4 Tips to Improve your Listening Skills

Hey everybody, what’s up?

Have you been studying English for a while and feel like your understanding of spoken English hasn’t improved? Don’t worry about it because you will be making improvements without even realising it! In today’s blog post, we are going to look at different ways in which we can improve our listening skills.

Don’t be afraid

When you are having a conversation with someone in English and there is something that you haven’t understood, don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat. This is very important because it gives you the chance to hear the words again to try to hear them another time at their standard speed. If you still don’t understand- ask for it to be repeated at a slower pace or until you understand the message.

What happens if you still don’t understand?

If someone has said something to you in English that you cannot understand after many times of asking them to repeat, try asking them to change the structure and words of their sentence so that the meaning is the same but the structure different. By doing this, you are still giving yourself the challenge of understanding in English without having to use any kind of translation tool or device.

Don’t get stressed and panic

In a situation when you are talking to someone and you feel like you don’t understand what has been said to you, don’t panic or get stressed as this will cause you to lose any concentration that you may have had. Always stay calm and focused on the conversation at hand, maintaining confidence in your own ability to understand.

What can be done in your own time to improve?

If you find that you are exposed on a daily basis to a specific type of English like British or American for example, it is important to familiarise yourself even more with that style of the language.

If you are surrounded by British English speakers on a regular basis, it would be recommended to watch British television shows and communicate more with the British speakers around you. Doing this will improve your understanding of the accent as well as increase your knowledge of the slang vocabulary associated with the precise style of the English language.

What’s the most important thing to remember?

Always remember to stay calm and don’t get stressed- losing any confidence in your ability will make a situation worse. Make sure that you are never afraid to ask someone to repeat what they said. If you would like more help with your listening skills, remember that you can sign up for free to ABA English.

Be bold, be confident and work hard!