How to Improve Listening Skills

 "We were given two ears but only one

mouth, because listening is twice as
hard as talking."
Difficulties in listening

 Listening is not focused at high schools

 Lack of facilities and resources or utilize little
of them: tapes, cassette players, computers,
video clips, movies, internet, English
speaking people, and clubs
 Con’t

 Feel we are failing if we can't understand

every word - this can create worry and stress
 Can only understand if people speak slowly
and clearly
 Find it hard to keep up with all of the
information coming their way
 Get very tired during long listening
 So what to do?

 Listen to something you enjoy

 Listen for the main ideas
 Listen for specific information
 Identify stresses and reductions
 Get meaning from context
 Con’t
• Most beginners get difficulty due to the lack of
vocabularies, pronunciation and grammar.
- Select a book with the cassette suitable for your level.
It helps practice the listening easily and you can
anticipate the level of difficulty.
- Listen to the cassette without reading the text/
dialogue once or twice. When you find difficulty in
grasping the meaning, listen again while scrutinizing
the text/ dialogue.
- Pay attention carefully to the pronunciation and
intonation. If you want to improve your pronunciation,
listen and repeat the dialogue/ text by pausing each
sentence.
 Con’t
• After listening to the text/ dialogue, do the exercise
and check your answer with the answer-key or with
your teacher.
- If you watch TV, select the English program/ film.
Listen to the dialogue carefully without reading the
translation (text).
- Listen to English songs and learn the words. If you
like singing, memorize the words and sing them.
- Practice the above tips everyday although only half
an hour. By practicing the listening exercises many
times, your listening will improve faster.
 Con’t
 Mentally put yourself in other person’s shoes
 Spend more time listening than talking
 Listen unconsciously to radio, television, movie.
 Ask questions
 Don’t translate – create barrier between speaker and
listener
 Encourage the speaker, provide feedback and
paraphrase to show you are listening
 Don't need to know a lot about a subject to have a
conversation but a desire to learn, understand and
make things interesting
 Take notes, analyze, paraphrase, summarize and ask
for clarification
 Con’t
 Judge content, not delivery, i.e. what they
say, not how they say it
 Listen optimistically – don't lose interest
straight away
 Do not jump to conclusions
 Concentrate – don't start dreaming – and
keep eye contact
 Do not think ahead of the speaker – you
will lose track
 Con’t

 Work at listening – be alert and alive

 Keep emotions under control when
listening
 Open your mind – practice accepting new
information
 Breathe slowly and deeply
 Relax physically, get comfortable
 My experience
 Listen/sing English songs
 Listen to radio, tapes, internet, movies, television. If fine, I
listen attentively; if not, I will just listen relaxingly
 Listen to different fields
 Talk to foreigners, friends.
 Go to ESC.
 Use resources available: internet, tapes, CDs, movies,
movie. Copy files to computers, ipods, mp3, mp4 to listen
at home, on travel…
 Set a goal when listening or talking
 Remember “Failure is mother of success”. Allow ourselves
to make mistakes. Don’t worry! The game is still long!
 Resources
 Streamline, Headway, Interactions, Now Hear This,
Listening level A, B,C, Tactics for Listening, Toefl,
Ielts.
 Websites:
 http://www.englishpod.com/
 http://www.elllo.org
 http://www.eslcafe.com
 http://www.esl-lab.com
 http://www.youtube.com
 http://www.nytimes.com
 http://www.voa.com
 http://www.bbc.com
 Use www.google.com to find more
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!