Podcasting the net
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Our English learning is a very long process on which converge various experiences.
We are constructing our knowledge step by step and we are perfectly aware of the importance of listening in this process.
So, this week, we had to surf the net in order to chase up some sites, containing podcasts useful for improving our listening abilities.
I would like to let you know what my issues are.
http://englishcaster.com/
Among the web sites I found, this is my favourite one because of the various possibilities it can offer to an English learner.
This site helps you to select the most suitable podcast for your needs, according to specific contents, kinds of English, levels, target ages and target nationalities.
And if you want to learn English in a fun way, you can listen to songs or watch entertaining videos. The authors of the site update frequently the podcasts and chose everyday one new word you may add to your virtual vocabulary.
Furthermore, once you visit the site, you can exploit the useful links it provides and go on with your learning process by yourself. This is one of the reasons which urges me to suggest you this site.
This is not a static collection of web pages, this is a dynamic way for learning English.
And if you get bored with it, you might use it as a sort of search-engine, taking you to other stimulating resources.
http://www.voanews.com/
This site is quite interesting because it gives the readers the opportunity of listening to the main world news and reading them, so they can find out if they have all understood and check new terms on the dictionary.
In addition, this site provides the readers a large number of recordings they can listen to improve their listening abilities, concerning different topics such as education, health and medicine, human interests, politics and much more.
This is something more than a simple newspaper, because you can easily read the news you are interested in and deepen their topic with a click on one of the numerous links.
Concerning podcasts, the site selected six recordings of discussions on different topics and interviews.
Some of them are thought up for English learners, so they are made easier, but I believe that with a certain effort and practice, they could understand all the recordings.
http://librivox.org/
Libri Vox is a community podcast that allows you to automatically download audio books to your computer. You can visit the on line catalogue and download all the files you want or you can find brand new audio books every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a poem on Sunday.
The peculiarity of this site is that you can also read a few chapters of a book and send them to Libri Vox; in doing so, you create your own podcasts and you improve your reading abilities.
The purpose of this open source site is that of building a network made up of a great number of free audio books which everybody can read without paying for them.
I think that Libri Vox could represent a different way of learning English because you can improve your vocabulary, learn how to change the tone of your voice in order to speak English more naturally and check your pronunciation.
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/
I decided to put this site into my favourites because it is very similar to the previous one.
So, if you enjoyed Libri Vox, go and visit Audio Books for free.
Comparing the two sites, I would like to add that this second one has a clearer menu which facilitate the selection of a book. It includes three main categories (fiction, children, non-fiction) made up of different types of books, such as comedies, adventures, poetry, memories and much more.
Furthermore, this site uses a state-of-the-art technology: it enables you to download audio books directly in video-dvd format rather than in mp3 and provides filters for limiting the outcomes of your selections.
I chose this site because I love books and I feel that they are fundamental for improving the knowledge of a language.
They allow you to experiment and recognize different language features (formal, informal, narrative, descriptive language, etc.) you can use in conversation in order to express yourself in a more appropriate way.
I hope you’ll enjoy the sites I selected.
We are constructing our knowledge step by step and we are perfectly aware of the importance of listening in this process.
So, this week, we had to surf the net in order to chase up some sites, containing podcasts useful for improving our listening abilities.
I would like to let you know what my issues are.
http://englishcaster.com/
Among the web sites I found, this is my favourite one because of the various possibilities it can offer to an English learner.
This site helps you to select the most suitable podcast for your needs, according to specific contents, kinds of English, levels, target ages and target nationalities.
And if you want to learn English in a fun way, you can listen to songs or watch entertaining videos. The authors of the site update frequently the podcasts and chose everyday one new word you may add to your virtual vocabulary.
Furthermore, once you visit the site, you can exploit the useful links it provides and go on with your learning process by yourself. This is one of the reasons which urges me to suggest you this site.
This is not a static collection of web pages, this is a dynamic way for learning English.
