Listening tip: Watching short videos when you get started (For Beginners)

(march 2023)

For beginner listeners of English, I believe it is best to choose short videos that can expand on a student’s vocabulary as well as tie words to images to assist with memorization. The videos should be 1-2 minutes long and should involve a variety of basic topics. The main topics that should be addressed in these videos for beginner Listeners should include:

• Family and Friends

• Greetings / Salutations

• Types of Foods

• Weather

• Sports

• Introducing Yourself

• How to Run an Errand

• Saying Goodbye

• Making Plans

  These topics all involve basic subjects when it comes to learning English and would be easy for beginner students to follow in terms of their grammar and vocabulary knowledge that they would have picked up through other speaking, writing, or reading practice.

  Each of the videos will help with listening to the basic vocabulary and grammar involved with topics that English students will need to know about to get ahead with their listening comprehension. The videos that you choose to listen to should include dialogues / conversations that you can follow along with and perhaps come with subtitles in your native language in order to understand better.

  While these videos may be short, you can listen to each of them multiple times, jot down notes of words / phrases / sentences you would need to look up, or even copy down the dialogue or conversation that was spoken that you can use for practice later. You do not need to wait to become an intermediate or advanced English learner to begin listening practice so make sure to start off with short videos of 1-2 minutes that you can play multiple times in order to improve your listening proficiency as a beginner.

listening tip: wait until the speaker is finished talking before jumping in

(February 2023)

For this listening tip, I am going to focus not so much on the act of how and why listen to English but rather on the ‘when’ of listening. Native speakers have the bad habit sometimes of not letting the other speaker(s) or person(s) finish before jumping in to speak or talk. As an English as a Second Language learner, it is extremely important to not pick up a bad habit like that. You have to be ‘actively listening’ but not only that. You have to make sure you listen carefully to everything that person says in English before jumping in.

Interrupting someone when they are speaking in any language is considered rude in most cultures. Sometimes, you may be so excited to participate in the conversation that’s unfolding that you forget to listen to everything they have said. You may accidentally offend the person as well by not letting them finish their thought or by paying full attention. You may also lose important context, clues, or ideas in what they said, which could hurt you later on professionally or personally or sometimes both.

Native speakers of English tend to anticipate more easily what someone will say next because they have spoken English as their 1st and sometimes only language. The tendency to speak before listening is much more potent when you have a wider knowledge base of listening throughout your life. Regardless, it is a bad habit to pick up and will hurt you as a non-native learner much more. When improving as a listener, you have to listen to everything and the more you lose out on in interrupting, the worse off your English listening skills will end up being.

It is not enough to not just be an ‘active listener’ but to also be a ‘patient listener’ as well. At times, you will want to make your speaking or spoken words the priority but take your time, relax, and wait for the other person(s) to finish. You will definitely be better off for waiting to speak, your listening skills will improve, and you won’t hurt personal or professional relationships with English speakers by interrupting them. It is a bad habit that I encourage you to avoid at all costs and to practice listening quietly before speaking. This is an underrated listening tip that requires some skill and patience but will definitely pay off for you in the long run.

listening tip: make sure to use audio exercises when you practice english

(December 2022)

An underrated part of learning English listening is to be able to use audio exercises both on your own and with a teacher in order to improve your proficiency. While they may be a bit repetitive, it is still a key aspect of getting better through consistent practice. Audio exercises are varied and cover a wide range of subjects from food to clothes to daily errands to getting directions.

Audio exercises are varied in that they can cover conversational dialogues, call and repeat for pronunciation, and even hearing an article or short story and then discussing it afterwards. Being able to handle at least a minute of an audio up to ten or twenty minutes when listening to a story or article is also a great way to gauge how advanced you are in your listening proficiency or if you are still at the beginner or intermediate level.

If you are doing these audio exercises on your own or rather with your teacher, you should make sure you are actively listening to these exercises. Whether it is by taking notes, answering questions, repeating what it said in the audio, or having a discussion with your teacher or classmate after, it is crucial that you make the most out of using these audio activities. Do not be afraid or wary of listening to these audio exercises more than once or over the course of a few days. The point of using these audio exercises is to practice each day and on a consistent basis. Make sure you are willing to use more than one each week and at least study one per day and I can guarantee your English language proficiency in listening will get better and almost certainly in other proficiency areas too.

listening tip: slowing down or speeding up video speed for better comprehension

(october 2022)

A key and underrated tip for English learners when it comes to listening is to slow it down at first when it comes to watching videos for better comprehension. You may find subtitles distracting or don’t enjoy reading the translation from your native language to English or vice versa. Depending on your listening proficiency level, you should slow down the video speed or speed it up depending on how long you have been learning English for.

Most video channels such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. or even streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, etc. will allow to change the video speed so you can understand better what the actors or people in the video(s) are saying. There are usually four or five options as well being 0.25x or 0.5x or sometimes 0.75 (being half or more slow) than 1.0x, which is the normal speed. If you are a beginner in the English language for listening proficiency, you should definitely listen at 0.75x speed or 0.5x or below if available so you can better understand the speakers and the vocabulary being used.

As for Intermediate listeners, a normal speed of 1.0x should be fine at this point and if you need to slow down or speed up at certain points in the video, you should definitely do so to better improve comprehension since some words, phrases, or expressions in English are more difficult than others. It’s important to note that even with normal speed, some characters or actors in whatever video you’re watching will speak slow or fast to you so just be sure to utilize other tools like closed captioning or subtitles in your native language to assist your understanding.

Lastly, if you really hope to test yourself when you reach the advanced level, there should be 1.25x or 1.5x or even 2.0x (double the speed of the average pace of the speaker) where you really need to listen intently and the pace of the video and the words will start to blend together so if you can still understand at least 75% of what was said and understand it, you know that you’re definitely an advanced level English listener. Not every video will have the option to slow down or speed up the pace of the video in terms of talking speed, but I highly recommend considering this option as a non-native English learner and to take advantage of it as much as possible for good English listening practice on a consistent basis.

listening tip: using subtitles or dubbing video games into English to improve comprehension

(AugusT 2022)

I thought about this particular tip recently as I played a video game, which had both Portuguese and English. The game’s cutscenes would list one language in the subtitles and the other as the audio for the game. When you’re playing a game that is bilingual, it can really test your abilities as you end up listening to both equally if you are learning or know both languages. In this case, I speak English as my native language and Portuguese is a language that I have an intermediate level of proficiency in that I need to improve on.

