Learning Engish by Listening to Broadcast

How does listening to broadcast facilitate English learning? The following are  some comments from two university professors.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=381&f_SUB_ID=2705&f_ART_ID=216033

廣播學英語 發音更道地

【聯合報╱記者湯雅雯／台北報導】2009/10/08

 

亞洲大學外國語文學系副教授張湘君贊同聽廣播學英文，她認為對台灣學生來說，常聽廣播可讓英語聽、說能力變好，間接習慣英語連音，「聽力進步外，發音也會變好」，語調也更像外國人發音。

My comments: In fact, singing English songs is a good way to practice linking sounds. For example, when singing the first line of the song "Right Here Waiting": Oceans apart day after day, we will naturally link the consonant "s" of "oceans" to the vowel "a" of "apart."

張湘君建議，學生可從廣播中挑選自己喜歡的歌，除了下載在隨身聽外，更要自己額外去做功課，「查單字、歌詞」，學些生活用語及鮮活用法，對爾後出國留學很有幫助，跟外國學生也更有話題聊。

台師大英文系教授張武昌指出，「學語言很重要的條件之一，就是英語環境要夠多」，很多父母把孩子送到國外，讓他們適應、熟悉全英語環境，學生為了生存，不得不開口講英語，久了就不會害怕說英文。

張武昌說，學英語有很多管道，聽英語廣播也是其中之一，只要是學生有興趣的，不管英文歌曲、英文新聞，只要保持強烈的學習動機，英語就會進步。

My comments: With strong motivation, one would like to learn English anywhere anytime. A former student made it a rule to listen to English radio program every day, even when he was in the third-year, preparing for the entrance exam. A good friend's daughter had a really good command of English. She told her mom that listening to Studio Classroom helped her most.

他表示，台灣現今也致力提升雙語環境，有越來越多元的全英語平台，提供給學生、民眾學英語，「學界當然是樂觀其成」，間接也可改變台灣過度僵化的英語教育。