Tag: podcasts

Kurzgesagt – in short, not just for Germanists!

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A content shout-out ostensibly just for Germanists this week – the fabulously entertaining and informative Kurzgesagt (‘in short’), otherwise known as Dinge Erklärt (‘things explained’), the online animated explainer channel that is well into its second decade.

It’s one of the social media accounts that’s been in my feed for a while now, drip-feeding short, quirky content into my algorithm and making me feel like I’m wasting a bit less time with the socials scrolling. It’s a bit what if, a bit how things work, and a very decent bit silly, too – perfect if you like your German practice served on the fun setting.

Not a Germanist? Not a problem!

It must have occurred to the Kurzgesagt team pretty early on that they were on to a winner, as multiple language ports started to pop up. The first port of call is through their English-language channel, with the same name plus the tag ‘in a nutshell’ to drive the point home. Really? I’m all for importing new foreign-language terms into English without the gloss support! But that’s another blog post…

Anyway, Kurzgesagt has gone properly polyglot over the years. Sibling channels have popped up in a whole stack of languages. That means the same Duo-like cute birds and backdrop of cosmic existential dread, just in different words:

Pro tip: lots of videos appear on several of these channels. Watch one in English first, then again in your target language, and you’ve basically got a free, officially translated parallel text.

In the Kurzgesagt mould

If you’d rather go home-grown than in-translation, there are alternative native explainer and science populariser channels which match Kurzgesagt’s curious, slightly daft spirit:

  • French: DirtyBiology. It starts from pop culture or odd-sounding questions and somehow lands on proper science. If you want something meatier, try Science Étonnante, which goes deeper (think sixth form and up).
  • Spanish: QuantumFracture. Physicist José Luis Crespo’s animated physics channel is one of the big beasts of Spanish-language science YouTube. CdeCiencia is good for seconds.
  • Italian: Geopop. Geologist Andrea Moccia explains earthquakes, engineering and everyday science with slick 3D animation. Try Barbascura X if you like your marine biology with a side of satire.

Scandi bonus round

The Nordics do their science explaining mostly through their public broadcasters, so these are shows rather than channels, but they’re very bingeable:

  • Icelandic: Ævar vísindamaður (“Ævar the Scientist”). Ævar Þór Benediktsson’s science show for kids on RÚV is all experiments, famous scientists and big questions, like whether you could drill right through the Earth’s crust. For bite-sized bits, look for the short clips in Vísindahorn Ævars.
  • Norwegian: Newton, from NRK. It’s a kids’ science show that has been going since 2007 and now comes in snappy 12–15 minute episodes on NRK Super. Its motto is roughly “doing cool things scientifically and making scientific things cool”, and one episode had them redoing old YouTube challenges with dynamite. Very much the fun setting.
  • Swedish: Vetenskapens värld, from SVT. It’s the grown-up option: hour-long episodes, and one of SVT’s oldest programmes, running since 1971. If you’d rather keep it silly, look up Beppe Singer, a much-loved kids’ science presenter from SVT’s Hjärnkontoret.

Learner’s tip: kids’ science shows are brilliant for intermediate learners. They speak clearly, explain everything, and the vocabulary is genuinely useful.

In a nutshell…

So there you have it: a whole world of animated birds, exploding experiments and existential wonder, in pretty much whichever language you’re working on. The beauty of channels like these is that they sneak into your feed and do the heavy lifting for you. Subscribe to one or two in your target language, and before long the algorithm starts serving you useful scrolling. Guilt-free socials time? Now that’s a what-if worth exploring.

And if you’ve got a favourite explainer channel in another language, especially one for the Danes (I couldn’t find one!), do share it in the comments. Kurz gesagt: happy watching!

Remembering King Harald V: Norwegian Podcasts for Learners

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Norway lost a deeply loved national figure when King Harald V died on 28 August 2026, at the age of 89.

In the days since, Norwegian broadcasters and podcasters have produced a wealth of thoughtful audio reflecting on his life: his childhood during the Second World War, his long fight to marry Sonja Haraldsen, his love of sailing, and his 35 years as Norway’s king.

