Listening Is the Best Way to Learn English Vocabulary

... open them from time to time and test yourself.

Read

And read the dictionary every night before you go to bed. This will be great. Except for One Thing.

It Doesn’t Work

Forcing yourself to study like this is the least effective way to learn vocabulary. To begin with, it’s boring. That is great for your motivation (note my sarcasm here).

Next, flashcards as test devices are okay, if you have studied. But to study by testing yourself is a terrible idea. You will feel like you don’t know anything.

Finally, reading before bed is not a good way to study. Your body is preparing to sleep. It is shutting down. This is not a good time to study. Especially a difficult thing like a foreign language. That will put you to sleep, but your English will not improve very much.

Study By Listening

Listening is a very effective way to study. Oh, the flashcards? They are also very helpful. Just don’t use them too much. And you must do more than just use flashcards. Now take a look at how to study by listening.

Choose Your Target

You have to decide what vocabulary you want to learn. Basic vocabulary? Daily words, or adjectives? Specialist jargon for your area of expertise? You have to decide. And write the list down. You can write it in your own language and translate it later, if you have to.

Find or Make Some Audio

Find some audio with the vocabulary used in it. You might find it in pod casts, or on YouTube. Perhaps you will have to write your own stories and get them recorded. Do whatever you need to. Just get the audio. You will be using it a lot. Now it is time to practise.

Practise Listening

I mean practise. Not just listen. Practise.

Practise listening to the sounds. Shadow what you hear. Listen and repeat. If you cannot repeat something, then you need to practise listening more. Try to beat out the rhythm with your fingers.

If You have Time Make Audio Flashcards

Use some software like Mnemosyne. You can include audio in these flashcards. The brilliant thing about flashcard software is that you do not study things you already know. This lets you study more efficiently. And you learn faster.

Many Senses

I agree with many of my teacher friends. They say learn with many senses. Read, write, draw, listen, speak. All of these activities will help you learn. In this article I focused on the sense of hearing. I described how to set up your listening practise. Choose vocabulary, get it in audio form, and practise through one of several listening practise techniques. And use audio flashcards if you have time to make them.

You can find lots of stories on this site for practising listening. While you are here, be sure to sign up my e-zine. You will get a monthly mailing with a script for a conversation, as well as a link to a page where you can listen to the audio for that script.

Listen to Jakub's story to hear about his love, his funny situation, and his interesting friend.