Developing Listening Comprehension Skills Using the Internet- Part 3

So what if you can’t go live in a country where the foreign language you want to learn is spoken. No problem if you don’t attend a formal language class. Never mind if you can’t find a native-speaking private tutor in your foreign language or use books and written materials because you may not have good access to any. We said before in this article series that some other ways to learn English or another foreign language were listening to CDs, DVDs or audio-cassettes, watching TV, movies and video programs. But available to almost all are the vast resources of the world wide web and internet language learning. We’ll continue here to examine some additional ways of using the internet along with computer-aided language learning techniques to learn almost any foreign language.

Considered to be the most difficult of the basic language skills to develop, listening comprehension cannot be taught. Rather, you must practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. Only by doing this will you ultimately learn to understand the mutterings coming out of other people’s mouths in a foreign tongue. Trust me, it’s true.

Let me tell you what happened to me:

Every week, twice a week I passed a street vendor at the same spot, absolutely clueless as to what he was saying. I knew what he was selling alright – I just peeked over at his wares. But his entreaties in street Spanish fell on my language-clogged ears for months. Then one evening, without warning, it happened. Just two days before, his “cries” were the same incomprehensible slur they’d been for months.

That one evening however, when he launched into his huckster’s spiel I suddenly understood every word. My Spanish language listening comprehension skills had clicked on! Why then? No one knows. Especially not me, and I’m a post-graduate-degreed Language Education Specialist!

Practice your listening skills with radio programs in your target language for a change at Live365.com which has live global feeds 24 hours a day in multiple languages.

Foreign language Internet radio and foreign news radio in 27 European, 4 Middle Eastern, 9 Asian languages and audio feeds from 19 African countries are broadcast to aid in Internet language learning here.

Listen to news, sports, talk shows, music, weather and more online from around the world at Omninternet Radio.

If Spanish is your target language, then try listening to Colombian Radio Live. Major musical genes like Salsa, Vallenatos, Ranchera, Llanera, Tango and Tropical played round the clock in Castellano.

Radio Tower boasts of having 4450 live radio feeds from around the globe. Choose a variety of musical genres, countries and languages to suit your needs and listening pleasure.

You can download hundreds of Old Time Radio Shows free for your listening pleasure of language learning use. Hear comedy, drama, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, and detective stories in English from the thirties, forties and fifties.

In the next, part four of this series on language learning using the Internet entitled, “Fun and Games with Internet Language Learning” we’ll detail the use of fun and games along with how to choose the right computer-aided language learning portals for your needs. See you then.