Radio for learning English: catch the wave. Radio in English. How to listen so that it makes sense? English radio stations online

A few words about radio in English and my calls to Moscow Fm.

Hello friends! I would like to congratulate you! Spring has finally arrived! At least to Moscow! The weather is simply wonderful! I hope it gets warmer and warmer every day, and no more snow is expected :)

Guys, I already told you that you always need to work on your listening skills. This is one of the most important parts of learning English. You should listen to English spoken as often as possible. Especially at the very beginning!

I wrote about how you can improve your listening skills in an article. The best ways are:

4) Listen to the radio in English.

In this article I would like to talk about radio in English. Where can we actually find it? Undoubtedly, there are a huge number of foreign radio stations abroad. You can easily listen to them online. But what about radio in English here in Russia?

There is such a station in Moscow. Called Moscow FM, on wave 105.2. It is completely in English. Most presenters are native speakers. But there are also Russians who have lived abroad for a long time. So, their English is just perfect.

I am a big fan of the radio station and have been listening to it since it opened. By the way, around the same time I started learning English :) I like all the presenters. They do great shows and the music on the radio is great! So, it's very nice to just listen to them and develop your English at the same time!

If you never listened to Moscow FM, I recommend you try it. This is an English radio in Moscow.

You can listen to online radio in English for free on the station’s official website - capitalfm.moscow

I like the station. I even called there three times and talked on air! The first time was last summer, I was visiting relatives in Yekaterinburg and called them from there :) It was July 4, 2013.

The second time was also last summer. I remember talking with Katya, but I didn’t get on air because I was forced to stop talking. I don’t even remember why, to be honest. But I managed to order the song, and the hosts played it.

And the last time I called Moscow Fm was just recently, yesterday 🙂 I was driving home from work and got stuck in a traffic jam. So I decided to call them and chat. Moreover, Katya, Juls and Maria Bravo were on air. So, I’ve already talked to Katya and Juls, but not to Maria. So I had to fill that gap :) It was fun :)

Since my blog is something like my online diary, I decided to just leave my call records here. Well, with translation, of course, especially for you! 😉

Listen to the radio in English, friends! And take care of yourself!

1) My first call to Moscow Fm:

Juls - 788-36-09 number where you can contact us. And by the way, we have a very unusual call.

Max - Wow, what kind of call is this? Hello!

Juls - Hello!

Rinat - Hello! Hi Max, hi Jules!

Max - What's your name?

Rinat - My name is Rinat.

Max - Rinat!

Juls - Yes! And he calls us from distant Yekaterinburg!

Max - Wow! It is far!

Rinat - Yes, exactly 🙂 I’m calling you from Yekaterinburg. I'm visiting my grandparents. I passed all the exams and decided to see them.

Juls - Wow! This is cool! Congratulations! What course are you on?

Rinat - Thank you. I'm sorry?

Juls - What course are you in? How many years are left until graduation?

Rinat - I'm graduating next summer. I am a master's student and will receive a master's degree in science and engineering next summer. Hope…

Juls - Master of Science?

Max - Wow, what science?

Rinat - Thermal technologies and energy. I'm an energy engineer.

Juls - Wow, power engineer!

Max - Energy! Energy!

Juls - You are now Captain Power! 🙂

Rinat - Yes, electric power, thermal power and all that.

Juls - Wait! What will your job be when you graduate?

Rinat - Well, I’m working now... (poor connection) working as an energy auditor. I’m inspecting enterprises... it’s very difficult, guys, to explain in English.

Max - Inspector Rinat! 🙂 You know Jules, he is Inspector Rinat. And there are problems with communication. So he is Captain Power!!! 🙂 🙂

Max - Well, tell us Rinat. Do you have any 4th of July experiences you'd like to share with us? Have you been to America before?

Rinat - No, no. I've never been to America. I started learning English at the time when your radio station opened.

Juls - Come on? So what happens, you’ve only been learning English for 7 months?

Rinat - Yes, I've been learning this language for about 9 months. Well, to be honest, I've been focusing on English all this time. Of course, I teach it at school and university. But, like most teenagers, I didn’t pay attention to English at that time.