This gave me the example to highlight how video games can actually be a learning tool as you can usually dub the game from your native language to English. Most video games are made in Japan, the United States, and Canada where the industry is based out of. There’s a good chance that when you buy a video game for Playstation, Xbox, or for Nintendo, you’ll be able to either dub the game into English or use English subtitles when you play. Thus, this gives you a great learning opportunity to immerse yourself in English especially if it is the original language of the game for the voice actors, the setting(s), and the plot or storyline as well.

You will pick up a lot of phrasal expressions, new vocabulary, and even learn the English sentence structure by reading the subtitles. This tip is both about reading when it comes to understanding the English subtitles if you end up playing the game in your native language but keep subtitles enabled; However, it is also about listening to the English if you either dub it to be the language translated from your own or if you choose to listen to English as it is the original gameplay language.

Many gamers, I believe, can improve their English proficiency in listening and reading in significant ways. When you play video games, it is exercising not just your hand-eye coordination, your focus, but it can also improve your language skills. I am not saying you should play video games all day to learn English and neglect your school, work, or family responsibilities. However, you’ll find by listening or reading in English through a video game over the course of hours or days, you’ll help to boost your comprehension in both areas.

I especially think your listening will improve because video games have a lot of dialogue between the characters along with the background sounds and voices. You’ll do a lot more listening than reading usually so I think it is excellent to expose yourself to different words, phrases, expressions, and exclamations as you play a character or see other characters speak to each other in English. Video games are seen as a waste of time but I disagree. They are a great way to immerse yourself in English and make it a good learning experience as you improve your language skills in reading English and especially in listening to English too.

listening tip: Going to coffee shops to listen to other people (Poetry Slams, Speaking Events, etc.)

(JUly 2022)

If you would like to get comfortable with listening to English, I believe it is a good idea to go to a coffee shop at least once a month. You can occupy yourself with reading a book or a magazine and try to listen to the drink orders being shouted, the local gossip at the table next to you, or just to hear what words are being spoken. It’s not good to actively eavesdrop on other people’s conversations but you may be able to pick up new phrases, expressions, and vocabulary words just by listening generally to the jumble of conversations going on around you.

Another good thing about coffee shops is not just the chatter around you but also the opportunity to maybe listen to a live musician or band or to go to a poetry slam or maybe they have a discussion or a speaker there. Some coffee shops, at least in the United States, have special events where you can listen to a panel or a group or a band who are performing live or giving a talk or perhaps participating in a cafe-wide event. This is an excellent way to hone your listening skills without the risk of eavesdropping or overhearing people’s private conversations.

You can also participate in the activities yourself especially if it’s a poetry slam, a book club, or just to ask a question of a speaker or panelist. In a coffee shop, it is easy to combine your English listening skills with other kinds of proficiency including speaking, reading, and writing. It’s good to be out in a public place like a coffee shop to absorb the language being spoken around you and to even jot some notes down. You can easily just try to see which English words are new to you or which expressions are unfamiliar and you want to learn the meaning of.

Coffee shops are sociable places usually so it’s good to try to talk and listen to native English speakers there. You can always ask questions especially at events regarding a word or a phrase or a sentence you are unfamiliar with and I am sure someone would be kind of to explain to you. Above all else, coffee shops are a great place to listen to English as its being spoken and to expose yourself to a wide variety of conversations, vocabulary, and the people who speak the language natively.

Listening tip: Check Out Different Music Genres

(March 2o22)

I’ve discussed before the power of listening to music when it comes to improving your English listening skills. Beyond just checking out multiple songs and instruments, you should also check out as many music genres as you can from A to Z. Not only will the tone of the singer’s voice be different but so will the volume and the pace of the song and the lyrics are likely to be varied too. Checking out different music genres will expose you to a world of music and improve your English vocabulary, syntax, and grammar structures especially on a wide variety of topics that are going to covered in those genres.

For some examples, Rap and Hip Hop music cover a lot of societal issues such as poverty, inequality, crime, and general injustices, which you can hear in the lyrics. Country and Pop music songs cover love and affection and even heartbreak as well when you listen to those songs. Rock music covers almost any topic under the sun but especially about freedom, finding yourself, and making the most out of life.

There are tons of music genres and almost limitless songs so make sure you take an hour or so out of your day to listen to some songs, read along to the lyrics as you listen, and remember to switch up the genres to expose yourself to the tone, the pacing, and the volume, which will vary quite often. Here are a list of genres you can check out in English when it comes to listening to music in the language:

• Rock and Roll

• Heavy Metal

• Jazz

• Hip Hop

• Country

• Pop

• Alternative

• Electronic

• Trance

• Blues

• Folk Music

• Rhythm and Blues (R&B)

• Dance Music

As you can see, there are at least a dozen genres representing thousands of songs you can listen to which will definitely help to improve your English. Choose a few of them, listen to a few songs each day, and you’ll be able to start being better at English listening soon.

Listening tip: Turn the volume down to challenge yourself (Advanced learners)

(January 2022)

A true challenge for listening in English is to turn the volume down to see if you can still understand or repeat or write down what you hear. It is easy enough for a beginner or intermediate student to play a voice or a song or a story on the highest audio setting or a medium setting. However, a real challenge as you try to advance in English listening is to lower the volume of what you’re listening to. Doing this challenge will help to hone your hearing more to listen to the words and to concentrate even harder to understand and interpret what you are hearing.

If you would like to make this challenge even more difficult, try to have some background noise or music playing as well. This will make it even more difficult to listen to the words or sentences being spoken to you. You will be annoyed or be anxious upon having to listen with distractions around but it will definitely improve not only your concentration but your vocabulary knowledge as you listen more intently. Having the volume on low will cause you to focus and to really use the full extent of your hearing ability to understand the English being spoken.

Sometimes, in learning English, you will not always have an audio aid or the ability to raise someone’s volume. Some people talk quickly or talk in a low pitch or put their words together. Listening to English at a low volume will force you to adapt and to concentrate making you a stronger English listener. By listening to English at a disadvantage, you will improve your proficiency and prepare yourself for the real world when you have to listen to a low talker or deal with distractions of noise pollution or sounds as you try to hear a friend or a colleague or a family member. Follow this tip and remember to not use earphones, headphones or to raise the volume to medium or high to make it easier on you.

Listening tip: Going to a live performance like a play or a concert

(November 2021)

In order to develop your listening proficiency in English, I would really recommend going to a live performance of some kind. Whether it is a live music concert or a theater play, you will be actively listening to someone or a group of people whose sound will be amplified. It can be easier to listen well in English when you don’t have distractions like a cell phone to keep you busy. Oftentimes, concerts or theater plays or even comedy shows will forbid the use of electronic devices allowing the performers to have your full attention.

