The Lessons

The ESL Aloud podcast lessons are designed for people who want to increase their abilities in speaking English as a second language (ESL).

Basic Method
The basic method of these lessons is listen-and-repeat. It is much like learning to play a musical instrument by watching someone play a tune and then doing your best to play the tune yourself. In each lesson you get to practice sentences that are very close in meaning to each other. Learning similar sentences will enable you to express the same thought in different ways, just like a native speaker of English. The more you practice, the more you improve your speaking skills. It's that simple.

Where to Find the Lessons
Click here or on the Lesson List tab at the top of this page to access the links to the lessons. You should begin with Podcast #1, which describes how the lessons are structured. You can also use any number of software programs, such as Itunes, to have podcasts automatically downloaded to your computer or mobile listening device.

The Audio Flashcards

Starting with Podcast #30 you will be able to have further practice with a free online audio flashcard program called BYKI^® which stands for Before You Know It^®. The flashcard set for the podcast contains the same sentences you worked with in the podcast itself. BYKI is published by Transparent Language^®.To download the free program, called BYKI Express, click here.

Choose any language from the list that appears. The ESL Aloud flashcard files can be used no matter which language you specify.

Fill in the required information and click the  Download button at the bottom of the screen that appears. Follow directions to install the program on your computer.

Here are the instructions for downloading individual ESL Aloud flashcard sets or for using the online version of the flashcards.

1. Go to http://www.byki.com.

2. Click on the List Central Community tab near the top of the page.

3. On the next screen, type "Podcast #31" into the search box at the top of the screen, then press the Enter key. This will bring you to a scrolling screen that lists all the ESL Aloud flashcard sets. If the content for a podcast have been divided into two or four parts, choose Part 1 to begin.

4. Click on the name of the podcast you wish to download or use online.

5. To download, click either Windows or Mac/OSX under Download This List. The list will automatically be added to the contents of your BYKI program.

The BYKI Program

The BYKI Express program has four learning modes: Review It, Produce It, Recognize It, and Know It.

Review It: The program automatically opens in this learning mode. In Review It, you see and hear a sentence. Use the Previous Card and Next Card buttons at the bottom of the window. Review as much as you want to, then press Done. On the menu that appears are buttons for all four activities in the program.

For the best results, after Review It do the remaining activities in this order:

Produce It: You see a sentence. Read the sentence aloud, then flip the card to hear the sentence and see it once again. Press Yes or No to indicate whether you think you spoke the sentence acceptably.

Recognize It: You see a blank card and hear a sentence. Repeat the sentence and press the Flip button at the bottom of the window. Look at the sentence and press either Yes or No to tell the program whether you think you heard and repeated the sentence correctly.

Know It: You see a blank card and hear a sentence. Type the sentence in the box at the bottom of the window. Then press the Check button. The program shows you the sentence and tells you whether you matched the sentence exactly. If you had an error you are immediately given the same sentence when you press Next.

Except for Review It, in each type of activity every card re-appears several times during a learning session. The repetition gives you practice that places the sentences and their patterns very deep in your memory. This will help you (1) to produce these and similar sentences and (2) to understand similar sentences that you read and hear.

In Produce It, Recognize It, and Know It, the program keeps track of your correct/incorrect or acceptable/unacceptable responses. It uses this information to guide the repetition of the cards. The program also keeps score based on your performance. It does not consider an activity complete until the material has been mastered. You may press Done at any time you wish to leave an activity.

About BYKI

In addition to using the free version of the BYKI program, you have two additional options.

a) You can use the flashcards online.

b) You can also purchase the full program called BYKI Deluxe, which has several valuable additional features. You can read about these on the BYKI website.

After you download either the Deluxe or Express version, you can then download the ESL Aloud flashcard files onto your own computer. With BYKI Deluxe you can also run the flash card lists on Palm and PocketPC devices. You can sign up to be on the BYKI mailing list and be informed of new capabilities as they appear.

Feedback Please

I would like to know if you find the flashcards helpful. Please write to me at <info@esl-aloud.com>.

Sherman Rosen