English Skills for the Real World Listening English Practice

want to speak real english from your

first lesson

at englishclass101.com

hi everyone are you ready to test your

language level in this video we’ll test

your listening skills

we’ll go over four levels of difficulty

so you can figure out what your real

level is

and if you want to improve your language

listening comprehension skills

just click the link in the description

to access the best audio and video

library of online content

let’s go level 1 absolute beginner

a woman and a man are looking at a

photograph

which photo are they looking at

[Music]

this is a photo of the soccer team your

son is on isn’t it

which one is your son this one

oh he’s the tallest one yep

he’s even taller than the coach

a boy is reading from his journal

what was the first thing the boy did

today

[Music]

the weather was great today i went

swimming this afternoon at the pool

and i went to a movie in the evening i

also studied all morning

today wasn’t bad

a man is calling the doctor’s office

what time does he need to be at the

doctor’s office by

[Music]

hello how can i help you what time do

you close today

we close at six o’clock but please come

in before 5

okay thank you

a man and a woman are looking over a

menu at a restaurant

what’s the man going to order

[Music]

what are you going to order the pizza

looks delicious

i think i’ll go with that i had pizza

yesterday

so okay then what about the hamburger

sounds good i’ll go with that

a woman is asking a store clerk

something at a bookstore

which book does the woman want to see

[Music]

excuse me i’d like to take a look at a

book on that shelf

which book would you like the one about

cars

one moment please this one

yep that’s right here you go

level two beginner

a man and a woman are talking about the

design of the company business card

which design did they decide on

we’ve got some new designs for the

company business card

which one do you think is best let’s see

i think the company name should be

bigger okay then

it should be one of these right

i like these because the company name is

big and on top

one of these has a space for a photo

what do you think

hmm i think it makes the text a little

too small

yeah the text could be a little hard to

read with the picture

okay then let’s go with the other one

you’re listening to the weather forecast

what’s the forecast

[Music]

we’ll have sunny weather all through the

morning in the afternoon though it’s

going to get cloudy

and we’ll have rain in the night the

rain will continue through the night

until early tomorrow morning when the

sun will start coming out again

a man is talking with his wife on the

phone

what’s he going to buy

[Music]

hey heading home now okay

could you buy something on the way home

sure

what do you want me to get we need some

milk and bread for tomorrow’s breakfast

milk and bread got it how many cartons

of milk

one should be fine okay anything else

one second let me check if we have

butter

okay we’ve got some alright

do we have any beer left yes we still

have a bottle here

okay so we don’t need to buy any right

now

right i think we’re good thank you

a man and a woman are talking about

printers in the office

where is the old printer

[Music]

where should we put the new printer

i think we should put it where the old

printer is now

but the old one still works we’re going

to keep using it

okay so we can’t put the new one there

it’s too bad

it would be nice to have the new one in

the bookshelf next to the door

but there’s only room for one printer

there okay then

i think we should put it on the other

side of the room right

how about next to the window that sounds

good

a man is looking for a birthday present

for his wife at a jewelry shop

which necklace is he going to buy

[Music]

may i help you i’m looking for a

birthday present for my wife what do you

recommend

well what about this necklace hmm

it looks a little long what about these

over here

we have one with the flower pendant and

another one with a heart

i’m looking for something a bit more

sophisticated

how much is this pearl necklace over

here it’s five thousand dollars

hmm that’s too expensive

okay i’ll take the first one sure

thing here you are

level three intermediate

a woman is trying on a dress and talking

to a shop clerk

which dress is she going to buy

[Music]

it looks very nice on you and it fits

perfectly

yeah it fits but i usually wear plain

colors

i’m not used to this kind of a pattern

well i think you look great

yeah still it would take some courage

for me to actually wear this

what about this dress then the pattern

is much more reserved so it won’t feel

as flashy

you’re right let me try that one on go

right ahead

what do you think ma’am this one suits

me much more than the last

do you have a long-sleeved version with

this design

yes we do thanks i’ll buy that

a male and female student are looking at

job advertisements

which job is the female student going to

apply for

[Music]