A live performance makes it easier for you to concentrate on the English you are hearing without any distractions and with the help of a powerful sound system. You can also listen to the people around you for a concert, for example, who would sing along to the lyrics at a concert. At a theater performance as well, the lights are dimmed enough so that the focus would be on the stage actors who would be singing, dancing, and speaking to each other well enough for you to hear in the audience.

Every kind of live performance is different but it is an excellent way for you to be able to concentrate, listen intently, and even do ‘call and repeat’ by repeating the lyrics or words that you hear (ex: live concert). I think it is one of the best ways to improve your English listening proficiency and it does not cost a lot of money. You could also bring a friend or family member with you if they can help with any words, phrases, or sentences you didn’t understand.

Going to a live performance is a good way to also make new friends as well especially a concert. It’s good to go with someone else in case you don’t hear everything correctly and they can help you with either the meaning(s) or pronunciation(s) of the words. Do yourself a favor sometime and go to a live performance like a concert, a theater play, or a comedy show. It will definitely be good practice for your English listening proficiency!

listening tip: Mastering the ability to follow instructions

(October 2021)

In a fast-changing situation such as an emergency, you are going to want to be able to understand the person who will be giving you instructions. Your listening proficiency will have to be very high especially in a situation where things are changing rapidly and where repeating the instructions may not be an option. It is vital to be able to hone your listening skills to be able to hear that person giving instructions alone and to also tune everybody else out.

Whether you are going through an earthquake, a hurricane, a fire, a security incident, or an evacuation order, it could be a matter of personal safety to understand everything in English being said to you. It is necessary to listen carefully, give that person your full attention, and to be able to drone out other noise or events so those instructions you are hearing can be fully understood.

You also have to be aware of who to go to receive instructions whether it is a police officer, a firefighter, a transit worker, a public official like a politician or even your average person on the street trying to help you. Always look for the authority figure first and if they are not around, try to find someone you trust to see if they have any worthwhile instructions that they themselves are also adhering to with ease.

Not only will you be tested in hearing each instruction through listening, but you’re going to have to follow them in the correct order as well. Instructions are often given one after the other so pay close attention to the instructional order so you are not mixing them up even if you heard each individual instruction correctly.

Take time to practice each emergency scenario you can get makeshift instructions for so you can have a friend or colleague or family member say them out loud to you or to yell them to you quickly. By practicing consistently, you will be better prepared to follow these instructions and see how well you can carry them out and if you are still struggling or not with your listening comprehension when it comes to Emergency or other kinds of instructions.

listening tip: The best way to remember directions

(August 2021)

When it comes to directions, we can read them, write them to each other, but it’s best to listen to directions especially from a native speaker when you’re on the go. Reading directions can be a bit complicated and I think it can confuse a non-native English speaker more so than any other form of getting directions.

Instead, I think when you listen to directions and the person who is giving you the directions is taking the time to explain them to you in terms of how to get there with multiple steps, you are more likely to remember the directions later on and also to remember the vocabulary words. Listening to the directions also helps you to visualize where you are going as well as helping you ask questions of the person in response.

Directions can be given face-to-face but also over a loudspeaker, from a formal announcement, or from the person next to you. Being able to understand given directions at different volumes and from different distances is also important. Some directions will be given quickly, some may be muffled in the noise, and some may be in a tough accent for you to follow.

You have to hone your listening abilities a lot when it comes to hearing directions and you have to be willing to both listen and then speak in response too. You also need to put yourself out there if you are lost or need to find a place. You can listen to the directions and then write them down as well if you will have a hard time remembering the directions that someone has given you. Make sure you try listening first and then opt to writing them down but I think listening to the directions would be the best to improve your English skills in this particular way.

Listening tip: don’t interrupt before your counterpart(s) finish speaking

(JULY 2021)

An underrated tip with regards to English listening is the ability to make sure that you do not interrupt a native speaker before they are done talking. I say this not just for you to improve your English listening skills but to also improve as a conversationalist. It is considered impolite to interrupt someone although there are exceptions such as when you are pressed for time or have another urgent matter to attend to. However, it is best if you have nowhere else to be or are trying to understand what they are saying to you in a 2nd language such as English to let them finish or you may lose out on the whole context or meaning of what they were saying to you.

It may be difficult to do so since you also would like to practice speaking as much as listening in English but they must go together side by side and not be on top of each other. When two people speak at once, your listening will suffer and you may be perceived as impatient or rude. This is especially the case when you are in an online or physical classroom and the teacher is trying to explain an important grammatical point or written form to you, the student. It is one thing to interrupt a friend over coffee when practicing but it is another thing entirely to interrupt a teacher who is there to help you and guide you through the English learning process.

My advice is to hold the thoughts in your head as much as you can before speaking and to wait a few seconds after the English speaker is done before you begin to speak. That pause of a few seconds is especially crucial because if you don’t hear the speaker pause at all, it is likely that they will continue speaking for some time and they have not finished their thought yet.

Your listening abilities will only improve when you speak less, hold the words in your head, and even jot down notes of what your teacher is telling you. Your will improve your vocabulary, grammar, and your own speaking ability when you are quiet while the other person is talking. It is difficult to do but having an innate sense of when to listen and then when to speak will make a huge difference in learning the English language.

listening tip: The cacophony Of Noise (Listening in public Places)

(May 2021)

When you are trying to become a better listener in English or any other language as a 2nd or 3rd language, it’s important not to underestimate the power of embracing the cacophony of noise around you when you are in public places. You will hear so many words, phrases, and types of conversations by just listening to the world around you.

Now, I am not endorsing eavesdropping, which implies that the other people would know you’re listening or you would actually interrupt their conversation. It is important to keep your distance and make it like you are not hearing them at all. If you have to read a book or be on your laptop or just have one of your earphones in to pretend you are listening to music, that will help make it seem like it’s not active eavesdropping.

However, when you are learning a new language, it is very important to put yourself out there with listening in different public places. It does not matter so much as to which public place you are in but rather how long you stay there and how often you go there to be in public. You are not there to be seen but rather to listen while keeping it low profile.

There are a number of public places I would recommend to listen to other conversations and improve your knowledge of English listening. My favorite place would be the coffee shop since it’s always going to be buzzing with people, the tables are likely to be close to each other, and it won’t look so obvious if you are listening to the other people around you. Also, you can spend hours in a coffee shop without needing to leave or to move tables either. You’ll hear a number of conversations during those hours and you’ll likely learn a lot of new grammar and vocabulary words that you may not have known before.

