Podcasts and videos are two contrasting tools that perform complementary roles. While the former deals with audio content, the latter deals with visual content. In today’s world, listening to podcasts has become useful for learning and gaining insights into different areas of life. Like every learning tool, some techniques make them better utilized. It is the same with podcasts and videos. This article sheds light on some tips that can help you efficiently use listening to podcasts and watching videos to learn a new language.
Some Tips on How You Can Use the Podcast and Video Tools to Learn a New Language
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First Things First, Enjoy the Content
When you gain access to audio content for the new language you want to learn via podcasts or the new language’s video content, simply listen to them or watch them– for the first time, even when you understand nothing. You do not have to learn anything immediately then.
Instead, use this first encounter with the content to prepare yourself for what you are about to engage in. You do not have to finish listening or watching in the first sitting. After your first listen/watch, pause, before you dive into the learning experience properly.
Make a Habit of it
To enjoy the advantages of using podcasts and videos as a language learning tool, it is best if you can utilize them regularly. And that means every day or every other day.
Determined individuals in a bid to learn the language fast, use language podcasts as their only source of sound. For example, they listen to it while they are eating, doing their laundry, or even when they are about to sleep. And because videos have to be looked at, they set aside specific times during the day or week to watch them.
Check For Transcripts
If it is possible to access the transcripts of the podcasts you intend to use to learn a new language, go ahead and get them.
The trick with this is that as you listen to the podcast alongside having a look at the transcript, your brain gets familiar with the vocabulary of the new language. This is better utilized when you try the content in small doses.
Try Mimicking What You Hear and See
This is to ensure that you move beyond being a passive learner to an active learner. It is a way of practicing what you learn. So, mimic the sound, and the voice/intonation and make it fun in the process. If you notice how children learn their mother tongue, it starts with them observing those who speak it and then going ahead to speak it even when they do not do it the right way. Let’s learn from them.
Have a Book to Write As You Learn
This is a lot of hard work, but it is worth it. Have you ever found a school where the students do not write in any form? You can use your phones or tablets to do the writing. It does not have to be a hardcover book and pen. The aim is to use the writing as a way to retain what you hear and see.
Do Not Do It Alone
As you seek to use podcasts and videos as learning tools for a new language, it will be more interesting if you have friends or family members who can join you. It puts people before you that you have to be accountable to as you try to maintain the habit of listening and watching the lessons at least until you have learned the language to the extent you intend. You also get to share the new insights you gain as you learn. This will help your brain keep what you have learned.
Benefits of Using Podcasts as Learning Tools
Some of the reason podcasts are recommended these days stems from them being able to improve one’s listening capacity and thus the capacity for listening comprehension to enhancing one’s ability to read in the language (given that the individual has gotten used to the pattern of speech pronunciation of the language), and improving one’s vocabulary in the new language.
Sometimes, people can only comprehend a story or passage in a language when they read it. When they are made to listen to it, their comprehension becomes slow. This is a major gap that podcasts try to bridge.
Do not forget that podcasts can be pretty convenient. It is one of its attractive features. As was mentioned earlier, it is easy to make a habit of listening to podcasts because you can listen to them while you do other things. It has the uniqueness of not getting in your way.
Benefits of Using Videos as Learning Tools
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The very first and best advantage of using videos to learn a new language is that the learners are easily captivated by what they see. Doctors believe that there is a strong relationship between sight and learning which is why people with poor vision generally do not do well among their peers if they do nothing to rectify the eye problems that they may have.
Also seeing others speak the language can be a source of encouragement, pushing the learner to believe that if the person they are watching can do it, they will eventually be able to speak the language as well.
One funny thing is that podcasts and videos happen to be the tools that children utilize naturally. They listen to what the adults around them are saying and watch what they are doing as well. Are they able to learn with these tools? Yes. Yet, they are still sent to school to continue the learning process. This is how podcasts and videos as learning tools should be treated.
Conclusion
The secret to using podcasts and videos as language learning tools is in repetition and consistency. The more frequently you use them, the more efficient they become.
Podcasts and videos should not be used independently. Learning a new language relies on as many tools and processes as possible. The same is true for learning ASL (American Sign Language).
Good news! SignBee Academy has ASL learning resources that can guide you to learning ASL and utilizing it like a pro.
Thumbnail Photo Credit to: Image by Racool_ studio on Freepik
