- http://www.esl-lab.com/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/business/index.shtml
- http://www.eslpod.com/website/index.php#
The first is really a helpful site because it offers a possibility to listen at different kind of conversation and at different levels of difficulty. There are many exercises related comprehension. The site is easy to manage because the different kinds of conversation are divided into topics so that you may easily chose the topic which is of your interest and in which you know you must improve, for example learning more vocabulary.
The second is a BBC section which offers good opportunities to learn the English of the business. It contains different exercises requiring specific business words, useful tips for getting a job and moreover you may learn how to negotiate with a member working with you avoiding to be impolite.
The third is a site for students like us who learn English as a second language. Thus, I contains different kind of listening exercises but this tie the conversation are more easy to follow. The speakers talk in a more relaxed way and stress every single word in order to be understood by the audience.
In my opinion all these sites are useful for an English learner because practising the listening skill is the best way to come familiar with the correct pronunciation of the language. Moreover, listening is a good way to improve our vocabulary and to start to be more fluent in our second language.
I think that podcasts are another useful tool for our language learning. I often go to the BBC site and watch and listen to the daily news. Sometimes I find them difficult to follow but after an amount of time I get more familiar with it. However, I must admit that I never thought about uploading a podcast onto my mp3 player; maybe, it is because I use the mp3 just for pleasure, for example when I travel alone by train I love listening to the music. I know that listening, for example to the BBC news, would be a good way to be always in touch with the second language but I prefer to practice my listening on the pc.
