Books can’t exactly teach you how to speak or understand a language. Listening is the most important skill to master when learning a language. And that is where the internet comes in. So here’s a short list of audio-heavy websites, most of which I’m sure I’ve already posted about, and many of which are multilingual:
Words & Simple Sentences
- Forvo: All the words in the world. Pronounced.
- Swac: audio collections that can be downloaded
- Le Dictionnaire Visuel: French only obviously, but very specific & technical words
- LanguageGuide: pictorial vocabulary guides
- Internet Polyglot: vocabulary in several language combinations, with games
- Learn Verbs: verb conjugations pronounced
- Book2: 100 lessons of basic phrases; mp3s can be downloaded
- Learn with Youtube: collection of videos specifically for language learning
Slow Speech, Natural Speech & Reading
- LangMedia Videos: everyday situations and cultural information; transcripts & translations available
- Ashcombe School MFL Videos: conversations, talks, interviews; transcripts & translations available
- Audio Lingua: short recordings on various topics; no transcripts available however
- ListentoFrench and Sonsenfrançais: great collection of French listening resources mostly from TV & films; transcripts available
- Radio France Internationale: listen to the “easy” news and read the transcript, though it does match exactly what is said; no translations
- Un Giro in Italia: videos of Italian culture, with transcripts but no translations
- Spanish NewsBites: listen to Spanish news and read along with transcripts, some translations of words provided
- Librivox: audio books in the public domain; with texts provided
- Logos Library: famous children’s books; with texts provided
- Euronews: videos of news in (mostly) Western European languages
- RAI Corso di Lingua: interactive elementary Italian course
- France-Bienvenue: interviews on various topics, with transcripts and explanations of cultural vocabulary
- Learn Canadian French: lots of videos (songs included) with transcripts for learning Quebecois French
- Deutsche Welle: tons of learning German resources! Why can’t other countries produce material like this?
- Slow German: articles read at a slow pace, with transcripts and translation of individual words possible
Podcasts
I am too lazy to list other language podcasts and I cannot decide which ones I like best. Search for them in iTunes because there are a lot available nowadays. One caveat about podcasts is that many require fees for the transcripts. I’ve tried to include only free websites in the links above.
Other Audio Findings that I was Happy to Stumble Upon
- Agricultural Labor Management: the University of California provides audio for learning basic phrases and agricultural words in Spanish
- Italian Lives: the University of Western Australia did an audio-video project on Italian migrants in Western Australia
