LISTENINGS & PODCASTS

 Are LISTENINGS a problem for you? You may well need some advice about the right attitude when you are paying attention to people speaking English.

Here you have some strategies on how to improve your listening skills (from http://esl.about.com/):

·        Accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything.

·        Keep cool (idiom=stay relaxed) when you do not understand - even if    you continue to not understand for a long time.

·        Do not translate into your native language (synonym=mother tongue)

·        Listen for the gist (noun=general idea) of the conversation. Don't concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas.

And as the old saying goes: Practise makes perfect. The more you listen, the more you will understand.

        You can do many things to understand spoken English better: see films in English, listen to online radio stations in English, watch TV programmes using the English language option in your TDT/TV remote control, download the RealPlayer from RealMedia.com(it’s free and allows you to listen to RealAudio and use the Internet like a radio station)...

Remember, the work we do in class isn’t always enough!

Another very innovative way is to get audios or PODCASTS from the internet and practise anywhere.    

What is a PODCAST? A nice definition from a good online dictionary (http://www.yourdictionary.com/):

 

PODCAST: iPOD broadCAST--   

a recorded program of talk, music, etc. made available over the Internet as a file that can be downloaded to a computer or portable device.

Excellent sites to get podcasts (some of them with exercises to print or do on line) are the following:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts 

http://www.englishpronunciationpod.com/newarchive.html

http://www.eslall.com/learn_english_905.html

http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html

http://www.listen-to-english.com/

http://www.listen-to-english.com/index.php?cat=teaching

http://a4esl.org/podcasts/

 GOOD LISTENINGS TO EVERYONE!!