I find listening to radio programmes in the languages I’m studying is a good way to tune my ears to the languages, and to learn new vocabulary and grammar. With some languages I only have a vague idea what the radio people are talking about, if I really concentrate. With others, particularly Welsh, I’ve got to the stage where I can understand the majority of what I hear and actually learn new and interesting things from the programmes I listen to. It’s taken many years of regular listening to get to this stage. My Irish and Scottish Gaelic haven’t quite got there yet, but I haven’t been listening to them for as long.

If the language you’re studying isn’t spoken where you live, radio listening provides a sort of virtual immersion. It doesn’t give you opportunities to actually speak and interact with native speakers though, unless you join in radio phone-ins.