Hi everyone,

Below is a list that I made which contains websites, apps and Youtube channels for practising your English listening skills. All of them have the option of subtitles in English/reading the text and students have enjoyed practising with them in the past. I have shared this list before on this forum but I think it's very useful so I wanted to share it again.

Please share your opinion about these resources and also share your own favourites for practising your listening skills. It would be good to hear from both teachers and students.

Enjoy!

Jamie (www.italki.com/jamie.teacher)

Excellent app for practising your listening skills

Most of the texts are short (2-6 minutes)

Click on “transcript” if you want to listen and read at the same time

Mainly for Intermediate students (but some texts are for Pre-Intermediate/Upper Intermediate level)

You can also use their website (<a href="http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.bbclearningenglish.com</a>) but the app is easier to use

Read and listen to very short news articles.

They have new articles nearly every day.

Listen and read the same article at different levels: “Level 1” (easy) “Level 2” (Medium) “Level 3” (more difficult) and “Original” (a real news video).

You can also use their website (<a href="http://www.newsinlevels.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.newsinlevels.com</a>) but the app is easier to use.

Definitely write “learningenglish.voanews.com” NOT “www.learningenglish.voanews.com”

Read news articles about current topics with simplified language

Click “Intermediate Level” and “Advanced Level” to find many news articles (“Beginning Level” is not useful)

You can listen and read the text at the same time if you want but I recommend just reading (the voices are sometimes slow and unnatural)

There are many apps called “VOA Learning English” or something similar. Some are ok, but others are terrible so I recommend the website (and others are designed for native speakers)

Definitely write ‘learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening’ NOT ‘www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening’

Listening practice at five different levels (Beginner- Advanced)

Click on the ‘transcript’ button to read the text in English and listen at the same time

TED Talks website (<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.ted.com/talks</a>)

Hundreds of interesting talks/lectures.

Click on ‘topics’ and search for something that interests you.

You can also go to <a href="http://www.ted.com/playlists" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.ted.com/playlists</a> to find good lists of talks (‘The most popular talks of all time’ is a good list).

Talks are usually 5-20 minutes.

Click on ‘view interactive transcript’ if you want to read the text while you listen.

You can also view all the TED Talks on their app (Android and Iphone).

Intermediate-Advanced level (levels 5-9)

Listen and read interesting Intermediate/Advanced Listening texts (most are 5-40 minutes)

Listen and read audiobooks, short stories and novels (many classic British/American novels)

Choose ‘Faster Listening Speed’ and ‘Slower Listening Speed’ at the top of each dialogue

<a href="http://www.netflix.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.netflix.com</a>

Excellent website/app for watching popular movies/TV programmes/documentaries etc.

Almost all programmes have perfect English subtitles

Easy to watch on your smartphone/computer (on the website or their Android/Iphone app).

You have to pay £5.99 a month for their basic package, but this a good price because it is a fun and easy way to improve your listening.