What a time-demanding activity to look for podcasts!I’ve spent the whole morning looking for good podcasts about language learning. It was quite difficult because not all the websites I found were trust-worthing. However, I’ve come up with three interesting pocasts which I found during my “surfing the net" morning!
English as a Second Language Podcast
That’s a really well – organized and clear website where you can find podcasts available to “help you learn English even faster”!
In this website you can find podcasts which offer English lessons (which are called “English Café”), but also podcasts dedicated to specific topics such as “shopping”, “business”, “daily life”, “dining” or “entertainment”. Moreover, if you become a ESL Podcast member you can access further tools such as “additional vocabulary” or “extra explanations”.
I listened to an episode of the podcast about “shopping”, where they teach you how to “buy a jacket or coat when it’s getting cold”. It may be useful, isn’t it?
The “actors” speak very slowly trying to be as clear as possible. After the dialogue they explain to you what has been said and they also clarify the spelling and meaning of specific words!
Furthermore thay explain the difference between “jacket” and “coat” and they also give examples of the use of words in different contexts; grammar explanations are provided as well.
That’s really interesting and useful for language learners, actually as we are!
Podcasts are available to be listened to directly from the website, or you can download them on your computer.
Podcast.net
That’s a podcast directory where you can find podcasts about a number of different topics, vocabulary and language learning included.
There are podcasts available in spoken English that can help you to improve your listening skills and learn new words and expressions.
Very Vocabulary
That’s a non profit educational podcast where you can find podcasts devoted to the teaching of difficult English vocabulary.
The podcast is really useful to clarify the use and meaning of some difficult words, which we may not have heard of before!
For instance, I listened to a podcast where they explained the meaning and pronunciation of “onus” (which is an obligation or diagreable necessity) or “perfidy” (which means faithlessness and can be considered as a violation of promise or vow).
That’s quite interesting, even if podcasts are not divided into sections, so that you do not have the chance to choose which words you want to hear the explanation of!
I think that podcasts are among the most interesting tools available on the net which we’ve been suggested since the beginning of the course. However, I must say that it is quite difficult to access quickly all the podcasts for those who do not have the broadband, as I do. It takes half an hour to load a single podcast, so that I think that next time it’s better if I listen to them in the lab!
It would become too time demanding at home!
However, I’m realizing that my knowledge about the Internet and its applications is increasing week by week: how narrow-minded I was before, just surfing websites, using e-mails and forums!
However, I believe that it will take some time to me to become more and more confident with these new tools!
Camilla
5 commenti:
Hi Camilla,
this is the first post I read today. I really appreciated the podcasts you suggested! I don't have broadband (however, I'm planning to buy it) so I share your problems. This activity was really time-demanding! Now, I am in the lab so it's much more easier!
Well, I visited the first website you suggested and I downloaded the Podcast Being Under Stress. The reason why I chose it is that I am always complaining that I have a lot of things to do! Therefore, I decided to listen to this podcast, just in the case I find an English speaking person to talk with about my problems! I am joking! However, it's very interesting to learn how to complain about stress in a different language. The protagonist is overworked, she's stressed and she has a series of illnesses. To be true, I do think that she's a bit exaggerated!
I loved your post. You were critical and concise... Good job! You clearly expressed the strong and the weak points of the podcasts you suggested.
As far as the language is concerned, I noticed two spelling mistakes.
Let's start with the first one:
you wrote:
Furthermore (*thay) they explain the difference between “jacket” and “coat”...
Pay attention to the punctuation, too! Remember that "furthermore" is a sentence adverb which is always followed by a comma!
I'll give you an example taken from Longman Online Dictionary (a very useful tool):
"He is old and unpopular. Furthermore, he has at best only two years of political life ahead of him."
Like "moreover", "furthermore" is a very formal adverbial and we should avoid it when we are writing a post. However, it's very difficult to do it since we've always used this sort of adverbials!
The second spelling mistake is this one:
"which is an obligation or diagreable necessity"
maybe, you wanted to say disagreeable..
see you later
Silvia
Hi Camilla,
How are you?
I totally agree with you: podcasts are the most interesting tools we’ve learnt to use since when our English course started!
