Hi everybody!!!!
Today I'm here to talk about another thing that is completely new for me: podcasts. They are audio files that you can free download on a portable media device, such as ipod or another mp3player. It is very very good, because nowadays everyone has a mp3 to listen to the music, downloaded from internet, and look at his own photos. The difference is only that the opportunity given by podcast is to improve our English learning by downloading legally!!! The most important thing when you want to learn a language is to speak and to listen to native people. Sometimes it is difficult because you can not travel or you don't know mothertounge people...but now Internet gives us all these possibilities, isn't great?! With Podcast you can listen to your files whenever and wherever you want thanks to your mp3player...a good chance to keep on contact with English!!
Surfing on Internet I've found some interesting websites, which could be useful for us too. BBC Radio is good because it help you to keep up to date, through many different subjects and programmes. You have the opportunity to listen to the radio in 33 different languages and this a huge help for us, who are language students. Another good thing of this site is that you can choose among a lot of files which ae divided into sections, everyone regarding a different subject. Then, if you click on the links, you can find quizzes, explanations of some words and a lot of extra materials.
www.businessenglishpod.com. In this site, the authors have made a list of conversation and text about everyday situations, expecially about the world of job, business and everything that is linked to this. You can find a lot of audio files which recreate a telephone conversation or a discussion in office in front of a cup of coffee, another one about a problem...or the "best" moment of the gossip!!!! It is good bacause you can choose the podcast that could interest you, also from the point of view of the job you will do, because there a division into categories( marketing, travel, job interviews, managment...).Then you listened to the audio files, you can find in the site also some questions and exercises about it and find out the tipycal idioms in the written text.
www.listen-to-english.com. This the simplest site I have found. The texts are really very very simple to follow while the speaker speaks, because they are short and you can have the text in front of you. In my opinion, it is a good site to start using podcast, because there are always texts about different subjects which are often curious!!! At the end of the lecture you have the vocabulary notes, you can send e-mail to the author to have explanations or to discuss directly with him about the topic and, moreover, you can send comments and read the comments of the other readers. There is also a link to look up the words: the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary. Isn't useful?!!
Well....luckily I have a mp3player!!!If you are not able to download the podcasts, you have to know that the most popular media players are Windows Media Player, Real Player and iTunes, which are available also in the net!!!
See you soon!!Bye Bye...
5 commenti:
Hi Caterina,
I saw you chose the BBC radio site! I bookmarked it too, I find it very interesting: as you pointed out, it’s very well organized and full of activities you can do. However, I focused my attention on the business English site. I think it’s very useful because it offers a wide range of everyday situations you can listen to, such as conversations and job interviews. You can practice your English through those audio files because you can learn new words belonging to the business field.
I really appreciated your work Caterina; I suggest you to pay attention to spelling and the –s of the third person.
Bye bye
Stefania
I just wanted to write in and say thanks for mentioning our podcast in your blogs and to congratulate you all on some very well written articles.
I like the fact that you picked up on one of the key benefits of the whole podcasting idea - the ability to access learning content when and where you choose (emphasis on 'you choose'). This concept actually has a name in English: 'On-demand' training - meaning you can access content when or where you demand (ie. want to).
Stefania: you have good taste ;-)
My compliments to you all on these well researched and written posts and I’m sure your efforts will be rewarded with steady progress in reaching your language goals.
All the best
Peter
BusinessEnglishPod.com
Hi Caterina!
I read your post and I saw you pointed out an aspect I didn’t consider, I mean, legality! I think it is important to have at our disposal on the web something free ( or really cheap) without breaking the law! Through podcasts you can learn very much without spending a lot of money…Everyone of us know how much expensive are books, dictionaries…!!
I visited your third website. I liked those few lines at the beginning explaining how this website is organised and with which purposes!
I listened to the first podcast about Amy Winehouse (she is awesome!). The speaker’s intonation recalled me our English teacher Mr. Scott!! I think that reading the transcription is useful not only to fully understand all the words of the audio file but also to see how to write correctly a text dividing it into paragraphs! As you wrote, there are some clickable words which link you automatically to the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and a good range of subject matters!
Good choice!
Hi Caterina,
nice to noticed that we chose the same website of the BBC. I appreciate the second website, too. I'm sure that the idea of podcasts for English learning is a great way for us in order to improve our skills and our practice. And for those students who are very close to their final graduation, it's helpful learning more vocabulary about the work and business world.
I suggest you to reread your post before sending it. I found some mistakes due to a innacurate correction. For example, I'm sure you wanted to write "here" and not "hear" in the first line!;)
See you soon!
Giovi
Dear Caterina,
Looking at your blog I saw that we’re sharing the same interest in business conversations; the thing I appreciated the most of your link is the possibility of doing tests at the end of a listening exercise so that you can immediately check your own abilities. As far as BBC radio is concerned I absolutely agree with your statement: the fact of providing 33 different languages enables users make comparisons between them. This is something really helpful especially for students of languages and, as Roberta said, we can use podcasts as transversal tools simply downloading them legally!
Cate, I found your work well-developed yet I saw some spelling mistakes! I suggest you to reread your post and to perfect it!
Bye Bye
alessia
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