Summer is a wonderful time for hobbies and favourite activities. Cycling, swimming, gardening, reading, and just plain old relaxing!

One of my favourite things is listening to podcasts while I’m pottering about * or painting, or sitting in the park and soaking up some vitamin D.  I love true crime, slow-living podcasts, and spooky stories. But podcasts are also a wonderful way to learn languages.  In the old days we had language CDs (or even cassette tapes, if you are old enough to remember!) – but now we can turn to our smartphones for something far more useful than doomscrolling!

*herumwirtschaften

A little and often is what I normally tell my students when they ask for ways to self-study.  A few minutes a day is much better than trying to study for hours at a time.  We all have good intentions – but staying realistic is the best way to build a habit and make it stick!

Here are some wonderful podcasts for language learning with episodes of 10-20 minutes or less!

• For beginners (A1 – B1)

Learn English podcast
This podcast from the British Council is a great place to start.  Episodes are around 20 minutes long.

• BBC 6 minute podcasts (B1 and higher)

6 Minute English 
This long-running podcast is wonderful for intermediate students (and higher!) and covers many interesting current topics.  Vocabulary lists and a transcript are given for each episode.

….and for grammar and vocab lovers:
6 Minute Grammar
6 Minute Vocabulary

• For more natural English (B1 and higher)

The English We Speak
This podcast is full of everyday phrases and slang. Episodes are around only 3 minutes long!

• For practical language (B1 and higher)

Espresso English
Episodes are around 10 minutes long and cover lots of practical language, like how to write and say the date correctly or speaking to a doctor.

There are many more language podcasts out there – so have a look and see what you can find, and don’t forget to choose what interests you and keep it short and fun!