills and proficiency. One perk (benefit) is that podcasts often have transcripts (a written version of the audio). This means that you can listen and read at the same time, or look at a transcript if one part of a podcast confuses you.

Some of them are specially made for students of English as a foreign language so you can find one appropriate to your level and listen to skilled speakers who will teach you useful vocabulary in a fun way. Others are produced for a native audience, so you will be able to listen to authentic English.

If you would like to try listening to one, here’s a link to an example about the topic we’ve been dealing with in the class: The weather. The podcast is called 6 MinuteVocabulary and you will find it on the BBC Radio website. You will find some other podcasts there designed for students of English too. I'll also keep on posting other suggestions during the year.

There are podcasts about any subject under the sun. So find the one you are interested in and enjoy your learning!