Of course, this is not a moment to turn a nation’s mourning into just another language-learning exercise. But listening carefully to Norwegians tell King Harald’s story can be a respectful way to learn more about the country, its recent history and the affection in which he was held.

Here are some of the best, most elucidating recent Norwegian-language episodes I’ve come across in the past week or so. The suggested levels are only approximate – archival recordings, regional accents and multiple speakers can make individual sections more challenging (but also more rewarding).

1. Oppdatert: Kong Harald – Slik var livet hans

Length: 1 hour 2 minutes
Suggested level: B1–B2
Best for: A comprehensive overview

NRK’s Oppdatert is always a good follow anyway, and on the day of his passing, released a full-length special to the King’s life. It places his personal story alongside many of the defining events Norway experienced during his lifetime.

At just over an hour, this is the most substantial of the recent broadcast retrospectives. NRK’s polished narrative style makes it reasonably approachable, although the length and any changes of speaker may require a couple of sittings.

Listen to “Kong Harald: Slik var livet hans”

2. Forklart: Kong Harald V (1937–2026)

Length: 29 minutes
Suggested level: B1–B2
Best for: A clear first listen

Aftenposten’s Forklart is another excellent choice for intermediate Norwegian learners. Each episode takes one subject and explains it through a structured conversation between a presenter and a knowledgeable guest.

Here, presenter Marte Spurkland speaks with veteran commentator Harald Stanghelle about the different sides of King Harald: folkekongen, the people’s king; idrettskongen, the sporting king; and a monarch unafraid to show emotion. It also covers the long struggle that preceded his marriage to Queen Sonja.

The combination of clear studio audio, a strong narrative thread and a manageable running time makes this my recommended starting point.

Listen to “Kong Harald V (1937–2026)”

3. Historier som endret Norge: Kong Haralds liv – Plikt, kjærlighet og krone

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes
Suggested level: B2–C1
Best for: The fullest biographical treatment

This extensive conversation with historian and royal commentator Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen was originally recorded for King Harald’s 89th birthday, before his death, and respectfully republished afterwards.

It follows Harald from his birth in 1937 through wartime exile and post-war reconstruction, placing his childhood within the development of Norway’s relatively young modern monarchy. There is plenty on the famous Sonja eller ingen ultimatum—“Sonja or no one”—as well as his accession following the death of King Olav V.

Because it was recorded as a historical discussion rather than a breaking-news response, this is perhaps the best choice for learners wanting a rounded biography. The spontaneous conversational style and historical vocabulary make it better suited to confident listeners.

Listen to “Kong Haralds liv – Plikt, kjærlighet og krone”

4. Historisk podkast: Kong Harald V – Vår egen folkekonge

Length: 52 minutes
Suggested level: B2
Best for: Personal memories within modern Norwegian history

This special episode remembers both the monarch and the man. It combines the broader story of King Harald’s reign with memories of his visits around Norway, presenting his life as part of a chapter in the country’s modern history.

One especially useful feature for curious learners is the detailed source list accompanying the episode. It offers plenty of avenues for follow-up reading on subjects including the royal family’s wartime escape, Harald and Sonja’s relationship, the transition of 1991 and the King’s response to national events.

Listen to “Kong Harald V (1937–2026): Vår egen folkekonge”

5. Stopp verden: Vi levde i kong Harald Vs tid

Length: 43 minutes
Suggested level: B2–C1
Best for: The bigger historical picture

This is not a straightforward biography. Instead, historian Tor Bomann-Larsen joins political editor Torbjørn Røe Isaksen to consider the long development of Norway’s modern monarchy, from Haakon VII to the new King Haakon VIII.

The conversation explores the world over which King Harald presided and how the monarchy evolved with Norwegian society. It also traces the history of the royal motto Alt for Norge—“Everything for Norway”.

The speakers assume a fair amount of cultural and historical knowledge, making this the most demanding episode in the list. For an advanced learner, though, it offers an exceptionally rich blend of biography, history and political vocabulary.

