10 Great Tips to Learn English Listening Skills with the Radio
1. Find a radio station in English that interests you
Streaming radio stations online works better than the traditional radio because you can listen to any station worldwide.
Everyone loves music, which many stations will play, but if you really want to fine-tune (perfect) your English listening skills you should listen to a talk radio station. You can still enjoy your music, but you will learn English intonation and listening much better with native speech.
Talk radio shows span many different topics, from sports to science, so choose something that interests you.
The next step is searching for the kind of station that you want. Use Google and type: radio + (the region (place) you want) + (the type of show you’re looking for). For example, if I want an entertainment radio show from California, type “radio California entertainment” into your Google search bar.
This way you’ll narrow down your search (make the list smaller) and find a great station faster.
2. Don’t limit yourself to just one station
Try out a few different online English-speaking radio stations until you find the ones that you like best.
Avoid any radio stations with DJs who are really loud and try to make jokes all of the time. More often than not, these DJs don’t make much sense to native English speakers, so you could become confused and frustrated.
If you’re really intent on learning English with radio, you should find a radio station that has the news, the weather or that gives advice (e.g. advice on relationships or health problems).
It’s also important to note that you shouldn’t listen to a radio station just because it has a lot of speaking. You need to find the perfect program that really keeps your attention. If you’re into the Hollywood scene and love entertainment and gossip, check out Entertainment Radio or look for another entertainment talk show that has the latest celebrity news.
The same goes if you’re interested in listening to sports. Sports lovers should definitely try listening to Sport FM or WFAN Sports Radio.