Glad to hear you find the articles helpful! I don’t think that listening to slowed down audio is cheating. I am planning to write an article about that specific topic, but in general, slowing down natural audio is a great way of hearing what people are actually saying. Speed is a major problem when processing a foreign language, so giving yourself more time is not a bad thing. Naturally, you shouldn’t only listen to audio at a slower pace, but I think it should be part of a healthy study routine! Listening more than once is also very useful, as it lets your brain process new things it couldn’t possibly handle the previous time (this is true for listening many times as well, not just one extra time, of course).