hey what do you think about this job the

hourly pay is pretty high

sure the pay looks great but could you

really do a newspaper delivery route

of course i’m good at riding bikes but

i’m worried about waking up early

what about this one the pay isn’t as

high but you can work two or three days

a week

and start working from the evening oh

this one

a supermarket cashier huh well it would

be good to work after school

this one for a coffee shop might be good

too oh yeah i love that place

and it’s on my way to school not bad huh

hmm which one should i apply to which

too is it between

the coffee shop and the newspaper

delivery route

yeah the pay for the newspaper route is

really nice

okay my mind’s made up i guess i’ll just

have to get up early

a woman is talking to her hair stylist

how would she like to change her hair

[Music]

hi may i help you hi i’ve got a three

o’clock reservation for richie

ah yes welcome miss richie please come

this way

what can i do for you today i’d like to

change my hairstyle a little bit

okay what length would you like about

shoulder length

alright and what about your bangs keep

the bangs straight down or part it on

the side

to the side a bit which side

maybe a little left from the middle got

we’ll start with the shampoo so please

come this way

a man is making a reservation at a hotel

which room is he going to stay in

[Music]

seaside hotel how may i help you hi

i’d like to stay for one night on

september 22nd

certainly one night from september 22nd

how many people two would you like a

smoking or a non-smoking room sir

non-smoking the only non-smoking room

available on that day

is a mountain view room is that okay

well

i was hoping for an ocean view room

i’m sorry but the only ocean view room

available on that day

is a smoking room i see

is there a non-smoking ocean view room

available on september 23rd

yes there is okay we’ll stay on

september 23rd

a husband and a wife are looking at some

floor plans

which room are they going to see

[Music]

how about this one it’s got a nice large

living room

hmm i like a big living room but

i want the parking space let’s see how

about this one

yeah that’s nice should we go see this

one

wait a second isn’t the closet a bit too

small

good point hmm there doesn’t seem to be

one that’s perfect

wait how about this one it’s got

everything we need doesn’t it

and the closet is pretty large too let’s

go see this one

okay

level four advanced

a man and a woman are talking about

preparations for a presentation they’ll

be making tomorrow at their office

what will the woman check after the

conversation ends

[Music]

okay i think we’re almost ready for the

presentation tomorrow

just a few more things the meeting will

start at 9

sharp so could you double check the

meeting room today

yep i’ve already checked the room okay

great

did you make sure the projector is

working okay oh i was gonna check the

projector tomorrow morning when i have

my laptop

no we’ve got to get that checked today

we won’t have time to deal with it in

the morning if there’s a problem

so make sure to check that projector

today that’s the most important thing

okay

will do and did you get the copies of

those handouts

ms tanaka is making them now let’s see

what else oh did you check the

whiteboard

yes i did sometimes the pens don’t have

enough ink left in them

did you get a chance to check them not

yet but i’ll make sure to do that later

yes please make sure to do that today

a woman is calling on the phone to

reserve tickets for a play

which two seats did she get

[Music]

hello this is blackfriar’s playhouse can

i help you

i’d like to get two tickets for king

lear at 5 30 this evening

do you still have any tickets available

we do have a few seats left

but i’m sorry to say we don’t have any

next to each other

if you don’t mind though we can get you

two seats separately

okay we don’t mind do you have any

particular requests

well do you have any aisle seats yes we

have an aisle seat at the left side of

the center section

and to the right of it three seats over

we have another free seat

to the side okay then please book that

aisle seat

certainly how about the other one do you

have any seats near the center

the only center seats we have left are

from the first row to the third row

i’m not too crazy about having actors

spit on me so

this room is relatively small and i

think you could enjoy the play even at

the end of the row on the side

is that so then i’ll take the one you

mentioned before on the left side

a woman is talking with a man who works

for an outsourced printing company about

a brochure for a new product

when is the deadline for the first

design draft for the brochure

we decided to launch the new product on

october 15th

and we’d like to offer you the contract

to make the brochure

thank you so much we’re definitely

excited about helping you with this

project

so could you tell us a bit about the

schedule when will you need everything

well considering the time needed for

printing we’d like to get the brochures

to the printing stage by the end of

september

so would it be possible for you to get

us the first design draft by the middle

of august

well we’d like to give you three design

options for the initial draft

and then have you choose the one which

best fits your concept

then we’ll make the final design based

on your choice so it’ll be very helpful

if you could give us two more weeks to

prepare for this stage hmm

okay maybe one month will be enough time

to choose one of the designs you’ve made

and then decide on the final design

alright we’ll be counting on you

you’re in good hands our design team is

the best thank you so much

a man is joining a sports club and

getting information on its policies

what type of membership will he choose

[Music]

