From Our Own Correspondent

You often ask me about things you could listen to on the Internet that could improve your English comprehension. If you are eager to get the lowdown on what's going on in the world but at the same time you're not really into business or economy (forget even politics ;), then this could be the post for you. 

I wanted to show you one of my favourite webpages that can give you a lot of listening practice. I'm talking about one of the BBC's programmes, of course ;) The programme is called "From Our Own Correspondent" and this is what it's all about:

About From Our Own Correspondent

For over 50 years, From Our Own Correspondent (FooC) has been one of BBC Radio's flagship programmes.

Every week correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world report on the stories behind the headlines, often bringing a personal perspective to them.

There are few countries and subjects which have not featured on the programme - places as diverse as the Faroes, Moldova in Eastern Europe, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and one of Africa's smallest countries - Sao Tome and Principe.

Correspondents have always enjoyed writing for FooC, as they call it, because after a busy day in the field covering a big news story, it can often be cathartic for the correspondent to sit down, compose his or her thoughts, and start writing.

So many of the outlets they work for demand little more than writing to television pictures or covering the day's events in one report of perhaps only a minute's duration.

In From Our Own Correspondent, the reporter can tell us so much more: a bit of context, some relevant history, one or two of the characters encountered en route, some description of a foreign country or capital.

This is a programme where the correspondents will often relate the unexpected: the day they visited the town that is crazy about trout fishing, attended a 40-course Chinese banquet, or swam with sharks, experienced zero gravity on a flight with Russian cosmonauts, went mud wrestling in Turkey or ballroom dancing in Cameroon.

The Radio 4 edition is presented by Kate Adie and is broadcast every Saturday morning and on Thursday mornings 26 weeks a year in three runs. The World Service edition is presented by Pascale Harter.

retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjlq/features/about 

I can only add that the language used by the correspondents is clear British English, really accessible for upper-intermediate students.

What is more, BBC transcribes some of the programmes, which means we can first read the article to get us into the topic and than have a go at the listening.

For example:

THE LOVE HUNTERS

First read this: Article The Love Hunters

Than listen to this programme: Listening The Love Hunters MINUTE 16:35

The programme is about 30 minutes long, "the Love Hunters" starts at 16:35 minute of it and lasts till about 22:18 minute.

Enjoy!