Tune in and learn
We know how important doing listening exercises are when learning a language, but finding the time to do them can be difficult. An effective way to include English listening in your everyday life is to turn on the radio. Radio programmes cover such a wide range of topics giving you the oppotunity to hear accents, sentence structure and vocabulary. As a English learner in Spain you have limited oppotunities to listen to native speakers, therefore if you have internet then you have access to an extensive range of listening resources. For example, BBC iplayer has variety of radio stations that broadcast programmes about music, sports, news and comment. www.bbc.co.uk/radio
It is important to make listening exercises compatible with your daily life - so why not put the radio on while your doing the dreaded ironing or preparing dinner. This way, you can kill two birds with one stone. Another tip is to find a programme you are interested in and tune in to it every week, that way it becomes a habit and you will find that you become familar with the language, topics and the presenters. It may even become an enjoyable activity!
Another great way to listen is in the car while driving. Being near the Costa Blanca, Alicante region and all those British expats, there are plenty of English radio stations that are easy to pick up in Gandia. Here is a list and the link: http://www.eyeonspain.
One of the best ones from here is Spectrum fm. I think around this area you can also pick up Bay radio.
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/
Remenber not to worry about understaning every word, what is important is that you are listening. Just by listening you can improve your intonation and rhythm which make your speeech sound more natural. From a linguistic point of view; results of the large body of research have shown that listening is not a passive process, in which the listener simply receives a spoken message, but rather a complex cognitive process, in which the listener constructs the meaning using both her linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge (http://deal.elte.hu/pages/novelty/htm2/vol73/bojana.htm).
So turn the radio on now and share with us in class what you have listened to.
Words in purple are in the Glossary below
Tune in - sintonizar (con) algo
wide range of topics - temas muy diversas
broadcast - transmitir, emitir
daily life - vida diaria
dreaded - temible
you can kill two birds with one stone - realizar dos acciones simultáneamente
British expats (expatriate) - emigrado(a) (sustantivo masculino o femenino) (familiar) (especialmente británico)
passive process - processo pasivo
cognitive - cognitivo
knowledge - conocimientos
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