Current subtitle
Play the video to see the active subtitle.
Sentence navigator
Progress
0 / 1130:00 - 0:05
In one of my videos, I talked about a very common problem.
0:05 - 0:09
I can't understand, but I cannot speak.
0:09 - 0:15
But while I was reading the comments, I came across this one.
0:15 - 0:19
I can't speak, but I cannot understand.
0:19 - 0:29
So in this video, I'm going to teach you the best way to improve your listening skill through English podcasts.
0:30 - 0:37
Oh, my name is Maddie from POC English.
0:37 - 0:46
Lessening is a very crucial skill, especially if you want to be able to communicate effectively.
0:47 - 0:54
One of the best ways to improve your listening skill is by listening to English podcasts.
0:54 - 0:58
But what podcasts and how to listen to them?
0:59 - 1:05
English podcasts are available for different levels and with different accents.
1:05 - 1:14
So two questions you need to ask yourself is what is my level and what is my favorite accent?
1:14 - 1:18
Do I want to learn the American accent or the British accent?
1:18 - 1:24
Based on your answers to these two questions, you can choose the right podcast.
1:24 - 1:27
So first of all, what is your level?
1:27 - 1:30
Well, you should consider two different levels.
1:31 - 1:36
Below intermediate level or above the intermediate level.
1:36 - 1:37
Which one are you?
1:37 - 1:47
If you belong to the first group, whose level of English is below the intermediate level, you should not worry about the accent.
1:47 - 1:49
So forget about the accent.
1:49 - 1:55
First of all, you should focus on improving your general understanding and listening skill.
1:55 - 1:59
For you, I recommend this website lessonam minute.
1:59 - 2:00
com.
2:00 - 2:08
On this website, you can find one minute English podcasts about almost any topic you think of.
2:08 - 2:11
And the topics are categorized alphabetically.
2:11 - 2:14
For instance, let's go to one of the topics paper.
2:15 - 2:21
There you can see the one minute audio file and the written script.
2:21 - 2:24
You can also download the audio file if you like.
2:24 - 2:27
Plus, you can download the script in a PDF file format.
2:28 - 2:35
This website is amazing for those who are below the intermediate level, especially for the beginners.
2:35 - 2:39
But how should you listen to the podcasts on this website?
2:39 - 2:42
Stick to the end of this video.
2:42 - 2:42
I'm going to teach you.
2:43 - 2:46
All right, time for the second group.
2:46 - 2:50
Those whose level of English is above the intermediate level.
2:51 - 3:10
For you, accent is actually important because by listening to podcasts, not only you improve your listening skill and general understanding, but you can also improve your accent and pronunciation using the imitation technique or the speech shadowing technique.
3:10 - 3:14
I'm going to link a video up here so you can click on it.
3:14 - 3:20
In this video, I talked about improving your pronunciation using the speech shadowing technique.
3:20 - 3:30
So if you are above the intermediate level and you are interested in the British accent, I recommend BBC Six Minute English Podcasts.
3:31 - 3:38
This is the official website where you can find the Six Minute English Podcasts of BBC.
3:38 - 3:40
You can also see the level, intermediate.
3:40 - 3:45
I'm going to put the link to this website down in the descriptions of this video.
3:45 - 3:47
How does it work?
3:47 - 3:51
Well, you have a wide choice of topics.
3:51 - 3:54
So you can read the topics and see which one you like.
3:54 - 3:55
Click on the one you like.
3:56 - 4:01
And then you can see the audio and the PDF files there.
4:01 - 4:12
So basically, you can play the podcast from inside the website or you can download the audio of the podcast together with the PDF file of the script.
4:13 - 4:16
What about the American accent lovers like me?
4:16 - 4:19
Well, the best option for you is VOA.
4:20 - 4:26
This is VOA Learning English and VOA stands for Voice of America.
4:26 - 4:29
And we are talking about the American accent, right?
4:30 - 4:37
On this website, you can find podcasts for different levels, beginning, intermediate or advanced levels.
4:37 - 4:40
We're talking about the intermediate level.
4:40 - 4:44
We click on it and then you can see there are four options here available.
4:44 - 4:50
Health and lifestyle, science and technology, art and culture, as it is.
4:50 - 4:56
You click on your favorite area and then you can see a lot of podcasts available.
