How to improve your English listening skills
Welcome to Speak English with Tiffani.
I am Teacher Tiffani and today we are going
to learn How to improve your English listening
skills.
This lesson will improve your ability to understand
native speakers and will also improve your
ability to speak like a native English speaker.
Are you ready?
Well then, let’s jump right in.
Here’s the problem.
You have studied English for months and maybe
even years.
You have read through tons of books on grammar,
conversation, and many other English topics.
But, there has always been one aspect of your
English learning that has caused you to feel
stressed…That aspect is your English listening
skills…
So, you ask yourself, “How can I improve
my English listening skills??”
Well, today you can stop asking yourself this
question, because today’s lesson will teach
you the 5 easy steps to improve your English
listening skills.
Let’s look at these steps together.
To begin, we must first look at how babies
learn a language.
Yup, that’s right babies.
When babies are born they are not able to
speak at all.
They are not able to say any words until around
6 months, and those words are usually just
mommy and daddy.
Then, between 18 months and 2 years old, babies
begin to form 2 to 4 word sentences.
Like “I am hungry mommy.”
Or “I want water please.”
So, up until the age of about 2 years old
babies are simply listening.
Over and over and over again.
Listening to the sounds around them.
Taking information in from the sounds.
Making connections.
Processing and repeating them.
And then responding to what they hear.
And over time, their ability to understand
improves because they are constantly listening
and making connections.
The same is true when it comes to improving
your English listening skills.
Let me explain.
Here are the 5-steps for improving your listening
skills as an adult.
Step #1 Listen to the audio
Step #2 Listen again and pick out the 5Ws.
Who, when, where, what and why.
Step #3 Listen again and Write down the new
vocabulary words and find their meaning
Step #4 Listen and repeat what is being said
Step #5 Listen one more time
Why are these steps so important?
Because you must remember how your brain works.
Your brain needs to have information to connect
to what it is hearing.
So, the first time you hear something in English,
the reason why it is difficult to understand
is because your brain has no information to
connect the sounds to.
Let’s test these 5-steps on an example English
dialogue.
Remember step 1 is to simply listen.
No notes.
No stress.
Just listen.
“Last year I went to the Bahamas for vacation
with my family.
Man was it great!
We spent almost everyday on the beach.
It was immaculate and the weather was also
amazing.
Of course the food was good too.
I even got to meet some of my old college
friends who live in the Bahamas.
I can’t wait to go back again next year!”
Now, for step 2 you will listen to the dialogue
again and pick out the 5Ws.
Who, when, where, what and why.
If you need to play the dialogue more than
once to recognize each of the 5Ws, you can
rewind the video as many times as needed.
Let’s begin…
“Last year I went to the Bahamas for vacation
with my family.
Man was it great!
We spent almost everyday on the beach.
It was immaculate and the weather was also
amazing.
Of course the food was good too.
I even got to meet some of my old college
friends who live in the Bahamas.
I can’t wait to back again next year!”
So, let’s look at the 5Ws…
For the Who we have - My family and I
For the When we have - Last year
For the Where we have - The Bahamas
For the What we have - Spent almost everyday
on the beach
And For the Why we have - Family vacation
Now, for step 3 listen again and try to pick
out any new vocabulary words or expressions
that you don’t know.
Then find their meaning.
“Last year I went to the Bahamas for vacation
with my family.
Man was it great!
We spent almost everyday on the beach.
It was immaculate and the weather was also
amazing.
Of course the food was good too.
I even got to meet some of my old college
friends who live in the Bahamas.
I can’t wait to back again next year!”
Ok, so one of the new vocabulary words from
this dialogue was
Immaculate, which means “Perfectly clean,
neat or tidy”.
Moving on to step 4, this time listen to the
dialogue and repeat.
You can pause the audio and repeat it at your
own pace.
“Last year I went to the Bahamas for vacation
with my family.
Man was it great!
We spent almost everyday on the beach.
It was immaculate and the weather was also
amazing.
Of course the food was good too.
I even got to meet some of my old college
friends who live in the Bahamas.
I can’t wait to back again next year!”
Finally, step 5.
Now listen to the audio one more time and
you will see how your ability to hear and
understand what is being said has improved.
“Last year I went to the Bahamas for vacation
with my family.
Man was it great!
We spent almost everyday on the beach.
It was immaculate and the weather was also
amazing.
Of course the food was good too.
I even got to meet some of my old college
friends who live in the Bahamas.
I can’t wait to back again next year!”
Alright amazing!
Today you learned How to improve your English
listening skills in 5 easy steps.
The 5 steps are:
Step 1 Listen to the audio
Step 2 Listen again and pick out the 5Ws.
Who, when, where, what and why.
Step 3 Listen again and Write down the new
vocabulary words and find their meaning
Step 4 Listen and repeat
Step 5 Listen one more time
Using these steps, you will be able to improve
your English listening skills and be more
confident in your English ability.
Now try to use these steps at least one time
today to improve your English listening skills.
And watch your spoken English improve too!
You can do it!
You can speak English!
I hope this video helped to give you more
confidence in your English ability.
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Vocabulary words, and Idioms…
Have access to over 200 definitions
AND on top off all that have the ability to
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This has been Speak English with Teacher Tiffani.
Have an amazing day!
Have a wonderful day!
And until next time remember to Speak English!