Listen English while doing other things.

Status
Not open for further replies.

anhnha

Senior Member
Joined
May 5, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Vietnamese
Home Country
Vietnam
Current Location
Vietnam
Hi all,
Can anyone recommend me some kind of English to listen while doing other things?
I mean that it maybe music, English conversation,...
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hi all,
Can anyone recommend [STRIKE]me[/STRIKE] some kind of English to listen to while doing other things?
I mean [STRIKE]that it[/STRIKE] maybe music, English conversation.

Anything!!! You can get hundreds of English-speaking radio stations over the internet these days. Put one on (preferably one with more talking than music) and just leave it playing all the time when you're doing other things. Don't try to actually listen to it, because there's a danger you'll start to stress about the fact that you're not understanding every single word. Just use it to get used to the rhythm and cadence of the language and after a while you will realise that you understand more and more of the words.
I wouldn't recommend music particularly, mainly because lyrics don't worry about grammar or standard English usage.
If you have the option, change the language when you're watching TV or films. Change it to English, or at least put the English subtitles on.
Another good site is TED. It's full of interesting videos in English. They are good to actually watch and concentrate on, but there's no reason why you shouldn't play them in the background while doing other things. Each one is 15 minutes long, I think.
 

anhnha

Senior Member
Joined
May 5, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Vietnamese
Home Country
Vietnam
Current Location
Vietnam
Thank you very much!
I spend about two hours everyday to learn English but I want to use time efficiently by listening something while working.
Thank for your advice. I hope this method will help me improve my English and learn faster.

P.S I have just seen several videos in that site. Although I don't understand it entirely but it is great about content.
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Thank you very much!
I spend about two hours [STRIKE]everyday[/STRIKE] every day [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] learning English but I want to use my time efficiently by listening to something while working.
Thank for your advice. I hope this method will help me improve my English and learn faster.

P.S I have just [STRIKE]seen[/STRIKE] watched several videos [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] on that site. [STRIKE]Although[/STRIKE] I don't understand [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] them (the videos) entirely but [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] the site [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] has great [STRIKE]about[/STRIKE] content.

It will definitely help. Good luck. Note my corrections to your post. Remember that it's "listen to something".
 

olgkul

New member
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Canada
I have to drive to my job for 35-40 minutes every day. I went to library and asked for CD books. Now I enjoy this time! I hope that it will improve my language fluency too.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Having the radio on in the background is a good idea.
 

SergeyP

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Movies about nature usually are good, I prefer BBC movies. Narrator in such movies usually speaks slower and has good pronunciation, compare to news programs or feature films.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
[STRIKE]Movies[/STRIKE] Documentaries about nature are usually [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] good. I prefer BBC [STRIKE]movies[/STRIKE] documentaries/programmes. The narrator in such [STRIKE]movies[/STRIKE] programmes usually speaks slower and has good pronunciation, compared to news programmes or feature films.

That's good advice and of course you might learn something about the natural world while you're watching! Note that we don't call these factual programmes "movies". You might hear "nature film" but usually they're just documentaries or nature programmes.
I don't necessarily agree with the point about pronunciation being better than news readers. In general, news readers speak very clearly (in the UK, at least).
 

SergeyP

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
emsr2d2, thanks for correcting my mistakes! :) I agree, news readers have excellent pronunciation, but they speak usually very fast!
 

Stephanie S

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
Malta
Books on CD (or mp3) are a great way to learn both language and culture. Also slang and colloquialisms. ;)
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
It's a very good idea. I'd use an android or iphone or ipad and use Tunein or another free radio service and listen to BBC World while doing my ironing, situps, pushups, rolling Chinese dumplings, combing the matted hair out of the dog, etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top