Now, if you can’t make it a cafe, I think bookstores are great for listening to other people as well as restaurants. Outdoor markets for food or other items are nice to hear different people talking and just observing people in public. I also would recommend small parks especially for animals where people are getting together to talk about their pets or to discuss the weather.

Immersing yourself in a new country where English is the predominant language means being comfortable with hearing the language all around you. The more exposure you get through listening to it, the better your proficiency level will be. Staying at home or being private will only get you so far. Without being too much of an eavesdropper, it’s alright to listen to see what people are talking about and you can always stop paying attention as well if you feel as if you should not continue to listen in. That also should be kept in mind as you listen to all the words and phrases buzzing around to make up part of a cacophony of sounds in public life.

listening tiP: More about The call and response method

(March 2021)

As introduced in a previous Listening tip but to expand upon it in further detail, a really key way to improve your listening proficiency in English is to hear someone else talk in a slow yet measured way and than to repeat what they just said. The ‘Call and Response’ method as it’s known is a great way to get better at listening to what a friend or family member just said and then repeat the same words or sentences while they make sure that your pronunciation is correct. It is a real way to test your listening proficiency and also to see how much vocabulary you know and which words you struggle to say that can be worked on with a partner.

I believe when you do the ‘Call and Response’ method you can learn a lot about how much you remember from hearing the language spoken out loud and how well you can pronounce certain words. Your partner, who should be a native English speaker or at least proficient in the language, should correct your mistakes, pronounce the word(s) for you if you mess up a bit, and also try to slow down or go faster depending how quickly you pick it up.

Another way to use the ‘Call and Response’ method is to enact a type of speaking such as a conversational dialogue or a poem or a story to tell it together and to discuss what you just spoke out loud afterwards. You can go through the dialogue together or repeat the same lines as your speaking partner to improve your listening. This kind of listening will be harder as a dialogue or a poem or a story will be longer in terms of listening and then speaking back to your partner.

I believe that you first should start with listening to individual words spoken by your partner and then work your way up. After you pronounce these words correctly after listening, you can move on to individual sentences, which is more intermediate in its proficiency level. You can consider yourself an advanced learner of English listening when you listen and repeat back in speaking dialogues, poems, and stories while getting the pronunciation and cadence down correctly.

The ‘Call and Response’ method is not only effective for speaking but it is also effective in improving your English listening. Give it a chance sometime and you’ll be glad you did.

Listening tip: the utility of listening to sports broadcasts

(February 2021)

When you’re coming to an English-speaking country to study, to work, or to live, it can be daunting to hear a new language and get used to it on a daily basis. If you are not able to practice listening due to people speaking too quickly or just not able to socially interact with other people that easily, a great way to listen and understand the language better is to listen to sports broadcasts. You will have 2-3 hours of great content to listen to and if you’re a sports fan, you’ll be in luck as English-speaking countries have a number of popular sports to choose from to listen to.

The United States, in particular, has basketball, baseball, American football, soccer, hockey, tennis, etc. The beauty of having so many options is that each announcer will have a different cadence, tone, and style. There will be some announcers who will speak in English really fast especially for hockey or basketball broadcasts where the pace of the actual game is very quick and there’s a lot of fast moving action. For slower sports such as American football, soccer, or baseball, you as an English learner will have a great chance to hear the pronunciation and understand the speaker that much more easily. You can start at a beginner level listening to baseball games on the radio and then make your way up to watching hockey games on television with friends at a restaurant.

Not only does listening to different sports help you understand English better by being exposed to it for hours but you can also hear different accents from different English-speaking countries. Many soccer games from England are broadcast now in the United States and many rugby games from Australia are now being broadcasted in England so there is a real globalization behind sports broadcasting in the English language that can really help a student out in different ways.

My main advice is to definitely watch a full game each week as it will last 2-3 hours helping your listening skills quite a bit. You should be taking notes while watching to pick up on vocabulary words you need to look up in the dictionary or to highlight popular phrases that are used quite a bit. Listening to sports games or matches will also help you start a conversation with a stranger perhaps or get you to make a new friend at work if you both like the same team. The key is to make it a habit for the long-term so find a sports team or game you really like, find the announcer most suitable too for your learning abilities, and be sure to watch a game once or twice per week to really improve your English listening skills.

Listening tip: write down what you hear

(December 2020)

A key tip that I have not covered directly up until this point is the necessity to write down the words you hear to improve your listening proficiency. If you can correctly be dictated to in English without making any spelling or grammar errors will help not just your listening abilities but also your writing skills. Having a friend, a colleague, or a family member say a sentence or even a paragraph out loud while asking you to write the English words down on paper as you listen will definitely help attune your listening capabilities.

This kind of listening skill is especially important when you are in higher education at a formal lecture, at a meeting for a job in which you have to take diligent notes, or just listening to a video on YouTube that you would like to get the full meaning of. The ability to both listen and to write at the same time is a really good skill to have and one that will play into your overall proficiency level.

When you are listening to someone, make sure you are getting all of the necessary information down on paper. If you are able to, make sure that the person slows down or speeds up depending on how well you are able to capture the meaning of their words. It is also true that you shouldn’t always copy what they say word for word. It is often better to ‘ad-lib’ or to summarize the meaning of their words by highlighting only the important points or main ideas of what they are saying to you.

In a formal setting, your boss or your professor is not going to accept a request from a student or an employee to slow down. You are going to have to make it work in some way by taking good notes that get the meaning and examples of what they are saying to you rather than the exact word for word. A good listener is both able to get dictated to and summarize a speech or a lecture without copying everything or losing the main points of what that person is saying. Making a small grammatical error or two is okay as long as your notes make sense, are comprehensive, and are written legibly. It is key that your attention to listening does not take away from your writing style or ability to write well without it looking like gibberish.

If you really want your listening skills to improve, try having to write down what someone else is saying and to spell the words correctly without missing the point of their speech or discourse. Listening and writing are two English language skills that go together and you simply cannot master one skill without the other.

listening tip: expose yourself to hearing different announcements

(NOvember 2020)

A key way to become a better listener is to attune yourself to hearing different kinds of announcements in English regardless of what type it is. From airports to train stations to TV public service announcements, it is important to know what these announcements mean and how to react to them. Announcements are especially important when it comes to hospitals, schools, or universities when something urgent is happening. You could also be at your workplace and have to listen and understand an announcement about an earthquake, a fire, or a security incident.

