(*) The name “podcast” combines the terms iPod and broadcast. A podcast is a type of digital media, usually audio, that is available in a series of episodes or parts of talkshows, and can be downloaded by users.English language podcasts are an excellent, simple but effective way for students to learn English quickly. In this video, Tony Ngo – Chairman and Co-founder of Everest Education – suggest one of his Favorite English podcasts to help children master American English.
Transcript
Hello Xin Chao,
Typically when we are in the car as a family, after 10 minutes, the kids inevitably start fighting over whose turn it is to choose the next song. However, my wife and I have found that when we put on this “Wow in the World” podcast, it’s like magic. The fighting disappears!
As a parent and as an educator, I really love this podcast for my family and think families in Vietnam will too. Here are the three top reasons:
- “Wow in the World” will help your kids learn American English
- “Wow in the World” develops their curiosity about science and the world around them
- “Wow in the World” is really funny and exposes your kids to American humor
Let’s got a little bit deeper and show you some examples of what I mean.
“Wow in the World” will help your kids learn American English. Each time we get in the car, we ask our kids what they want to listen, and they take turns. More than half the time, one of them will scream out “Wow in the World”! Then we go to our Spotify app, and open up the podcast.
Each “Wow in the World” podcast is an adventure where two main characters Guy Roz & Mindy explore something that seems random, but they learn something interesting along the way. Guy Roz and Mindy also have a pigeon friend Reggie who flies them around. They even use time machines to go back and forth. Who doesn’t like that?!
They do incredibly silly things and use this humor to grab the attention of the listeners. In this podcast “Why Horses Can’t Wear Flip Flops”, Guy Raz and Mindy start with a joke about how horses say “Neiiiigghhhhhh” (at 1:15 minute) and how it sounds like the “Hey” when we greet each other.
It’s precisely these jokes that make the kids laugh, and make them want to listen to more. This podcast uses the English language to captivate our imagination. I’ve found it works for kids as young as 3 years old to 12 years old, but even my wife and I enjoy listening and learning. (Young kids may not understand everything, but the podcast is entertaining enough that they still learn a lot.)
So the kids learn all sorts of new great vocabulary words. In the most recent episode, they were great English vocabulary that even older kids will learn: genus, continent, muggy, transform, and fuse.
Kids also learn interesting English idioms. A few from this episode included “dark horse,” “when you were a little tater tot,” and “jackpot”. To learn idioms well you need to see it in context, and children are much more likely to remember idioms in a joke or story. “Wow in the World” podcast has both.
As a parent, I see that learning language through the context of other subjects is much, much more effective than memorizing grammar and vocabulary. And in building Everest Education, our teachers apply this through the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) framework in all of our English Language Arts classes.
“Wow in the World” develops their curiosity about science and the world around them. This episode started off asking how horses only have one toe, and then Guy and Mindy jump into their time machine to learn why. They discuss research done by professors at Harvard University about the evolution of horse toes and hoofs, which plants seeds in kids’ minds about how cool research from great universities tries to answer our questions.
Guy Roz and Mindy then go back to a time when horse ancestors were the size of small dogs. Children can imagine the time travel, and they picture the horses’ dog-sized ancestors.
Most importantly, my kids engage with the material and ask more questions about the world they see around them. This develops a mindset of questioning and curiosity. We believe to be successful in the future, it’s more important to ask the right questions, not just have the “right” answer. That mindset is a building block for critical thinking skills that we want all of our children and students that have.
“Wow in the World” is really funny and exposes your kids to American humor. Listen what kids don’t enjoy fart jokes? Listen to this one (at 3:30 minutes) when the horses start farting! I believe that children all over the world love to laugh at fart jokes, but I found that to be especially true of American kids.
They also weave in lots of references to American culture (there’s another joke about Mindy spilling a milkshake into Guy’s seat at 18:30 minutes), but even if you are in Vietnam, you can listen along and absorb a little bit of it as you go. Best of all, it feels effortless because it’s so fun.
Do you want an immersive environment for children to learn English and prepare themselves for a international education? Many parents come to Everest Education for that reason exactly. But to help parents at home even more, listen to good educational entertainment like this for safe, fun exposure for your children.
This “Wow in the World” podcast is one of my personal favorites. What are some of yours?
Leave us some comments and questions below. If you found this was helpful we can review other podcasts and other resources for you as well.
