Finding
and Playing Podcasts for Second Language Listening Practice
A)
Searching within podcast transcripts
1)
Everyzing.com – Allows
you to search for words or phrases spoken within audio or video podcasts, or
just about any other audio or video files online. It's a great concept, but
search results are often overwhelmingly junk. It works best when you want to
search within a particular podcast. In that case, search for the name of the
podcast, in quotes, along with the keyword or keywords you are looking for.
2)
Podscope.com – Same
concept as Everyzing, but currently doesn't work as well.
B)
Playing Podcasts in the Classroom
1)
Burning audio to a CD. This
is a simple process. Good instructions for doing this with either iTunes or
Windows Media Player are here: http://www.jakeludington.com/podcasting/20060418_burning_podcasts_to_cd.html.
2)
Burning video to a DVD. This is a more complex task that will require additional
software. Video podcasts are usually MP4, M4V, or MOV file types. You will need
an application that can convert these files to MPEG-2 files and perhaps an
additional application that can burn MPEG-2 files to a DVD. (Some applications
can perform both of these steps. Unfortunately, the presenters have no
experience with this process and can't recommend any particular applications.)
3)
Playing audio from your iPod/MP3 player through a cassette
tape player
i)
Get a cassette adapter
(about $20 dollars in local electronics stores, as low as $5 online).
ii)
Insert the thing that
looks like a cassette into the cassette player as you would a normal cassette.
iii)
Plug the cassette
adapter’s cord into the headphone jack of your MP3 player. (Note: this
technique will also work with portable CD players, radios...anything with a
headphone jack.)
iv)
Set your MP3 player’s
volume to about 80%.
v)
Press play on the tape
player.
vi)
Press play on your MP3
player.
vii)
Adjust volume using
the tape player's volume control.
4)
Playing video (or audio) from your portable
player through a television
i)
5th Gen iPod -- 30G, 60G -- and perhaps other
brands:
(1)
Get a basic AV cable
with three RCA connectors on one end and a 1/8" plug on the other. You may already have one if you’ve ever owned
a video camera. Otherwise, they’re about $20 at local electronics stores. It's
worth getting a longer one (6 feet or so) so you don't have to stand right next
to the TV as you control the video.
(2)
On your iPod, go to "Video",
then "Video Settings" and set "TV Out" to "Ask".
(3)
Plug the 1/8" end
of the cable into the headphone jack of your iPod.
(4)
Plug the three RCA
plugs into the television. Most likely, the TV you are using will be set up to
play DVDs, so you will be pulling out the red white and yellow RCA plugs that
come from the DVD player and plugging your RCA plugs into those sockets. BUT, attach the yellow plug from the
cable to the red plug on the TV and the red plug from the cable to the yellow
plug on the TV. The white plug on the cable attaches to the white plug on the
TV. (Note: Some of the TVs on some of our campuses don't use a 3-RCA cable to
connect the DVD player to the TV; they use two RCA plugs and an S-Video plug.
In that case, plugging into the three RCA sockets probably won't work without
changing some settings on the TV. I'm afraid I can't help you there.)
(5)
Set the volume on your
iPod to about 80%.
(6)
Find the desired video
on your iPod and press "play".
(7)
Because "TV
out" is set to "ask" you will get a screen that says “
(8)
Adjust volume using
the TV’s controls.
ii)
Newer iPods: IPod Touch, IPod Classic
(1)
These require a
special cable. Note that there are two kinds of cables: composite, and
component. To connect to older TVs with RCA connections you will want the Apple
Composite AV Cable. It's about $50. Ouch.
iii)
Zune -- 30G, 80G.
These do have a "TV Out" function, and Microsoft sells a special
cable for about $20. Reports about whether a standard AV cable works or not are
conflicting.
iv)
Creative Zen Vision:M
– Has “TV Out” and they sell a cable for $19. It's unclear whether that's just
a standard AV cable.
v)
Insignia Pilot 4G or 8G –
Has “TV Out” and uses a standard cable but switches the red and yellow RCA plugs,
as described for the 5th Gen iPod above.
vi)
Other Players: Most
portable video players have a "TV out" function. Some require special
cables. Most don't. For information on any particular model, Google "TV
out" along with the name of the player you're considering.
vii)
Another thing to consider if you’re shopping -- It makes thinks
things a lot easier if your player has a podcatcher and podcast organizing
system designed specifically to work with it. IPod has iTunes, which is great.