Being able to understand the English words in an emergency type of announcement is especially critical. The most important aspect of this tip is being able to listen carefully and without any distractions. The announcement may be garbled, rushed, and not too intelligible so you do really have to listen carefully in order to understand everything. It’s likely the announcement won’t be made twice so please do give your full attention especially in the case of some kind of emergency.

I really recommend listening to example announcements in your English studies and to become familiar with different English accents and dialects too. This kind of self-study will come in handy if an announcement is made in public and you need to know what the meaning of it was and what to do about it. There are numerous announcement audio examples out there to listen to. Please be sure to try out listening to different ones and to see if you understand a little, a lot, or everything you hear. You should be listening to multiple announcements at least once and hopefully twice to become better at this part of the English language.

You can trust me when I say that understanding announcements that you hear is a key part of living and/or working in the English-speaking world.

Listening Tip: Read Poetry or letters out loud and then record yourself

(October 2020)

A good tip that I found out recently in another language that I am studying is to record yourself reading a short-form letter or a poem out loud. You want to enunciate clearly though and out loud so you can hear how you sound. There are a number of audio and video applications out there where you can do so and it is even better when you can practice reading and recording yourself a few times to see how you do each time.

An excellent application in particular is called VoiceThread, which can be used for business, higher education, and K-12. There is also being able to record yourself with a basic .mp3 file that is available with QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

I really believe that this kind of recording should be done in a high voice and you want to be able to project yourself as much as possible. You should also try different authors or different writers to be able to pick up on various subjects and themes that you will enjoy reading about and speaking out loud. Being able to read Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and W.B. Yeats will set you apart from other English learners.

I also want to emphasize how important it is to listen to yourself after you record your audio or your video to hear how you sound, how clear your words are, and how you project them. You want to ask yourself: Am I speaking too soft?, Are my words coming out alright?, Should I slow down or speed up?, How else can I improve?

Ideally, you should want to have a teacher around to review your work as well to make sure you are enunciating well and that your reading and speaking abilities are in line with your ability to listen to your recordings and then fix your mistakes. That is the key last part to becoming a better listener by trying out a recording more than once to see how you can do better.

listening tip: mastering the english alphabet through listening and repetition

(september 2020)

When you are first starting out as a beginner in English, a crucial component towards your development as a speaker is understanding both the sounds and the flow of each letter in the alphabet. You need to both understand the phonetics behind the letter, how it is pronounced, which words in English use this kind of sound and letter, as well as an example sentence to help put it into practice.

A great lesson for you to do at home is to watch a video like my ‘One Minute Alphabet’ series with each letter in the alphabet represented by its sound(s), word(s), and an example sentence for you to repeat at home. You do not have to watch a YouTube video as a listening activity but you could also get a native English speaker or a qualified English teacher to practice the alphabet with you through a ‘call and response’ method.

They would say the letter out loud and then make the sound. You would repeat the letter and its sound(s). They would continue with one or more words that have the letter and its sound represented which you would also follow up with. Lastly, you can repeat the sentence once or twice that they would have written out for you. This kind of activity would be great for a beginner or an intermediate student even to do for practice. It is an excellent listening activity to have someone near you in person to practice the alphabet with for listening and speaking purposes. If you do not have that option, going with our YouTube series is not a bad backup option.

Lastly, you can also record yourself saying the English alphabet out loud too. You can slow down too when it comes to the sound(s), associated words, and sentence examples and then hear yourself later to see how you did compared to your teacher or the YouTube video you may have watched. A good one-hour lesson with some additional practice each week can help you nail down the English alphabet and I really believe listening and speaking go hand in hand when it comes to mastering this part of the English language.

Listening tip: Give it your full attention (NO distractions)

(July 2020)

Whether it is a Netflix movie, your friend speaking to you, music on the radio, or a podcast in your ear, a key tip to keep in mind for your English listening proficiency is to maintain no distractions. You want to give your English listening tasks your full attention and not have your mind elsewhere. Giving whatever listening medium your entire focus will have enormous dividends that will pay off in terms of you retaining your grammar and your vocabulary knowledge.

We live in a world of too many distractions and it can really hinder your ability to concentrate on learning a language like English. If you can watch or listen to something in English for at least 15 minutes or more each day without stopping, pausing, or looking away, you will definitely be on the right track in terms of your listening proficiency.

You not only have to maintain your concentration for that long but also put those potential distractions out of reach. Put your phone in the drawer, tell your friends you’re not available for a certain period of time, and try to find a quiet space in your apartment or your house for language learning. You need to take your listening seriously so as to not break up your concentration or rhythm. It’s not really what you listen to in the language but how you listen to it and whether you can stick with it without being distracted.

There are many different applications and techniques out there for staying committed to one activity or task without breaking it up so I won’t state them here. You can definitely do some research into what tools can help you listen or watch something consecutively without any stopping or pausing. You have to actively be looking to stop your distractions to increase your focus. Listening to a language and understanding it takes a lot of brainpower but most importantly, it takes a lot of willpower too. Be sure to put your full concentration into listening to an English language song, video, or reading passage in order to improve your listening proficiency. You will be glad that you did in the long run.

listening tip: translating between languages (Advanced Learners)

(June 2020)

This is an advanced listening tip for those non-native English speakers who are looking to get to the highest level with their listening skills. I really believe that being able to translate in real-time what someone is saying in your native language to English and vice versa can make you an excellent learner. This kind of skill takes a lot of practice but it is probably the most important skillset you will need as an advanced English listener.

In addition to honing your listening skills, you will be able to compete for jobs in the area of translation and to become a translator after receiving formal translation training. It is a lucrative area of work and while it is difficult, you will be able to take words from your native language, find the meaning and translate it into English in only seconds. Listening to English speakers and being able to translate it in your native language or another language you know is an invaluable skill, which is really underrated.

I would start by listening while not eavesdropping on people’s conversations but when you are out in public thinking about what people are saying in English and how that would translate to your native language in a direct way as close as possible. You can also see how in your own family or community, if applicable, how your native language and the different vocabulary words would translate back to English. This may take a dictionary as well as some active note-taking but you don’t need to take a formal course to begin your translation work through listening.

My advice to start out would be getting a friend or a family member who speaks your language and start out slowly in terms of translating words or sentences they say into English and then speaking those translated words and sentences out loud or writing them down. You also should time yourself to see how long it takes you to translate that language into English and perhaps vice versa. If you like being a translator and you have actively been working on your listening skills for at least a month by hearing people speak and translating their words at length, you can sign up for a translation course and also see if they have a scholarship or a way to perhaps get accepted to a program without paying much.