let me start by explaining our club’s

different membership options as

described in this brochure

regular members can use the gym in the

pool at any time on any day of the week

but we also offer early morning

memberships where people can use the

facilities only in the early morning

and night memberships for people who

only want to come in the evening

what are the hours for early morning

members early morning members can use

the facilities from 6 a.m to 10 a.m

and night members can use them from 6

p.m to 11 p.m

i see so early morning members can stop

by and use the facilities on their way

to work

exactly the early morning type is

popular among people with nine to five

jobs

and we also offer memberships just for

the gym or just for the pool

if you only want to use one of those i

want to use both the gym and the pool

i think i’ll use the gym in the early

morning before going to work on weekdays

and then use the pool on the weekend do

you have a membership that covers

something like early mornings for the

weekdays but all day on the weekend

we’re sorry but we don’t offer a

membership like that sir

okay i don’t think i can get up that

early on the weekend

so i’ll choose this membership option

a man is reporting about his company’s

sales performance at a meeting

which two charts is he using for his

presentation

[Music]

please look at the handout the left

chart shows our company’s sales over the

past three years

and the sales forecast for the current

year and the right chart shows the

monthly breakdown in sales up to october

of this year

now please have a look at the left chart

it shows that sales have been steadily

increasing over the past three years

and if we can keep increasing our sales

the total sales for this year will show

an increase over last year

next please look at the right chart the

right chart shows that the campaigns we

ran in april and august were fairly

effective

i see but the sales decreased in may and

september following the campaigns

yes but this kind of decrease is

unavoidable i expect the annual sales

for this year will show an increase over

last year

if we can keep increasing our sales

how was it now you can check your

answers

level one absolute beginner answer

which photo are they looking at

a woman and a man are looking at a

photograph

which photo are they looking at

this is a photo of the soccer team your

son is on isn’t it

which one is your son this one

oh he’s the tallest one yep

he’s even taller than the coach

what was the first thing the boy did

today

a boy is reading from his journal

what was the first thing the boy did

today

the weather was great today i went

swimming this afternoon at the pool

and i went to a movie in the evening i

also studied all morning

today wasn’t bad

what time does he need to be at the

doctor’s office by

a man is calling the doctor’s office

what time does he need to be at the

doctor’s office by

hello how can i help you what time do

you close today

we close at six o’clock but please come

in before 5

okay thank you

what’s the man going to order

a man and a woman are looking over a

menu at a restaurant

what’s the man going to order what are

you going to order

the pizza looks delicious i think i’ll

go with that

i had pizza yesterday so

okay then what about the hamburger

sounds good

i’ll go with that

which book does the woman want to see

a woman is asking a store clerk

something at a bookstore

which book does the woman want to see

excuse me i’d like to take a look at a

book on that shelf

which book would you like the one about

cars

one moment please this one

yep that’s right here you go

level 2 beginner answer

which design did they decide on

a man and a woman are talking about the

design of the company business card

which design did they decide on

we’ve got some new designs for the

company business card

which one do you think is best let’s see

i think the company name should be

bigger okay then

it should be one of these right i like

these because the company name is big

and on top one of these has a space for

a photo

what do you think hmm i think it makes

the text a little too small

yeah the text could be a little hard to

read with the picture

okay then let’s go with the other one

what’s the forecast

you’re listening to the weather forecast

what’s the forecast we’ll have sunny

weather

all through the morning in the afternoon

though it’s going to get cloudy

and we’ll have rain in the night the

rain will continue through the night

until early tomorrow morning when the

sun will start coming out again

what’s he going to buy

a man is talking with his wife on the

phone

what’s he going to buy hey

heading home now okay could you buy

something on the way home

sure what do you want me to get we need

some milk and bread for tomorrow’s

breakfast

milk and bread got it how many cartons

of milk

one should be fine okay anything else

one second let me check if we have

butter

okay we’ve got some alright

do we have any beer left yes we still

have a bottle here

okay so we don’t need to buy any right

now

right i think we’re good thank you