And if you get bored with it, you might use it as a sort of search-engine, taking you to other stimulating resources.
http://www.voanews.com/
This site is quite interesting because it gives the readers the opportunity of listening to the main world news and reading them, so they can find out if they have all understood and check new terms on the dictionary.
In addition, this site provides the readers a large number of recordings they can listen to improve their listening abilities, concerning different topics such as education, health and medicine, human interests, politics and much more.
This is something more than a simple newspaper, because you can easily read the news you are interested in and deepen their topic with a click on one of the numerous links.
Concerning podcasts, the site selected six recordings of discussions on different topics and interviews.
Some of them are thought up for English learners, so they are made easier, but I believe that with a certain effort and practice, they could understand all the recordings.
http://librivox.org/
Libri Vox is a community podcast that allows you to automatically download audio books to your computer. You can visit the on line catalogue and download all the files you want or you can find brand new audio books every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a poem on Sunday.
The peculiarity of this site is that you can also read a few chapters of a book and send them to Libri Vox; in doing so, you create your own podcasts and you improve your reading abilities.
The purpose of this open source site is that of building a network made up of a great number of free audio books which everybody can read without paying for them.
I think that Libri Vox could represent a different way of learning English because you can improve your vocabulary, learn how to change the tone of your voice in order to speak English more naturally and check your pronunciation.
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/
I decided to put this site into my favourites because it is very similar to the previous one.
So, if you enjoyed Libri Vox, go and visit Audio Books for free.
Comparing the two sites, I would like to add that this second one has a clearer menu which facilitate the selection of a book. It includes three main categories (fiction, children, non-fiction) made up of different types of books, such as comedies, adventures, poetry, memories and much more.
Furthermore, this site uses a state-of-the-art technology: it enables you to download audio books directly in video-dvd format rather than in mp3 and provides filters for limiting the outcomes of your selections.
I chose this site because I love books and I feel that they are fundamental for improving the knowledge of a language.
They allow you to experiment and recognize different language features (formal, informal, narrative, descriptive language, etc.) you can use in conversation in order to express yourself in a more appropriate way.
I hope you’ll enjoy the sites I selected.
See you soon, guys.
Francesca
http://odeo.com/audio/2347807/view
link suggested by Sarah, our teacher.
I love podcasts but my computer doesn't agree with me.
I mean that my computer is old-fashioned, out-of-date and "spiteful".
I promise you I'll try to record an audio message, but I'm not sure about the result.
If I don't achieve my purpose, I'll let you know my impressions on the world of podcasts just by writing them on my post. This is the only thing I can do.
Please, forgive me! :(
Francesca
http://odeo.com/audio/2347807/view
link suggested by Sarah, our teacher.
I love podcasts but my computer doesn't agree with me.
I mean that my computer is old-fashioned, out-of-date and "spiteful".
I promise you I'll try to record an audio message, but I'm not sure about the result.
If I don't achieve my purpose, I'll let you know my impressions on the world of podcasts just by writing them on my post. This is the only thing I can do.
Please, forgive me! :(
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posted by Fedora @ 7:56 AM
2 Comments:
At 8:19 AM,
Alice said…
Hiya Francesca!
What a great community podcast you've discovered so far ;-) I love reading and I'm always looking for new books to read or to give as a present... and Christmas is coming ;-) Unfortunately I'm quite lazy too, so I don't read a lot in English :-( Libri Vox gives the chance to get in touch to a great number of free audio books which one can read for free! And this is always good especially for "poor" students as we are :-(
I've also appreciated a lot the other one which is very similar to Libri Vox: Audio Books For Free has a wider range of reading alternatives, of different categories and of genre of books.
I think both are very useful to enrich our vocabulary; thanks to them we know where, I mean in which context, a word should be use and this is such an important oppurtunity that we cannot miss it ;-)
Alice
At 11:24 AM,
isaperini said…
Hi francesca!
I liked very much the two sites on audio books you chose to share with us. I did not know that something like an audio book could exist and I think it is just a great idea!In these sites you can find not only books in English but also listen to someone reading them for you..just like when we were children! I think it is a very useful and perhaps also relaxing way to improve our English listening!!
Isabella
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