Zune has its own software, which looks pretty good. Zen Vision models have
Zen-Cast, which I've heard some good things about, but can't vouch for.
Insignia has a version of Rhapsody, about which I hear a lot of complaints.
C)
Favorite short podcasts for classroom use
The levels indicated-- intermediate,
advanced, etc.-- refer to the level of ESL student for which the material might
be appropriate. All these podcasts
can be found by searching in iTunes or Google.
A = audio, V = video)
1)
"60 Second Science" (A)– Short, daily summaries of recent research, usually with
practical implications, produced by Scientific American. Very fast. Lots of
idioms and puns. Nice essay form. Transcripts available online
(http://www.sciam.com/podcast/). They keep the 60 most recent episodes
available for download. Advanced. “60
Second Psyche” is similar but generally less usable.
2)
Big network newscasts: (V) “ABC News Webcast”, "CBS evening news with Katie
Couric", and "NBC Nightly News". If you're not looking for big,
breaking news, the last eight minutes or so of these podcasts is a good place
to look. Often, you'll find silly, cheesy stories there, but fairly often
you'll find an inspiring personal profile, or an interesting segment on an
environmental issue, an alternative energy source, a technological development,
a societal trend, etc.. While the NBC and CBS shows are recordings of broadcast
news shows, ABC’s show is made for the Web, and is the more convenient because
it’s "enhanced", which means you can skip from one story to the next
with a single press of the fast-forward button. High intermediate to advanced.
3)
"New York Times: World" (V) -- Beautifully produced videos in the 3 to 7 minute range.
Wide range of topics with emphasis on culture. Relatively slow pace. Long
pauses. Natural tone of voice. Images are occasionally too graphic for a lot of
classrooms. High-intermediate to advanced.
4)
“English Baby!” (A) --
Daily improvised conversations by relatively hip, relatively young adults. Pop
culture topics. Very natural sounding and very fast. Up-to-the-minute slang and
idioms. Transcripts online (http://www.englishbaby.com/). Advanced
5)
"Sixty Second Success Seminar" (A) -- Self-help tips from a business consultant. Focused on
career advancement, but occasionally on “success” in a broader sense. "Smarter by the Minute" is a
very similar podcast that's currently out of production but has a big archive.
6)
Diane's ESL podcast (A) --
Great content for low levels created by Diane Wallace, with help from her
students and assorted colleagues. Some episodes usable down to level 1. Some
have accompanying exercises. Most are in the 3 to 4 minute range.
7)
"New York Times Health Update" (A) -- Recent health research with emphasis on practical
application. Fast. Lots of idioms. About 1 minute. Weekly. Intermediate to
Advanced.
8)
“One Minute How-to” (A) – Examples of recent topics: how to make
a voodoo doll, how to create a budget, how to make a cosmopolitan, how to buy
the things they confiscate at airports. One minute of instruction, plus a
minute or two of interview banter. Intermediate to advanced.
9)
“Earth and Sky” (A) -- A minute and a half about upcoming
astronomical events and other topics related to...well...the earth and the sky.
Daily. Intermediate to advanced.
10)
"A Cup of Health with the CDC" (A) -- Weekly production of the Center for Disease Control. Four
to seven minutes. Focused on health, but health broadly understood, so you
might get, for example, a story about reducing youth crime. Interview format,
but highly structured. Often scripted. Perhaps a good halfway step toward
understanding a freewheeling interview. High intermediate to advanced.
D)
Some favorite podcasts in Spanish (intermediate - advanced)
I offer these more as suggestions for
teachers learning Spanish than as suggestions for classroom use. I would think “Notes
in Spanish”, and particular songs within
"Ritmo Latino" would be the best bets for classroom material, though
the others might work too in very advanced classes.
1)
Notes in Spanish Intermediate, Notes in Spanish
Advanced -- Nice conversations in the 10 minute range. Usually about
current events and culture in
2)
Hoy Mundo -- About 20
minutes of world news and interviews from the BBC. Daily.
3)
NPR-RNW: La Matinal –
About 30 minutes of world news and interviews from Radio Nederland. Daily.
