Listen and Learn

I talked about books on CD. You can also listen to books - and music, of course - on MP3 players.

What are MP3 players?

Well, to begin with - those are two MP3 players right up there -
in pink and green. They are i-Pods, which are a little on the expensive side.

You can get cheaper ones. Go to http://www.target.com/ and search for MP3 player and find some as cheap as $25.00.

What do you do with them?

You download music or podcasts onto them.

What are podcasts?

They are recordings of sound. Speech, music, or any other kind of sound.

Technology is changing so fast. A few years ago, it was CDs. Before that, it was cassette tapes. When I was very young, it was reel to reel tapes. All these forms of technology do the same thing. They record sound. You or someone else records sound. You or someone else listens to it.

Hey, Spanish speakers! What does recordar mean? Remember?

And how about records? Remember those?

We have invented many ways to record sound.

So why do you need to know about MP3 players?

Because that's the latest form of technology for recording and playing back sound and because you need to know the sounds of English, you need to know about MP3 players.

Get one.

And then check out the following:

1. http://www.eslpod.com/ Free ESL listening lessons. You can listen to them on the computer or download onto an MP3 player. You can also subscribe to them - for free - via iTunes.

2. http://storynory.com/. Stories for kids - also good for higher level ESL students. Especially higher level ESL students with kis! Again - all free. Listen to them on your computer, download them onto your MP3 player, and/or subscribe to them via iTunes.

3. http://www.podomatic.com/ Make your own podcasts or look for podcasts that other people have made. Search for ESL lessons. As with the other websites, you can listen via a computer or download onto an MP3 player. Some accounts are password protected and some are open to the public. All free.

4. http://www.npr.org/ This is the website for National Public Radio which is a great source of information on just about everything. If you look on the left-hand side of the website and scroll down a bit, you will a link for podcasts. You can also just click here. They have podcasts of all sorts of programs - news, cultural matters, politics, etc. etc. The English on NPR is high level but they speak very clearly. I recommend it for improving your vocabulary, listening skills, grammar, syntax,

Hey! What is syntax?!

It is word order. The order of the words in sentences.

For example: article adjective noun verb. (The black cat leaps.) That's a typical English word order.

Or: article noun adjective verb. El gato negro canta. That's a typical Spanish word order.

Difference languages use different syntax.

And what's a good way to learn syntax?

By driving yourself nuts learning all the rules?

Sure, that's a great way!

Go for it!

Then share your info here!

Or you can do things the lazy way.

The sleepy river cat way.

The sitting in the bathtub a long time way.

The same way you learned your first language way.

What is that way?

It's listening.

Listening to English.

Listening, listening, listening to something you are truly interested in - in English.

Don't think about the grammar.

Don't think about the syntax.

Listen to the story.

You can do that with these websites and an MP3 player (or a computer like the one you're reading this on).

But if you like grammar, check out:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/