One of my pet peeves about language learning is that the audio samples of native speakers are really cheesy. Try have their place, largely because they are designed to go along with the materials that students are studying. But a serious drawback to these recordings is that they are not real, and students can sense that. For some learners, the cheesiness can even turn them away from getting good input.
Of course, we foreign language teachers can’t just start the students out with full speed, authentic audio in the target language and expect them to have a great deal of success. And of course your selection of the language sample will vary greatly depending on what you want your students to do with that audio. For example, if you are trying to test understanding of specific grammar points, then maybe the cookie-cutter, cheesy audio is more suited for your purposes. But for more advanced students that you want to challenge in an “i + 1″ kind of way, I highly recommend that you use real-life audio.
You can use all kinds of different real-life audio. One specific kind that I plan to incorporate more frequently is sports broadcasts. Fútbol and béisbol broadcasts in the Spanish classroom are two examples of audio that will both challenge students to comprehend fast-paced, authentic speaking and expose them to a big part of culture in Latin America.
Of course, you can select other types of authentic audio that emphasize different aspects of the target language and culture. For instance, you might take a clip from a gameshow and have your students play along.
Whatever kind of audio you end up using, make sure it is appropriate for the level of your students. Real-life audio is a fun way to provide good input to students.