4)
El Consultorio del Dr. Alisa -- call-in radio health talk. The three or four reports
she does (scattered throughout the show) on current medical research and its
practical implications are usually very interesting. Poor sound quality.Weekly.
5)
Cinerama --
Conversation about movies and actors. Produced in
6)
No Te Pases and Holywood al Aire -- Celebrity gossip
shows. Perhaps weekly. From
7)
Coffee Break Spanish –
Good Spanish lessons for beginners.
8)
El Podcast de Olallo Rubio – Frenetic mashup of music, juvenile humor, radio drama,
profanity, and insightful essay. Not suitable for school use.
9)
Spanishpodcast --
Spanish lessons via lots of listening to stories, songs, etc. Transcripts available (spanishpodcast.org).
High intermediate to advanced.
10)
Ritmo Latino – Wide
range of great music, with mostly Spanish lyrics. Weekly.
E)
A couple Mandarin Chinese suggestions
1)
ChinesePod -- Dialog-based
Mandarin lessons at all levels. Transcripts and other support available for a
fee.
2)
CSLPOD -- There
appears to be a ton of great intermediate to advanced listening material here.
F)
Miscellaneous Tips and Bugaboos
1)
Auto-unsubscribe. If a
podcasts you've subscribed to in iTunes stops updating for no apparent reason,
you're probably a victim of auto-unsubscribe. This horrendous feature, which
can't be turned off, unsubscribes you from a podcast if you don't listen to
five episodes in a row. You have to click the little exclamation point to the
left of the podcast title to reactivate the subscription.
2)
Saving via playlist. When
you find a podcast you think you want to use in class, be sure to add it to a
playlist. This will keep it from being automatically deleted as new episodes
come in.
3)
Setting a start time.
If you want to listen to a segment of a podcast in class without having to hunt
for that segment, you can set a start time. First, listen to the podcast and
note the elapsed time at the point where your desired segment starts. Next,
right click on the podcast in iTunes, and go to "get info". Go to
"options". Check the "start time" checkbox, and enter your
desired start time.
4)
Finding very short podcasts. In iTunes, or other podcast directory, search for terms
often found in short podcasts’ titles or descriptions: 30 second, 60 second,
minute, update, short, quick, brief…
5)
Cassette adapter insertion problems. If, when using a cassette adapter, you've turned the volume
way up, but all you're getting is a tinny little sound, try removing the
cassette adapter and re-inserting it. Be sure the cord isn't getting in the
way.
6)
Rebooting. If you
press play and your iPod freezes or seems to be playing but you're getting no
sound or video, reboot it. To reboot, first switch the "hold" button
to the "hold" position. Then switch it back. Then hold down the
center button and the menu button simultaneously for several seconds until the
iPod shuts down. Now you can restart, and with a little luck it will work.
7)
Cover interference. When
sending video out through the headphone jack, the plug must be 100% inserted.
If you have a leather or rubber cover on your player, you may need to peel it
back before inserting the plug instead of inserting the plug through the hole
in the cover.
G)
Assorted ideas for the building of individual
or group activities around a podcast
- Warmup discussion
- Vocabulary
preview
- Prediction (In network news programs, teasers and/or
the anchorperson’s introduction often give just enough information to
allow a good discussion of what the story might be about. After
watching/listening to the story, the question of whether the teaser was
misleading can sometimes be interesting.)
- Questions about
personal reaction: "Did anything surprise you?" "What
surprised you most?” “How do you feel about Mr. X?”
- Questions about
personal application, e.g., Is anything you heard in the podcast useful to
you? If so, how/when will you use it?
- Questions about
specific details and questions that require inferences
- Questions about the
main point: Is there one? What's is it? Do you agree with it?
- Questions about
reliability and possible bias
- Question writing. Have students come up with a question or
two or three they would like to ask/e-mail to the reporter, or to any
particular person in the podcast. Have students imagine they are teachers
and write three questions that they would give to their class about the
podcast.
- Clozes. An unusual
kind of cloze I've found to work well is one where the first letter of
every word has been removed from a three to five paragraph section of the podcast
transcript.
- Jumbles of sections of
a transcript
- Post-listening (or
between-listenings) vocabulary review.
Questions about
this stuff? If so, email me, Kurt Robinson, at