Favourite Websites for English Practice, pt 1 (Listening)

So this week, I think we should start sharing more.  Sharing is good!  I have started with ‘listening’ because it is probably the easiest to give examples for – there are LOTS of podcasts and youtube videos to listen to and watch.

Nowadays there is almost TOO much and it is difficult to know where to go for GOOD listening material.  Of course, what is good depends on you, the learner.  What are your favourite subjects?  This is important because if you are interested in what you are listening to, then you will be more engaged and less bored.

I didn't have so much energy at the end!

One site which I know some of you use is BBC Learning – 6 Minute English.  I like this because it is short (only six minutes, obviously) and the topics change every week.  A friend sent me the link for one about marathon running last April just before I did the Brighton Marathon.  Then two weeks later the topic was punk music.  You see, there is a lot of variety.  There are also a lot of supporting activities if you have more time.

In general, I think that the BBC has a lot of really good material to improve you English with their Learning English site.  Some of it is more useful that other parts.  Explore it, see what you find and don’t forget to tell us on the blog what you find. J

Another BBC website which is very useful (especially if you are living/staying in Britain) is “RAW – Skills for Everyday Life”.  These are videos which clearly show and explain normal, common things like credit cards or shopping online.  You can watch them with or without subtitles and they explain things basically.  The good thing about this is that the language is authentic and it the topics are useful.
UPDATE (25/06/11):  Unfortunately it looks like this website has been terminated by the BBC.  What a pity!

For something a bit different and useful for ‘instruction English’ you might want to look at www.videojug.com.  This has everything and it is growing!  EVERYBODY should be on this site!  (I hope that with this site, I might actually learn how to cook!)  Some of these videos are serious and some of them are funny but they are all about 4 minutes long.  Be careful, a few of these videos are NSFW (Not Suitable For Work) which means that they have some ‘adult’ content that children shouldn’t see and some adults might find offensive.)  But, you can also learn magic tricks while improving your English!

I have a few more suggestions but I want to know what websites you use to improve your listening.  Just listening at the moment (remember, this is only part 1). ;-)

Thanks for all of your support.  Let’s keep this going and growing.  As always, I look forward to your opinions. J

Gordon