Finding new and interesting content is one of my biggest problems. Some of the Lingq pod casts from Vera's diary I've listened to 20 times other don't feel right when I first listen to them.
Competing against L2 content I have LOTS of english ipod and radio content that I'm always interested in.

Michael is it not time to graduate to some of the native speaker podcasts that we have in the library?

Michael, I'm sure there is plenty of interesting content out there, only it does not come with a transcript.

Try not to limit your content options to stuff that already comes with a transcript.

Consider hiring a native speaker to produce transcripts for you for any interesting content that you find, for example, on YouTube. Download the audio from the YouTube videos (very easy to do), import the transcript into LingQ, and you're set.

If you're willing to go this far, your content options are pretty much infinite.

You should never listen to content that is boring or bores you!

I think the best types of content for repeated listening are conversations that are not too simple, and not so complex that you don't understand anything. Also it should be fairly short (1-20 minutes).

I Think if the content is very short, then listening to it too many times in a short time period leads to burn-out.
I don't understand people listening to the same content 1000 times, my mp3 player doesn't keep track of play counts, but I don't think I listen to most stuff more than 30 times before I feel I understand it and can move on. of course I'm listening to fairly simple stuff that incrementally becomes more complex.

I do the same as Steve, I listen til I get bored and move on. I don't really care if I've understood everything yet because I can come back again later if I want. And if there's something important that I've missed it will show up again in something else. So there is no reason to listen to content that is boring.

I usually listen to the same content several times. But instead of trying to force myself about listening in a row, I try to use 4 or 5 mp3 or more. In this way, if I get bored with one, I go to for another (btw, shuffle mode is great for this). I also combine it with listening just one time other interesting content, without worring to much about understanding 100%.

Marcelo,

This person from China listened to the same CD 1,000 times. He claimed that it was effective for getting the pronunciation. Obviously it will not help him acquire a large vocabulary. I think, though, that repetitive listening to limited content can help with pronunciation. It was my experience as well, although I did not get to 1000 times! The problem is finding something that you are prepared to listen to a lot.

Thanks for you reply Steve. That sounds more like Pimsleur's CD's.

How often should we listen to the same content?

Once? It's possibly more ideal hearing something similar but slightly different every time.

I add each item to my iTunes library and slowly build up a collection which I shuffle and listen to over and over. Obviously, in the eatly stages I might only have 10 or so items, but as the content amount gradually increases, so does the ratio of repetition with novelty, since I end up listening to the older items less and less as a result of adding more and more new content. This way the process feels natural and I don't have to worry too much about how many times to listen. The only factor controlling it is the rate at which I study new content. I will always be "reviewing" and re-listening to old content items when iTunes runs over them with the shuffler.

I think Kevin has an interesting point here. I remember when I first moved over to Germany (i.e. before I had really got to know too many folks) I would just spent most evenings and weekends sitting in my home chain-smoking cigarettes and watching German TV. I have sometimes wondered whether this was what got me off the ground with speaking German? (The TV I mean, not the cigarettes!)

The point is, if you watch TV a lot in a foreign language, you are getting roughly the same pool of words, but in continually changing combinations. (And of course the pictures help you to figure out roughly what the action is too.)

I think Chris is on the right track. I do not agree with Kevin at all. Repetitive listening is a the core of my approach to learning a new language. I also do not spend much time watching TV or movies that I do not understand.