About understanding people speaking in English, I have good news and bad news.
Since people often prefer to hear the bad news first, here it is: understanding native speakers is really hard.
In fact, it's really, really, really hard! And you know why. Because they speak quickly, use a lot of phrasal verbs and expressions, and because they have regional accents. They don't separate the words, and it seems impossible to figure out anything, or you hear something different from what they're actually saying, and eventually you lose your focus.
I know.
The good news is that you can improve your understanding with practice.
Maybe you'll never be able to understand that guy from Scotland or New York perfectly, but by structuring your listening and practicing, you can improve a lot.
Here are five steps to take:
1.
Find a listening resource that you like. This is important, because if you like it, you'll use it more. This could be a CD with a book, or something online. Here are two online resources that are well designed:
BBC Words in the News,
TED.
2.
Plan to use your resource when you have time to repeat the activity twice or three times (or more). Listening to something only once doesn't give you the opportunity to remember much or to learn any new words or expressions.
3.
Use your listening with text or subtitles. You may prefer to read subtitles or text the first time, or you may prefer just to listen and see what you hear. I think the most effective way is to listen once without text, listen again with text or subtitles, and then do it one more time to focus on parts that are difficult. Having the text or subtitles that you can pause is a great way to check your understanding.
4.
Start identifying different accents. If you listen to English speakers from different countries, it can be interesting to try to notice the some differences in the way they speak. For example, many Americans pronounce the "r" very clearly at the end of words like "never". On the other hand, many British speakers don't, which changes the sound of the word a lot.
5.
Use the same sources repeatedly. It takes time to get used to the way people speak. Give yourself this time, and try to be patient. After all, it took years for you to learn your native language, and people were speaking to you in it every day!
I would love to hear from you about any other listening practices you've found to be effective...
