232: Why you shouldn’t listen to ”slow audio”

 In this solo episode, Olly discusses whether listening to "slow audio" is useful.

Episode Summary: News in Slow Spanish-type sites are becoming increasing popular With Yabla you can slow down the audio But are these helpful, or dangerous? There are only two reasons you won't understand something spoken: 1) You don't know the words/grammar 2) You can't understand fast speech If you slow down what you're listening to, you're not helping your listening, because it's not natural, and lacks the features of fast speech It simply gives you more time to process the information, i.e. think about the words used But is this the best way to learn new vocabulary... listening to slow, unnatural audio? This = confusing / misunderstanding the problem, and can severely limited your ability to cope with real language Listening to stuff at your level (comprehensible input) Listen at natural speed, and use the transcript to help you understandInstead, solve the problem of not understanding fast speech by: I do sometimes slow down audio (Speater app), but it's always when I'm listening to stuff that's too hard for me Caveat: Slowing down audio could be useful at the very beginning Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: News in Slow Spanish Yabla - video with interactive learning tools Speater App - a great app for interactive listening Conversations - transform your listening skills with story-based audio material Manifesto for Better Listening - a blog post I wrote about listening skills Start Speaking Today:

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