Podcasts for advanced students

* The Arabic PodClass
This is in English and Arabic, and seems to be aimed at intermediate students: who have the basics and are developing their language independently. Covers grammar and culture: songs, poems, proverbs. Available on Itunes and the website.

The following podcasts, which are purely in Arabic, will be challenging for most AS and A2 students, but are good to have on in the background to get used to the rhythm and intonation of the spoken language, and try to follow the gist, without catching every word. The advantage of podcasts over live TV or radio is obviously that you can very easily rewind, fast forward and listen to the same snippet over and over until it makes sense.

* BBC Xtra

* Arabic Circle at the University of Chicago's Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Weekly lecture in Arabic on highbrow topics covering politics, literature, arts.

I've listened to the talk by Jordanian former MP Toujan al-Faisal about the history of Jordanian democracy, and it was relatively easy to follow, at a gentle pace and in MSA. When she pronounces something in a Levantine way, she tends to correct herself, aware that she should speak clearly and in a standard way for her university audience. She also drops in a lot of English, making it interesting to compare the phrases with the Arabic equivalents that she also uses.