Listen to “Vi levde i kong Harald Vs tid”

6. A Short Listen: Slik husker folket kong Harald

Length: 7 minutes
Suggested level: B1–B2
Best for: Hearing ordinary Norwegians remember the King

If an hour of historical Norwegian feels daunting, this short Oppdatert episode is a more manageable alternative. It gathers some of the moments and qualities for which people across Norway remember King Harald.

The short running time makes it ideal for repeated listening. However, naturally spoken contributions and changing voices can sometimes be harder to follow than a single studio presenter—so do not be discouraged if this brief episode proves surprisingly challenging.

Listen to “Slik husker folket kong Harald”

Reading Alongside the Podcasts

For further Norwegian reading, the National Library has created a beautifully illustrated overview of King Harald’s life through items in its collections.

King Haakon’s deeply personal memorial address to his father is also available from the Royal House. Its language is clear, heartfelt and dignified.

Taken together, these recordings offer something more than listening practice. They allow learners outside Norway to hear the country remembering a king whose warmth, humour and humanity meant a great deal to its people.

Hvil i fred, Kong Harald.

Summer language learning - a book on the grass.

My Language Learning Life : July 2025 Update

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So the summer hols are here – and what better time to take stock of my own polyglot progress? July’s been solid – not life-changing, but the kind of steady language learning momentum that actually gets you places over time.

Here’s where things stand.

Greek: From Textbooks to TikTok

Greek continues to be my most active language learning project right now. I’m keeping up weekly iTalki sessions with my usual tutor, grinding through Τα λέμε Ελληνικά – a B1-B2 course that’s about as exciting as it sounds but gets the job done. Grammar drills aren’t everybody’s cup of tea (well – they are mine, actually), but they work.

The real fun’s been on social media. @greekoutwithmaria is gold – idiomatic, useful Greek with clear explanations. I’ve compiled a whole list of other useful Greek accounts here if you want more where that came from!

To not get lost in the scroll, I dip in occasionally and bookmark stuff as I go. Then, I make sure to have a weekly session where I actually do something with it – vocab decks, Anki cards, and the like. It’s a system that’s added some real conversational polish to my Greek.

German: Going Old School Again

I’ve been gravitating back to actual books to maintain my German lately. There’s something about physical pages that screens can’t replicate – maybe it’s the weight, maybe it’s not getting distracted by notifications every five minutes.

I threw myself at two very different reads this month. First up is Torsten Sträter’s Es ist nie zu spät, unpünktlich zu sein, which serves up observational comedy that’s heavy on dad jokes but light on mental effort. It makes perfect train reading when your brain’s already fried from the day. Then there’s Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, which I’m finally tackling after seeing it on every German language and literature syllabus for years. And it’s a thoroughly readable classic – there’s something very soothing about it as an adventure into the soul.

A little light Readly

Readly, the multi-magazine app, still gets plenty of action on long journeys. I’ve been reading Men’s Health Germany and Sweden’s Språktidningen (pop linguistics in Swedish – a real treat) regularly. Saying that, the platform recently axed most of their Norwegian titles, which is annoying thanks to shifting licensing deals.

As for target language reading of any kind the golden rule applies: read what you’d actually want to read, just in another language.

Life’s too short for boring books in any tongue.

Podcasts: When Your Day Job Meets Your Hobby

I’ve started listening to Der KI Podcast, which covers AI developments in chatty, accessible German. It’s the perfect overlap with both my work and PhD research, so it basically counts as multitasking disguised as language practice. That’s really the sweet spot we’re always looking for: finding content that ticks multiple boxes, rather than forcing language learning into spaces where it doesn’t naturally belong.

Side Quests: Persian, Albanian, and Library Rabbit Holes

Joy of joys – my university library recently added the entire Routledge Colloquial series digitally, which has proven dangerous territory for someone with my particular brand of linguistic OCD. My latest obsession has been Persian, which I’ve been exploring through both the recently updated Routledge title and an ancient Teach Yourself Persian volume that’s pure grammar-translation throwback. You can sense the layers of metaphorical dust on it, but I genuinely love the methodical approach of dissembling languages during the learning process to see how they tick.

