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hoang_luong · 02-23-2003, 06:32 AM

Hi Erin, would you please tell if CNN is highly suitable for those who want to score high on the real test, say more than 600? On top of that, what about VOA? I don't know if these two are OK for students who not only want to achieve the minimum 550, but wish to score high as well. I don't know a thing about NRP but from what the people say about it, I can kind of guess it may be harder than CNN or VOA. Is it correct? Although I cannot get every single word spoken on CNN, I still can get the gist or main ideas they're getting across in each of their new bulletins. However, I still remember one guy, who also acts in the same capacity as you in delivering online test advice for another international test, saying that the likes of CNN, BBC or any other English-language news bulletins are designed NOT to be hard to listen to or comprehend for the audiences, but rather to be USER-FRIENDLY, or to put it differently, to be easy enough for the audiences. Otherwise, it will get into troubles attracting wide and various audiences - not just native but also foreigners whose native or predominant language is not English. He then suggested that I should turn to "other radio or TV" for improving listening skills, especially those that are very much needed to earn a high score on the listening.

Therefore, I would like to ask if this statement is correct, and whether CNN, VOA or BBC is still valid enough for advanced students desirous of getting a really high score. Put differently, is this said channel hard enough to be really useful for honing the advanced listening skills? I find movies and the likes MUCH MORE difficult than either CNN or VOA, as their accents keep going up and down constantly, not as regular and monotonous as those of the newsreader at CNN or VOA.

Would you please share some insights or comments on this?

Thanks a million!

02-23-2003, 06:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
hoang_luong Eager! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 85	Hi Erin, would you please tell if CNN is highly suitable for those who want to score high on the real test, say more than 600? On top of that, what about VOA? I don't know if these two are OK for students who not only want to achieve the minimum 550, but wish to score high as well. I don't know a thing about NRP but from what the people say about it, I can kind of guess it may be harder than CNN or VOA. Is it correct? Although I cannot get every single word spoken on CNN, I still can get the gist or main ideas they're getting across in each of their new bulletins. However, I still remember one guy, who also acts in the same capacity as you in delivering online test advice for another international test, saying that the likes of CNN, BBC or any other English-language news bulletins are designed NOT to be hard to listen to or comprehend for the audiences, but rather to be USER-FRIENDLY, or to put it differently, to be easy enough for the audiences. Otherwise, it will get into troubles attracting wide and various audiences - not just native but also foreigners whose native or predominant language is not English. He then suggested that I should turn to "other radio or TV" for improving listening skills, especially those that are very much needed to earn a high score on the listening. Therefore, I would like to ask if this statement is correct, and whether CNN, VOA or BBC is still valid enough for advanced students desirous of getting a really high score. Put differently, is this said channel hard enough to be really useful for honing the advanced listening skills? I find movies and the likes MUCH MORE difficult than either CNN or VOA, as their accents keep going up and down constantly, not as regular and monotonous as those of the newsreader at CNN or VOA. Would you please share some insights or comments on this? Thanks a million!