Strange but true! Last week we talked about podcasts and this topic was a little familiar to me. I came across podcasts thanks to my friends. Some of them regularly download audio files onto their mp3 players. They suggested me that this tool could be useful for my listening improvements in English but I didn’t have much trust in them. I was a bit doubtful about its usefulness. Usually I try to improve my listening skills through web sites that provide video and audio files. Certainly this strategy depends on the use of a computer and I need free time to spend in front of it. This week surfing the Net and looking for podcasts I understood how to optimize the use of my time and at the same time how to improve my English.
Firstly I came across podcasts on the BBC web site. I chose immediately this url: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/globalnews/. I like keeping abreast of current news from all over the world. Regularly I read or listen BBC news but sometimes I don’t have much time. Thanks to podcasts I can download the BBC World Service news programme. It lasts up to 30 minutes and it’s updated twice a day. In this web site there are BBC radio stations as well. I can quickly download their podcasts on my mp3 player and listen to radio programmes at the bus stop, while I’m going to University...
My second choice is The VOA web site. There I can find radio transcripts and audio files. At this stage I think it’s very important for my improvements to find the right tools. Sometimes it isn’t so easy because I tend to choose the easier things and to indulge on my level of advanced learner. Now it’s time to expand our knowledge of English and American culture. For this reason I chose this web site: http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/the-making-of-a-nation.cfm. I can receive every week an audio file about American national history. If I want to know more about a culture it’s fundamental to know his past and history.
The third web site I chose is very funny. The url is http://storynory.com/. It is thought for children because you can download stories for kids. It can be useful for three reasons:
1. Stories for kids use a particular language and vocabulary which is very interesting and funny for me to learn.
2. You can expand your knowledge of the traditional stories for American or English kids. In Italy the most famous story for children is Pinocchio. Which are American traditional stories?
3. Kids’ stories are part of a culture as well. You can learn new aspects of a culture because these stories usually have their origins in ancient times.
Firstly I came across podcasts on the BBC web site. I chose immediately this url: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/globalnews/. I like keeping abreast of current news from all over the world. Regularly I read or listen BBC news but sometimes I don’t have much time. Thanks to podcasts I can download the BBC World Service news programme. It lasts up to 30 minutes and it’s updated twice a day. In this web site there are BBC radio stations as well. I can quickly download their podcasts on my mp3 player and listen to radio programmes at the bus stop, while I’m going to University...
My second choice is The VOA web site. There I can find radio transcripts and audio files. At this stage I think it’s very important for my improvements to find the right tools. Sometimes it isn’t so easy because I tend to choose the easier things and to indulge on my level of advanced learner. Now it’s time to expand our knowledge of English and American culture. For this reason I chose this web site: http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/the-making-of-a-nation.cfm. I can receive every week an audio file about American national history. If I want to know more about a culture it’s fundamental to know his past and history.
The third web site I chose is very funny. The url is http://storynory.com/. It is thought for children because you can download stories for kids. It can be useful for three reasons:
1. Stories for kids use a particular language and vocabulary which is very interesting and funny for me to learn.
2. You can expand your knowledge of the traditional stories for American or English kids. In Italy the most famous story for children is Pinocchio. Which are American traditional stories?
3. Kids’ stories are part of a culture as well. You can learn new aspects of a culture because these stories usually have their origins in ancient times.
5 commenti:
Hi Serena!
Among the websites you suggested I chose to explore the BBC site. I think that listening to BBC's podcasts can be very interesting and useful both from the linguistic point of view - to improve our English listening skills - and from the cultural point of view: we can always be informed about the world's latest news!
As I already said to Cla83 and Claudia Trivellato I think you made good choices too!
C u!
Bye
Laura
Hi Serena!
First of all I want to compliment you because your posts are always well done and very detailed!
I visited the first site you suggest: I like it because you can both listen to interesting information and improve your language skills.
The last site you suggested hit me because I agree with you when you say that by stories for kids you can learn some useful things! And in addition it is a pleasant means for improving your skills.
Hi Serena,
I've noticed that you chose the BBC's podcast as well as I did. I think that this site is an inexhaustible source of information, news, interviews and tools. Last week I chose too this side to create my social bookmarking about the topic "learning in English". Obviously I didn't visit this site because I know it by heart :-)
So, I decided to visit the last site, the one about stories for kids... oh... it's really sweet and simply fantastic. I consider myself a "timeless" baby so I made a sort of jump into the past surfing in this site (I have also listened to a story about the origin of Christmas!!!). Anyway, except for my love for everything that regard kids' world I think that listening by podcast those simple stories for kids are useful to improve English skills. They are not difficult to understand in meaning, and maybe a foreign student can focus his attention in pronunciation or even intonation. Well done Serena!!!
Hi Serena!
I really like what you shared with us!
I do love your third proposal, that's on stories for kids. I perfectly agree with you: by listening to this type of things we can learn both new words and something more on a specific culture...and, in addition, they're also amusing!
The Web is so full of interesting and useful tools!
You did an unexpected choice (at least for me), but a very, very good choice!
See you!
Hello Serena,
you chose a lot of interesting stuff, indeed!
I'm a bit sceptical about learning history from podcast... Probably it depends on how you use them, I've started listening to these files from my mp3 player when I'm on the train, and I don't think it is a good way to learn anything about history and culture because you have not time to fix what you're listening to.
You'll tell me if you manage to improve your knowledge through these podcasts!
See you on Monday
Claudia
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