Juls - Well, well then, congratulations to you again! With good English!

Rinat - Thanks, guys. I really like your radio. You are my favorite presenters! I like all the presenters of your radio station: Pete, Den, Vera...You are super!

Juls - Thank you, Rinat!

Rinat - You cheer me up every day! Keep it up guys!

Juls - Thank you very much, Rinat!

Max - Thank you! Rinat, are we playing American music today? How about I play a song for you?

Rinat - Okay, guys! Please put something :)

Juls - Of course we will! Thank you very much for your call, Rinat! It was great chatting with you! Good luck in Yekaterinburg and call me when you return to Moscow!

Max - Exactly!

Rinat - Okay! Guys, can I say hi real quick?

Max and Juls - Of course!

Rinat - I say hello to all of Moscow and everyone who recognized me! Everyone have a great evening! Good luck to you guys again!

"The five o'clock show!"

2) My second call to Moscow Fm:

Juls - How about chatting with the person who called?

Kate - Of course! Hello, Rinat!

Rinat - Hello! Hi girls!

Kate, Juls, Maria - Hello!

Kate - How are you doing?

Rinat - Everything is fine, thank you. How are you girls doing this Friday?

Kate - Well, you hear me 🙂 Let's have fun!

Juls - As always!

Rinat - Yes, as always 🙂 Your show is super. I like it more than anything...not that I like it more than anyone else. I really like all the shows on your radio station. But yours is just super! Thank you for it!

Kate, Juls, Maria - Ooooh! Thank you!

Kate - Well, Rinat was so nice, we should please him too!

Kate - What song would you like to hear?

Rinat - Yes yes, as I told Jules, I had a special reason for calling. The fact is that I have already called your radio twice and only talked to two of you 🙂 And I have never talked to one of you. And now I’m talking to everyone and it’s great! 🙂

Kate, Juls, Maria - Hurray! (laughter…)

Juls - Which of us haven't you talked to?

Rinat - I have never spoken to Maria Bravo. Hello, Maria!

Maria - Hello, Rinat! It's so great to finally talk to you! 🙂

Juls - She looks happy!

Kate - That's right!

Maria - I'm happy :)

Rinat – I’m happy too :)

Maria - Seriously, you should celebrate today!

Juls - Are you asking him out? 🙂

Maria - Of course nooo!

Juls - That would be fun! Well, then you dedicate this song to Miria Bravo, right?

Rinat - Of course! Definitely.

Maria - Thank you!

Juls — What would you like to listen to?

Rinat - “Run, run, run”…Bekingham.

Kate, Juls, Maria - Yep!

Rinat - Forgot her name again.

Juls — Thank you very much for the call, Rinat! It was great chatting! Let's hope you do this more often!

Kate - Yes! We'd love to chat with you again! Have a great weekend!

Rinat - And to you, girls! Bye!

Kate, Juls, Maria - Bye!

And remember, listening to radio in English in Moscow Fm or just listening to radio in English online for beginners is very useful!

» My calls to Capital FM (English radio online)

Welcome, guests of this page. We are ready to offer a unique opportunity. It lies in the fact that the English language will become accessible for mastering and will acquire a new power of perception. Let’s not languish, we’ll announce it. Collected here popular radio stations in English states and European countries. Everyone chooses what suits their aesthetic needs.

Radio stations in English

Advantages of radio in English

If mastering a language is a priority, then listening to radio stations is a must. They provide a number of significant advantages both in mastering English and in some other nuances.

As practice shows, spoken English speech is remembered much better than written English speech; however, it is important to know the timing. If you have basic knowledge and your vocabulary is constantly expanding, then radio will have a powerful stimulating effect. You will notice progress, a good shift in language learning. Many phrases will be familiar, while others will require gradual memorization. The following is important: clichés, expressions standardized for different situations, will often appear. They can be easily remembered. Practice shows that this method of learning English really works. All you need to do is listen daily, devoting at least a little time to this very exciting process. Gradually, people realize that radio in English is becoming a necessity for them. As they say, you get used to good things quickly.

