Listening is the first skill to acquire a language. Actually, infants learn to speak through listening. They keep listening to peaple around them, and then they try to imitate. Bit by bit, they speak. Therefore, English learners should focus on listening and listen as much as possible because you will repeat, when you speak, what you have already listened to.
The following 10 tips make a powerful listening strategy that will enable you to both understand what you listen to and speak very well.
1. Try to, initially, get easy English audios or videos. There are many on the Internet. With the course of time, you can get advanced listening materials.
2. Identify the topic of the audio/video.
Identifying the topic makes it easier for you to understand the general idea and have a clear picture of the material. In videos, the topic is usually written rather than stated. Sometimes, the topic is not at all mentioned, so you ought to guess and infer it.
3. Identify whether it is a talk, a dialogue, a story, a lecture, or a discussion. This will help you understand who is speaking and whom is s/he speaking to. When doing so, you get the framework of the listening material and comprehend the situation. You will listen with a clear visual image of the situation.
4. Understand the main idea. Usually main ideas are preceded by key words such as: the main idea is, I will speak about, the bottom line is, what I am after is, etc. when you hear these or similar phrases, get ready for the main idea.
5. Understand details such as numbers, colors, names, etc.(you should have a notebook to help you jot down the info). In order for you to take notes easily and skillfully, you need to practice note-taking and learn how to write fast. Here is an exercise to help you: try to get some audios and write down all what you hear. Gradually, you will be able to simultaneously understand and write quickly.
6. Develop making inference ability to understand indirect information. Sometimes, information might not be stated clearly. For instance, a person might say: She uttered her first word when she was two years old. Three years later she joined school. How old was she when she joined school? You, as a listener, should enumerate and give the answer, which is "five".
7. Intonation and change of voice are highly significant. When listening, you might encounter a man who suddenly changes his voice to imitate Marlin Monroe. Here, you should understand that he is imitating someone else. You should also understand the purpose for which he changes his voice. Further, understandung intonation helps you distinguished statements from questions, suggestions from invitations, and so on.
8. Keep your concentration on the listening stuff and don't let your mind wander. Keep your mind focused as possible as you can. To do this, you need to enjoy the thing you listen to or have a strong desire to comprehend it.
9. Listen and repeat. In order for you to improve your accent, you need to listen, pause the audio or video, then repeat the utterence. As a matter of fact, this is the best way to polish your accent and speak a native-like accent.
10. Do not get frustrated and quit when you listen but don't understand. It's just a matter of time and effort. You need to struggle and strain yourself in the beginning, but once you just learn the basics and apply these tips, it becomes second nature.
Reading without applying will lead you nowhere, so go ahead and start applying these tips.
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