American Voices is an online service that helps you understand spoken English better. To do this, I bring you a selection of the best radio stories and podcasts I can find, together with word lists, transcripts, exercises, and more. The project has 26 stories.

Teachers of English can also subscribe to provide access for their students.

Listening in another language can be difficult for many reasons: people speak quickly; the actual sounds of words can change in quick speech; and there may be words you don't know yet.

So it's important to have a guide who can help you listen. I choose the most interesting stories by professional journalists, and give you the tools to help you understand them. All of these supplemental materials in American Voices are written by experienced language teachers who know how to help you succeed.

Yes you can! American Voices will help you understand native speakers better, but you can also

• talk about the stories with friends, or your teacher
• practice vocabulary: every piece has flashcards and games
• practice pronunciation: special sections on connected speech help you focus on common patterns for natural sounding English

Since we don't change or edit the stories, American Voices is best for students at an intermediate or advanced level (B1 or above).

If you're a relatively advanced non-native speaker, you may still benefit from working with authentic listening materials. It's good even for experienced learners to maintain their language level with continued practice and exposure to current language.

Connected speech refers to how people speak in normal everday situations.

You've probably noticed that native speakers don't sound like the clear, slow examples in textbooks for beginners. Sounds can be pronounced less clearly, or they can combine with other sounds, or they can disappear!

We help you learn what to listen for in connected speech, so that you can understand native speakers better. Check this page for some tips, and join us for many more examples from the stories!

Listening skills are critical for serious language learners. There will be many times when you're speaking on the phone, or listening to a lecture, or other places where there are few visual hints.

Watching movies is also a great way to learn, of course. If you'd like to work with an experienced teacher to help you understand videos, consider Cara Leopold's Subtitle Free program.

Youtube has millions of videos, and there are thousands of podcasts on the Internet. That sounds great, but there's a problem: how do you find pieces that are truly worth listening to?

American Voices focuses on quality rather than quantity. Some of the pieces presented have won awards. I listened to dozens of podcasts before choosing each one... so you don't have to waste time searching for something interesting.

Yes you can! Here's a free sample story from Nate DiMeo's wonderful "Memory Palace" podcast. And you can listen to free previews of other stories on the Driveway Moments page.

For independent learners: a one-time investment of $50 (US) provides access to all the materials on the site for the lifetime of the project.

If you represent a program or school, please get in touch using the contact form, or the form at the bottom of this page.

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No, but I'd love to hear what you think of the stories!

• Who did you agree with?
• What did you disagree with?
• What surprised you?
• Did the story make you think differently about anything?

Feel free to share your impressions with me.

No, you'll have your own login details, valid for one login at a time.

I'm afraid not, because the licensing agreement with our audio journalists and podcasters doesn't allow this.

You can download copies of the transcripts to print, though – look for the "Download transcript" button on the Listen page for each story.

Hosting and maintaining the site costs hundreds of dollars every year. Licensing each story also cost hundreds of dollars, and so your contribution supports the talented people who created these podcasts.