If you are not confident with your listening skills, you’re in the right place, you should follow steps in order to develop your listening skill very fast.
Listening is a receptive skill like reading and not a productive skill as speaking and writing. As the best way to improve receptive skills is from exposure, the most effective method for language learning is to be exposed to that language as much as possible. If you don’t live in a country where target language is spoken, it takes time to improve your listening skill, and you may sometime exceed a certain threshold.
You are what you do repeatedly every day. If excellence is something you’re striving for, then it’s not an accident. It’s a habit.
Greg Plitt
Repeating is the key of this method. Just follow the steps below.
- Take a listening record and listen it 3–5 times without looking the transcript. The listening record should be 1–2 minute long. Just, focus on it and listen.
- Read the transcript of the record. Check the words or phases which you did not known before.
- Next, the listening phase with the text. follow the text simultaneously with the audio file. Learn the words and pronunciation of the kidnapper.
- Finally, without looking at the text again. Listen to the text 5–6 times until you fully understand it.
It is very difficult to develop your listening skill by listening to audio records only 1–2 times. You should study and listen at least 2 audio files every day for a month. If you don’t study at least one listening record a day or take a few days long break, you will lose your skill levels automatically.
In addition, it is of great importance to learn with the right source while using this method. You can use following resources having quality contents.
Elementary Level Resources
Intermediate Level Resources
Advanced Level Resources
- TED Interactive (You can see text transcript files)
- English Listening Lesson Library Online
In short, it worked for me. Moreover, this method is applicable for any languages. Only knowing this method is not enough, it is very important to apply it as a habit. As I mentioned above, listening and reading abilities are closely related. It cannot be good for those who are weak to read, naturally, to listen. If you have problems with reading, you should improve it too.
