Dear English Learner… How much do you Listen?
Let me tell you a story…
I’ve been married to an Italian speaker for over 25 years, but never seriously thought of learning Italian until 2022 when I did a course that discussed neuroplasticity and language learning later in life.
While I speak French, and there are language family similarities with Italian, the two languages remain different one from the other. Between on-again/off again (part-time) study however, and listening to 2–4 hours per week of Italian podcasts, I’ve made progress.
Listening to language makes a difference!
Intro
This is the second of four articles in which I’ll discuss each of the four basic language-learning skills (the first was Reading). Becoming comfortable in all four will lead you to becoming a confident (& competent) English speaker.
As a reminder…
Passive vs. Active Language Skills
It is helpful to think about the four skills in terms of whether they are
(a) written English or spoken English
(b) a passive skill or an active skill
Here you can see the groupings
Listening… Passive Pleasure!
Like reading, listening is a passive skill, and like reading… it can be a relaxed way to improve your skills in the language. This is especially true when you’re not listening to English as part of a test, an evaluation or a conversation where you’re expected to speak.
Similarly to reading, one reason that listening to English can be pleasurable, is that there isn’t always the pressure of immediacy. In other words, like with reading… you can take your time!
The amount and variety of listening options these days is truly incredible!
- You can watch video content (movies, series, short & long form video) on a number of platforms or streaming services.
- Thanks to mobile data, your phone can pull down a thousand different radio stations, individual shows or podcasts.
- Audio books are everywhere… extremely accessible.
- What about first-language speakers in your daily life… or colleagues that speak very well already?
- Oh yes… there are also online English learning courses as well.
(…but don’t feel you must!)
You can listen to the kind of content you enjoy, at times that are convenient, for as much or as little time as you have, all while feeling no pressure to respond.
- Hint: Do you have any regular commutes, whether by car or public transportation? They can be a great time for a podcast!
Listening… Passive PAIN!
OK… while there can be some pleasure associated with listening to the language you’re trying to learn, let’s face it… it can also be painful. Some of the most talked about pain points are:
- Speed: When first-language English speakers talk at what is a normal pace for them, English learners can find it difficult to understand. PAIN!
- Accent: If you learned English in school, in France for example, it’s quite likely that (a) you had a teacher who spoke English with a French accent or (b) possibly a British ex-pat living in France, but who spoke with a UK accent. You will be more or less comfortable with English spoken in either of those accents. What happens, however, when you meet someone from India, Pakistan, Turkey, or China who is speaking English (as their second language), with a very different accent? PAIN!
- Vocabulary: Depending on the context, the vocabulary used can be very different. One day, for example, you’re listening to a discussion on civil engineering and city planning, the next day, you’re dealing with visitors to a bio-medical conference. Very. Different. Vocabulary… PAIN!
- Then there are also some other possible pain points as well… similar to reading you can frustrate yourself by listening to too much, too soon , and with a vocabulary that is far too advanced for your current comfort level. Watch out for this!
When you face one, or all, of these pain points in a conversation, you can come away feeling quite discouraged about the experience. That feeling of defeat can cause you to underestimate your capacity, telling yourself something like: “I’ll never understand English!”
Not true!
General Listening Tips
To get the most out of your time… here are some tips that can help you maximize the impact of listening in your language learning journey:
- Listen to material on topics that INTEREST you.
It’s easier to stay engaged with, and keep listening to, a topic that your brain is interested in (eg. travel, tech news, cooking, sports, etc.). Don’t feel that you only have to listen to podcasts/videos that teach English. - Listening to familiar topics means that you’ll probably already have some vocabulary; you’ll understand more of what you hear.
- Listen regularly and even listen repeatedly. It’s not uncommon for me to listen to a single podcast episode 2 or 3 times. I understand a few more things each time!
Podcasts
I suggest you find 2–3 podcasts adapted to your level. It’s good to have a couple to choose from because if you only listen to the same one all the time, you’ll quickly go through available episodes and you may get bored… it’s always nice to change things up a bit.
- Find podcasts of an appropriate length.
Some podcasts I enjoy listening to have episodes that are 1–1.5 hours long. If you are a beginner, something that long may overwhelm & frustrate you. There are many podcasts with episodes as short as 10, 15 or 20 minutes long. - Don’t JUST listen to “How to Learn English” podcasts!
While these podcasts offer valuable information about the language… they can sometimes feel like work and the brain is always looking for a balance of work & pleasure (or interest). Let’s face it… an episode on English prepositions or English past-tense verbs is useful, but not always interesting. The answer… - Include a variety of content styles.
In addition to a good “How-to” podcast… include other things as well.
— Do you enjoy horseback riding? …find a podcast.
— Are you interested in the tech sector? …find a podcast.
— Do you like literature? …find a podcast. - Find a podcast host with a voice you find pleasant.
Their voice will be in your ears quite a bit… if their voice gets on your nerves… you will soon abandon it. - Find a podcast that suits your vibe.
If you’re mild-mannered, quiet type and they use a lot of loud music in between segments… you’ll soon get annoyed and abandon it. - You can often slow down or speed up podcasts.
If it’s moving too fast… see if you can reduce it to 0.75x of the original pace. Similarly, if your comprehension is excellent… put it at 1.25/1.5x.
Videos
Most of the same tips apply to videos (on YouTube for example)… but there’s one tip I’d add here.
It’s OK to use subtitles.
There are those who say that using subtitles is “cheating” because you’re no longer getting understanding only from the audio… you’re reading it. My answer to those people is this:
- After watching a video, if the brain comes away having understood a portion of the content, it will consider the time well spent, and will motivate you to do the same thing again.
- However, if the brain feels that it hasn’t understood very much, it will be frustrated and will convince you that watching the video wasn’t worth the time… (along with “See, I TOLD you you’d never learn!”). You won’t be motivated to do it again.
If the subtitles help you… use them. If you do, the time will eventually come where you don’t need to rely on them as much… or even at all.
Your listening skills will have improved!
In Conclusion
Listening has the potential to really help you advance your English learning, but like with reading…
- Too much pressure will make you frustrated and will discouraging you from continuing.
- Listening to English regularly trains your ear to recognize the sounds and intonation patterns of the language.
If you want to increase your listening comprehension…. there’s only one way: listen, Listen, LISTEN!
Final Question:
What kind of listening exercise made a difference in your learning?
Let me know in the comments below.