Albanian also got a brief look-in after Dua Lipa’s Wembley extravaganza sent me down a cultural rabbit hole. Yes, continuing that trend of letting pop culture determine my dabbling directions. I don’t have any grand plans with it, just some structured curiosity that might lead somewhere (or probably not).

Trips: Lyon and Dublin in Linguistic Technicolor

I took two quick city breaks this month to Lyon and Dublin, which meant the usual soundtrack of overheard conversations and multilingual signage. Nothing was particularly structured – just casual linguistic tourism really. It was great to be the designated restaurant orderer in France, though – that feeling of achievement and usefulness we linguaphiles yearn for!

The Verdict

So that was the past couple of months: steady progress rather than dramatic breakthroughs. Greek keeps moving forward, German feels natural and flowing, podcasts are doing their job, and my side projects are staying appropriately peripheral (but very interesting).

It might not be Instagram-worthy content, but it’s sustainable, and that matters more in the long run than any flashy sprint.

How was your language learning month? Let us know in the comments!

A robot dressed for a true crime podcast!

True Crime Podcasts – Suspenseful Language Learning

Looking for language listening practice with a thrilling – and sometimes macabre – twist? Then true crime is where it’s at.

I’ve fallen down a bit of a foreign language true crime rabbit hole of late. It’s a surprise, to be honest, since it was never really a thing for me in my native English. The same could be said for Scandi noir, though, which – inexplicably – I seem to love in Norwegian and Swedish, but never touch in English. Maybe we do have different personalities in different languages, after all.

Anyway, it turns out that true crime podcasts have everything you might want from target language listening practice. They have a predictable, narrative structure. They’re quite compelling, encouraging you to keep listening as the plot unfolds. And stylistically, they’re often delivered in a dramatically slowed-down, crystal-clear ‘acting’ voice.

The downside? The language probably differs quite a bit from ‘on-the-street’ language. Incidentally, that’s the same criticism often levelled at reading children’s books in your target language, which is still a great way to increase your exposure despite the naysayers. And narrative language is far from useless – it’s what I use weekly with my Greek teacher when talking about what’s been going on in my life, for example. A bit of Greek true crime has done wonders for my simple past.

Not that I’ve been involved in any crimes, I hasten to add.

True Crime and the Urge to Understand

As they’re resources intended for native speakers, true crime podcasts are something you’ll probably want to work in once you have a solid A2-ish level at least. I’m still working on my natural-speed Greek listening at these levels (B2+), and it’s far from perfect yet. Often, I’ll understand a key plot element in an episode of Αληθινά εγκλήματα, then half-understand the next (he did what with the frying pan?).

But there’s something about the suspense of a true crime story, told well, that makes you desperate to get that detail. I tell you, I’m 10-second back-skipping more often than I do with current affairs podcasts!

If you’re looking to work some of this suspense in your own language learning routine, true crime podcasts are not hard to come across. The word for ‘crime’ in your target language will probably yield quite a few in your podcast app of choice. That said, they’re vastly more popular in some languages than others. German, for some reason, is absolutely spoilt for true crime podcasts. A Teutonic slant for intrigue, perhaps? In any case, here are a few of my favourites in some of my target languages!

🇦🇹 delikt – Wahre Verbrechen aus Österreichs Süden
🇩🇪 Wahre Verbrechen
🇫🇷 L’heure du crime
🇬🇷 Αληθινά εγκλήματα
🇬🇷 Μέχρι Θανάτου
🇸🇪 Svenska brott

 

Headphones - great for listening to a podcast or ten!

Honest Podcast Pruning

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Foreign language podcast episodes are fantastic language learning tools. But if you’re anything like me, you end up following far too many programmes to manage.

It’s great, of course, to have lots of choice. But what’s not so great is to get resource overwhelm when you have too many to count. Where to start?

It became pretty much do or die with my podcast list lately. I felt bogged down when I checked my podcast app. It seemed like there were just too many to catch up on. The crux of it: I just wasn’t listening to them any more.

Some pruning was in order.

