Blog Post #8: Podcast #2

Basic Banking Lingo

This podcast is designed for intermediate ESL students. It discusses a few common banking terms.


How to Listen:

Before listening, review the following list of words used at the bank:

Account: When you keep your money at a bank, your money is placed in an account. You will get an account number that helps you identify your account.There are different types of accounts.

Savings Account: A savings account is a place to save your money. You will mostly add money into a savings account.

Checking Account: A checking account is an account that you can add money to and also take money out to pay bills and get cash.

Interest: Savings accounts earn interest. Interest is money that is added to your account by the bank. The bank pays you interest because you keep a certain amount of money at the bank.

Deposit: A deposit is money you add to your account at the bank. When you put money into your account, you say you are depositing money. You can deposit money at the bank with a teller, or you can use an ATM machine to deposit your money.

Withdrawal: When you take money out of your account, you are making a withdrawal. You can make a withdrawal at the bank with a teller or you can make a withdrawal at an ATM machine.

Checks: A check is a slip of paper with your account number on it. When you make a purchase, you write on the check the amount of the purchase and who the check is for. When the person or store deposits the check, it will be subracted from your checking account.

Credit Card: A credit card is a plastic card you can use instead of cash or checks to make purchases. At the end of the month, you will receive a statement that shows all the purchases you made. You will have to pay the bank for these purchases.

Debit Card: A debit card is a plastic card you can also use to make purchases. When you use your debit card, the amount of the purchase will be subtracted from your account balance- just like a check.


Next, listen to the podcast:



http://kvoss01.podbean.com/


Now it's your turn. Use the Internet to search for banks in your community. What kinds of accounts do these banks offer? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of account? At the next class, you will report what you have learned to your classmates.

Here are some banks to explore:

http://www.53.com/
http://www.chase.com/
http://www.usbank.com/

Blog #6: Podcast for ESL Students

Restaurant Lingo For Beginners

This podcast is designed for mid-level beginning ESL students. It focuses on vocabulary and questions commonly used in restaurants.

How to listen:


Before listening, review the following vocab list:

Words
Appetizer- a small sized meal you eat before your main meal.
Side- small amount of food you eat with the main meal
Dessert- a sweet food you eat after your main meal
Specials- meals on sale
Bill- amount of money you owe for your meal
Server- man or woman who asks what you want and brings your food

Questions:
What do you have to drink?
Do you have any specials today?



Next listen to the podcast:

http://blschmid.podbean.com/


Now it's your turn! After listening, choose a restaurant and try out your new vocabulary. Blog about your experience.

Blog #4: Listening Resources

I found a site for improving listening skills in my L2, Spanish:

http://lomastv.com/

This website features video clips of different facets of culture through the Spanish-speaking world, from music, to food, to traveling, etc. The videos are on average not over five minutes in length. The videos are categorized by levels of the learner- beginning, intermediate, or advanced. They are also categorized by accent- so you might listen to a native speaker from Columbia, Panama, Mexico, Spain, etc. I like that this site gives exposure to different Spanish accents.
The videos can be slowed down by the learner- they can be watched at the natural speed the native speaker uses when speaking, or can be slowed down to meet the pace of the learner. The learner can speed up or slow down the video as needed while the video is playing.
Subtitles are provided in both Spanish and English, and both can be hidden by the learner- a nice scaffolding feature. Additionally, both L1 to L2 and L2 to L1 dictionaries are provided, so that learners can look up a vocab word while they are listening.
Finally, students can access a game after watching a video, to check listening comprehension.
These features lend to an interactive website that meets the varying needs of listeners, in a relevant and "playfull" manner. I am bookmarking this site for my own personal use.

I also looked at the following website for ESL learners:

http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml

This is a British website, so it might not be ideal in an American ESL setting, but on the otherhand, could expose students to different English accents. Similar to the above website, this website categorizes podcasts and videos by learner levels- beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Also, videos with sound versus listening only provides different levels of difficulty for different learners. The podcasts are relevant in that they describe the musings or adventures of the bloggers as they travel and go about daily life. Their shorter length keep disinterest and frustration levels low. Vocabulary lists and worksheets are available to assist with listening comprehension, although this site does require registration in order to view and listen to most things.