Head into your time abroad already speaking the local language

The experience of traveling and spending time abroad can be enhanced by throwing oneself into learning a new language. Those with a few signature phrases can provide travelers a sense of congeniality with local residents that could lead to unexpected invitations, help them communicate respect and empower bolder levels of exploration. People who take to new languages quickly might find travel the perfect opportunity to deepen their skills and cultural understanding through completing transactions and engaging in everyday conversation in their target language. Before scouring the internet for resources, it is best to set a goal for your language study and pair it with the time you have to prepare before departure. Whether it’s being able to simply order coffee or form real connections, there are endless modalities available to aid in a traveler’s language-learning quest.

Make use of these suggestions to expand your taste in podcasts to help master a new language abroad.

Beginner

Language podcasts targeted toward beginners will cover basic foundations like pronunciation, greetings, weather, how to order food and ask for directions. And, although these might not be the hallmark of personal conversation, they will enable you to move more freely throughout your destination while enjoying the access of opening up restaurant menus or asking for directions. Check out the following podcasts to set you up for success in mastering a brand-new language:

• Coffee Break Series - French, Italian, Spanish, German, Chinese, Swedish
• LingQ Podcasts - 18+ offerings including more unique languages like Belarusian, Ukrainian and Greek
• Survival Phrases - 34 languages including Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili

Intermediate

For those who have made it over the beginner’s hump of tackling basic phrases and building a vocabulary, the challenge is comprehending larger, more immersive chunks of speech. But, diving into native speed content can be overwhelming and discouraging at this stage. Fortunately, language content producers have filled in the gaps with podcasts offering short stories at slow speeds to help ease this transition.

• Little Talk in Slow French
• Simple Stories in Spanish
• Learning Chinese Through Stories
• News in Slow - Italian, French, German, Spanish

Advanced

For advanced learners, native speed content might be more accessible, but there will still be hurdles when it comes to finding content at an appropriate level. Regional accents, specialized vocabulary or the overuse of slang can cause frustration, even as one more easily navigates a variety of language inputs. Try these types of podcasts for a formula that works.

News: Given the formulaic nature of news broadcasting, including the clarity of speech and likelihood of hearing familiar topics, news radio broadcasts can be a great place to start for the advanced learner. One bonus is that they often teach you how to engage with statistics and data trends as they are expressed in your target language. Outlets like BBC and Voice of America produce their content in multiple languages and are updated daily.

Casual conversation: Although regional terms can be an issue for some, others feel invigorated by picking up phrases in dialect that they can then use with their peers. The friendly and engaging nature of talk-show personalities is a welcome change of pace from the formal and academic nature of other types of input.

Literature: Casual conversation podcasts can throw learners off with a lack of structure, which means that it can be easier for the listener to lose the thread of conversation. Literary podcasts that feature things like short stories and poems read in the target language are a good alternative for listeners with this issue, as their formulaic structure is guided by a compelling storyline and the familiar rhythms lead to easier comprehension of new vocabulary.