Are you a busy person who likes to learn new things? If you are, you might enjoy listening to podcasts. You can find these audio programs on the internet and listen to them on your phone or on your computer. Instead of listening to a radio DJ blabbering about silly things, try a science or history podcast. Be inspired by an interview with a famous person. Learn about the day-to-day of life in another country in a travel podcast.
Serial is a very popular documentary podcast that started in 2014. Serial makes content about the lives of different people. Over 5 million people have downloaded this podcast! You can listen to it online for free to improve your English. A great place to look for other engaging podcasts is NPR, or National Public Radio. NPR has many podcasts about money, politics, books, and music. One of NPR’s most popular podcasts is Car Talk, a funny program about car problems. And, of course, you can always do a Google search to find a podcast about other topics you like.
Jessica is a new listener. Listen as she and Andy talk about their favorite kinds of podcasts.
Jessica: Gary, I just started listening to podcasts…
Gary: Hold on- just want to take out my earbuds. Sorry, I was listening to some podcasts. What were you talking about?
Jessica: Podcasts!
Gary: Oh, no way!
Jessica: Yes! I just started listening to podcasts.
Gary: That’s awesome! I was just listening to a radio drama.
Jessica: Really?
Gary: Yeah.
Jessica: Oh, you’ll have to tell me about it. I’ve been really into the documentary-style podcasts. I just finished Serial. It was incredible. I just want to listen to it again actually.
Gary: NPR does some amazing podcasts.
Jessica: They really do. It’s amazing to me that they’re newsworthy content but so engaging. I feel like I’m learning something new while I’m listening.
Gary: Every single morning I’m listening to a podcast, because there’s so much great educational content that I can just learn about people, culture, new ideas, and be inspired.
Jessica: Yeah.
Gary: I love it!
Jessica: I’ve been listening to them at the gym, which is really random, but it allows me to focus not only on my exercise and what I’m doing but also the storytelling.
Gary: Yeah, and it’s not just radio blabbering where someone’s talking about the day-to-day with no real clear idea of where they’re going.
Jessica: Exactly. I love it!
Gary: Podcasts. So good!
Jessica just started listening to podcasts, and she loves them! She’s been really into Serial, which is a documentary about the lives of different people. She likes to listen to podcasts at the gym. That way she can exercise and learn at the same time. She’s amazed at how podcasts are newsworthy and engaging.
Gary listens to podcasts every single morning. He’s inspired by all the educational content. He can learn about people, culture, and new ideas from podcasts. When Gary listens to the radio, all he hears is blabbering. That’s why he turns off the radio and listens to podcasts from NPR and radio dramas instead.
Do you think podcasts are a good way to learn about new things? Do you listen to English podcasts?
Past Progressive Tense
Jessica tells Gary that she recently started listening to podcasts. Gary replies using the past progressive tense. He says, “I was just listening to a radio drama.”
The past progressive tense (also sometimes called “past continuous”) is formed by using was/were + main verb + ing, as in, “We were eating dinner when the phone rang.”
We use the past progressive tense to talk about actions that were already in progress when another action took place in the past. (At the moment the phone rang, we were already in the process of eating dinner.)
It’s also common to use this tense to talk about two on-going actions that were happening at the same time in the past, as in, “While Justin Timberlake was finishing his new album, his fans were waiting for the chance to hear it.”
Finally, we can also use this tense to talk about actions in the past that took place over time, as in, “I couldn’t sleep last night because dogs were barking the whole night.”
Gary says, “I was just listening to a radio drama” because that action was in progress when Jessica started talking. The word just means that the action (listening) stopped very recently.
Which is correct, “We were watching a documentary when you called,” or “We watched a documentary when you called”?