4:56 - 4:59
You can also click on load more and then there they are.
4:59 - 5:02
Let's click on one and see what happens.
5:02 - 5:05
Well, we have the audio file we can play.
5:05 - 5:08
We can also download the audio file here.
5:08 - 5:13
And the text and the script of the audio file is right below it.
5:15 - 5:19
So let's sum up the first part of this lesson.
5:19 - 5:23
If you are below the intermediate level, go to lessoneminent.
5:23 - 5:24
com.
5:24 - 5:25
That's where you should start from.
5:25 - 5:33
If you are above the intermediate level and you like the British accent, BBC Six Minute English is for you.
5:33 - 5:38
And if you are into the American accent, then VOA is the best option.
5:38 - 5:43
Okay, now that we know what podcast you can use, time for second question.
5:43 - 5:48
How can we lessen two podcasts in order to improve our lessening?
5:49 - 5:55
If you want to improve your lessening through podcasts, you have to follow these three steps.
5:55 - 5:57
Step one is to lessen.
5:57 - 5:59
Don't worry about anything.
5:59 - 6:03
You don't have to understand 100% of what they are saying.
6:03 - 6:06
You don't have to take notes, just lessen.
6:06 - 6:15
The important thing is that your ears are getting used to the sounds you are hearing and that you can get the gist of the story.
6:15 - 6:17
What is going on?
6:17 - 6:18
Who are the main speakers?
6:18 - 6:21
What is the topic of the podcast?
6:21 - 6:22
That's enough.
6:22 - 6:26
And the good part about the first step is that you can do it anywhere.
6:27 - 6:33
You can lessen two podcasts while you are sitting down or maybe while you are doing the dishes.
6:34 - 6:41
You can also lessen two podcasts while you are walking on the street or maybe you are waiting for the bus.
6:41 - 6:43
Or, you know.
6:45 - 6:50
You can lessen to it anywhere you want and as many times as you need.
6:50 - 6:54
Step two, lessen and write down.
6:54 - 6:58
Now listen guys, this step might take a lot of time.
6:58 - 7:01
But trust me, there is no shortcut in learning.
7:01 - 7:05
You need to spend time, so do it and don't be lazy.
7:05 - 7:15
What you need to do here is to lessen to the podcast, pause after each sentence and write down what you heard.
7:15 - 7:20
So basically you are going to write down the script of the podcast.
7:20 - 7:24
Maybe sometimes you don't understand what they are saying.
7:24 - 7:26
Pause, go back, lessen again.
7:27 - 7:30
Again, if you need, you can go back and lessen again.
7:30 - 7:37
Do this as many times as you need in order to understand what the podcast speaker is saying so that you can write it down.
7:37 - 7:40
What if I don't understand what they are saying?
7:40 - 7:51
Well, in that case, if you couldn't understand what they are saying after a few times of playing it and listening to it, then just leave it blank and continue with the rest of the podcast.
7:52 - 7:58
Alright, by the end of this step you will write down the script of the podcast.
7:58 - 8:00
What is step three?
8:00 - 8:03
Lessen and follow the original script.
8:03 - 8:10
Whether you lessen to VOA or BBC podcasts, the script is available in a PDF file format.
8:10 - 8:19
So what you need to do is to download that file, play the podcast, and while you are listening to the podcast, follow the script.
8:20 - 8:23
This time you will understand what they are saying 100%.
8:24 - 8:38
And step four, the final step is to compare your script to the original script to see which parts you have made a mistake, which parts you couldn't get, and which parts you left blank.
8:38 - 8:45
This exercise takes a lot of time, guys, but trust me, you will see immediate results.
8:45 - 8:51
Plus, not only it improves your listening, you can also learn some new vocabulary.
8:51 - 8:55
So basically, you are killing two birds with one stone.
8:55 - 9:00
And to kill two birds with one stone means to achieve two things by doing one thing.
9:01 - 9:02
I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.
9:02 - 9:16
If you want to receive the summary of every video lesson I post on YouTube, in one PDF file each time I post, what you need to do is to go to my website, pocinglish.
9:16 - 9:16
com.
9:16 - 9:19
The link is down in the descriptions.
9:19 - 9:24
Click on the link, go to my website, type in your email address, and click subscribe.
9:24 - 9:25
See you.