E-Español: Language Learning and Podcasting

Developed by the Conseil général des Pyrénées-Atlantique in France, E-Español is a portal for schools in to learn Spanish in a fun way using podcasting

The E-Español portal was created this school year in the Atlantic Pyrenees region in France. In the context of other websites which are popular among young people, E-Español aims to provide students with an interesting and fun online medium to practice. Therefore, using podcasting, students are able to create and record audio clips and publish them online.

As the Atlantic Pyrenees region is located near the Spanish border, this project came quite naturally the schools in the region. The portal allows students to communicate with each other, not only with other schools in an eTwinning context, but also with schools from around the world, as the portal is open to everyone.

Antoine Bidegain, from the Conseil général des Pyrénées-Atlantique, explains that the portal’s role is three-fold in order to:

serve as a tool to motivate students to speak Spanish
provide an online portfolio for students to share their work with others from abroad
promote and showcase good project work

The portal runs via a free blog interface (Dotclear 2.0) and has been tailored to meet the needs of the schools.

Learn more about the E-Español portal
Have a look at the portal’s launch event

Podcasting and eTwinning?

Podcasting is an excellent tool for eTwinning project work. Whether it is to practice language learning or to communicate in subject area, it is an excellent and easy tool which is enjoyed by students of all ages.

How to get started:

1. Equipment. Have a look at the equipment you will need to create a podcast:

Normal PC or Mac
Microphone: this could be any microphone except the built-in ones
Recording software: we recommend Audacity which is free and available for PC and Mac as well as GarageBand for Mac.
Blog: one that supports podcasts, such as WordPress, Blogger or TypePad.

2. Setup. Install the recording software and you are ready to record. Before recording, develop a clear idea of what you want to do with the podcast. What do you want to say? Who is your audience?

TIP: Don’t make your recordings too long. 15 to 20 minutes should be fine.

3. Publishing. After recording, save the audio file in mp3 format (this is the most common one used for podcasts) and publish it on your blog.

TIP: Once you’ve made your first podcast, keep publishing! Podcasts aren’t one-time events. Ideally, you should publish one every week or at least every two to three weeks.

Once your podcast is published on your project blog, your pupils can listen to the podcasts, post comments and discuss the results together.

Learn more about podcasting:

Find examples of podcasting in education: