Give me your English podcasts from non-native English speaking hosts.

May 6, 2016 10:47 AM

I'm trying to improve my ability to write convincing dialog for non-native English speakers. One of the best ways I've found is to listen to a few hours of an ESL speaker to get a feel for their slight differences in usage and grammar. Podcasts are perfect for this, but I've been having problems finding shows.

German, Hindi, Indonesian and French speakers are the most relevant for my current project, but I'm open to anything. Any subject, any age, any gender. I prefer audio only, but if there are YouTube (etc) hosts who you think match, that will work too.

posted by Ookseer to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

There are people from the Caucasus speaking English here. (Interesting material, too.)
posted by languagehat at 11:41 AM on May 6, 2016

I just heard my first episode of the Omega Tau podcast, and the two hosts are, I think, German. But I didn't hear many real problems, so possibly not what you are looking for.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:52 AM on May 6, 2016

There's a whole world of South Asian media in English you could watch or listen to. A keyword search for "Desi" or "Hinglish" might help you find it. A lot of South Asians speak English fluently or as a first language, and have Indian English as their main English dialect. Which is probably what you want when you think of "Hindi speakers talking in English."
posted by Sara C. at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2016

The Drunken Taoist podcast is presented by one Daniele Bolelli, an Italian-American, and to me this guy is an absolute delight. He has an excellent command of expression, but sometimes some not-English quirks can sneak into his speech. His meaning never suffers for it, though.
posted by JulesER at 7:25 PM on May 6, 2016

It's not a podcast, but ELLLO.org has lots and lots of audio by non-native English speakers. They're mostly very fluent, but you could still pick things up.
posted by wintersweet at 9:38 AM on May 8, 2016