Language Learning: A Podcast
My Experience Trying my Hand at Podcasting
Podcasting is a great medium for energetic storytelling and thoughtful conversations mixed in with fun music tracks. I started listening to podcasts a couple of years ago. After listening to a couple of podcast episodes on my drive to school one day, I was hooked. Since then, I’ve found a few favorites ranging in themes from history to medical mysteries to UX design.
Podcast Topic
“Write what you know” is helpful advice for writers, and it can be adapted for podcasters as well. After all, learning from experts in a subject you’re interested in is major draw to podcasts. So when it came time to choose a topic for my podcast, I chose one I knew well and enjoy talking and learning about: language learning.
Podcast Recording and Editing
Adobe Audition offers a podcast template where you can record, edit, and mix in music tracks. I recorded 3 episodes right into Adobe Audition using a Blue Yeti microphone. After recording my episodes, I edited the audio files from Adobe Audition as well. I trimmed off dead air, added music tracks to the intro and outro, and adjusted the volume. I also was able to easily fade music in and out at parts, which added a nice touch. I then exported the finished product into a high quality MP3 audio file.
Podcast Hosting and Distributing
Being a novice podcaster, I needed a quick way to host and distribute my podcast. I found that the Anchor app is free, and a great to quickly get your podcast out there to all major podcasting services such as Spotify and Apple. Anchor’s interface is user friendly and intuitive, and it’s easy to add in all the needed podcast metadata. I only used the Anchor app to host and distribute my podcast and can’t comment on using it for recording and editing podcast audio files.
Podcast Title and Cover Art
Coming up with a podcast topic was easier than coming up with a title and cover art. Both title and cover art influence whether someone chooses to give your podcast a try or not. My podcast title and cover art needed to accurately represent my podcast. After a bit of soul searching, I decided on the title “Polyglot” which means someone who speaks multiple languages—fitting for a language learning podcast.
For the cover art, I thought back to a game I used to play as a kid called The Language P. This was a made up language where we’d add an extra “pa” or “po” syllable in between syllables making words hard to decipher and extra long. So for example the word “playground”, would turn into “play-pa-ground-po”. It was like speaking a secret language, similar to Pig Latin.
This was my inspiration for designing the cover art. My goal was to convey the message that language learning can be fun and game-like. I ended up using a picture I took and edited after spelling out the words “Polyglot Podcast” on a Scramble game board.
Language Learning is Fun, but Podcasting is Hard Work
I have a newfound respect for my favorite podcasts. They consistently produce great content and well edited episodes while making it look effortless. After trying my hand at podcasting, I now know it takes a lot of work. I recorded, messed up, re-recorded, and edited parts of my episodes several times. A lot of thought and effort went into coming up with interesting content and carrying on natural conversation without losing my train of thought. The first episode was the hardest to make. After that, I got better at making other ones, as my workflow improved and I got a bit more used to the idea of recording myself talking into a microphone.