Podcast Pruning

There’s a little self-honesty strategy you can try to prune your podcasts. Most podcast programmes have a ‘latest podcast’ list, which lists all episodes in order of recency. In iOS it looks like this:

A screenshot of podcasts listed by decency in iOS

The latest podcasts view on iOS

Now, go to play them from the top. No cheating. For each one, if your reaction is a reluctant, groaning must I? or can I just skip this one?, then your heart is probably not really in it. Of course, this isn’t a hard-and-fast acid test. There may be times when we are just not in the mood. But in my experience, that reeeeeally? wince is generally a sign that your interest isn’t fully committed.

So if our hearts aren’t really in it, what are these podcasts doing on our lists in the first place?

Well, it comes down to what we think we should be doing and what we want to be doing. There’s quite normative – even moralistic – sense of what ‘worthwhile’ language learning content is. That’s skewed by lots of outside influences that discount our personal interests. And, with learning, an invested, personal interest is key. There’s little point bashing your head against a brick wall with unmotivating content. Always ask will this content spark my interest beyond language learning?

So, the next time you find yourself avoiding your podcast app, or staring, uninspired, at a list of countless foreign language podcasts you have no desire to plough through, consider an honest podcast pruning!

The Polish flag. Photo by Michal Zacharzewski from FreeImages

Polish Podcasts for Intermediate Learners

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When you’ve smashed the barrier of your first thousand words or so, course books and learners’ guides simply won’t cut it any more. You need to step it up a level. But it can be hard to find resources that are accessible for learners while still presenting engaging material you want to listen to.

No problem – here are some excellent resources if you’re an intermediate Polish learner and want some fun edutainment as well as a language workout!

Polish with John

There are few teachers more dedicated than Jan to spreading the joy of Polish. He publishes regular and frequent podcasts on many interesting topics, ranging from language learning to history and beyond. Jan has a lovely, clear voice that is easy for learners to understand, and even provides transcripts of each short programme. Highly recommended, and it’s worth supporting the great work he’s doing!

SBS Polish

Strictly speaking, this podcast isn’t aimed at learners. It’s actually the regular Polish news bulletin of Australian broadcaster SBS. However, the stories are broken down into short, digestible clips, and feature material on international current affairs that should be familiar to many listeners. I’ve not found a Polish easy news alternative like the excellent News in Slow… series, but this is the next best thing!

Real Polish

Piotr has been on the podwaves for some years now, building up a loyal band of Polish learners. His programmes are in a longer, documentary-style format, and also feature a chatty preamble where listeners can send in an audio introduction. It’s a nice sociable touch to a great resource, backed up by full transcripts and resources for subscribers.

Polski Daily

This is another great learners’ podcast entirely in Polish. That’s just what you need when you’re aiming to think in the language and not simply translate from your native language when speaking. Like Jan and Piotr, Paulina selects material from a broad array of themes, with a big nod to cultural life in Poland.  On the website you can also enjoy some cosy interviews in the lovely Real Talks with Poles series.

Lepiej Teraz

Radosław is a life coach from Poland who publishes a monthly podcast on many aspects of self-improvement. Like SBS Polish, this isn’t aimed at learners, but rather native speaker professionals. That said, a lot of the themes will be familiar to listeners, so context and gist help. Also, Radosław is another podcaster with a great voice for listening to!

Have you found other gems on your own podcast hunts? Please let us know in the comments!

Listening can be one of the most challenging skills in a foreign language. Image from freeimages.com.

The Listening Monster: Language teacher tips for taking the sting out

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Same objectives, different worlds – the polyglot and school classroom teaching communities strive for identical goals, but it often feels like they are leagues apart. It’s a perfect match waiting to be realised, as both have so much to learn from one another.

That’s why it’s always a hugely positive eye-opener when I attend teacher conferences. I’m no longer a classroom teacher myself, but I’m lucky enough to remain part of that world through my work creating language resources for schools. And as a lone ranger language learner in my free time, there are always lots of tips for tweaking my own study. This year’s #TeachLang conference was no exception, with a focus on that notoriously challenge foreign language skill, listening.

