question about listening in radio

[ymh133024608]

hi, can anyone give me a hand and give me some suggestions to handle the problem that i encountered the vocab from the radio such as "NPR" and "WPR"?
in my way, i try to guess it and then look up a dictionary, but i sometimes cannot find out the word what i listen to/guess.
i found the another problem i cannot realize the whole story in detail because i always stopped it the vocab emerged.
How should i do to solve the bottleneck and improve ability in listening?

yumei

[Erin]

Hi Yumei,

I'm afraid the only way to know exactly what they say on NPR would be to order a transcript, but I think they charge something like $12 for that.

I think NPR puts most of their broadcasts on their website ( http://www.npr.org ), so you could also post a link to the Real Media file, and maybe somebody could listen to it and help you out. I listen to NPR all day, so I might even know the story, too.

[hoang_luong]

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!

[Erin]

Great questions! First, of course the best thing for TOEFL prep is real TOEFL questions, right? Right! There are many differences between TOEFL material and other listening materials/sources.

Your other source is correct about the aims of commercial broadcasts (may I ask to whom you're referring? Just curious...)--they must appeal to audiences and get their message across quickly and "painlessly." This is the nature of commercial media. Advertisements are the same way.

About the various broadcasts: I've never actually heard any VOA broadcast, and BBC uses British English, so will not be nearly as helpful as broadcasts in American English. CNN is closer to TOEFL English, but still quite different for several reasons--the reports are relatively short and often not scripted. NPR is a bit more similar to TOEFL--the reports are more in-depth and are scripted, but the level of English is a bit higher than that of the TOEFL.

Finally, movies may have the most realistic portrayal of how we really speak, but of course are one of the most difficult things to understand. I don't don't think movies are nearly as helpful as are these other broadcasts I've mentioned, at least for people who want to focus directly on listening similar to that on the TOEFL.

[hoang_luong]

The guy who advised me not to solely rely on such channels as CNN, BBC, etc. for improving the required skills for international tests of English proficiency is Mr. Terry Peck, author of the great '101 Helpful Hints for IELTS'. But that is IELTS, a test that is required of students who want to study oversees in the UK, Australia, etc., just as TOELF is for those seeking admission to the US or Canada colleges.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

[ttaann]

Dear ERIN, [tm]

Guys here have discussed lots about NPR, CNN, and the likes. But no one mentions Discovery channel. Actually it is my favorite. [heartbeat] But I don't know if it is good or bad, suitable or unsuitable for TOEFL listening part. ?

Could you give me some of your comments.

Thank you very much. [tm]

[ymh133024608]

dear Erin,
I found the website for listening, but i have no idea about whether the leavel and direction of it is suitable for TOEFL.
the website is http://www.glrc.org/
you can check it out and tell me how you feel.
thanks!

[hoang_luong]

I think Discovery is great for TOEFL listening. I still remember several 620-TOEFL-score guys saying they picked Discovery in preparing for TOEFL instead of others which may be more appropriate for other tests. Many guys say so!