Podcasts - The Language Learning Companion
In today's modern fast paced world everybody uses electronic gadgets for most of the things they do, and computers and the internet usually play an integral part of most people's lives. This is usually the same for language learning. On the most part, gone are the days of reading books and listening to audio cassettes, nevermind having to go to the shops to buy them in the first place. People today want instant gratification and they want their information sent to them when they need it, that is why all of the language courses that we review can be downloaded (or at the very least ordered) online. Sometimes though people want more information than they have at hand, they may want regular updates to keep them on their toes. This is where Podcasts come in.
What is a Podcast?
A podcast is an audio or video file sent directly to a person's computer, which can be played either on the pc itself or transferred to another device like an mp3 player, or even burnt to CD. Sometimes the podcast can be a one-off performance or show, but more often than not it will be a regular, periodical distribution, sent to a loyal group of subscribers who will follow each episode as it comes.
What Podcasts Do They Have for Language Learning?
Many podcasts these days are concentrating on helping people to learn a language. They may be daily, weekly, or bi-weekly podcasts and can cover varying styles of language learning. The majority are solely audio but can differ on their approach: Some can be vocabulary based where they will give a couple of new words every day in your chosen language and help you parctice them until you remember, others may give you passages of spoken foreign language with a breakdown of meaning. Others still may follow the audio course structure and offer conversations based around real situations. There are many different kinds and all it takes is a little bit of seaching to find the one (or few) that interest you. The best thing is, many of them are free.
So Will They Help Me Learn a Language?
Podcasts are excellent tools in your language learning arsenal and can certainly help you learn a language. It is unlikely that you could learn a language based solely on Podcasts, but they are a great addition: They allow you to hear more of your target language than you could have hoped for, they can teach you new vocabulary, and get you regularly involved with the learning process (where otherwise you may 'forget' about your studies)
If you have an mp3 player or even just want to use a computer, it will certainly be beneficial for you to make use of podcasts.
How Do I Get Them?
There are several sites to get podcasts from, many of them are language specific, some are directories that hold a multitude of podcasts and you just have to find them. When you find them often you can either stream them there and then , right click and save them to your desktop, download them to your computer or have them e-mailed to you. Many of them are free but may ask you to register first and they will then use that e-mail address to send you your podcast. Once you have the file (usually an mp3 file) you can listen to from your pc, burn it to CD, or upload it to you mp3 player and listen to it on the move. This is the beauty of podcasts—flexibility and mobility.
Example Podcasts
As many podcasts are language specific, you will find these under the individual language page, at the bottom, under 'Podcasts'. Below are some 'directory' style podcast sites.
Apple Itunes - Website
A huge library of language related podcasts many of them free to download. It can be an enormous resource for any language—they even have Klingon podcasts! For help on how to use Itunes podcast service effectively see our free video help in our educational videos section.
Podcast Alley - Website
A big podcast directory with material on every subject imaginable. With a search you can find some very good language podcasts. It is a good place to find podcasts grouped together from all over the web.
The Peace Corps - Website
A strange choice but they do have podcasts for several languages (not your regular languages granted) made for their volunteers. They are free and can be downloaded easily. Good choice for the basics if they have your language.
Learn Out Loud - Website
A directory with many podcasts and a good choice of language podcasts. Many may be duplicates of the Itunes site but it is worth checking out in case they have some exclusive ones for your language.
ODEO - Website
A Podcast site with a massive amount of podcasts including the free e-mailed podcasts from other premium podcast sites.
Podfeed - Website
A site with many podcasts but limited categorising means you have to scroll through many podcasts to find the gems.