Hi
Does this situation seem familiar to you? Your English is progressing well, the grammar is now familiar, the reading comprehension is no problem, you are communicating quite fluently, but: Listening is STILL a problem!
First of all, remember that you are not alone. Listening comprehension is probably the most difficult task for almost all learners of English as a foreign language. The most important thing is to practice listening as often as possible.
The next step is to find listening resources that you are really interested in on the radio, television and the Internet.
Listening strategies
Once you have started to listen to English on a regular basis, you may still feel that your listening is not improving. What should you do? Here is some advice:
- First, accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything.
- Don’t worry that you can’t understand every little word spoken.
- Don’t translate into your own language.
- Listen for the general idea of the conversations. Don’t focus on detail until you have understood the main ideas.
I remember the problems I had in understanding spoken French when I first went to France. At first, when I could hardly understand a word, I tried to translate everything into English. This approach usually resulted in confusion. Then, after the first six months, I discovered two important facts: Firstly, translating creates a barrier between the listener and the speaker; Secondly, most people repeat what they say. By remaining calm and focused, I noticed that I could often understand what the speaker had said.
Translating creates a barrier between yourself and the person who is speaking
While you are listening to another person speaking English, the temptation is to immediately translate into your own language. This becomes stronger when you hear a word or expression you don’t understand. However, when you translate into your own language, you are taking the focus of your attention away from the speaker and on to the translation process in your head. This situation leads to less, not more, understanding.
Most people repeat themselves
When people speak in their own language, do they repeat themselves? I don’t mean word for word; I mean the general idea. If they are like most people I have met, they probably do. That means that whenever you listen to someone speaking, it is very likely that they will repeat what they have said, giving you a second, third or even fourth chance to understand the main message.
By remaining calm, allowing yourself to not understand, and not translating while listening, your brain is free to concentrate on the most important thing: Understanding English in English.
