The 5 Best Podcasts to Learn a New Language

Learning a new language is never easy. But, listening to podcasts could make it easier. Here are the five best podcasts you can use.

Learning a new language is beneficial, but challenging. That's no new information. Everybody knows that. But getting fluent in a language without just cramming up the grammatical rules is a totally different story.

Here's a list of the top five podcasts that can help you learn a new language without being boring or stretching your schedules.

1. Innovative Language Pod101

The first podcast on our list is Innovative Language Pod101. It was established back in 2005 and currently has over one billion lessons downloaded all over the world. It teaches over 40 languages, both for beginner and advanced students.

The lessons remain short, fun, and conversational to keep you engaged. Its lessons are more focused on daily conversation than the traditional grammatical rules. And they're available in audio to ensure correct pronunciation.

Its whole idea is to make you fluent in the language you're trying to learn, without making you feel like studying a boring subject you might have skipped in college.

Besides, it offers a ton of free resources, allowing you to absorb as much as you can without investing in premium features. Although, if you feel like you need one-on-one video instructions to learn better, you can buy its customized courses.

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Most companies buy them to train their employees. They're available in 34+ languages with over 1000 lessons. In custom courses, the software tracks your progress and gives you feedback on your assignment by combining real-life tutors' and automated reports.

To buy these courses, you'll need to contact the company personally. And they'll give you a quote depending on your learning requirements.

2. News in Slow

The next language learning podcast on the list is News in Slow. It's only available in French, Spanish, German, and Italian. If you're looking to learn a language other than these, feel free to skip to the next podcast.

Written and spoken languages are a bit different. The pronunciation varies when you see Google and a native speaker saying the same word. It teaches you vocabulary from the native speakers, so instead of getting a bookish pronunciation, you learn to say it exactly how they speak.

It takes briefs from the broadcasts and show them to you with a manuscript. All the essential vocabulary is highlighted to make it easier for you to follow along. This way, you learn the words and phrases as well as their correct delivery.

Getting started with this podcast is super simple. Just choose which of the four languages you want to learn and select your learning level—beginner, intermediate, or advance.

Furthermore, if you want to learn Italian, then you're in luck. It offers News in Slow Italian package for free. However, the Spanish, German, and French lessons are available for free on a 7-day trial. After that, you'll need to buy their $19.99 monthly plan.

3. Survival Phrases

This podcast teaches you small phrases and necessary vocabulary in 34 different languages. It's best for people trying to learn a language for travel or short visit in other countries for business or other purposes.

The languages it teaches include Hindi, Japanese, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Cantonese, and so on. Plus, besides teaching you the survival phrases, it teaches you a little about the culture of the country you'll visit too.

Again, the rule here is simple. Instead of teaching you in-depth grammar, it tells you what to say with its meaning and makes it easier for you to get started instantly.

All the lessons are available in audio, so you never have to worry about the wrong pronunciation of the word and phrases. And it gives you a PDF of those phrases to study what you learned later on. For more convenience, its software is available for computers and smartphones, making it easier for you to carry your little tutor wherever you go.

Moreover, if you're interested in getting one-on-one video lessons from real-life teachers, you can buy its premium version. That way, you can get personalized guidance and feedback.

4. Coffee Break Languages

As the name suggests, it teaches you in short lessons to fit your coffee breaks. This podcast is the best for busy people who're not looking to go in-depth of any language, but willing to be fluent in commonly used or everyday phrases. The podcasts are merely 15-20 minutes long, and you can listen to them whenever and wherever you like.

Currently, it's focused on teaching only seven languages, French, Spanish, German, English, Swedish, Chinese and Italian. And it has over 1000 lectures in each of the languages with over 2 million downloads so far.

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You can get your hands on various free podcasts for adults and children with this platform. And if you like this teaching methods and feel like you can learn better this way, you can get paid courses from its website. Besides that, you can also enroll in their six-months French master class. However, the availability of seats may be an issue at all times of the year.

5. The Fluent Show

This language podcast is a bit different from all the podcasts we've discussed so far. It's more about telling you how to learn than teaching you what to learn. It doesn't teach any specified language, but encourages you to learn new languages.

It defines the challenges you can face while learning a new language, even if you have all the great material in the world. With an understanding of what might be problematic from the beginning, you can take action accordingly.

Apart from that, It discusses topics like:

• Learning multiple languages at once.
• How to find the right language learning community to practice more.
• Where you should head to when you're already an intermediate language learner.
• Methods of learning new languages, etc.

Furthermore, it has many podcasts featuring different language experts, plenty of free resources, paid courses, and a complete master class that you can enroll in.

Take Your Language Learning to the Next Level

Learning a new language can be challenging, but it should not be the most complicated thing in the world. Start from the podcasts listed in this article. Take the baby steps. Stay consistent. And practice, practice, practice.

In no time, you'll find yourself conversing with locals in different countries in their language without feeling like an outsider.

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