Rants and raves - listening practice

Use this series of short audio recordings of people talking about things they love or hate to help your students develop their listening skills.

Audio bank: Rants and raves 

Rants and raves  is an audio bank of short monologues to use in class with a range of levels. Each recording introduces students to a variety of different accents and contains up-to-date colloquial language and expressions.

Students can listen to:

  • Rants. Speakers give their opinions on a variety of topics that they feel strongly about, such as queuing, reality TV, and saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
  • Raves. People talk about some of their favourite activities and possessions, for example going to the gym or electronic gadgets.

Age and level

The audio recordings and lesson materials are aimed at adult learners of English, but most can be used with teenage students. They are aimed at learners with an CEFR A2-B1 level, but the tasks can be adapted for all levels.

Guidance and tips

Each resource includes downloadable guidance and advice on how to use the recordings with students. There are a series of suggestions for pre-listening, while-listening, and after-listening tasks and activities. Some of the audio files include a short lesson plan.

See the list of the audio recordings below

TV talent shows

In this recording, students listen to a man from Scotland complaining about the amount of talent shows there are on television at the moment. The recording can be used as a starting point for a range of speaking or writing activities in the online or face-to-face classroom related to fame and why so many people enter television contests.

Winter

In this audio recording, students listen to a woman living in the UK, talking about all the reasons why she doesn't like winter. The recording can be used as a starting point for a range of speaking or writing activities in the online or face-to-face classroom to discuss favourite and least favourite seasons.

Please and thank you

In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a person's reflection of using 'please' and 'thank you' in conversation. They will match how its done in other languages and complete a listening comprehension activity. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of manners to practise specific areas of grammar. 

Queuing

In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a persons reflection of queuing etiquette in the UK. They will match adjectives to synonyms and antonyms and complete a listening comprehension activity. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of queuing to practise specific areas of grammar.

Reality TV

In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a persons reflection of reality TV. They will put the monologue in order and answer comprehension questions. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of reality TV to practise specific areas of grammar.

Breaking up

In this recording, you a hear a woman, Jenny, leaving a message on her friend's answering machine, telling her that her boyfriend has just told her he wants to split up with her.  

Going to the gym

In this recording, you hear a woman talking about how she joined a gym and was worried at first that she might be wasting her money. She talks about how much she loves it now and wonders whether she's become addicted to going. 

Technology

In this recording, you hear a man talking about how technology dominates his life during the working week. He talks about how he likes to switch off his mobile phone and computer at the weekend and enjoy the peace and quiet of where he lives in the countryside.

TV recorder

In this recording, you hear a man raving about how fantastic his new TV recorder is. He talks about how easy it was to set up and use as well as what it can do.

Mobile phones

In this lesson, students will listen to a monologue about mobile phones. They put the monologue in the correct order and listen to check answers. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of mobile phones to practise specific areas of grammar. 

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