This Week: Learning a Foreign Language

Have you ever wanted to learn a foreign language, but didn't have the time or money to take a class or get the tapes? Well, you are in luck. Now podcasts can help you learn at your own pace for free. This week we take a closer look at three foreign language podcasts - Mandarin Chinese, Russian and French.

Title: ChinesePod/Learn Mandarin Chinese
Average Length: About 13 minutes
Number of Episodes: 12 (available without a subscription on iTunes)
Frequency: Every Day
Podcasters: Ken Carroll & Jenny Zhu
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Very Good
Language: G
Website: www.chinesepod.com

Ken Carroll is an Irishman living in China. Jenny Zhu is a native of Shanghai. Together they have a fun educational podcast for people interested in learning the language. The lessons focus on useful and fun subjects such as flirting, asking people about their interests, telling drivers to slow down and the hardships of job-hunting. They have different podcasts depending on how much knowledge you have of the language. English is spoken at the beginning of every episode explaining which level that episode is (newbie, elementary, intermediate or advanced). Newbie is for those who know that China is a country and little else. They are completely in English except for those words or phrases you are learning. They give you a little background and repeat the words over and over again. The next level is elementary, which is where the basics get expanded upon and you learn to put sentences together and ask questions. Beyond that, the levels progress to intermediate and advanced decreasing the amount of English spoken. Through iTunes, there are examples of the different levels. Once you know where to begin, go to their website and download the episodes on your level. The podcasts are free to listen to, additional materials like the grammar bank, lesson transcripts and homework require a paid subscription. The price varies depending on how many months are purchased at a time. I suggest checking out a few on your level to see if this is something you wish to pursue. I enjoy their back and forth banter and how they make learning Mandarin Chinese far less complicated than it seems.

Time Worthy: Yes
Subscription Worthy: Yes
Grade: A "If my high school French classes were like this, I'd be able to say more than hello."

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Title: A Spoonful of Russian
Average Length: Varies between 5 & 10 minutes
Number of Episodes: 15
Frequency: Weekly, but random weeks are skipped
Podcasters: Natalia Worthington
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: G
Website: www.speakrussian.blogspot.com

Natalia Worthington is a Russian native who lives in New Orleans and has decided to help people learn her native tongue. The episodes start on the most basic level. She uses her children and husband when practicing conversations giving a relaxed feel to the lessons. On her website, she shows how the words/phrases look. Occasionally, she will instruct you to look at her site as certain words or letters in the alphabet are mentioned during the podcast. Sometimes some of the phrases aren't repeated enough, so I was forced to rewind more often than on other language podcasts. Otherwise, Natalia is a good teacher and provides a casual classroom for you to learn. You may notice that the lessons are posted rather sporadically. There is a good reason for this. She began this podcast just before Katrina hit New Orleans. They were forced to evacuate and then she took time off to take care of all the damage. The podcasts are slowly getting back on schedule and well worth checking out.

Time Worthy: Yes
Subscription Worthy: Yes
Grade: B+ "Honor Roll, here she comes"

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Title: French For Beginners
Average Length: About 20 minutes
Number of Episodes: 12
Frequency: No Pattern
Podcasters: Alexa Martin & Adam Smith
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: G
Website: www.frenchecole.libsyn.com

Alexa Martin is a French woman living in England. Adam Smith assists with some of the conversational segments and gives reviews of French films at the end of every podcast. The first podcast starts at the most basic level and expands from there. The beginning of the next podcast always has Alexa repeating some of what was learned in the previous lesson. I really was impressed with the way the next lesson uses what you have already learned so she can use more and more French and less and less English. She also has a quiz at the end of the vocabulary lesson, and the answers are given during the following podcast. I find that this makes it feel more like a class and I paid a bit more attention so I could pass the quiz. While these quizzes aren't graded, there is still a sense of accomplishment when you can pass them. A pdf file of the vocabulary used in each lesson downloads along with the podcast episode. This is different from other podcasts where they direct you back to their site. Between hearing the words and seeing how they are written, I find that this is a good self-contained podcast to really help you learn French.

Time Worthy: Yes
Subscription Worthy: Yes
Grade: A "Gold star worthy"

Stay tuned next week for spotlights on Las Vegas, Atlanta and San Francisco from the perspective of people who live there.

Powering off.