There will always be a need for translators out there especially in immigrant communities where English may not be so common. It can be a good career path and is an excellent way to help people out especially for medical purposes. I hope this tip will assist you as an advanced English listener to try out a new skillset and to be able to pursue a potential career path as a translator to and from English.

listening tip: the utility of listening to news broadcasts

(may 2020)

News broadcasts may not be your favorite thing to listen to but they do have their benefits in terms of developing your listening proficiency. In addition to learning more about local and national events and happenings, you can train yourself to become familiar with the general accent, which is much easier to pick up and understand. The average newscaster speaks in a regular tone and does not usually speak too quickly during each news segment.

The news segments or program does not last for more than usually 30 minutes or an hour and discusses a wide range of vocabulary across different topics that may come up. From the weather to sports to politics to specific news, you can train yourself to get better by picking up new vocabulary words, writing them down, and figuring out what they mean. In this day and age, you can also pause and rewind on your television if you have the type of remote control that can do that.

Another great thing about news broadcasts is that they are not just on television but come on a wide variety of formats for you to listen to. You just don’t have to wait around for the 6 o’clock in the evening to hear the latest news. When you tune in to the news in different English-speaking countries, the times can vary and the kind of news will also differ. You do not need a TV to hear about the news in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada. You can tune into a podcast or use your laptop to find the latest audio version of the news at any time of the day or even night.

Lastly, you can find a lot of news through the radio especially online radio programs that you can find broadcasted through streaming and for which you do not need to be in an English-speaking country in order to hear it. There is a flexibility in news programming that will allow you to listen to different providers at different times and with different news stories. If you would like to boost your listening proficiency and also your vocabulary and grammar knowledge, listening to news broadcasts is the way to go.

listening tip: using zoom to have group listening sessions

(March 2020)

With the current Coronavirus outbreak ongoing, you may be looking for a way to both practice your English as well as keep in touch with friends, both new and old. A good way to do so and especially for your listening abilities is to get a Zoom account and participate in a group session.

It does not matter what the group session is focused on really. The main thing you will want to do is to listen, participate, and even learn from the session regardless of what the topic is. You could be using Zoom to talk with friends, learn a new skill, or even conduct job interviews but it can really be a good listening tool especially if you can’t leave your house or apartment these days.

Zoom is free to sign-up and use which is what makes it such a universally accessible tool for small groups. You do not need to use it for hours on end but being able to keep in touch with friends and family for 30 minutes or so will go a long way to assisting with your English listening skills as well. If you have more time on your hands, ask a friend to help you practice your English listening by sharing videos or by sharing audio clips through the Zoom platform.

You can keep up with what’s going on with world news and other events by listening to these audio clips or videos and then discussing them with people in the Zoom session.

English from A to Z offers group classes through the Zoom platform and encourages students to take a look into our ‘Group Class - Listening’ option, which will allow our teachers to use audio, video, and reading passages to help our students become better listeners and to improve their vocabulary and grammar knowledge as well. Check out the links above if you are interested in using Zoom and our website to improve your English listening skills.

listening tip: netflix and listen (Using streaming services)

(january 2020)

Netflix and other streaming services are at the forefront of bringing English language television shows, documentaries, and movies to the rest of the world. This is the same with other languages too but it has revolutionized how people outside of English-speaking countries are able to receive English language entertainment. It is a tool that does cost money and you do not have to purchase a Netflix membership or another kind of streaming service commitment in order to listen to the English language but the sheer amount of content makes it easy for the average learner to practice everyday.

What Netflix can also provide you are subtitles in your own language when you’re listening and watching a TV show or movie in English but can translate to your language if you need to. You can also pause, rewind, and even slow down the video content in order so you can understand the English better. I am giving a shoutout to Netflix but in 2020, there are so many different streaming services that offer English language content that you would be hard pressed to find ways to listen to this language if you have a simple Internet connection and a laptop or tablet.

You can also stream Netflix and other services on your phone as well when you are on the go or traveling in general. Netflix is a really powerful tool among others because of how much content is available for a non-native English speaker to enjoy, how easy it is to re-watch, re-wind, or use subtitles if necessary, and how fast or slow you can view the content so you can listen more easily. If you cannot afford the membership, I understand but it is a good investment for language learning purposes and I do recommend it due to your ability to see content from all English-speaking countries including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Depending upon which country you’re in, Netflix is likely to be available with English content to boot but if it isn’t. there are a number of other streaming services out there to check out that could be available instead. Use those hours of watching Netflix wisely however to take notes, write down words you don’t know, and to perhaps write a short summary of what you watched, who the characters are, and why you do or do not like the show. It’s good practice for listening that will serve you well in your English language studies.

listening tip: play it again for me please

(December 2019)

It can be difficult to understand everything in a video for the first time. Whether it is a song, a TV show clip, a movie scene, or a news report, it is important to make sure you pause, rewind, and even play the listening tool again. It is extremely likely that as a beginner or even as an intermediate English learner, you will need to hear the same listening activity twice or even three times before you can interpret the meaning or answer questions.

The key thing to remember is that you should be patient while listening intently but not afraid to pace yourself by trying to answer a few questions at a time or to focus on a part of the video that is giving you more trouble than the other parts. You professor, teacher, or language partner should be patient with you as well. If you ask them to play the video or the song or the listening passage again, they should not be discouraged but rather encouraging especially when you are trying your best.

It is normal for an English as a second language student to need or two or three tries especially on the listening part of a test. As a student, you need to be assertive with listening intently, taking notes, answering a few questions at a time, and to lastly be able to explain what the listening activity or topic is about when the teacher asks you.

When you are practicing on your own, also don’t be afraid to play the video or the song again when you are learning by yourself. You should be getting better each time you listen to the activity but you have to limit yourself to three times total. There is nothing wrong with pausing or rewinding the listening once or twice but you do not want to turn that into a bad habit as well. Because of the Internet, there is a sheer unlimited amount of listening content to dive into so make sure you practice your listening and to do it twice ot three times if you really need it.

listening tip: youtube as a learning tool

(OCTOBER 2019)

When you want to improve your listening abilities, YouTube can be an excellent tool for a number of reasons. There are almost an unlimited amount of videos dealing with movies, music, literature, etc. that can be used to improve your English listening proficiency. You can use YouTube to boost your vocabulary and grammar knowledge as well. I think it can be beneficial to use YouTube especially if you are working with a teacher or tutor who can point you in the right direction as to which videos would be the most educational.