Listening: The dreaded monster

It’s no secret that listening – and actually comprehending – is one of the big, bad, dreaded monsters of language learning, whether in the classroom or for independent learners. Perhaps like me, you’ve given podcasts a go in a language you’re working on, only to feel disillusioned at how little you understand. Or maybe you feel flummoxed by those oh-so-fast responses by native speakers when travelling.  Either way, listening can be flippin’ hard.

Teachers know this only too well. It can be a challenge to keep students feeling confident with such an overwhelming, brainpower-intensive task. Thankfully, there were some excellent nuggets of classroom wisdom on offer at the conference.

Martine Pillette in particular summed up the right initial approach to listening with her focus on tuning down the pressure to get everything at once. In short: you can get a lot from authentic listening resources without understanding every single word. A shame nobody told that to my inner critic years ago!

In this kinder-to-yourself method, you focus on mini-tasks at more abstracted levels instead of word-for-word comprehension straight away. For example, start by simply trying to identify the general topic of a segment. Listen out for individual words to note down, rather than grasp whole sentences. In essence, train yourself to catch gist. This kind of focused listening reminds me a lot of Benny Lewis’ active method for consuming podcasts.

Prediction exercises

Dovetailing into that was a lovely segment from Jennifer Wozniak around the use of prediction in listening exercises. Key to the predictive approach is preparation. With some basic knowledge of what the listening text is about, which words do you expect to come up?

Take a podcast on technology in Icelandic, for example. You might figure that the words tölva (computer), farsími (mobile phone) and gagnvirkur (interactive) are probable candidates for inclusion. Before listening, note them down – look them up in a dictionary if needed – and see how many of them come up on your first pass. You can tick them off, bingo-style, as you hear them. How many did you get?

Jennifer Wozniak talking at the Linguascope #TeachLang Teach Languages conference, February 2020

Jennifer Wozniak talking at the Linguascope #TeachLang Teach Languages conference, February 2020

These are just a couple of the fantastic classroom techniques that teachers are sharing to take stress out of listening. They hardly scratch the surface, of course, and it’s well worth a rummage in live stream archive of the Linguascope Facebook page to see what else a bit of back-to-school can do for us.

As for me, I’m just off to play some Icelandic listening bingo. Wish me luck!

What techniques do you use to cope with listening practice in your foreign languages? Let us know in the comments!

Coloured Pencils

Five sure-fire ways to warm up for language lessons

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To get the most from any lesson, a good warm up always helps. That goes as much for one-to-one iTalki sessions, as it does for classroom learning. Prime your brain correctly, and it will be in just the right place to process new information.

For iTalki students, the stakes are even higher for getting the most from your lessons this month. The language learning site is holding its language challenge throughout February, encouraging students to go the extra mile with tuition hours. The leaderboard is alight with eager students, some boasting a mind-boggling number of lessons taken in these first few days.

If it demonstrates one thing, it’s that there are plenty of linguists that have the language bug even worse than I do. But all those extra lessons mean money invested in learning. And that makes it even more important to get the most from your investment.

So that our learning hours aren’t wasted, here are five very easily overlooked ways to warm up before a lesson.

1. Podcast listening

Even if you don’t understand 100%, filling your sound space with the target language is a good way to prime your subconscious for speaking it. If you’re busy, you don’t even have to focus fully; just have podcasts playing aloud for 30-60 minutes before the lesson, and you can tune in and out.

German has a good word for what this achieves: einhören, or the process of ‘listening into’ a language, or getting used to it. It’s an almost effortless way to get ready for your language lesson.

2. Anki flashcards

Just before your lesson is a great time to recycle and revise previous vocabulary. If Anki is a part of your language learning regime, you will probably have a bank of vocabulary cards at your disposal. If not, you can download it for free from this link. There are also lots of shared decks you can start with if you don’t have your own vocabulary bank ready yet.

But the principle goes for all your other vocabulary, too. If you keep written vocab records, leaf through them and test yourself before you start. The same goes for any other language app you regularly use; doing a little Duolingo or Memrise right before your lesson can work wonders. It’s an excellent way to give your memory a gentle shake, and bring to the top relevant material for your lesson.

