Using Podcasts to Learn English (Part 2)

Hello again. In my last post I talked about how the internet is a great way to improve your English, especially if you use podcasts.

In this blog post I’m going to explain exactly what a podcast is, what kinds of podcast are available, and how you can download them.

So, what exactly is a podcast?

It’s an audio file which you can download from the internet and save on your computer or mp3 player. Podcasts are updated regularly by the people who make them. This means that if you subscribe to a podcast on the internet, your computer will automatically download each new episode when it is ready. It is a bit like a radio show, but you can decide when and where to listen to it.

What is so good about podcasts?

If you have an mp3 player you can listen to them anywhere, and as many times as you like. For example, you can listen to one while you travel to work on the bus, or you can listen while exercising in the gym. You can listen in the park, in your car, in bed, in the bath, on the toilet, in an aeroplane – anywhere you want! There are thousands of podcasts on the internet, on all kinds of topic. So, you are really spoilt for choice! Also, 99% of podcasts on the internet are absolutely free!

What kinds of podcast are available for me to download?

Like I said, you can find podcasts on many different topics. There are ones on topics such as movies, news, business, finance, sport, comedy, food, politics, law, and of course – learning English.

There are lots of learning English podcasts available. I will recommend some of the best ones to you in the next blog post. For now, have a look at my own learning English podcast, called Luke’s English Podcast. I update it regularly, and thousands of people around the world listen to it every week. To look at the podcast webpage, click here.

The BBC also has a lot of podcasts, on many different topics. You can see their podcast homepage by clicking here. I will recommend some specific ones in the next blog post.

How can I listen or download podcasts?

There are 3 main ways to listen to podcasts.

1. Listen to each episode on the podcast webpage. For example, if you visit my podcast page, you will see a button that says ‘play’. Click that and you can listen to the podcast directly on the webpage.

2. Download the podcast onto your computer and then listen. On the podcast webpage you will find a link which says ‘download’. Just click that and the podcast will download onto your computer. You might need to ‘right click’ on the download button, and then choose ‘Save Target As’ in order to download the podcast. Then you can use a media player to listen to the podcast on your computer at any time. You can also transfer it to your mp3 player, iPod or mobile phone. Then you can listen to it anywhere.

3. Use iTunes. This is a software application on your computer which will play and organise your music. You can also use it to connect to the internet and subscribe to podcasts. Use the iTunes store (you need to sign in) to search for podcasts by topic (e.g. learn English). When you find a podcast you want to listen to, you can click ‘subscribe’ and iTunes will then automatically download each new podcast when it is available. When you turn on your computer, open iTunes and connect it to the internet. Any new podcasts you have subscribed to will be downloaded. Then you can connect your iPod or iPhone and add the podcasts to it. Then you can learn and listen to English while you walk around. iTunes is available to download for free. Just click here and follow the instructions on how to download and use it on your computer (if you don't already have it).

I highly recommend that you use podcasts to help your English. No longer are you separated from the English speaking world. There is a world of English listening available for you, at any time, wherever you are. Take advantage of it.

In part 3 I will explain how to use podcasts to improve your English, and I will recommend some good ones you can use.

Goodbye for now,

Luke

Glossary:

You are really spoilt for choice! - This is a fixed expression. It means that you have so many excellent options available that it is difficult to make a decision. E.g. In the cake shop there were so many delicious cakes that I was spoilt for choice! I didn't know which one to eat first!

Click (v) - this means to press your left mouse button when you are using a computer. 'Click' is the sound that the button makes when you press it.

Right click (v) - this means to click with the right button on your mouse. When you do this you get different options depending what you click on. E.g. if you right click on a photo on the internet, you can download it to your computer by choosing Save Photo As.

Subscribe (v) - this means to ask to receive something regularly. E.g. if you subscribe to a magazine, you pay every year and then each magazine is delivered directly to your house every month. If you subscribe to a podcast, each new one will automatically be downloaded by your computer - you don't need to do it yourself each time.