It’s a pity that, with a low-speed connection, you cannot completely enjoy the usefulness of podcasts… I’m very lucky to have broadband! I got it two or three weeks before starting our English course because I couldn’t bear any more that it took me hours to update my anti-virus program! My brother, who is married and has broadband at home, and a friend of mine, Giovanna, kept on hammering me: ‘Ask for a broadband connection! You’re old-fashioned!’ And now that I’m discovering the power of social software for ESL students, I’m very satisfied with it! It’s marvellous! Yesterday evening I had my first call via Skype with my friend Giovanna!
Anyway, have you seen that we both chose ESLPod.com! It’s great! I don’t repeat my impressions of it because you can read them directly in my post (http://elenaslivingroom.blogspot.com/2007/11/exploring-world-of-podcasts-with-eye-of.html)…Let’s talk about Very Vocabulary instead. To tell you the truth, at first I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it…They speak so slowly and smoothly!!! Don’t you think? Then, by chance, I listened to the podcast you did as well, and I must say that it’s very useful to learn new words… However, as you pointed out, neither you can choose what words you want to hear the explanation of in advance, nor there is a description of the content of each podcast! In addition, on this site they provide only lists of words with their definitions and not sample sentences; in my view, vocabulary should always be taught in its context as they do on ESLPod.com, which is definitely my favourite one!
As regards grammar and style, your post is very clear and accurate; there are few silly spelling mistakes as Silvia has already highlighted in her comment.
See you!
Elena
Hi Camilla!
I completely agree with you when you say that looking for podcasts is a very time-demanding activity! Like you, I spent a lot of time surfing the net looking for good podcasts!
I enjoyed reading your post; as Elena pointed out, your style is very clear and accurate. There are few spelling mistakes that Silvia already highlighted in her comment. I noticed another silly mistake; you wrote “pocasts” instead of “podcasts”.
I appreciated the fact that you had been critical and you highlighted also the weak points of the third podcast you suggested. Good job!
I visited the podcast directory you suggested and I listened to some audio files. I think that this website is a fantastic resource in order to improve your English vocabulary and listening skill. The layout of the site is clear and you can easily find the podcast you want since all podcasts are divided according to their topics. I was amazed when I saw the huge number of audio files available!
That’s all for now!
Veronica
Hello Camilla! =)
How are you?
I read through your post and I found it very interesting. I read through your post about Sophie Kinsella and I left you a comment, as well! =)
First of all, I saw that you, Elena, Marina and I reviewed the same podcast: ESLPod.com. Did you listen to the podcast I suggested? The title was ‘Rethinking teacher training’. It’s very useful to have a clear idea of the advantages and disadvantages in being a teacher! What do you think about it?
Then, I agree with you when you say that the speakers in ELSP.com ‘speak very slowly trying to be as clear as possible. After the dialogue they explain to you what has been said and they also clarify the spelling and meaning of specific words!’
I would like to listen to the episode about “shopping” you suggested us. Can you send me the link, please? I’m very curious about the way they can teach you how to “buy a jacket or coat when it’s getting cold”. It sounds bizarre!
As for peer-reviewing, I do agree with Silvia, she wrote very clear and exhaustive explanations! Wow!
See you!
Catch you later
Hi Camilla!
How are you? :-)
First of all, I really like the colours you use in your blog! They give a kind of "misterious atmosphere"! ;-) I think the image of the flowers you put is really nice. Why did you chose it? I decided to add an image of the statue of Oscar Wilde because in LIBRIVOX I listened to "The picture of Dorian Grey". I love that book!
I listened to VERYVOCABULARY and I think it's a useful tool to improve our vocabulary. The introduction is very long, but then he gives clear explanations of the different words he chose to teach. Sometimes it's funny because he has difficulties to pronounce them! I like the fact that he gives the spelling, so that you can write the word and then listen to the different meanings of it.
I liked reading your post. It's clear and gives the advantages and disadvantages of podcasts. Good job! I found some mistakes but I saw that Silvia and Veronica have already told you. Just one thing: when you wrote "For those who do not have the broadband", I'm not sure that the use of the article is right.
That's all!
Thanks for your websites! :-)
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