Improve your English Listening with News

Keeping up with the news is an interesting way to improve your English listening and increase your vocabulary.

Watch regular news online or as podcasts/vodcasts (downloadable audio/video recordings) from ABC Radio (AU), AlJazeera (QA),BBC (UK) or CNN (US). If you also follow the news
in your own language it is easier to understand the same news stories in English.

If you're a language learner it is of course better to download p/vodcasts so that you can watch the same news issue a few times. Some good news shows with easy language for English learners are the BBC Words in the News (UK), English Bites (AU) and Voice of America (US) p/vodcasts. These p/vodcasts have scripts, and Voice of America even has English subtitles.

Watch American News: Simple, Slow and Subtitled

Watch or download Voice of America's short captioned videos or audio recordings of Special English in simple English (intermediate and upper-beginner level) with subtitles to improve your listening and vocabulary. Broadcasters read slower than normal.


You can download free scripts, mp3, vodcasts (downloadable video recordings) and pdf from their site; new recordings are added daily and cover news as well as e.g. agriculture, economics, education, health and technology.