Pronunciation. It is perhaps difficult to overestimate the role of radio in this aspect. The presenters in most cases have a philological education. They have a perfect voice and perfect pronunciation. Familiar phrases will sound to you in a new light. Therefore, it is important to listen while enjoying true English. Music is also broadcast on the radio. This is a powerful factor that has a beneficial effect on the process of mastering a foreign language. Typically, songs focus on the music and the lyrics are not that complex; there is a benefit to this: better memorization of phrases and sentences occurs, a person learns to correctly pronounce speech statements.

Expansion of cultural competence. Listening to the radio in English, a person begins to understand the peculiarities of the worldview of foreign citizens. There is an expansion of ideas about the traditions and cultural characteristics of Europe and the United States. This is an important point. Firstly, your horizons expand. You will be an interesting conversationalist. Secondly, for travelers this is the most important step towards making new acquaintances. If in another state you know the basic rules of behavior and the basic level of laws, then this will play a positive role.

Radio that sounds in English always disciplines. Arousing interest, he unobtrusively forces you to listen to yourself every day. This is how a system is developed that allows you to take the learning process to a new level. Among the variety of radio stations, you can choose those that are most convenient and interesting. This positive fact is of great importance. When a person is interested, his motivation increases. The last point is especially important in any business, especially if it involves the issue of mastering new knowledge. This is an important point, confirmed by the opinion of teachers and psychologists.

English radio stations are a good means to an end. It lies in the successful mastery of the English language. If you simultaneously study and listen to foreign radio stations, you can reach a good level of language competence.

You can do this always, everywhere and with everyone - listen to radio in English online! No matter what your eyes and hands are doing - cooking, working or relaxing on your favorite couch - your ears remain free. The more and longer you hear English spoken, the sooner you improve your level of English. Radio stations will present you with ready-made material, tell you a lot of interesting new things and make your days as enjoyable as possible with a combination of business and pleasure + radio station broadcast schedules at your service!

BBC Radio 4 Extra (BBC R4Ex)

Do you like to read books, but don't have enough time for it? What about audio broadcasts of your favorite books, and even in your favorite English? You no longer need audiobooks - just turn on BBC Radio 4 Extra, where your favorite books, films, plays of any genre will sound in a new way!

Heart London

Do you consider yourself to be a connoisseur of quality music? Are you able to appreciate and enjoy both new releases and classics from different genres? Do you want to listen to witty and funny shows and original programs from the best radio presenters in the country during breaks? Then Heart London 106.2 is your radio. Believe me, or better yet, check it out.

BBC World Service (UK - London)

A radio station that keeps its finger on the pulse of news 24 hours a day, broadcasting from London - the world's economic, financial, cultural, musical and even fashion center. Do you want to stay up to date and hear business English? You've come to the right place.

XFM London 104.9

Are your ears drooping from pop music? And there is an English radio for you - XFM London 104. The radio offers alternative music, rock music of varying degrees of severity. New releases from the world of rock music and other news, as well as charts, will dilute the music broadcast of this wave.

BBC Radio 1

Do you like Olivier or vinaigrette? Then you will like BBC Radio 1, which combines original programs, music blocks, news, and entertainment programs. The bad will not be the first to be named, so if the thirst for variety is relevant, don’t hesitate to turn on BBC Radio 1.

York University Radio

Want to know what life is like on the York University campus? Then tune in to his radio, which appeared back in 1968 and became the first legal independent station in the UK. Find out what progressive young people are breathing and listening to by simply pressing the “play” button.

Fun Kids

Do you want your child to discover the world of English? Then Radio Fun Kids will help you with this. Educational programs, educational games, entertaining stories, and musical creations will appeal to children of different age groups and will cheer up even you. By the way, how many Russian-language radios for children do you know?

99.5 | WBAI - Progressive News and Talk (New York)

The radio, broadcast from New York, whose office is located on the famous Wall Street, cannot fail to cover such phenomena as democracy and politics on its air. Progressive radio for those interested, offers its listeners news, analytical programs, serious talk shows on a variety of topics. Do you want to be an expert on everything? Do you prefer American English? You will be welcome here.

