Podcasts (E-tivity 6)

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.

Welcome to my blog

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Hello everybody and welcome to my blog! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Serena Santi and here there are some thoughts that could help you to know more about my personality. Enjoy reading it and please remember to write a comment suggesting me whatever you want.

I chose the picture above because it’s so poetic, isn’t it? It represents a landscape with no human presence. I love peaceful and natural places like this. It’s the perfect place I could ever imagine to have a rest after a full day of study, lessons, train delays etc. This image and my home, they both make me feel the same sensation of calm. After a stressful day I need some time for myself, just to recover my strength after a busy day. During the day I’m an hyperactive person, I have a lot of interests, I attend lessons, I have a job, I meet friends at the university, but when I come back in the evening I feel a comforting sensation. This picture shows another aspect of my character. I’m not afraid of loneliness. I think people are always in a hurry and they aren’t able to appreciate the moments they spend alone or to contemplate a landscape like that. I’m convinced that spending time alone can help each of us to be more aware of ourselves.

My favourite websites:

http://www.google.it/

This web site is absolutely the site I use most frequently. All I need to found is there. It gives me always an answer. This is so reassuring. Of course you have to pay attention to the web sites that google suggests you but what I prefer is the fact that all depends on you, on what you choose. I like to compare this web site to a springboard from which you can dive into a sea of possible choices and new information.

news.bbc.co.uk/

I think it’s very important to know how things are going on in the world every day and so I love to read news on the bbc web site. It’s very well organised and its layout is very engaging. It’s also a useful tool that helps me to improve my reading and my listening.