Podcaster

Addendum (11 October 2011): Podcaster has been updated again, and the new look is pretty cool.  I use this app every day to listen to podcasts from Radio 24, Rai and other online sites to help practicing my Italian listening skills.  If you are looking for podcast suggestions, just check out some of the other posts on this blog.  The app also has a database that you can search, or you can simply input the feeds of your favorite podcasts and follow them with this app.  Hoping for an iPad version, soon.  Regardless, this app is an excellent tool for connecting with Italian audio content!  

--Original Review from June 16th--Anyone who follows my blog regularly knows how much of a proponent I am for listening to podcasts of Italian shows and programs to improve one's language skills. It's important to listen to Italian along with reading, writing and speaking, but, for those of us who can't get to Italy often or who don't have Italian friends with whom we can talk, we have to rely on more creative solutions.

Listening to spoken Italian is a great way to train your ear for the "real thing" -- last year when I went to Italy for a month, I was amazed at how well I could understand Italian from strangers. Listening to Italian podcasts can help prepare you for the speed that Italians use their language.

One such app is called Rss Player (it's been renamed Podcaster for a while now -- check out their web site)- they have a blog, and you can read about their app with links to purchasing the app in the Itunes store. They have developed a very useful program that allows you to stream and download podcasts through the device without having to sync up to Itunes. They've also created a listing of podcasts, and many of the podcasts that I've discussed here in the past are listed. If it is not listed, there's a way to add the RSS feed, too. The app has received some complaints about crashing and not working, but I've used the app for the past week, and it has not crashed once, works great, functions as it says. I find the app very useful and versatile, and I use the app to listen to Italian podcasts on my way to my Italian conversation class to get my ear ready!

Another reason that many people like this app is that it allows you to download without using Itunes, and there's no limit on how much or how long you can listen, no download limit, and you're not limited by the Apple servers. The app interacts directly with the servers where the podcasts are hosted. (FYI - if you don't have unlimited data usage, you might want to restrict your downloading to when you're on a wi-fi network. The app can be configured to work over wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular).

If you use the app, leave a comment and let me know what you think of it. 

Parola del Giorno iPhone App Available in iTunes

Ciao a tutti!

Our App is now on sale -- The app costs $0.99.  Click the widget on the left to download it.  The app has also has a special design for iPads so you do not get that pixelated/miniature version of the app on the larger screen.

UPDATE: The first bug fix has been submitted and was approved on 18 December 2010. If you’ve downloaded the app, please download the update. I have reduced the number of posts that display to seven because several users complained that the app was slow. Perhaps having 30 display was just too much. Over the coming days, I will tinker with the number. I will see about getting 14 days (two weeks) worth of posts visible on the app. For now, please enjoy the seven that are available!

ALSO: I have noticed that the button to tap to play the word sometimes requires more than one tap in the iPhone/iPod Touch version. We are looking into this, too.

There are no bugs so far in the iPad version and seems to be the more stable version.

Next year I hope to unveil an Android version, too! Stay tuned for more details!

Our app is a great way to improve your Italian vocabulary while also listening to the pronunciation of the words while seeing the words also used in their context. This makes new words easier to remember!

Mr. Kilowatt & Radio 24

Sorry for not blogging recently, but things have been hectic.  In the past few months, I have run across some more great listening resources.  I just want to remind readers that listening every day to Italian is important.

When learning a language, it helps to do a little something each day, even if it just ten to fifteen minutes each day!  Try to apply that same concept to your listening comprehension!  Just remember, it's not important to understand each and every single word being spoken, but to understand the sense of what is being said.

On that note, I think that the Radio 24 program, Mr. Kilowatt, is a great program to practice with because 1) it's short in duration, between 10-15 minutes 2) it talks about energy and how it affects our lives, the environment, political influences and more.  This is a program that discusses themes that are relevant to each of our lives as the world strives to find renewable and sustainable sources of energy.  As we all know, this is difficult in the current political climate on our planet!  Although it may not be a topic that is of interest to everyone, the words used should be familiar as it is an argument and topic that is hard not to know about.

The show airs Monday through Friday on Radio 24 at 9:00 PM (21:00).  You can listen to it live or following the program through podcasts!

image credit: SolarGIS © 2011 GeoModel Solar s.r.o.

INGV YouTube Channel

INGV is the Italian institute for geophysics and vulcanology, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, and they monitor seismic and geophysical events all over Italy. If you're a fan of science like I am (I enjoy reading about geology and volcanoes), you might find many of their short videos interesting to watch which you can view on YouTube by visiting their channel.  These great videos for learning about seismic activity in Italy as well as learning new words and phrases related to geology and earthquakes.

They also track earthquakes in Italy, and it's no surprise that there are at least a few each day in and around the country.  Check out their YouTube channel and web site.  They also have a friend iPhone app that relays all the seismic activity in Italy - letting you know where and when earthquakes have taken place and their magnitude.

La Scala Richter = Richter scale

BellItalia

BellItalia is a program produced by TGR (part of Rai) that explores the culture of Italy by going to cities, town and museums across the country (the episode above is from 2010 and is a portion of the episode which discusses the town of Vigevano).  Each episode discusses a different city or museum, and there are often discussions of festivals, culture and other cultural happenings around the country.

I like this program because the segments are short (between 8 to 10 minutes each), and this is an optimal amount of time to practice your listening skills while learning about new places in Italy that you might not see on your normal trip to the country!

Divertiti! (Enjoy!)