Tune in to the wave of English radio online!

A suitable way to learn English for those who only have the desire, but no time, has been found! If you have already thought about English courses via Skype, then this is the correct answer, but online radio in English is also suitable. Don’t rush to look away in disappointment. After all, in order to listen to English radio, you just need to have access to the Internet.

Learning English using Internet radio has a number of benefits. Firstly, by listening to radio online, you can do anything: cook, wash, clean, work, do homework and even fall asleep! Perhaps for some, the sound of pure English speech will become a soothing lullaby.

English online radio on the Iloveenglish portal

Secondly, it is not at all necessary to listen every second to the content of what you hear. At first, the flow of English speech will resemble a mountain stream: rapid, with a lot of pitfalls and unexplored areas. But the longer you listen to the radio, the more your ear will become accustomed to the caressing naturalness and correctness of English speech. Over time, more and more words will be distinguishable and perceptible; after just a week, listening to Internet radio will become a habit and will no longer hurt your ears.

Thirdly, while you listen to radio online, whether you like it or not, you are learning by memorizing words and individual phrases. What could be easier and more enjoyable than learning without pain? Forget about writing down words in a dictionary - trust your subconscious, which will carefully and methodically record on memory tape more and more new words heard during radio broadcasts in English. At the right moment, you can easily get what you need from the repository of words, because you have heard it more than a dozen, or even a hundred times!

Fourthly, broadcasting in English online is in no way reminiscent of boring lectures and lessons. Each radio station tries to diversify its broadcast, add new products from the world of music, politics, culture, sports, economics, and fashion. You will be able to find information of interest to you in a suitable English Internet radio. By learning you develop - what could be better? To learn more about the world, you just need to turn on the radio and free your ears.

Fifthly, listening to radio in English online is real, life-like phrases, phrases and expressions, and not bookish, dry and unhelpful sentences. Theory, as you know, differs in many ways from practice. Therefore, get ready to hear English speech in a way that no textbook will present it to you. Once abroad, in an English-speaking environment, you will not experience the culture shock that few people speak as your school teacher taught you, observing the correct word order in a sentence and honoring articles. Your knowledge of English will no longer be just a rote set of rules - it will turn into useful information that will be useful to you more than once.

Access to the Internet and the desire to learn English will allow you to combine business with pleasure as much as possible by listening to radio in English online. You may not believe it works. But try turning on English radio and check it out for yourself. We are sure that in just a few days you will tune in to the same wavelength with us - the wave of love for the English language!

In the age of the Internet, you can listen to any radio in the world online on your computer. You can find dozens of radio stations in English, and this is a great way to learn to understand spoken English. How to learn English by listening to English radio? Which English radio is best for beginners? I know an excellent technique and will share it with you.

From simple to complex. What do you need to understand radio in English?

Once you've practiced reading, start listening to radio programs and other audio materials. Choose radio programs according to your level of English proficiency. For beginners, I recommend the Making of a Nation program on Voice of America radio. They use very simple English.

In the future, to make learning more fun, you can choose the topic of the radio program to your taste. The same Voice of America has programs about history, politics, travel, music, and radio news broadcasts. There are other interesting radio stations. Just don't take on too complex materials. Increase the difficulty gradually.

How to listen to the radio to make sense?

Firstly. Use slow playback to listen to the radio at a comfortable pace. I'll tell you how to slow down playback below.

Secondly. If a sentence is not clear, rewind the recording and listen to it again.

Third. Always have the text of the radio broadcast before your eyes. Look into the text when you cannot understand a sentence even after listening again. The text of the program can be downloaded from the radio station's website.

Fourthly. When you come across an unfamiliar word, look in the dictionary. Use the English-Russian dictionary on my website or the ABBYY Lingvo program. Write down and memorize useful words. Read about how to determine which words need to be learned and which ones not. But remember - you shouldn't consult the dictionary too often. Constantly referring to the dictionary is very tiring and ineffective. If you come across a lot of unfamiliar words, it means you are not yet ready to listen to the radio in English. First, raise your level - read texts in English or just learn words. And then start listening to the radio. Or, alternatively, choose another radio program that is easier for you.

