Using Voice Of America Podcasts to Improve Listening and Speaking Ability

Listening to podcasts is a good way to improve your English listening and speaking ability. Some Internet news websites provide special programs for people who are trying to learn English. One of these is called Voice of America’s (VOA) Special English. VOA’s Special English uses easy vocabulary to talk about different news stories in the United States and in other countries. These stories are easier to read and understand than regular news stories in English. Everyday, the VOA also has an audio podcast with that day’s news. These news stories on their podcast are read at a slow rate, like ESL Podcast, so that you can understand them more easily. Although there are no explanations like you find on ESL Podcast, they are still a good way to listen to more comprehensible English.

Another website that provides special English help is the British Broadcast Company, or BBC. The BBC has a special section on its website to help people learn English through the news. The BBC website has stories written in easy language, with definitions of difficult words after some of their stories. You can read the story and listen to an audio file of someone reading the story to you.

Websites:
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/index.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/