Learn to learn
Why listening is so difficult
a key to understanding texts you hear and being great at listening
Listening is one of the four language skills. You need it to understand audios and videos. And, of course, to understand a person you are speaking with.
That's why language exams like IELTS and TOEFL usually test listening.
That's why language exams like IELTS and TOEFL usually test listening.
Why is listening so hard for many students? There are a lot of reasons.
- When you read, you can read a difficult part two or three times. But you can't listen a hard moment one more time.
- You can read slowly, but listening is often very fast.
- When people speak fast, sounds change a little bit. It's called "connected speech".
- Students are often afraid of new words. It is hard for them to .
- People from different countries speak with differently, some of them aren't easy to understand.
Reading and listening are both "receptive skills"
It means that you receive, get information. But they are different, so both of them need practice.
"How can I learn to listen better?"
Firstly, you have to understand that there are two things you do in listening - skim and scan.
To skim is to understand the most important thing in a text - its main idea.
To scan is to find small details in a text.
For example, if you watch a TV show, you don't need to know every single word. You just need to understand the main idea, so you skim.
But if you listen to a weather forecast, you want to know the weather in your city tomorrow. You need details, so you scan.
To skim is to understand the most important thing in a text - its main idea.
To scan is to find small details in a text.
For example, if you watch a TV show, you don't need to know every single word. You just need to understand the main idea, so you skim.
But if you listen to a weather forecast, you want to know the weather in your city tomorrow. You need details, so you scan.
"You can't understand every single word in a text. You just need to skim and scan really well"
When you listen to a text (audition), you usually need to both skim and scan.
You can train skimming and scanning with practice and special exercises. Ask an English teacher for them!
You can train skimming and scanning with practice and special exercises. Ask an English teacher for them!
"What else can I do to work on my listening?"
There are a lot of other things to do!
- Start from easy texts and slowly make them more difficult.
- If you don't know how words sound, you can't understand them. So check it!
- Watch videos for fun. If you listen to English for fun, you will stop feeling afraid of it.
- Listen people to different countries. You will slowly start to understand them.
- Try watching a film with subtitles (a text of what you hear).
- Speak with people!
Watch videos! It is fun and interesting.
There are people with different accents. And you can use subtitles.
"To become better at listening, you have to do some exercises, learn to skim and scan skills. And you have to just listen for fun a lot!"
If you want to work on listening with a teacher, book a free lesson. The first two lessons are free, so you can test your English level and try the individual course.
If you have any questions, please contact:
eng.for.spanish@gmail.com
or through the social media below
or through the social media below