3. What have you done today…

…to make you feel proud? And the rest. Beyond the most basic level of language learning (ie., A1 in the European Framework), it’s likely you’ll have some general conversation at the start of a session. Don’t let questions about your day / week catch you out – be prepared to have something to say.

It need only take a few minutes. Start by writing some brief bullet points on the main events of the week, in the target language if possible. Briefly look up key words you don’t know. It will save you a lot of umms and aahs in the lesson.

4. Warm up to Music

Songs – particularly pop songs – are great warm up tools for a number of reasons. Firstly, they have repeated refrains, which means that you can quickly pick them up and sing along. And that warms up not only the brain, but your mouth muscles. Different languages have distinctive patterns of physical speech production, and singing along will literally get your mouth in gear.

Also, like podcasts, they surround you in a blanket of target language. You can enjoy them in the background in a few minutes before your lesson, while they quietly prime the mind for listening.

Not only that, but they’re usually very short – the three-minute pop song is an industry benchmark – so you can listen to as few or as many as you have time for.

5. Relax

One of the easiest things to forget is simply to chill. It’s normal to feel a little nervous before one-to-one lessons, especially if you’re Skyping with a stranger for a first lesson.

Sit down comfortably, have a glass of water ready and enjoy a few deep breaths before starting. Let go of the tension and be open to learning – a stressed brain is not an efficient one.

Warm up to language lesson success

Some of these are common sense tips to warm up the language learner’s brain. But all of them fall into the category of ‘easily overlooked’. It’s far too easy to say that you haven’t enough time to do them before a lesson on a busy day. But they mostly take just minutes, or can even occur in the background while you do other things.

Work some of these into your routine, and go into your lesson with a primed, ready brain.

Headphones - great for listening to a podcast or ten!

Podcast essentials: mining overseas charts

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As a podcast junkie, I’m always looking for new sources and recommendations for foreign language programmes. So I was particularly excited to happen across the website iTunesCharts.net recently.

The site provides iTunes charts across a range of regional stores, including France, Germany and Spain. It lists all digital media, including songs, albums and TV programmes. But most usefully for linguaphiles, it compiles charts of the most popular podcasts in each country too.

It is possible to find this information yourself by switching your store region in  iTunes. However, iTunesCharts.net is quicker and easier if you study any of the clutch of ‘mainstream’ languages: French, German, Italian or Spanish.

Listening material that switches you on

The site addresses a common issue for linguists: finding interesting material in the target language. Not dry, sanitised language for learners, but engaging, entertaining programming in topics that grab our attention: the kind of stuff you’d listen to in your native language. And it’s current, up-to-date, regularly published material that can plug you straight into the culture of your target language country.

Here are direct links to some of its national podcast lists:

They are brilliant places to mine for listening material. Additionally, though, they offer a great way of finding out what’s currently popular where your language is spoken.

Podcast your life!

Podcast listening has been a bigger part of my own language learning strategy than ever in recent months. Instead of listening to programmes in my native language, I’ve tried to replace them with similar material in the target language. I don’t watch TV; instead, I make my foreign podcast picks my entertainment. It’s a conscious effort to bring language into my everyday, and not just the bit of my life labelled ‘learning time’. It’s all about living the language, rather than just studying it.

This is a great strategy particularly for languages in maintenance mode – languages you are already proficient in, but want to keep at a good level. German and Spanish will always be my strongest foreign languages, for example, being my degree languages. But through podcasts, I can actually enjoy keeping them strong and fresh.

Stretch yourself

That’s not to say that beginners can’t also gain a lot from a well-chosen podcast. In my own experience, my Norwegian comes on in fits and starts. I’d say I still hover around a B1/B2 in terms of proficiency. However, I love the NRK podcast Språkteigen. It’s a programme about language aimed at native Norwegian listeners, and it really stretches my comprehension.

But despite not being an advanced speaker, the topic switches me on enough to stay focused and enjoy each episode. Being a favourite topic of mine also helps; I can often guess new words from the context. It’s win-win: I regularly improve my Norwegian, and I learn lots about my favourite topic at the same time!

The iTunesCharts.net site is a real goldmine for the linguist. I now have more podcasts than I can fill my spare time with, but it’s always good to have choices! I hope you find something useful in there too.

