Q: But! I watch TV shows, movies, I have conversations with my friends... why do I still struggle with listening on the progress tests?
A: All of these activities are great for listening practice. But there is one that trumps all of these. Audio with no visual aspect. And yes, I know, the listening practice we do in class can be repetitive, especially when the same actors are used for everything. So what is a good way to find audio about a subject I enjoy and that has variety in voices, uses naturally spoken English, and is riddled with challenging idioms and turns of phrase that would never be covered in a textbook?
Well! PODCASTS ARE THE ANSWER.
Q: What the heck is a podcast?
A: A podcast is a self contained audio file that is recorded by one or more people and then made available for free over the internet or podcast downloading app.
Q: What topics are covered in podcasts?
A: There are as many podcasts and podcast episodes as there are topics to discuss.
Q: What do you recommend for my first podcast?
A: That depends on your taste...
If you like to laugh a few podcasts you may enjoy are...
1. The Dollop. The Dollop is an American History podcast where each week the host (Dave Anthony) reads a story (from Am. History) to his friend (Gareth "Gary" Reynolds) who has no clue what the story/topic is about. As they go through the stories both Dave and Gareth find ways to connect the story to modern life and make fun of the characters and situations as they go along.
Check out the episode about "America's Worst Lottery Winner" here, or "Lobster Boy" which tells the story of Grady Stiles.
2. My Favorite Murder
Ready yourself for a murder adventure hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, two lifelong fans of true crime stories. Each episode the girls tell each other their favorite tales of murder, and hear hometown crime stories from friends and fans. Check your anxiety at the door, 'cause Karen & Georgia are dying to discuss death.
NPR or National Public Radio produces a large number of high quality podcasts on a variety of topics that are varied in length from 10 minutes to an hour or longer.
1. This American Life. (Easily the most popular podcast in America.)
This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 2.2 million listeners. It is produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the country, with another 2.4 million people downloading each episode.
There's a theme to each episode of This American Life, and a variety of stories on that theme. Most of the stories are journalism, with an occasional comedy routine or essay. There's lots more to the show, but it's sort of hard to describe. Probably the best way to understand the show is to start at our favorites page, though we do have longer guides to our radio show and our TV show. If you want to dive into the hundreds of episodes we've done over the years, there's an archive of all our old radio shows and listings for all our TV episodes, too.
2. Planet Money
The economy, explained, with stories and surprises. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, "Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy." Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money. People seem to like it.
3. Serial (Season 1)
It's Baltimore, 1999. Hae Min Lee, a popular high-school senior, disappears after school one
day. Six weeks later detectives arrest her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. He says he's innocent - though he can't exactly remember what he was doing on that January afternoon. But someone can. A classmate at Woodlawn High School says she knows where Adnan was. The trouble is, she’s nowhere to be found.
Other excellent NPR podcasts can be found here.
Informative Podcasts!
Please check out the following podcasts if you want to learn about almost anything.
SYSK(Stuff You Should Know) from Howstuffworks.com. Over 800 episodes about topics from Flamethrowers to Ponzi Schemes you can learn about almost anything with these two amazing gentlemen!