where is the old printer

a man and a woman are talking about

printers in the office

where is the old printer where should we

put the new printer

i think we should put it where the old

printer is now

but the old one still works we’re going

to keep using it

okay so we can’t put the new one there

it’s too bad

it would be nice to have the new one in

the bookshelf next to the door

but there’s only room for one printer

there okay then

i think we should put it on the other

side of the room right

how about next to the window that sounds

good

which necklace is he going to buy

a man is looking for a birthday present

for his wife at a jewelry shop

which necklace is he going to buy

may i help you i’m looking for a

birthday present for my wife

what do you recommend well what about

this necklace

hmm it looks a little long what about

these

over here we have one with the flower

pendant and another one with a heart

i’m looking for something a bit more

sophisticated

how much is this pearl necklace over

here it’s five thousand dollars

hmm that’s too expensive

okay i’ll take the first one sure thing

here you are level three

intermediate answer

which dress is she going to buy

a woman is trying on a dress and talking

to a shop clerk

which dress is she going to buy it looks

very nice on you

and it fits perfectly yeah it fits

but i usually wear plain colors i’m not

used to this kind of a pattern

well i think you look great yeah

still it would take some courage for me

to actually wear this

what about this dress then the pattern

is much more reserved so it won’t feel

as flashy

you’re right let me try that one on go

right ahead

what do you think ma’am this one suits

me much more than the last

do you have a long-sleeved version with

this design

yes we do thanks i’ll buy that

which job is the female student going to

apply for

a male and female student are looking at

job advertisements

which job is the female student going to

apply for

hey what do you think about this job the

hourly pay is pretty high

sure the pay looks great but could you

really do a newspaper delivery route

of course i’m good at riding bikes but

i’m worried about waking up early

what about this one the pay isn’t as

high but you can work two or three days

a week and start working from the

evening

oh this one a supermarket cashier huh

well it would be good to work after

school

this one for a coffee shop might be good

too oh yeah

i love that place and it’s on my way to

school

not bad huh hmm which one should i apply

which two is it between the coffee shop

and the newspaper delivery route

yeah the pay for the newspaper route is

really nice

okay my mind’s made up i guess i’ll just

have to get up early

how would she like to change her hair

a woman is talking to her hair stylist

how would she like to change her hair hi

may i help you hi i’ve got a three

o’clock reservation for richie

ah yes welcome miss ritchie please come

this way

what can i do for you today i’d like to

change my hairstyle a little bit

okay what length would you like about

shoulder length

all right and what about your bangs keep

the bangs

straight down or part it on the side to

the side a bit

which side maybe a little left from the

middle

got it we’ll start with the shampoo so

please come this way

which room is he going to stay in

a man is making a reservation at a hotel

which room is he going to stay in

seaside hotel how may i help you hi

i’d like to stay for one night on

september 22nd

certainly one night from september 22nd

how many people two would you like a

smoking or a non-smoking room sir

non-smoking the only non-smoking room

available on that day

is a mountain view room is that okay

well

i was hoping for an ocean view room

i’m sorry but the only ocean view room

available on that day is a smoking room

i see is there a non-smoking ocean view

room available on september 23rd

yes there is okay we’ll stay on

september 23rd

which room are they going to see

a husband and a wife are looking at some

floor plans

which room are they going to see how

about this one

it’s got a nice large living room hmm

i like a big living room but i want the

parking space

let’s see how about this one yeah that’s

nice

should we go see this one wait a second

isn’t the closet

a bit too small good point

hmm there doesn’t seem to be one that’s

perfect

wait how about this one it’s got

everything we need doesn’t it

and the closet is pretty large too let’s

go see this one

okay level four

advanced answer

what will the woman check after the

conversation ends

a man and a woman are talking about

preparations for a presentation they’ll

be making tomorrow

at their office what will the woman

check after the conversation ends

okay i think we’re almost ready for the

presentation tomorrow

just a few more things the meeting will

start at nine

sharp so could you double check the

meeting room today yep i’ve already

checked the room

okay great did you make sure the

projector is working okay

oh i was gonna check the projector

tomorrow morning when i have my laptop

no we’ve got to get that checked today

