In this post I’ll speak about learning English with podcasts. Let’s start with a definition of podcast (iPOD + broadCAST) from pcmag.com encyclopedia:
An audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format [Podcasts can be available in a number of audio formats including WMA and AAC, though MP3 tends to be the most favoured format due to wide spread acceptance by pretty much all types of portable media devices.] for playback in a digital music player or computer. The "pod" in podcast was coined from "iPod," the predominant portable, digital music player, and although podcasts are mostly verbal, they may contain music. Using the RSS 2.0 syndication format, podcasts are made available to subscribers just like news feeds. The client program that captures the audio feeds and synchronizes them with the music player is a "podcatcher," such as Curry's own iPodder.
The definition itself suggests that the greatest advantage of podcasting is portability: you can listen to whatever you want wherever and whenever you want! Podcasts can be listened to online and even offline by downloading them on your computer, mobile phone, Ipod or any other Mp3 player. It's wonderful! Podcasts enable you to listen to TV and radio programmes, videos, conversations, lectures, news bulletins, interviews, documentaries and books at home, on your way to school or work,... All you need is a PC and a tool not much bigger than, let’s say, a lighter, which is called Mp3 player! True that something very similar was possible with walk-men or CD players, but the biggest difference is the easy and quickly access to plenty of freely downloadable podcasts and the great variety of podcast genres available, which is definitely without precedent.
I remember that, when I studied English in high school, the most cutting-edge technologies my English teacher might use were audio or videocassettes and CDs! This implies that listening activities could be done only on a small amount of stuff and only in a lab or in class provided that a VCR, a DVD player or a stereo was available! How things have changed!!! Nowadays we have thousands of English podcasts belonging to a wide range of text types (dialogues, reports, bulletins, lectures,…) and dealing with plenty of topics, from a beginner to an advanced level. However, I assume this is true only with reference to English…Unfortunately, I don’t think that podcasting has developed so much in other languages too.
By the way, your criticism is essential with so many podcasts! The Web is becoming a ‘rubbish can’ full of podcasts; some of which are really of poor help with language learning… In order to find out useful podcasts to learn English, I suggest you to search del.icio.us, podcastalley, or odeo (these last two allow you to browse podcasts by topics).
Here are four websites I subscribed to in order to be always updated on the most recent podcasts:
www.eslpod.com & www.china232.com/podcasts:
On both these sites you can listen to freely downloadable podcasts concerning any possible situation in daily life and, by clicking on the podcast titles, transcripts are available too. Podcasts are very didactic: they are followed by exhaustive and friendly explanations on the vocabulary used.
ESLPod.com has a singular approach to ESL learning with podcasts, which is well explained by this quote: "We believe the fastest way to improve your English is to listen to conversations and discussions you can understand. Many people try to improve their English by listening or reading things that are too difficult. They understand only 40-50%, which means they are wasting half of their time!" It’s so frustrating not to understand the greater part of what you are listening to! On ESLPod.com it’s impossible not to understand: it’s not that the language used is too easy, but that they provide English at a slower speed; in this way you have time to reflect on pronunciation, to memorize and take notes of new vocabulary. Of course, this is only a starting point to be able then to understand audioclips characterized by more natural English.
China232.com, instead, is a really useful tool to learn how a daily English conversation works. In the first part of each episode there is a dialogue on a given topic, while in the second part explanations about the expressions used are given in a dialogic style. This kind of podcasting is, therefore, particularly useful to learn real English, right intonation, rhythm, and speed in spoken conversations.
www.englishpod.com:
EnglishPod.com includes a huge ‘Podcast Archive’ dealing with business and regular English used in very common situations: giving feedback, being diplomatic, building relationships with people, making presentations, bargaining, making contact over the telephone, etc. Podcasts are arranged from an elementary to an advanced level so you can choose which ones to listen to. Unfortunately, while podcasts are free, transcripts, sample sentences, glossaries require paid subscription, yet even advanced-level podcasts are not very difficult and things are repeated several times, so that you have time to memorize and take notes of new structures.
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today:
This is the web page 'Today' from BBC Radio 4. There you can listen to today’s top news; latest reports on politics, international issues, science & nature, arts & culture; interviews with important and powerful people on current affairs. It’s a very useful tool to get used to formal speeches on major issues and to the language of broadcasts.
I can't wait for reading your comments ;-)
Elena
