http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts
In contrast to the first podcast I blogged about, Stuff You Should Know is a much less academic environment and therefore a much more approachable take on the world's events and news stories for NNS and NS alike. The podcasts are about an hour long with hosts who don't speak too quickly. In the last few months topics range from Can you die of a broken heart?, Composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process, How Supreme Court Nominations Work, Is a Head Transplant Really a Thing, Are Election Laws Designed to Suppress Voting?, How Ketchup Works and Why Isn't the US on the Metric System? Needless to say, the variety of topics seems unlimited and all (that I listened to) were conducted in a natural, conversational manner - very easy to listen to and to process the information discussed at the same time. I would recommend this podcast as a class resource to middle school to early higher ed ESL teachers/professors because of the variety. Educators would be able to easily sift through content for their courses and have students discuss/blog/annotate what they hear and compare it to other news sources or present the information to their peers. Also, students and teachers are able to listen to each individual podcast for free which can be found on the website.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
509U12 - This American Life Podcast Review
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives
When deciding which podcast to recommend to an ESL student to follow, the one that came to mind was This American Life. First, it is a podcast I and many of my friends enjoy; there are a wide variety of topics which appeal to our various interests and pursuits. Related to that idea is that the podcast covers current news to the many facets of American culture (Ask a grown up - the trials of teenage life, Vague and Confused - rules and how they are enforced, to name a few). Third and most pertinently to ESL students, each podcast has a title and a 1 to 3 sentence summary using average English. The English utilized in the podcasts is intermediate to intermediate advanced but still accessible to most ESL students. Again, because the title and summaries are in more simply English, that can serve as a conversation starter and thereby gain more perspectives and understanding from their peers. Finally, one more benefit to NNS and NS alike is that if someone doesn't want to pay for a subscription, they can wait one week and then have access to all the podcasts now back to 1995. This can also serve as a vital history resource for what was happening in the US before he or she came to the US.
When deciding which podcast to recommend to an ESL student to follow, the one that came to mind was This American Life. First, it is a podcast I and many of my friends enjoy; there are a wide variety of topics which appeal to our various interests and pursuits. Related to that idea is that the podcast covers current news to the many facets of American culture (Ask a grown up - the trials of teenage life, Vague and Confused - rules and how they are enforced, to name a few). Third and most pertinently to ESL students, each podcast has a title and a 1 to 3 sentence summary using average English. The English utilized in the podcasts is intermediate to intermediate advanced but still accessible to most ESL students. Again, because the title and summaries are in more simply English, that can serve as a conversation starter and thereby gain more perspectives and understanding from their peers. Finally, one more benefit to NNS and NS alike is that if someone doesn't want to pay for a subscription, they can wait one week and then have access to all the podcasts now back to 1995. This can also serve as a vital history resource for what was happening in the US before he or she came to the US.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)