Like many students, I am finding oral comprehension to be the hardest (of several hard) part of learning Portuguese. So I am starting to listen to podcasts. Not instead of PP, but as a way of “tuning” my ear to a level above where I currently am.
I find Portuguese with Leo to have exceptionally clear annunciation - almost as clear as Rui, but with far more recorded material to listen to. I can understand 20 - 40 percent of the spoken material. Enough to reassure myself that I am not completely lost. But not enough to be able to thoroughly follow an episode.
If I turn the podcast app’s transcription and read along, my comprehension increases to 50 - 75%, and I can now enjoy the content of the podcast.
However - what’s the general consensus about learning outcome? Is it better to understand a little spoken, or more read (while also hearing the spoken word) ?
Hey Tomas, this is just going to be conjecture on my part as I haven’t consulted the research to see if there’s empirical work that’s been done on this, but I would say both rather than either-or.
That is, “sink-or-swim” listening, where you’re trying to make general sense with just what you’re hearing, as well as ear “tuning” (a great way to put it) with the help of the transcript so you can see what’s happening to Portuguese word forms when they occur in fast, natural speech—both seem to me to be important subskills of listening that we need to develop.
BTW, I’m also a fan of Portuguese with Leo as a nice supplement to Practice Portuguese.
Thank you very much ProfessorCaloiro. Both, rather than either-or actually makes a lot of sense. So I think I will exactly that. First an “unaided” listen and then a “listen-and-read”.
I’d highly recommend Portugueses no Mundo, a podcast from Antenna hosted by Alice Vilaca. If you’re listening on Spotify, it has a transcript that you can read along with.
What’s great about the show is that it’s people from all over Portugal speaking in their regional accents. If you want to tune your ear to a lot of different voices, this is the best show for you. I’ve tried many others, but the stories are either too short or too long, or the same person does a lot of talking.
Hi Tomas, the main thing I learned from taking the CIPLE is that I hadn’t spent enough time listening to Portuguese. I listened to a lot of shorties and thought I was doing well because I could understand a lot of the B1 exercises but that really wasn’t enough. Now I’m spending much more time listening to diverse sources, such as Leo, the news, cooking channels, and doing much better in conversational situatioins. Yes it takes both, but listen, listen, listen.
Thank you so much for that, it seems we all find listening to be the hard part.
My brain can only focus completely for a certain amount of time. So I was going to use Leo, and other sources, as something to listen to and just understand whatever I can, without going over each sentence many times to ensure complete comprehension of each word and each nuance.
In your experience, is that helpful, or is it really just spending time on something that gives very little value!
Na minha opinião e experiência
o simples consumo também ajuda
= imersão num banho de áudio.
Como audiolivros, podcasts, ouvir rádio/tv -
desde que consigo seguir o conteúdo,
mesmo em intervalos de palavras individuais.
A confirmação positiva,
de que consigo “fluir” em grande parte,
é uma experiência agradável.
In my opinion and experience
simple consumption also helps as well
= immersion into an audio bath.
Like audiobooks, podcasts, listening radio/tv -
as long as I can follow the content,
even over individual word gaps.
The positive confirmation,
that I can largely “flow along”,
is a nice experience.
I honestly don’t get much out of listening to podcasts that are above my level of comprehension - I actually find them annoying and tend to shut-off, so I generally will listen to an “appropriate” podcast (10 to 20 minutes, one that’s within my realm of comprehension) and get what I can, then go back and dissect it, usually with Portuguese subtitles on, making note of new words and things that I didn’t understand - then listen to it again, and often again, until I can understand it completely without subtitles. Then I revisit it in a week or so to see what I retained. I think we all learn differently, this works for me.
I’m more or less a beginner, was on Madeira recently and glad I could talk or ask easy stuff already.
BUT: One day was in a museum where a video with speaker runs endlessly and I watched a few minutes and didnt understand ONE SINGLE WORD
Interesting question! I agree with @ProfessorCaloiro, “both” would be my vote. I like to have higher level podcasts on when I’m using it more as background noise (like walking the dog). I don’t really care if I understand everything. With those, the topic is more important - the higher the level, the more important it is that I already understand a bit of the context. So I wouldn’t pick a podcast on Portuguese politics for example, because I’m completely ignorant. I agree with @teamswim that if it’s WAY above your current level, it just becomes frustrating. And if something isn’t fun, it’s not something you’re going to want to do more of.
Here are some more podcasts that I really like (in addition to Portuguese with Leo and Portugueses no Mondo, already mentioned):
Slow Portuguese with Maria - just found this, haven’t listened much yet, seems A1 level
Aleixopédia - short and funky clips about popular music, native level
A Vida Secreta das Línguas - about all things language, native level, speaker is super clear and topics are interesting and short (good for multiple listens)
Pilha de Livros - same speaker (a Portuguese writer) as above, about books
100 Legendas - for Portuguese learners, more A2/B2 levels, I like her topics and way she speaks. Audio quality sometimes not great, but good practice in tuning your ears when audio isn’t crystal clear (like it is in PP!).
Short Stories in Portuguese by Storyglot - for learners, stories are repeated 3 times in same short podcast episodes, great for listening on the go. I think she’s stopped making these now, but loads of old episodes are still up.
Listen & Learn with Silvia - my absolute favorite when I was at baby A1 level, even more slow and comprehensible than Leo. Great for shadowing if you like that. No way is it ‘realistic’ Portuguese, but so good for learning and building confidence.
Expressões do Português Europeu - for learners, not too exciting, but it’s there
Mia’s Portuguese Podcast - for learners A2/B1
Learning Portuguese is Fun - for learners, kind of meh, but it’s there
A ton of Radio Observador podcasts to check out (they usually have auto-generated transcripts): Cinco Continentes, E o Resto é História, A História do Dia
I really like history podcasts, so I’ve also found these native-speaker level PT-PT podcasts: A História repete se, Falando de História, Vamos Todos Morrer
Extremamente Desagradável - gets recommended a lot and apparently is super popular in Portugal, but it’s WAY over my level and I don’t understand a thing. But may be great for high B2/C1 learners.
Whew, that was a lot. I may have a podcast addiction problem!
I also have a limited time to listen before I tune out, so I listen to “No Pais das Maravilhas”, a short podcast on RTP. It’s 5 minutes long and I can focus the entire time.