Take advantage of it (v) - 'to take advantage of something' is a fixed expression (a verb phrase) which means to get all the benefits of something by using it. E.g. Take advantage of all the podcasts on the internet by subscribing to them and using them to improve your English.

Using Podcasts to Learn English (Part 1)

The internet has changed the world. We now live in an instantly connected global society. As long as you have access to an online computer, you can find out about events almost as soon as they happen. Take the sad story of the death of Michael Jackson as an example. Within seconds of the event, millions of people all around the world knew what had happened: The King of Pop had died.

It’s not all sad news stories though. The internet can be a really useful tool to help you learn English, and there are lots of ways to do this. You can read blogs, like this one. People are blogging all the time, about lots of topics. If you like, you can blog about your own life too. As well as that, you can use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to try and make friends and chat with other people around the world. You can use Twitter, in order to keep up with the latest conversation topics, follow interesting people, tweet about yourself and read other people’s tweets. You can also use YouTube to watch videos on almost any topic in English, or to upload your own videos for the world to see.

In my opinion, podcasts are one of the best ways to use the internet to improve your English. There are lots of podcasts on the internet and almost all of them are free. But, which are the best ones out there, and more importantly what actually is a podcast?

This is part 1 of a series of blog posts I’m going to write about podcasts. In this series, I’ll explain what podcasts are, how to listen to them and how to use them to improve your English. I’ll also recommend some good podcasts that you can find on the internet and can download for free.

So, watch this space for more blog posts about podcasts in the near future. For now though, have a look at the definitions of some of the useful ‘internet vocabulary’ I have used in this blog post, and feel free to write a comment or ask a question if you want to.

Luke.

podcast - n (C) an audio programme which you can listen to on the internet, or download and listen to on your computer or mp3 player. 'Pod' comes from the word 'iPod' and 'cast' comes from the word 'broadcast'. So, a podcast is like a broadcast (e.g. a radio show) on your iPod.

online - adj connected to the internet. The opposite is offline. E.g. my computer is offline at the moment because I don't have an internet connection at home.

blog - n (C) a website on which someone can regularly write posts, comments, stories, reports, diary entries, etc. Blogs are regularly updated. Blog is short for web-log.

blog - v to write on a blog. E.g. "I'm just blogging about how to use the internet to learn English".

blog post - n (C) an article, story, report, etc which has been written on a blog, by an author of the blog

social networking site - n (C) a website which people use to make friends, chat to people and share music & video, and make social arrangements

to chat - v this has two meanings. The most common meaning is to have an informal conversation with someone (it could be face to face or on the telephone), e.g. "I was just chatting with your Mum about what you want for your birthday...". The second meaning is newer than the first, and it means to have a text conversation with someone on the internet, using a messaging service like MSN Messenger or in an internet chat room.

chat - n (C) an informal spoken conversation, or a text conversation on the internet. E.g. "I had a chat with Mum about what you wanted for your birthday..."

to keep up with something - phrasal verb to stay up-to-date with something. E.g. "I like to keep up with the latest film reviews by using the BBC's film review website" or "I use Facebook to keep up with what my friends are doing"

tweet - n (C) a status update or comment which has been written on the website Twitter. It's a new word which is used for updates written on Twitter only. E.g. "Follow our tweets by visiting the LSE Twitter page"

tweet - v to write a status update or comment on Twitter. E.g. "The London School of English tweets about something every day"

upload - v to put an audio file, video file or photograph onto the internet from your computer. E.g. "Click here to upload your profile picture" or "You can't upload videos onto YouTube which are longer than 10 minutes"

download - v (and a noun sometimes) to take an audio file, video file or photograph from the internet and save it on your computer. E.g. "I downloaded Skype last night, so we can use it to chat from now on" or "Click here to download the mp3"

watch this space - fixed expression this is a common expression that people use to say a development is coming so pay attention to this. it is often used in newspapers, on TV and on websites. E.g. "Watch this space for news of the latest iPhone release"