English Skills for the Real World Listening English Practice
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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
it
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
by
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
to
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
by
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
sign up for your free lifetime account
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
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see you next time bye
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