 

Podcasts can be a perfect gateway to your own interests in the target language culture

Perfect podcast picks for language learners

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The podcast has been a wonderful invention for the linguaphile. Just ten, twenty years ago, language aficionados would need all manner of equipment to tune in to overseas broadcasts. These days, thousands of them are just a click and a download away. All you need is a pair of headphones to immerse yourself in your foreign language, whenever, wherever.

However, as with many facets of modern life, the problem is often too much choice. How do you set about finding suitable native language podcasts as a learner? Some material might seem linguistically beyond your level, for example. And the topic matter is not always guaranteed to switch on your interest, either. News and current affairs programmes in French, for instance, may provide scant fun if you have enough of politics in your regular exposure to home news.

Personal interest as motivator

The best strategy comes in combining both those needs: accessibility and interest. If you hit upon some foreign-language content you are really interested in, a couple of magical things happen:

  1. You feel more motivated to focus on the language through personal interest
  2. You use your existing knowledge of the topic to make educated guesses about the language you don’t know

In short, if current affairs are not your thing, avoid the news podcasts. Even excellent learner resources like Deutsche Welle’s News in Slow German will be useless if you don’t get excited by the news. But if you’re learning French and love Motocross, then you’ll try really hard to get all the details from anything you find on the site Moto Verte!

I’ve seen the personal passion-motivator work for reading, too; as a language teacher, I’d regularly bring in target language magazines I’d picked up abroad. Suddenly, kids who were hard to reach in German class were poring over complicated texts in computer and football magazines, intrigued by the content. What’s more, they were managing to understand it through sheer determination. Personal interest sparks learning – almost by stealth.

Starting point: national broadcasters

When hunting podcasts, you do have to do a little digging to unearth the interesting content hiding behind the ubiquitous current affairs programmes. Fortunately, national broadcasters all over the world create heaps of it, on all sorts of topics. One of the best places to start on the search for the perfect podcast is by finding out the national broadcaster in your target language country; the Wikipedia list at this link is an excellent place to start.

After finding out which organisation produces content in your country of interest, you could just check out their website. Broadcaster websites aren’t always the easiest to navigate, though. And they can be a little overwhelming if you’re still not very confident in the language.

Instead, head to iTunes (or your podcast app of choice), and search for the broadcaster name under podcasts. It should throw out lots of options, like this search under Spanish broadcaster RTVE:

Podcast search on iTunes for RTVE, the Spanish national broadcaster

Podcast search on iTunes for RTVE, the Spanish national broadcaster

Some broadcasters are better than others, admittedly. Spanish learners are in luck, as RTVE has programmes from all walks of life. I love food (come on, who doesn’t?!) as well as health and fitness topics, so one of my personal favourites is weekly journal Alimento y salud (Food and Health). These are fields that many of us know a lot about from our own lives. So even when the language is fast and furious, I can usually fill the gaps with an educated guess.

The format is lively, too; recently, the programme ran a fascinating feature on space cuisine for orbiting astronauts. Great for individual learners, but also worth considering as an interesting listening task for classes!

Off the beaten podcast path

Podcast hunting is perfect for sourcing free, engaging material for off-the-beaten-path languages, too. This can be a major boon, given that listening material specifically for learners can be prohibitively expensive. The student CD to accompany the intermediate Norwegian course Stein på stein, for example, is over £20 – and that’s not including postage from Norway. Instead, a bit of mining can uncover a wealth of listening material for no cost at all.

That free material can be challenging, for sure. After all, it’s intended for native speakers, first and foremost. But if you hit on something you love, it can really switch you on to the target language.

As a Norwegian learner, I’m lucky that Norwegian broadcaster NRK has a great range of special interest programmes. One in particular – Språkteigen – is all about the quirks of language. I honestly can’t think of a better programme for a language geek to be practising Norwegian with!

Podcasts are an invaluable, immersive resource for language learners. I hope some of the tips above provide a good starting point for your own mining. And maybe, along the way, you’ll hit that gem – the foreign language podcast that you become a real fan of. There are few better ways of getting really switched on to your target language culture!