Discover Iowa

I hope your summer is going well and that you are enjoying some time to rest and recharge!

I am taking a break from classes this month but I was recently invited to be a guest on the American English Podcast and I wanted to share the newly-released episode with you! 🤩 

In this conversation, host Shana Thompson picks my brain about my home state of Iowa! You will learn all about typical Iowa food, 🌽 county fairs, 🎡 and even hear a story about a big storm 🌪️ that we experienced!

This episode would be perfect for intermediate or advanced level English learners who are interested in learning more about the culture of the American midwest. Students living in other midwestern states will find a lot of cultural aspects in common, and for those living in different regions or countries, they will definitely learn about some things they have never experienced!

If you’re on break from classes at the moment, just file this idea away for the fall! Personally, I love assigning podcasts as listening homework for my students and often ask them to make a list of new vocabulary words or phrases they learned to share with me during our next class. If you listen to the very end of this episode, you'll also get my recommendation of a super fun country song that is pure Americana and would make a great listening assignment as well!

Shana also has an archive of episodes about other U.S. states, so if you find that this one fits your students’ listening comprehension level, you can check out some of the others! I have assigned many episodes of the American English Podcast to my own intermediate and advanced students.

You can listen here, or search for "American English Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

I would love to hear what you and your students think!