How to Find Just the Right Listening Exercises
Start listening. Think about the meaning. You are going nicely. Then someone asks you a question. And you choke.
What? It is all fine and dandy to listen and feel like you are understanding. It is quite another thing to respond to questions. And that is where you can find some of the the most valuable listening exercises. Quite often students are happy and comfortable until they are asked a question. Then they panic.
This panic point is... Read More »
... actually your best friend. It is telling you what you need to practise. You need to practise the listening point that stopped you from understanding the question.
In stage two, clap out the rhythm again very slowly and speak the words of the question as you clap. You may need to do this several times. Many students have a great deal of difficulty here, but they also learn a lot by doing this.
Finally, go ahead and repeat the question. Once again, you may have to do this several times. By this point you probably understand the question, and can answer it. If you can’t understand it, look more deeply at the grammar or vocabulary.
If you can make all the sounds correctly, but you still do not understand the meaning, write it out, and try to decide what the words are. You may have trouble here if there are reductions. Reductions are very hard for non-native speakers to understand without direct instruction.
You need to do this practise to build your ‘chunks’ of English. If the question has, say, twelve words in it, you want to group the words into two or three groups. Then it is easier to hear, repeat and understand.
What? It is all fine and dandy to listen and feel like you are understanding. It is quite another thing to respond to questions. And that is where you can find some of the the most valuable listening exercises. Quite often students are happy and comfortable until they are asked a question. Then they panic.
This panic point is... Read More »
... actually your best friend. It is telling you what you need to practise. You need to practise the listening point that stopped you from understanding the question.
Take it Apart
Listen to the question a second time. If you cannot respond, then try to find the part that is difficult in the question. Sometimes you know right away. IF you don’t know what is difficult then shadow the question.Shadow It
Are you missing words? Are there words that you cannot recognize? Or is it just too long? Each case will take you to a different kind of practise.Missing Words
This can be difficult for students to sense on their own. Teachers can find this problem easily. In the case of missing words, the problem basically comes down to rhythm. The student is not listening to the rhythm. Then they guess what they heard, rather than feel it through the rhythm. And the guess is usually wrong.Clap it Out
Listen to the question again. And again if you need to. Try to clap the exact number of beats as there are in the question. Assistance from a native speaker can be very helpful here. Once you can clap it out you can move onto stage two.In stage two, clap out the rhythm again very slowly and speak the words of the question as you clap. You may need to do this several times. Many students have a great deal of difficulty here, but they also learn a lot by doing this.
Finally, go ahead and repeat the question. Once again, you may have to do this several times. By this point you probably understand the question, and can answer it. If you can’t understand it, look more deeply at the grammar or vocabulary.
Words You Cannot Recognize
If there are sounds that you cannot repeat by shadowing, then you have to work on shadowing. This is easily done with a teacher, but if you are alone, then you have to record your voice and compare it to the original audio.If you can make all the sounds correctly, but you still do not understand the meaning, write it out, and try to decide what the words are. You may have trouble here if there are reductions. Reductions are very hard for non-native speakers to understand without direct instruction.
Is It Just Too Long?
If the question is just too long, then you are the most fortunate. You can overcome this problem by doing listen and repeat practise. You can do it with a teacher but it is easy to do on your own time.You need to do this practise to build your ‘chunks’ of English. If the question has, say, twelve words in it, you want to group the words into two or three groups. Then it is easier to hear, repeat and understand.
But What if it is Too Fast?
Keep on practising all three techniques in this order. As you keep practising, you will improve. Then you will find the problem that you were having at the beginning. But you need to keep going. Even if you think it is impossible, just keep clapping and shadowing and repeating. Practise over several days if you need to. You will improve before you know it.Summary
If you are asked a question and cannot respond, try to repeat the question. If you cannot repeat it, then try to shadow it. If you cannot shadow it, then try to clap the rhythm. By following these three steps you will soon know what your problem is. Then you can practise that area, whether it is missing words, not hearing the sounds, or not chunking enough words together to help you understand.The End of the Good Times
Verb list1. be over to be finished or ended.
2. live it up to live or celebrate in an extravagant way
3. make room for to be adaptable enough to allow something without major change
4. keep on to continue doing something
5. put off to delay or postpone something
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Read the story here: »
Janine Harbridge loves going on expensive vacations to warm tropical countries. But the days of the strong economy are over now, and she knows that she can't keep on living it up without thinking about tomorrow. If the economy gets much worse, she might even have to make room for another person to share her apartment, because the rent is getting very expensive now. She might be able to put off renting the room though, if she saves her money from now on.
You can get your own copy of this recording in mp3 format here - (at no charge).
