This technology is developing fast. Here's how to get some excellent material for learning German.
download iTunes
Apple's excellent music player is a real delight to use, and is free - go to download iTunes
You will need reasonable PC speakers to get the best out of it. Many PC shops have adequate speakers for around £20.
install iTunes
Open (run) the installation file and follow the prompts. Even if you haven't done this before, it is easy. If you are new to iTunes, it's possibly a good idea to spend a few days getting used to the application, eg copying some of your CDs onto the computer, before moving on to Podcasts,
Even though you may not intend to buy anything from the iTunes store, it makes things easier in the next step if you set up an iTunes account. Click on 'iTunes store', then on 'sign in' and follow the prompts to set up an account.
subscribe to selected Podcasts (free)
There are plenty of these. Let's concentrate on the ones from Deutsche Welle. Take the link towards the bottom of that Deutsche Welle page, click on one of the 'Learn German...' podcast links, then on the iTunes link. At that point you may get a screen which says that iTunes can't be found on your PC. If so, just click 'I have iTunes'. Then, in iTunes, you will see the available episodes for the podcast. Click 'Get Episode' for any you want. If you want new episodes downloaded automatically, click 'Subscribe'.
For learning German, 'Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten' or Slowly Spoken News Reports is a good place to start.
set preferences
Control the way podcasts are downloaded in Edit > Preferences > Podcasts. For automatic download, set 'check for new episodes' to anything except 'manually'. Also adjust other podcast settings before clicking OK.
That's basically it - enjoy!
For an alternative page, see Listening to Podcasts in German
