One ear in and out the other?
Yes, you’re right – this post is going to be about practising listening and, more specifically, about practising listening through podcasts. Raise your hand if you want to improve your listening skills? It used to be a huge problem when I first started learning English (as much as I hate to admit it, it was before 1989 – yes, I’m that old 🙂 ) and we had very limited options. I will not bore you with stories about carbon copies of textbooks (and if you’re Czech and over 35, you must remember the Angličtina pro jazykové školy series). My point is that you have a ton of options just a click away these days and it would be a pity not to take the opportunity and use it to your advantage.
Podcasts are a huge help if you need to improve your listening. They are widely available in a great variety of topics and levels of difficulty. Lots of them are free, they can be listened to online or downloaded and played offline. Many podcasts – especially those aimed especially at language learners – are accompanied with transcripts, vocab lists and further exercises. They vary in length, so you can pick a 2-minute episode or a 60-minute one and listen anytime you can – on your way to work, while brushing your teeth or making yourself dinner.
Before I get to my personal recommendations, let’s have a look at the benefits of using podcasts in learning foreign languages. So what are they? Listening (not only to podcasts) can help to improve your:
- listening skills – this is quite obvious but still… Listening is a skill, in order to improve it, you need to practise it as much as possible so that you get to the point where you can listen to pretty much any speaker, no matter the speed, accent or difficulty of the topic;
- understanding different accents – podcasts are most frequently produced by native speakers coming from different regions, backgrounds, professional fields etc. Being exposed to various accents shows you that there’s no one ‚proper standard‘ that would be superior over all the other ones (pronunciation purists – you can hate me ad libitum). At the same time it trains your ears to get better at comprehending all those different accents and styles of speech;
- speaking skills – listening can also help you enhance your speaking skills because you can listen to (more or less) natural conversation when listening to interviews, so you can easily notice the speakers interact with each other, what kind of questions they ask etc.;
- vocabulary – if you work with the listening correctly, it can also boost your vocabulary substantially and I will elaborate on this later in the text;
- pronunciation – as Adrian Underhill says, the ear and the mouth are two ends of the stick connected by brain (I can’t find this exact quote in my notes from his workshop but I do remember him saying because it caught my attention.) In order to improve how you sound in English, you need to develop a certain sensitivity to the natural sound of the language and distinguish how its sound differs from your mother tongue.
How to work with podcasts?
- unintentional/passive listening – in this type of listening you basically use the podcast as a background noise. And it’s not a bad thing. Exposure to the language helps to train your ear, you’ll get used to the sound of the language. Your brain processes the language on a subconscious level and stores the information without you realizing it. If your lifestyle allows, you can spend many hours a day listening to spoken English. This kind of listening is useful at lower levels of proficiency.
- intentional/active listening – as the label itself suggests, this kind of listening requires your active participation and focus. In this type of listening you can direct your attention towards specific aspects of the spoken language (e.g. linking, stress, accent, intonation etc.) and work with them further.
- active listening + further activity – this is the most beneficial way of working with podcasts (or any listening activities for that matter). It includes not only focused listening, but also working with transcripts/subtitles, noting down useful vocabulary and phrases, exploring new/interesting grammar structures, training listening actively by shadowing and so on. This is a bit harder to do if you listen to podcasts on the go but you can always come back to them and spend some time working on the aspects that you want to improve.
How to choose the right podcast(s) for yourself? Of course, as usual I will say pick something that you like. I’m pretty sure you can find a podcast dedicated to virtually any activity or hobby. You can also opt for podcasts focusing directly on English learners. Below I’m listing some of my favourite ones that I’ve collected along the way or that my students recommended to me. I divided them into two categories – learner oriented and personal favourites.
Podcasts for English learners
Better@English – digestible chunks of interesting topics, episodes are labeled for different levels, vocabulary glossaries and transcripts are available;
Luke’s ENGLISH Podcasts – one of the best podcasts I’ve come across; notes and (partia) transcripts available, lots of other useful information too;
Podcasts in English – with level indication, shorter episodes with transcripts, further comprehension and vocabulary activities (keys included);
Elementary podcasts from BBC – elementary to pre-intermediate level; everyday communication, transcripts and comprehension exercises available;
Adept English – currently 75 episodes, only audio without any supplementary materials; the language is clear and easy, suitable for lower levels.
Personal favourites
Glistening Particles – an amazing podcast I came across when I was staying in the USA; the host, Jane, interviews people with interesting and unusual lifestyles. The episodes are longer but definitely worth listening;
The Kevin Rose Show – a recommendation from a student of mine; interviews with many interesting people on various topic mostly concerning lifestyle, work-life balance and biohacking, longer episodes;
A Beautiful Mess – another lifestyle podcast from two young women, Emma and Elsie. Everything you wanted to know about design, stylish living, cooking, skin care, self-help, DIY, relationship, adoption, running a small business and a lot more.
Death in Ice Valley – you may know that I love detective stories and this podcast was a recommendation from one of my students (thank you). If your taste is similar to mine, you might like it;
Forensic Files – on a similar note; a successful TV show turned into podcasts. Fancy forensic psychology? You will enjoy this one. Easily comprehensible language;
Art Curious – all things quirky in art explored. I love the host’s – Jennifer Dasal’s – bubbly intonation and the original way in which she introduces selected topics from the history of art.
OK, I guess that’s all about podcasts for now. If you have your favourite podcasts, please don’t be shy to share them in the comments. I’ll be happy to try them out! Enjoy listening and learning. Stay safe and healthy!
Photo taken from http://flickr.com/eltpics by @nathanhall, used under a CC Attribution Non-Commercial license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/