One of the best and most pleasant ways to learn English, Boxcar English is a podcast for English learner spoken in warm, relaxed voice with a vocabulary range carefully chosen for English learners. A positive, uplifting podcast full of good energy and human experiences.
The series are designed for different levels of English learners. The podcast focuses on stories that are interesting, funny, sometimes beautiful, sometimes strange, so the listener engages with the meaning, rather than the surface level of the language. The “For beginners” podcast focus on basic phrases and vocabulary.
The philosophy of the podcast is to provide the good, positive energy needed for learning a new language, with much of the content for free or low cost, and for all of it to be made by a human, and not impersonal AI-based creation.
It’s based on the language-learning theory of “Comprehensible and Compelling input,” which says that you should listen and read to a lot of materials that are 1) Easy to understand (you know 95% of the vocabulary), and 2) Interesting to listen to. Boxcar English is designed to be fun, welcoming, & refreshing to different levels of learners.
At Boxcar English, there’s always room for you!
Do you like to travel?
I do, but I also don’t like going very far away from home. And I have a dog.
You don’t have to go very far to find new places.
This is the story of my vacation. I discovered a new land, only by walking a few minutes from my home.
There are lots of new things to look for and learn in this episode. New phrases and new words. Let me know which ones are new to you. Send me your questions at karl@boxcarenglish.com.
I went to town to take care of a few things. I rode my bike there. It was Spring, and there were flowers blooming.
While in town, I saw posters for a show. They were yellow and blue, and I saw them everywhere. I wondered what the show would be like. It looked like it would be so good.
Listen closely… this podcast is meant to be easy to understand for about a B1-level English student.
Unlike other English listening podcasts, this podcast is designed to be heard without thinking too much.
The idea is to make you forget you’re learning the language and focus on the story so you start to THINK in English.
I lost my phone on a walk in the country. I asked some hunters about it. They weren’t friendly. A little dog barked at me. And I tried to believe I would find my phone…
Have you ever lost your phone? Send me a note at karl@boxcarenglish.com and tell me. Maybe I’ll put it on a podcast soon.
Karl judges a pie baking contest.
He is nervous, because he feels like he doesn’t know enough about pie.
He has to cancel his Tuesday card game with his grandmother. But she is going to bake her famous apple pie for the contest.
When he judges the pie contest, he is rather overwhelmed.
You see advertisements (or “ads”) every day.
They say that seeing advertisements is not good for you. That’s probably true.
But I would like to make my own advertisements. My own KIND of advertisements…
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes at patreon.com/boxcarenglishpodcast!
I rode my horse, whose name is Happy, a long way.
Until my horse got sick.
I was stuck on the side of the road, playing with my blue hat.
Then, something great happened…
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes at patreon.com/boxcarenglishpodcast!
I wanted to paint my room, but I wasn’t sure which color to choose…
So I went to the paint store and tried to pick out a color.
But it’s hard to pick just one when there are so many choices.
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes on Patreon
I found something strange today.
It was outside my front door. It was a bottle — an old bottle.
The bottle was very interesting to me, but I didn’t know why…
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes on Patreon
How are your eyes?
How well do you see?
Has the way you see changed?
I’m thinking about my eyes, and what it’s like to get older.
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes on Patreon
Are your shoes perfect?
What would your perfect shoes be?
Where do you look for shoes?
Karl looks for shoes in used clothing stores. They aren’t easy to find.
Sometimes he dreams of shoes.
Chat with Karl and get the transcripts to all episodes on Patreon
