People who want to learn English usually focus on learning grammar or English vocabulary. However, according to many linguists, the first stage of learning a foreign language is listening. So, let’s consider the process of a baby not speaking for a long time and just listening while learning his native language. In the natural process of learning a foreign language, instead of focusing on speaking or grammar, the first thing we need to do is just listen to that foreign language for a while. In this context, English listening tips and improving your proficiency level are very important. Imagine talking to the other person in English and answering without understanding what the other person is saying?
It would be a strange situation… Especially if this situation happens during an important business connection or job interview, the consequences can be very serious… You may have frowned at first when English listening tips and techniques were mentioned, but now we are better about the importance of listening to English, aren’t we? 😊
At this point, English listening tips will not solve your problem completely. However, if you put English resources on your ears and listen on the road, at work, at school or whenever you find the opportunity, be sure that your English listening level will increase. This will help you from taking English proficiency exams such as TOEFL or IELTS to meeting your needs in English during your touristic visits. Considering that today the world is globalizing and companies are becoming digital, you can do business remotely from your country to foreign countries, regardless of your profession.
Listening English Tips
Especially if you are in the software industry, we recommend that you do not forget that the recent shortage of software developers in the world will help you a lot 😊 So, “How to improve English Listening Skill?”
Based on the question, below we will give you information about the 8 most useful English Listening improvement tips along with some English Listening Tips with Practices, listening techniques and podcasts that we believe will benefit you the most.
Listen English! Understand or not!
The biggest complaint of those who have just started learning English is; “I listen but I don’t understand and I get bored and quit immediately!!” Zinnnn wrong answer 😊 As in every job, the first thing you will need when it comes to improving English listening skills is “patience”. As we mentioned before, think about the language learning process of a baby who is just learning his native language. At first, he probably doesn’t understand what is being said around him. Please remember how naive they looked at our faces with expressions indicating that they did not understand 😊
While you are practicing English listening, you will also not understand at first. Please don’t get bored and quit. If you quit, your learning process will stop at that moment. However, if you are patient and continue listening despite getting bored, after a while you will slowly realize that some words will start to catch your ear. Be sure that in the long run, words will turn into sentences and you will understand some patterns as soon as you listen.
If you manage to continue the process in this way, you will start to enjoy the more you understand what you listen to while practicing listening. On the other hand, it is clear that; If you have reached the stage where you start to enjoy your listening practice, it means that you have overcome the difficult part. Congratulations😊 from now on, it will continue faster and more enjoyable, so the subject will now become an enjoyable game for you.
Record your own voice and listen!
We admit that this option may seem a little strange to you 😊 However, before you decide, please listen, that is, read 😊 According to scientific research, one of the sounds that people are most sensitive to is their own voice. So, even if you are just learning English, repeating and recording the words you have learned in your own voice will be very useful in improving your English listening skills with tips. Namely; Because of your sensitivity to your own voice, the meanings of the words you say will be engraved in your mind.
Moreover, you will also notice possible pronunciation errors while listening to your own voice.
In addition, it will be very useful for listening practice if you read aloud not only the words, but also the passages, paragraphs or reading texts you read by recording your voice and then listen to them. How? Now you’re a little convinced, aren’t you?
Ultimately, be sure that recording your own voice and listening to it later will contribute to your foreign language learning journey in terms of learning a foreign language practice.
English Listening Podcasts!
Podcasts, which have become famous especially with the spread of Spotify, are also very important tools for improving your English listening skills. So, imagine that you are listening to a podcast based on your own interest while on the subway, bus or driving to school or work. Additionally, depending on how much time you spend on the road each day, this can add up to a significant amount of time per month.
We all know how much time people living in metropolitan cities spend on the road to school or work. In this context, choose the one that suits your level from hundreds of thousands of podcasts about education, sports, science or games and practice “every day” even a little bit.
At this point, as we mentioned at the beginning, please do this practice for at least 6 months, even if you do not understand all or most of the English podcasts. At the end of this period, you will be surprised to realize how much your English listening skills and skills have improved 😊
Interest? English Listening Tests
Let’s face it; As human beings, if we are interested in something or enjoy it, we do it better and more efficiently. This fact is independent of the topic. 😊 Men who are fond of football, for example, watch TV series or programs about football or their favourite team more willingly than soap operas, right? 😊 Just like that, we should find topics according to our interests while listening. In other words, if someone who is prone to social sciences goes out to do English listening and tries to listen to a podcast about quantum physics, he will not understand it. Also, he will probably soon turn it off and put the whole learning process to rest.