we won’t have time to deal with it in

the morning if there’s a problem

so make sure to check that projector

today that’s the most important thing

okay

will do and did you get the copies of

those handouts

ms tanaka is making them now let’s see

what else oh did you check the

whiteboard

yes i did sometimes the pens don’t have

enough ink left in them

did you get a chance to check them not

yet but i’ll make sure to do that later

yes please make sure to do that today

which two seats did she get

a woman is calling on the phone to

reserve tickets for a play

which two seats did she get hello

this is blackfriar’s playhouse can i

help you

i’d like to get two tickets for king

lear at 5 30 this evening

do you still have any tickets available

we do have a few seats left

but i’m sorry to say we don’t have any

next to each other

if you don’t mind though we can get you

two seats separately

okay we don’t mind do you have any

particular requests

well do you have any aisle seats yes we

have an aisle seat at the left side of

the center section

and to the right of it three seats over

we have another free seat

to the side okay then please book that

aisle seat

certainly how about the other one do you

have any seats near the center

the only center seats we have left are

from the first row to the third row

i’m not too crazy about having actors

spit on me so

this room is relatively small and i

think you could enjoy the play even at

the end of the row on the side

is that so then i’ll take the one you

mentioned before on the left side

when is the deadline for the first

design draft for the brochure

a woman is talking with a man who works

for an outsourced printing company

about a brochure for a new product

when is the deadline for the first

design draft for the brochure

we decided to launch the new product on

october 15th

and we’d like to offer you the contract

to make the brochure

thank you so much we’re definitely

excited about helping you with this

project

so could you tell us a bit about the

schedule when will you need everything

well considering the time needed for

printing we’d like to get the brochures

to the printing stage by the end of

september

so would it be possible for you to get

us the first design draft by the middle

of august

well we’d like to give you three design

options for the initial draft

and then have you choose the one which

best fits your concept

then we’ll make the final design based

on your choice so it’ll be very helpful

if you could give us two more weeks to

prepare for this stage

hmm okay maybe one month will be enough

time to choose one of the designs you’ve

made

and then decide on the final design

alright we’ll be counting on you

you’re in good hands our design team is

the best thank you so much

what type of membership will he choose

a man is joining a sports club and

getting information on its policies

what type of membership will he choose

let me start by explaining our club’s

different membership options as

described in this brochure

regular members can use the gym in the

pool at any time on

any day of the week but we also offer

early morning memberships where people

can use the facilities only in the early

morning

and night memberships for people who

only want to come in the evening

what are the hours for early morning

members early morning members can use

the facilities from 6 a.m to 10 a.m

and night members can use them from 6

p.m to 11 p.m

i see so early morning members can stop

by and use the facilities on their way

to work

exactly the early morning type is

popular among people with nine to five

jobs

and we also offer memberships just for

the gym or just for the pool

if you only want to use one of those i

want to use

both the gym and the pool i think i’ll

use the gym

in the early morning before going to

work on weekdays and then use the pool

on the weekend

do you have a membership that covers

something like early mornings for the

weekdays but all day on the weekend

we’re sorry but we don’t offer a

membership like that sir

okay i don’t think i can get up that

early on the weekend so i’ll choose this

membership option

which two charts is he using for his

presentation

a man is reporting about his company’s

sales performance at a meeting

which two charts is he using for his

presentation

please look at the handout the left

chart shows our company’s sales over the

past three years and the sales forecast

for the current year

and the right chart shows the monthly

breakdown in sales up to october of this

year

now please have a look at the left chart

it shows that sales have been steadily

increasing

over the past three years and if we can

keep increasing our sales

the total sales for this year will show

an increase over last year

next please look at the right chart the

right chart shows that the campaigns we

ran in april and august were fairly

effective

i see but the sales decreased in may and

september following the campaigns

yes but this kind of decrease is

unavoidable i expect the annual sales

for this year will show an increase over

last year

