With the help of this blog post, I will give you amazing ways to improve your English with podcasts. Let’s have a look at what will be in this blog post:
- What are podcasts
- Should I really listen to them?
- Amazing ways to improve your English with podcasts
What are podcasts?
A podcast is like a radio programme. The only difference being that you can listen to it when you want, where you want and how you want. Normally, we subscribe to podcasts on our smartphones. Nowadays, however, it is possible to download podcasts even on to your computer or a tablet. The amazing thing about listening to podcasts, is you can listen to them while going to work, while exercising (at home during Covid times) or even in the car while heading to shops. A further advantage is that you can start and stop the podcast whenever and come back to it later!
Podcasts are the newest way of learning something new, whether you be a language learner or someone interested in science. There is no longer a need to sit behind a pile of books to learn something new!
Should I really listen to podcasts?
According to studies, podcasts make it easier for learners to improve their vocabulary, grammar, accent recognition and even improve their speaking skills. So, the basic answer to this question a big Yes! Now, some of you might think that podcasts are not right for you. But in the following part, I’ll give you amazing ways to improve your English with podcasts. Are you interested in finding out? Of course you are!
Amazing tips to improve your English with podcasts
As mentioned above, podcasts are the latest in the development for learners. Within this section I will provide you with amazing ways and tips to improve your English with podcasts. Let’s go!
1. Vocabulary
Studies have found that traditional methods (using books) compared to listening to podcasts are not as effective as they used to be. Researchers found that people listening to podcasts improved their vocabulary knowledge much more than those who used books. I can also say that for me, it is easier to learn something, when listening to it. I prefer to learn by doing.
2. Grammar
A further amazing way to improve your English with podcasts is to improve your grammar. Now, you might be thinking that this is not possible. Nevertheless, it is! How? Well, instead of learning the language in books, you’re actively getting the language in your head by hearing people use different expressions. In spoken language, we might use double negatives or colloquial language. In books, this is rarely taught. So this way you’re improving your English with podcasts.
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3. Pronunciation
As you may or may not know, there’s no such thing as the ‘right’ accent or ‘right pronunciation’. All over the English-speaking world, people pronounce words differently from one another. This is what makes us unique. So, when listening to a podcast, you can also improve your pronunciation. This is because, when reading transcripts of the podcast, you learn how to say the words and phrases as you’ve heard them. This, by the way, also leads to the next amazing way:
4. Listening practice
Yes! With podcasts, you can also improve your listening practice. This is a simple, yet very effective amazing way to improve your English with a podcast. The reason being is that every time we listen to something in a foreign language, our brain actively starts to work on understanding what we’re being told. It is important, therefore, to actively listen to podcasts and, perhaps while your doing this, you have a further amazing way to improve your English:
Here are 6 simple steps to improve your listening skills with music.
5. Writing
And by this, I mean, we can also improve our writing skills! Indeed, what we can also do while listening to podcasts, is to also write down notes of what we hear. Then, at the end of the episode, we can then look at our transcript and see whether we wrote the information down correctly.
6. Speaking
Now, as we listen to the podcasts, we also learn the difference between what we call ‘monologue‘ and ‘dialogue‘. What we hear in the episode is a monologue, because the producer of the podcast has written a script. A dialogue is when people are talking to each other freely. Let me give you a simple exercise to try at home. Listen to a podcast episode with a friend or family member. Then once you have both listened to it, talk about the different topics you heard in the episode. This will be an amazing way to improve your English.
Try different amazing ways to improve your English with podcasts!
As you can see from the above, there are amazing ways to improve your English, whether it be from just the listening practice or speaking practice. Try out a podcast today! Tell us in the comments the amazing ways you used to improve your English with podcasts!
Here are 20 further tips to improve your English at home: