How do you add listening practice to your lessons? As an ESL teacher, I usually use the listening exercises included in the curriculum I use for class, but to be honest, sometimes I can get a little bored with them – especially after teaching them multiple times (Can anyone else relate?). With that in mind, some of my favorite alternative resources to use for alternative listening exercises include: commercials, music videos, news and movie clips, and YouTube almost goes without saying. If you’ve been with the blog for a while (if you’re new – WELCOME!), you may recall a post I made about using LyricsTraining – a website designed to teach English listening and vocabulary through music videos and their lyrics, which is another fantastic resource. By now you may be wondering, “Taynim, what does this have to do with podcasts?”. Well, last year I discovered podcasts! Well… sort of. I have enjoyed listening to a good murder mystery or history podcast for years now, but just last year I discovered ESL podcasts – and let’s just say my mind was blown. I don’t know why I never thought to use podcasts in my classes to teach listening exercises before 2022 but, better late than never right? With all of my inner monologue rambling out of the way, here are some of the ESL podcasts I’ve discovered so far and what I like about them. Check them out and see if they could be a fit for your classroom.
- Culips: Some of you may remember one of my posts last year where I mentioned Culips podcasts. Culips was the first ESL podcast that I discovered, and it is definitely still one of my favorites. I like Culips podcasts because it has a ton of free podcasts for ESL students and their mission is to help students learn English the way it’s used by native speakers in everyday conversation. Culips offers 6 types of podcasts: simplified speech which delivers slow speech for beginners, pronunciation practice for all levels, practical expressions for an in depth discussion about English phrases for practical use, idioms and slang which is one of my students favorite podcasts, real time English conversations for intermediate students, and English tips from the Culips hosts. With so many types of podcasts and topics to choose from, Culips has been included in my lessons on many occasions. It is available on their website, and on Google and Apple Podcasts.
- Voice of America News Podcasts: Another great source for ESL podcasts is Voice of America News Podcasts from their Learning English site. VOA News has some fantastic newscasts in slow English for ESL students on YouTube and their podcasts are equally great. One of the reasons I love this site for podcasts is that they have such a large variety of topics for students to listen to. Some of my favorite series include: Learning English Broadcast – for students with a limited vocabulary, How to Pronounce – for American English, English in a Minute – for English expressions and probably my most used series because it’s so easy to squeeze in short sessions everywhere, American Stories – which retells stories from American Literature for intermediate learners, and As It Is – which looks at issues in the US and around the world.
- BBC Learning English Podcasts: Up last, but definitely not least, is what may just be one of the Holy Grails for ESL podcasts, and honestly ESL in general – Learning English from BBC. BBC’s Learning English site has a ton of resources for teaching and learning ESL, including seven different podcast series.
- 6 minute English: Students get to listen to 6 minutes of English in everyday situations. For example: Why can’t we resist comfort food?, One Year In – Covid-19, Dealing with mass unemployment post-pandemic, and Why do people text instead of talk?
- Learning English News Review: This podcast uses the language from news stories in a short podcast in everyday English. Examples of topics in this series include: Golden Globes, Trump’s Impeachment Trial, Flooding in the Himalayas, and UK Travel Restrictions.
- The English We Speak: This series takes a looks at different English phrases and slang in a short 3 minute podcast. For example: sad fishing, clout, goat, mic drop, tone deaf, contact tracing, and on fleek.
- 6 Minute Vocabulary and 6 Minute Grammar: These podcast series teach ESL students how to use English vocabulary and grammar in a short 6 minute lesson. They have episodes for all levels. Examples of topics in this series include: time expressions, words with double letters, pronouncing verbs and nouns, adverbs of frequency, and present tenses.
- BBC Learning English Drama: These are a bit less traditional, and teach English by retelling classic and everyday stories in a 6-10 minute podcast. Their current series include: English at Work, Alice in Wonderland, and Jamaica Inn.
- English Podcasts for Mandarin Speakers: This series is a short series of podcasts where everything from the links to the titles is written in Mandarin. This could be great for Chinese students who speak Mandarin and struggle with reading in English due to the difference in alphabets.
I hope that one of the podcasts in this post has peaked your interest. If you’ve used any of the podcasts I mentioned, leave a review in the comments, and as always feel free to drop any podcast recommendations or listening activity suggestions in the comments as well. Happy Teaching Everyone!
-Taynim Johnson