if we can keep increasing our sales

how is your language level let us know

in the comments below

and remember if you want to be able to

understand the language

just click the link in the description

and access the best library of online

content to help you improve your skills

if you’ve studied your target language

but you can barely understand native

speakers

you might be doing something wrong you

know the vocabulary and grammar they’re

using

but for some reason when they speak at a

faster speed

you can’t keep track of what’s going on

why is this happening

have you spent all this time learning in

vain this is a common issue that all

language learners face at some point or

another

the truth is it’s actually a good

problem to have because only students

with a higher level of skill will

experience it

when you know a lot of the language but

have trouble understanding native

speakers

the problem is almost always with your

listening skills

learning what words mean and practicing

how to use them in a sentence

are both invaluable skills to develop

but people

often forget that in addition to

speaking writing and reading

we have to develop our listening skills

in a foreign language as well

in this video we’ll look at three

practical ways to improve your listening

skills

number one practice active listening one

of the best ways to practice listening

is to well listen to your target

language but this doesn’t mean putting

on some music and listening to it in the

background as you do other things

you need to practice active listening

get your hands on a recording of spoken

language

you can use a movie news broadcast or a

podcast

you can even try subscribing to a

youtube channel

listen to a segment of the audio and do

your best to write down what you hear

after a couple tries at this go back and

double check what you wrote against the

script of what was actually said

if you’re watching a movie you can

double check yourself by turning on the

subtitles

our language learning program is one of

the best tools for developing your

listening skills

you can listen to the conversation in a

lesson and then check it back against

the lesson transcripts

this is simple easy and you can be sure

that the transcripts are correct

number two practice pronunciation any

problems you have pronouncing new words

correctly will be reflected back in your

listening skills

it’s hard for your brain to decipher and

remember a sound be it a letter or a

word

that you don’t know how to make yourself

a good accent will give you the ability

to hear

and pick out the otherwise unnatural new

sounds

to develop your accent focus on any

sounds or letters that feel difficult or

unnatural for you

once you get more comfortable with the

basic sounds start to combine them using

words and whole sentences

listen to native speakers as much as

possible and take note of how words and

sounds can blend

morph or get dropped in rapid speech

do your best to listen to this

phenomenon and imitate what you hear

focus more on how the syllables are said

together rather than simply saying the

words

next to each other there is often a

significant difference between how words

are said individually

and how they are said when spoken

together in a rapid fire sentence

this is a big part of the reason

language learners can know a lot of

vocabulary and grammar but still not

understand native speakers

our playback feature is great for

pronunciation practice

you can play back the podcast itself or

listen to words individually

you can even listen back at a slower

speed if you’re having trouble catching

the correct pronunciation at native

speaker speed

number three make listening part of your

routine

now that you’ve started practicing

active listening and pronunciation

make it a part of your regular learning

allot a specific amount of time for each

of your listening activities

for example you might practice 10

minutes of active listening

followed by 10 minutes of practicing

bowels and then 10 minutes

of imitation practice with a podcast now

you don’t have to use this schedule

exactly

tailor it to your own needs and

availability the point is that you

should make a conscious and decisive

effort to practice your listening skills

on a regular basis it could be 30

minutes a day or it might be 10.

what matters most is that you practice

consistently

these three tips will help you close any

gap that might exist between your

knowledge of your target language and

your listening abilities

understanding native speakers may seem

daunting at first but with a little time

and perseverance you will see your

skills improve

and for even more ways to practice

listening check out our complete

language learning program

by clicking on the link in the

description

get tons of resources to have you

speaking in your target language

and if you enjoyed these tips hit the

like button share the video with anyone

who’s trying to learn a new language and

subscribe to our channel

we release new videos every week i’ll

see you next time bye

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