On the other hand, let’s say the same person listens to a podcast about his area of interest. While listening, he may be enthusiastic in the subject that what he does will seem like an enjoyable game rather than a lesson or learning. Believe me, this will increase the learning process several times. Additionally, taking English listening tests will increase your ability.
English Listening: story not words!
This article is especially for our “perfectionist” or “impatient” friends. 😊 Yes, we are telling you… So, for example, while listening to the BBC World News podcast, you do not need to understand every word given in the news. In fact, if your native language is not English, you are expected to not understand it. However, it is enough to understand the general idea or news given in the news. In the long run, your ability to understand the details of the news will gradually increase, rest assured. When it comes to English listening tips, it is impossible not to mention this topic.
Just as when reading a book in a foreign language, it is enough to understand the general meaning of the sentence, you do not need to understand all the words exactly when practicing English listening. Please be comfortable with this and continue to listen patiently and steadily, even if you do not understand all of it.
Listen to different accents!
Imagine for a moment that you are in London, and let’s say someone comes up to you with a great British accent and talks to you. Afterwards, you asked someone for an address on the road. What if this person is from Liverpool or Irish? Then you would understand what we mean in this article 😊
In other words, there are so many different accents in English that it is very difficult to believe that two people are using the same language when practising. In this context, our advice to you is to listen to different accents such as American, Canadian, Irish, Australian and New Zealand, mainly British English. Listening to different accents will trigger different pronunciations of the words stored in your mind and will also improve your English listening skills. For different accent sources, you can search for phrases such as “Canadian English listening examples” in search engines.
By the way, we should mention that you need to listen to different quality sounds, just like different accents. In other words, you should listen on the phone with a slightly crackling or low voice. In this way, you will be prepared for different accents as well as different sound environments in a business meeting.
English Listening with “reading”!
According to research, people do not easily forget the information they learn through two dimensions of their brain. At the same time, the two-dimensional operation of the human brain enables it to perform the activity it is currently doing (in our example, English Listening) better and faster. For example, before doing any listening activity, it is important to read that text first, if possible.” The text and words that stick in your mind while reading”, will make it easier for you to notice them while listening.
Listening in English in this way will exercise your brain’s reading and listening skills in two dimensions at the same time. In other words, if you want, you can follow the text you read while you are listening with your eyes. Thus, both your listening and reading skills will improve more and faster than you expect.
Listening English in Sleep 😊
This title is somewhat controversial. In other words, some scientists or English linguists argue that listening to English sources while sleeping will not benefit people. On the other hand, some other linguists argue that the practice of foreign language listening while sleeping penetrates the human brain or subconscious. According to people with this view, the brain continues its learning process during sleep. In other words, while you are sleeping, the English source you listen to, even if unknowingly, is going in your subconscious and the foreign language learning part of your brain is working. When you do this, it is natural that you will wake up more tired the next day and feel unrested 😊
Both views have supporters. In our opinion, this is an issue that should be evaluated on a person-by-person basis. So, if you wish, you can practice listening to English while you sleep for a few nights, monitor your own English learning progress, and make your own decision accordingly. Or leave your listening source on while you sleep a few days a week, and do not practise on the other days. The middle ground is always good, right? 😊
English Listening Apps Podcasts
Yes, in this title, we will share the names of applications and some podcasts that we use and think are useful in the scope of English listening tips.
Many resources such as VOA news, BBC World News, Luke’s English podcast, Financial Times daily podcasts are available on the internet free of charge for English students or those who are eager to learn.
Let’s make a short list of English listening resources:
- BBC Global News podcast,
- Financial Times News Briefing, (It is published every day and summarizes the world agenda in 10 minutes.)
- Economist Podcasts,
- Sky News Daily Podcast,
- Inside Europe Podcast – Deutsche Welle
- Luke’s English Podcast,
- BBC Hard Talk,
- BBC The Real Story podcast.
- Sky News Daily
If you search for these podcasts on Spotify or different applications, they will appear free of charge. We would like to remind you again that listening to English is one of the most important stages in the learning process. Please remember the rule of “listen first, then learn” 🙂