Fifthly. Keep before your eyes the translation of the radio broadcast into Russian. Look there if you cannot translate a sentence even with a dictionary. You can prepare a translation using an online translator, or using the Promt program. It is clear that machine translation is not perfect, but it is better to have such a translation than none at all. Again, you shouldn't look at the translation too often.

At sixth. Strive to understand the radio broadcast without hints, without looking at the text. Of course, not immediately, but gradually it will work out. First, you will learn to understand the general meaning of the story, without looking at the text and dictionary. Then you will understand the radio broadcast literally. And this will mean that you have made great progress in learning English.

Seventh. Gradually increase the difficulty. Turn off the slowdown and listen to more complex radio broadcasts. From The Voice of America, move on to Russia Today, and then to the BBC and CNN.

Where to begin?

As I already said, it’s better to start with broadcasts from the Voice of America radio station. The announcers of this radio station use the so-called VOA Special English - simplified English, while they speak slowly and clearly. Therefore, this radio is great for all English language learners.

Explanations for each button:

What else should I listen to?

Even more radio broadcasts are available on the official Voice of America website. There you can download radio programs in MP3 format, as well as the text of the programs in PDF format.

It is recommended to listen to radio broadcasts using the free player Light Alloy. This player is good because it has a function for slow playback and rewinding the recording by 10 seconds with one click. This function can be used to re-listen to a fragment that you do not understand.

Translate the text of the program using an online translator and look into it when you encounter a fragment that is difficult to understand by ear.

Online radio to help English language learners. Listening to radio programs in English will allow you to better understand the language you are learning.

The most popular radio stations in the USA

To play the radio, press the button, to stop, press the button.

KQED-FM - San Francisco

Genres
Description: Public Media For Northern CA

WNYC-FM - New York Public Radio

Genres: National news, current events, public radio.
Description: WNYC is the nation’s largest public radio station and reaches more than one million people each week. It extends New York's cultural riches worldwide via podcasting and streaming on wnyc.org. The station produces plenty of original programming each week, including several nationally distributed shows.

WAMU - Washington

Genres
Description: WAMU 88.5 is the leading public radio station for NPR news and information in the greater Washington D.C. area. It is member-supported, professionally-staffed, and licensed to American University.

WBUR-FM - Boston

Genres: National news, current events, public radio.
Description: Boston's NPR News Station

Chicago Public Radio - Chicago

Genres: National News, Public Radio.
Description: Chicago Public Media is home to WBEZ 91.5FM, Vocalo 89.5FM and a range of acclaimed local and national productions.

WNYC-AM - New York

Genres: National news, current events, public radio.
Description: New York Public Radio

KUOW-FM - Seattle

Genres: National news, talk, public radio.
Description: Puget Sound Public Radio

KEXP-FM - Seattle

Genres: Eclecticism, public radio.
Description: Where the Music Matters

WBGO - Newark

Genres: Public radio.
Description: The World's Premier Jazz Radio Station, NYC And NJ

WFUV-New York

Genres: Public radio.
Description: Public Radio from Fordham University in New York City

WLRN-FM - Miami

Genres: National news, public radio, jazz
Description: 91.3 WLRN Your NPR News Station

KPBS-FM - San Diego

Genres: National News, Public Radio
Description: Where News Matters

FUV Music - New York

Genres: Eclectic, music talk radio, college radio, public radio
Description: Music discovery starts here.

Jazz24 - Tacoma

Genres: Jazz
Description: World Class Jazz

98.7 FM ESPN New York

Genres
Description: You Know Us, We Know Sports

KCRW - Santa Monica

Genres: National news, eclecticism, public radio, world news
Description: KCRW, a community service of Santa Monica College, is Southern California's leading National Public Radio affiliate, featuring an eclectic mix of music, news, information and cultural programming.

ESPN Los Angeles

Genres: Sports news and talk radio
Description: You Know Us. We Know Sports