Episode 001 - Podcast Project Introduction

Transcript:

Hello and welcome to the first episode of KSU Student podcast. This is Mike. First, I’m going to be talking about the purpose of this podcast. Then, I will be talking about the process students should take when writing and recording their own episodes of KSU Student Podcast.

So first, what is a podcast? Well, a podcast is a recording of a dialog or monolog about a topic. Why did I choose this kind of project for my students? Well, I love listening to podcasts in my free time. I think they’re a great way to learn something new while you are doing something else. When I’m riding the train to work, cleaning my apartment, or shopping in a busy store, I can forget about what is happening around me and listen to a podcast about something that interests me. I will give you a link to some of my favorite podcasts if you’re interested in that.

Additionally, there has been a lot of research in second language acquisition which showed that listening to easy, natural, authentic spoken word can help language learners in many different ways, including pronunciation, rhythm, and vocabulary. Extensive Listening is a program to allow students to choose easy listening materials by topic. It is important when you choose something to listen to that you are interested in it. It can be very difficult to find easy and interesting English listening material. So, I decided to let the students make the material. They can choose to talk about any topic they like and record their conversation. Then I will upload the conversation so other students can listen to it. This has two good points: first, the students who make the recording must use reading, writing, speaking and listening skills to make a great podcast episode. Second, my students can choose to listen to the podcast episodes which sound interesting.

Ok. Now let’s talk about how you should start making your podcast. Most interesting podcasts are a conversation between two people. The friendlier the two hosts are, the better the episode is. Choosing your partner for this project is important. It is a good idea to have some jokes in your script. Laughing is good. You should make the listener think that you are really great friends.

 After you have chosen a good partner, you need to decide on a topic. It should be an interesting topic to both you and your partner. If you both love soccer, you can talk about “how the world cup works” or “What does Japan need to do to win the world cup?” The topic is free. However, you must think about your audience, your classmates. For example, I could talk about puzzle and dragons for an hour, no problem. I could talk about making a good puzudora team. But, I don’t think many people in our class want to hear about this. They will be bored after 1 minute. So, choosing an interesting topic is very important.

Also, the style of your conversation should be informative. You and your partner should teach the listener something new. It is a good idea to do some research before you write your conversation. Talking about recent news might be a good start.

Now let’s talk about writing and recording your script. Because you are English learners, I don’t expect you to improvise your conversation. However it should sound natural. It should be a conversation between two friends. You can include small talk, jokes, and questions. It is really important that you practice your conversation before you record it. No one will want to listen to your podcast if you sound like two robots:

Mike 1: “Hello. Welcome…to…KSU Student … Podcast. My… name…is…Mike …”

Mike 2: “and …my…name…is…Joe. Today…we…will…talk…about…the news…”

Mike 1: “Hey…Joe…if…you…could…become…a…robot…before…you died, would…you?”

 

Lastly, let’s talk about recording. Your podcast episode should be about 5 to 10 minutes long. You should find a quiet place to record. The study rooms in the library might be a good place to do this. You can record your conversation on your free smartphone voice recorder app. Android and iPhone both have free voice memo apps. If you cannot find a way to record, you can come talk to me and we can make an appointment to record your conversation using my equipment. Remember to speak slowly and clearly. Use vocabulary that you think your friends will know. IF it is a new word, should just try to explain it in easy English. After you have recorded your conversation, you and your partner should listen to it together and ask yourselves these questions:

Does this sound natural? I don’t sound like a robot, right? Did I make any huge mistakes? Can you hear each person easily? Did we practice enough? Is this the best conversation we can do?

Once you have a “perfect” recording, you will email the audio file and your script to me. I will upload both your file and the script as a new post on the KSU Student Podcast Blog so everyone can listen. People with Google accounts can comment on your episode. This will be open to the whole world. So I hope you work very hard and do your best. Also remember to come back to the block to listen to your classmates’ episodes.

I am very excited about this project. If we all participate, we can have a collection of about 100 new audio files for English learners by the end of the semester. I think this will be difficult for you, but fun. Do your best!

That’s all for now. Thanks for listening to KSU Student Podcast. We have new episodes every week. I’m Mike. Have a great day!