Hi, I'm Dr. Curtis Ford.
I created Listen for English for two reasons:
- to help advanced learners understand native speakers of English better, and
- because I love hearing and sharing good stories.
A few years ago I started learning Irish, the language of most of my ancestors. After a year or so, I decided to take an intermediate class in an Cheathrú Rua, an Irish-speaking village in the west of Ireland.
It was a great week. As I left I tried listening to Irish-language radio yet again, and it was both exciting and frustrating. Exciting, because I understood a fair amount... and frustrating, because I couldn't quite catch everything. I still needed some help!
And when I was working as a language teacher myself at the University of South Carolina, I often wanted to bring radio stories I'd heard to my students. But there was never enough time to prepare the extra materials that would help them understand.
I created Listen for English to solve these problems for students and teachers of English.
“You’re never going to kill storytelling because it’s built into the human plan. We come with it.”
–Margaret Atwood
We are in a new Golden Age of storytelling.
With a microphone, a computer, and the internet, talented podcasters and journalists can share their stories with the world. What better way for you to get to know a language and culture...while improving your English?
And one more thing. Podcasters are often like language teachers: they work hard, but they usually don't earn much money. Since I pay a licensing fee to the producer of every story in Listen for English, your support helps creative people to do more great work.