Finding Podcasts to Listen To
You can find podcasts to listen to in a couple of different ways:
- One way is to do a web search using a search engine. For example using a search
engine, I typed in "esl podcast" and was directed to a great site ESL:
Listening: Podcasts (a sub-page of The Internet
TESL Journal) with lists of ESL podcast websites. It contained a site that I use in my own
ESL classrooms, ESL Pod.
- Another way is through podcasting directories. Podcatchers such as iTunes and Juice have directories where you can find more podcasts on a particular subject. There are also other directories besides those found in the different podcatchers such as Podcast Alley and LearnOutLoud.com (an educational directory).
Most directories make it easy for you to audition and listen to entire podcasts directly from their listings. They are very competitive and want you to come back time and again to their site and have special features to entice you. Several have their own audio players built in that will load and stream the entire back catalog of a podcast. They are free and you don't necessarily have to do anything more than click and listen.
Here are a few directories to explore:
Now that you have found several podcasts to use in your classroom or to enjoy for yourself, you will need to automate the process by subscribing to a podcast by subscribing to the RSS feed that points to the MP3 files for that podcast. This does not cost you anything and is fairly simple using one of the free podcatchers (ex. iTunes, Juice, xPodder X) that are available. For a quick tutorial using iTunes, you can download my iTunes Tutorial.pdf.
