VOA News - Special English

Voice of America is an excellent web page that offers very valuable material for learning American English and much more besides. If with "BBC Learning English" we can practice British English, with "VOA Special English" we can listen to very interesting podcasts spoken with an American accent.

From my experience, I would say that the American accent is much easier that the British, the Irish or the Australian one. That’s why it’s a good idea to listen to different accents, including American ones, to help improve our aural skills.

Why is this resource so attractive?

1. The podcasts (and complete transcripts associated) have a main vocabulary of about 1500 words, resulting in language that is easier to understand.
2. The editors use short and simple sentences that contain one main idea. They use active voice and no idioms.
3. The podcasts are read at a slower pace. In this way each word is pronounced more clearly and is easier to understand.

What else can we find?

• Podcasts with complete transcripts sorted by a topic or a program. The podcasts can be downloaded, or listen online.
• Dictionary containing the 1500 words most frequently used.
• Games and videos.

What else can I tell you? I hope that you find this resource as attractive as I do.

Visit VOA News - Special English

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