Find out here how to use our recordings of non-native speakers as a source of invaluable English listening exercises.

'Global' English communication
Imagine yourself using English in the next few years. Who will you be talking with or listening to? Is it going to be native speakers from countries like The UK, The USA, Australia or Ireland, or is it more likely to be non-native speakers at academic conferences, on business, at work or for pleasure? Since native speakers of English are now massively outnumbered by non-native speakers, the chances are it will be the latter group.

This means that most people you communicate with in English won't be speaking the 'Queen's English', but instead a form of 'international' or 'global' English that many linguists now believe is an important form of English in its own right.

Listen to advanced, non-native English speakers
Are you expecting to be working, doing business or studying with people from Latin America, Europe or the Far East? Would you like the opportunity to try some English listening exercises using non-native speakers from these areas? If you're studying in a monolingual class in your own country or you're a self-study learner you may rarely get the chance to listen to other non-native English speakers. Well, the good news is Splendid Speaking can offer you the chance to try some English listening exercises using advanced, non-native speakers as listening input. We have recordings of students from all corners of the world - all at advanced level with a good level of accuracy and fluency.

Here's an example Splendid Speaking podcast if you're new to our website:



English listening exercises: a suggested approach
1) Start by subscribing to our weekly newsletter which will give you access to all transcripts for all our recordings - see below.
2) Browse the recordings and find a speaker you'd be interested in listening to.
3) Listen to the recording first without access to the transcripts. As you listen make a note of anything you don't understand. Try listening to difficult sections again before looking at the transcripts.
4) Finally follow the recording with the transcript to clear up anything you didn't understand.

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