YouTube is a good learning tool but you should make sure that these videos you are listening to have educational content in them or that they can actually be analyzed and reviewed if you are focusing on songs, movie scenes, or reading passages. Not all videos are equal so please be sure to reach out to trusted family members, friends, or colleagues who have used YouTube as an English learning tool before and can show you some good videos.

Certain videos can be a waste of time and not be at your listening level of proficiency. This is why you have to screen the videos for the first 30 seconds to a minute to see if you will actually learn something new by paying attention to the content. You can also use the search engine of YouTube, which has gotten better in terms of showing you related videos that deal with learning English in different ways. It is good to ‘subscribe’ to channels that have useful songs, stories, movie scenes, and quick lessons on different grammar and vocabulary topics.

English from A to Z currently has a YouTube channel that you are welcome to check out with more video content on its way to listen to and learn from. You can check out one of our latest videos below and the link to the channel and other videos is listed below as well.

YouTube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-C1J3CBdyTz9bbxhBrHA2A?disable_polymer=true

listening tip: songs, songs, and more songs

(September 2019)

A key part of developing your English listening proficiency is taking the time to listen to music and a lot of it. It doesn’t matter what genre but you should be prioritizing songs and more songs. You’ll want to listen to different genres from country to pop to rock which will allow you to get a sense of different slang words, phrases, and types of lyrics. Putting your own preferences aside, you will definitely benefit from exposing yourself to different kinds of music.

Make sure to choose lyrics and songs that are at or below your proficiency level. It’s important to challenge yourself when listening to music but you don’t want to overdo it so you won’t understand any of the words or phrases being sung. Being able to understand, interpret, and even sing along to the tunes is definitely beneficial to your overall learning experience and your enjoyment with being an English language student.

For example, a good band to listen to as a beginner in English are ‘The Beatles.’ They sing at a normal pace and the lyrics, while a bit theoretical, will really appeal to the average learner in terms of picking up the meaning behind a lot of the vocabulary being used in the lyrics they sing. A key part of listening to English language music is sticking to the music that you enjoy the most and will want to listen to more of. Once you try out a number of genres, you’ll have a better understanding of what you want to focus on and which songs you want to play again and again.

In summary, listen to a number of genres within the music portfolio that you listen to, choose a particular genre that appeals to you and even a particular band or music group, and then listen to those songs once or twice to mark down the vocabulary and grammar concepts that you’ll want to improve upon or become proficient at. Listening to music lyrics multiple times will help you develop better knowledge of slang, terminology, and English grammar structures so make sure to do a deep dive on particular songs so you will become more proficient in listening over time.

listening tip: make movies your priority

(June 2019)

In the English language, there are millions of movies out there where you can pick up different vocabulary words, grammar concepts, and manners of expression that you may not be able to find elsewhere. You could also be exposed to different English accents whether the actors are from the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia.

Thanks to Hollywood, English language movies have a global audience and those movies are increasingly being focused on an international audience whose English may not be their first language. Many movies, especially superhero movies, do not have that advanced of a vocabulary so if you are a beginner or intermediate level learner, you are likely to understand the dialogue better than you would have thought.

Watching English language movies will also allow you to pick up cultural references that you would have likely not understood otherwise had you not been exposed to these movies. In addition, when you listen or watch movies, the dialogue will often be at a slower or more normal pace. It’s likely that the actors will enunciate their words more that you would be able to understand better when compared to a piece of music or a podcast.

The best thing about listening to or watching a movie is that you can always pause, rewind, or fast forward if you need to re-watch a scene to get the meaning of the dialogue. You can also be an active listener by writing down the new vocabulary, the new phrases, or the new grammatical points that you did not know before.

Movies are often an 1 1/2 hour long or up to 3 hours long. If you devote yourself to watching a full length English movie at least once a week, it is highly likely that your English vocabulary will also improve and your proficiency level will improve. Watching a movie will also make you a more attuned listener and you will be able to pick up on different English accents as well with less trouble. This weekend, do yourself a favor and watch an English language movie on Netflix. I promise that you’ll likely enjoy the film but also be able to improve your English skills while enjoying some entertainment.

Listening tip: the power of podcasts

(April 2019)

Another excellent audio format for improving your listening English proficiency are podcasts. Podcasts are a type of medium that have only recently becoming mainstream and popular in the last decade or so. The most unique thing about podcasts is the free range format that it encompasses in terms of both subject matter and length of time.

Podcasts can range from sports to news to music to pop culture and there are millions of podcasts out worldwide. Podcasts are increasingly popular in the English speaking world and there are thousands of options to choose from. Whether you are on the go, listening in at work, or are relaxing at home, you can listen to podcasts anywhere and at any time. When it comes to length of time, podcasts can be as short as five minutes to as long as four hours. Depending upon the subject matter, the podcast length will certainly differ in minutes or hours.

Podcasts are an excellent tool for improving your English listening. You will be exposed to different accents, different vocabulary, different points of view, and different subjects. Podcasts are educational, portable, and reliable in terms of content. If you listen to just one English podcast per day, your English comprehension is likely to improve immensely.

However, podcasts won’t seek you out. You, as the English student, will have to do the research to find out which podcasts appeal to you based on the hosts as well as the subject matter. Some students will like sports podcasts while others will enjoy news podcasts. I recommend finding a couple of podcasts in different areas that you like and can learn from best.

Don’t be afraid to listen to the same podcast twice to get the intended meaning. You can pause, rewind, and replay any podcast and also choose the pace of the people speaking to be slower or faster too. I believe it is also important to take notes about each podcast and highlight vocabulary words or phrases that you want to understand better. It is also helpful to write a summary of each podcast you listen to and read out loud the summary of it to improve your overall English comprehension. Good luck and happy listening, students!

listening tip: The radio is your friend

(March 2019)

There is no format more consistent in its content and more widely spread than the radio. While it may seem antiquated nowadays, you can pick up a lot of English just with listening to the radio for a few minutes to an hour. Radio programming is consistent in what it provides in that you can always find news, sports, weather, music, and even talk show programs, which will help you to develop your vocabulary and grammar.

In addition to that, radio programming has a lot of slang, colloquialisms, and idioms that you wouldn’t find in other audio formats, which will help you to better understand the culture and/or country that you’re living in. If you are commuting to a job or working on a project, you can listen to the radio especially on your phone or computer. You do not have to have a car to listen to English radio programs nowadays.

