Improve Your English Level With Podcasts!

By: Youngsin Choi

Do you think we are living in a new normal? Things that we used to do without any difficulty became quite challenging, such as meeting friends or going to a restaurant for a casual dining. Learning English has also become more difficult. Because of the lockdown and social distancing, it is becoming harder to interact with people, let alone native English speakers. In this post, I introduce an English learning method that will help you in our “new normal”. I used this same method to improve my English skills. I call this method “podcast learning”. Learning English this way has many benefits. You can do it by yourself. You will feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s not expensive. It is fun to do. Best of all, it actually works! Here’s how you can do it.

Choose a Podcast

Podcasts are useful sources that you can improve your listening skills. A podcast is an audio program, like a radio talk show. Podcasts can discuss a wide range of topics, but a specific podcast will usually be dedicated to one topic. Podcasts will help you learn English quickly, by using your listening skills.

Some podcasts also have transcripts, so that you can read along. You can listen to podcasts with your computer or smartphone. Some phones, like the iPhone come with a Podcast app, where you can browse and subscribe to different podcasts.

To start, choose a podcast. When I was learning English, I started with “ESL Pod”. I recommend starting with this one. I listened to this podcast because it covers various topics, provides clear explanations, and has a speaking exercise with a normal speech rate. There are many other ESL podcasts out there. You can also choose other podcasts with topics that interest you.

Listen to a Podcast Episode

Choose any episode of the podcast to begin. Each ESL pod episode begins with a dialogue at a slow speed, then an explanation about each sentence, and then the speakers repeat the dialogue in a normal speed. Repeat listening to the episode until you can understand the content well. By doing this, your listening skills will improve greatly. As an added bonus, I listened to episodes while taking a walk, which also helped me improve my health.

Take Notes on What You Learn

According to cognitive psychologists, after we watch, listen, or read something, only 10% of the content remains in our short-term memory. In other words, after you read this blog, you probably won’t remember 90% of what you read. This is why repetition is important when learning a language. You will memorize much more material if you practice over and over again. This includes studying and reviewing what you learned. That is why creating a notebook for the podcast episodes is so important. It allows you to review the episode over and over, while also practicing your English writing skills. I would like to introduce how I took notes.

This is the overall layout of the notebook.

On the left side of the notebook, I wrote the dialogue of the episode. I listened to the episode and wrote it down in English. (This is called dictation.) After I wrote the script, I compared it with the original transcript provided on the ESL pod website. I studied the pronunciation of the difficult words.

On the right side of the notebook, I wrote new vocabulary and expressions from the dialogue that I wanted to learn. I used both English and Korean (which is my first language) to better understand and memorize the words. I even drew pictures to help myself remember the meaning.

Underneath the vocabulary, I translated the script into Korean. This gave valuable visual support when I practiced the dialogue.

Rehearse

You should be pretty familiar with the dialogue by this step because you listened to the episode several times, wrote it down, learned the vocabulary, and even translated it into your first language. Now, it is time to practice speaking it.

Mimic the Speakers

At the end of the podcast, the speakers read the dialogue with a normal speech rate. Mimic each sentence. When you do this, look at your notes, listen to the teachers, and try to speak as similar to the teachers as possible. As you practice, make sure you ask yourself the following questions:

How fast are they speaking?

Where is the accent?

How is the rhythm?

Mimicking native speakers is a good way to improve your pronunciation. Repeat again and again until the language starts to feel natural.

Use your native language translation as a visual aid

After you read aloud the script several times, you might have the script in your short-term memory. However, your goal is to store it in your long-term memory. Now, to challenge yourself, just look at the translation of the dialogue in your native language, and not the English version. While reading the native language script, listen to the speakers one more time. Notice how each translation is actually spoken in English. After that, try to speak in English while you read the script in your native language. The goal in this step is to be able to recite the original script, only by reading it in your native language. You kind of become a translator at this stage!

Record yourself

When you feel confident enough, record yourself speaking in English. Listen to the recording. Compare it with the dialogue on the podcast. Does everything sound the same? Are there any words you need to practice? What are the differences between you and the original speakers?  Take notes during this exercise.

Repeat, repeat, and repeat!

When you finish with the recording exercise, take a break. Do something to relax, like playing a game, going for a walk, or talking to friends. Revisit the script and recording again in a few hours. When you’re ready, try to recall the script from memory. Can you remember it? Record your speech again and compare it with the script. Review the script if needed. By doing this, you will increasingly feel more confident about speaking in English.

Make a review plan

Keep listening to episodes of the podcast and take more notes. Your goal is to expand your expressions and vocabulary, but don’t forget past scripts. Make a plan to review them at least once a week. I made a list of the scripts I had learned and made a plan to review 5 scripts a day. I made the reviewing process as fun as possible. For example, I closed my eyes and pointed to any random number on my list with my finger. I would then review that script. You can also do something similar with a random number generator online.

Conclusion

So far, I have introduced you to my own creative method of learning English. The key to this method is to memorize whole sentences and expressions to help build your vocabulary and your confidence. The ultimate goal in learning English is to make your own sentences, not just memorizing or mimicking. However, this activity will give you the tools to speak English on your own.

Of course, each person learns differently. Some may prefer practicing with native English speakers through conversation. Some may learn more by reading books or watching movies. Podcasts are just another useful resource for you to learn. Once again, you could pick a podcast on any topic that interests you. This is also a great activity to do while we are still social distancing, or even in quarantined areas. I highly recommend that you try this method. Once you start learning this way, you will find yourself enjoying it, loving it, and improving a lot in every aspect of English!