If you are looking to better your listening proficiency, the radio option cannot be beaten due to the sheer variety of offerings in terms of subject matter and the chance to hear different people speak English on those same subjects.

A good example of how best to improve your English with the radio is to listen to programming like a baseball game, which provides hours of listening practice with a good amount of vocabulary that would be used throughout the game. Sports, with its longevity and range of vocabulary, can be very useful to English language learners who are looking to use the radio to better their skills. In addition, the sheer variety of music that you can listen to on different radio networks makes it another great option which can make English fun to listen to and help you with your proficiency. Whether it is rock and roll, pop, or hip hop, these English music forms can make listening fun and help you to memorize and understand the lyrics for each song.

While the radio may not be as popular as it was a generation ago, I highly recommend listening to a radio program especially in sports or music if you want to boost your listening proficiency and have a better understanding of grammar and vocabulary in the English language.

LISTENING TIP: An Introduction to THE CALL AND RESPONSE METHOD

(January 2019)

An underrated tip to becoming a better English listener is what I and others like to refer to as the ‘call and response’ method. How it works is that you work with another person, usually a native speaker or a teacher, and they sound you a sentence or a few sentences for you to repeat. While you listen, you can also take notes and write down what you just heard to gain a better sense of what you need to say back to the teacher or friend with whom you are working with.

It could be a simple sentence like “Jack goes to the movies.” which they can repeat with you once or twice. Then, you can take a few seconds to digest of what you just heard and then repeat the sentence back to the person. While you are speaking, they should be taking note of your grammar and pronunciation in order to correct any possible mistakes that you may be making. You may need to repeat the sentence more than once in order to be properly understood. The teacher or tutor may also play you some audio of a person speaking in English and then they would ask you to respond by repeating what they just said.

The ‘call and response’ method is challenging but it can also be very rewarding especially if a non-native English learner is able to repeat more than one sentence correctly. Not only will your ability to pronounce words and letters become useful but it will also test your memory skills and your listening abilities. It is important for the student to speak slowly yet confidently in order to be understood. The teacher, friend, or tutor must also be careful in not challenging the English student with too much when they are first doing this ‘call and response’ method. I believe that this method is an effective mix of listening, writing, and speaking practice, which will produce results in just a short amount of time.,

Lastly, please be sure to start out with any easy sentence such as “Derek is a nice boy.” Once the student is able to repeat the sentence correctly then you can move on to longer and more difficult ones.

Intermediate Example: Derek is a nice boy who is helping his father today. Derek is shoveling snow from the sidewalk so that people can walk without slipping. Derek’s dad is very proud of Derek and gives him a cookie for his hard work.

Advanced Example: Derek is a conscientious young man who is working alongside his father today. Derek is helping his father to shovel almost a foot of snow from the sidewalk so that his neighbors will be able to walk around without slipping. Derek’s father is proud of his son and rewards him with some treats and a little money. Derek is happy to have helped his father and is pleased at the good work he has done. Derek’s neighbors are also very appreciative of it and give Derek and his father some hot chocolate.

As you can see from above, the intermediate and advanced examples are much more difficult but if you are feeling like you are up to the challenge, your speaking, writing, and listening abilities will improve dramatically the more you do the ‘call and response’ method. Good luck!

listening tip: expose yourself to different english accents

(December 2018)

One underrated aspect of learning how to listen in English is the ability to hear different accents depending upon which country you are in. If you are fortunate enough to have the chance to travel or live in an English-speaking country, you can listen to the various accents that make up the country. You’ll get a sense over time for the pronunciation of the English accent as well as what kind of unique vocabulary is associated with that city, region, or country.

I think that regardless of whether you are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, etc., any of these countries and their respective regions will have unique accents to their English that you can learn a lot about from. If you spend years living in that country, you may even be able to adapt their accent as your own with your English. You can only do that by learning how the accent is pronounced, how the vocabulary and grammar of that accent line up, and also by listening intently to your friends and/or work colleagues in the country who all have that accent.

Part of the fun of learning English is to become familiar with the dozens of accents that our language has and it’s fun to pick and choose which accent you most like and would like to emulate yourself. Please be sure to listen to different English accents and to travel within the English-speaking country to get a sense of the regional accents too. Each country has regional accents such as the United States where the Southern accent is much different than the New England or California accents.

Listen carefully to these accents and make sure you meet and get to know people from different English-speaking countries to get familiar with their accents. Also, try your best to decipher which country that person is from based on their particular English accent. You may get pretty good at that the longer you travel and live in English-speaking countries. Lastly, be sure to listen and hear different media from these unique countries such as TV shows, movies, songs, radio programs, podcasts, etc. The chances will be good that you will understand the accent that much more easily and even be able to adopt it yourself.

Listening tiP: Using audiobooks to read and listen along to the story, passage, or article

(October 2018)

Mastering your listening skills and abilities in English is perhaps the most difficult of them all due to the fact that you really have to be paying attention to not just the words that are being spoken to but also the emotion and the context as well.

It can be hard to make listening activities fun to do but I believe that using audiobooks in the classroom is a great way to have students both read and following but also hear the emotions, the meaning, and the context of how the story is progressing. By listening to a book and not just reading it, there is an added level of discovery that you don’t get otherwise.

If you’re an English student and your teacher doesn’t use audiobooks in the classroom, it would be good of you to do so at home to give yourself some extra listening practice. Your teacher or professor may also be amenable to using audiobooks as well if you can do a good job of politely suggesting the idea to them and discussing the benefits of how reading while listening can help you retain more information about the book especially its characters, its setting, its main ideas, and what the story was all about.

Listening to an audiobook in particular is a lengthy activity but if you as the student are engaged in the story as well as other aspects of the book, then you will be learning a lot more grammar, vocabulary, and you’ll also be able to understand how emotions are expressed in the English language. If you can’t listen to an audiobook with your classmates because your teacher does not have time to go through with it, then take the time and invest in purchasing an audiobook, which is cheaper than a regular book and more transportable.

You may find that instead of reading the book alone to retain the English language concepts that you are better served by listening to the book instead and deeply concentrating on hearing it through your speakers / your computer. If you need it, you can also have the physical book in front of you and be reading the same chapter as the one you are listening to through your computer.

Don’t be afraid to supplement your listening activities with the added benefit of using audiobooks. You’ll absorb a lot more of the English language through your hearing it being spoken and you’ll also gain a greater appreciation for the authors, the stories, and the concepts that make up English literature.