How to improve your English by listening?
It is true that listening helps in speaking and therefore listening is going to be as important an activity as any other activity which helps any student to learn English in a better way. There are lots of ways which can help in improving English but there are 11 proven ways to improve English listening skills which are going to be mentioned to make sure that the students practice their listening in the best possible manner. Use these ways to practice listening and implement your learnings while speaking English. Find a safe environment to practice English only on the AceFluency App where you get 20 minutes of FREE calling talk time to connect 1:1 with co-learners every day.
1. Going through English movies and TV shows
You have to select the type of content that you are interested in and look for clear accents and pronunciation which will be understandable and you will practice your English in a better way by listening. You also have to make sure to use subtitles so that that may help in better comprehension for you.
Check This: Best Movies To Learn English Speaking
2. English podcasts
If you have certain topics which make you feel interested and you are able to invest some time in listening to podcasts, it will be icing on the cake for your English. Since different topics are discussed in English podcasts, they can certainly help in understanding different types of vocabulary and usage in various contexts.
This will help in getting deeper understanding of the English language and this is something which every student should try to do as English podcasts have the ability to make sure that the listeners improve their language skill in a better way.
The popularity of audiobooks
These days lots of audio books are available and they are narrated with a clear accent and pronunciation so they can be useful for your English listening.
3. Language learning apps for English listening
There are lots of language learning apps available online which can be free to use and you can take their help. You can also refer to AceFluency as it helps to improve English in a different way. AceFluency connects you with co-learners and you will be able to discuss any topic with them in a better and confident way.
It will allow you to feel better in your English and you can also connect with expert speakers who will guide you to speak the English language correctly and with a good vocabulary.
Check This: Best English-Speaking Practice Apps
4. Practicing your English listening with music
You can always go through the clear lyrics which are available in every English music and you can analyze it to make your listen better.
5. Having conversations and listening to English speakers
You can listen to English speakers from different cultures as well if you get opportunities to improve and make your English even better. You can certainly improve your English by having conversations with anyone.
6. Watching TED talks
TED talks are great as you can find lots of speakers from around the world and you can listen to their speeches on various topics.
7. Improving listening skills through dictation
Once you’re able to practice your English listening through dictation, that will be useful for you.
8. Repetition and mimicking
You can listen to various types of people from different cultures and backgrounds and you can try to repeat those sentence structures.
9. News broadcasts are helpful
Many students forget the importance of news broadcasts but to improve English listening, they are definitely going to be fruitful. It is very common to find news broadcasts talking about various situations such as social, political and sports and referring to their programs and listening to them will definitely help any student improve English. You can listen to news broadcasts via radio, television and Internet.
10. Participating in language meetups
You can either go through online language meetups or you can attend local ones to make sure that you listen to the people involved in such matters which will help you in improving your listening skills.
Can we improve our English just by listening?
It is not possible to improve English just by listening but listening is one of the most important modules in addition to the other three modules which are speaking, reading and writing. These four modules will help you improve your English in a better way. But if you want to specifically improve your English listening skills, the 11 proven ways to improve English listening skills will be great.
Check This: Learn English Speaking Quickly At Home
What are the types of listening skills?
There are different types of listening skills such as active listening, critical listening, empathetic listening, sequential listening, strategic listening and others and they have got their own importance. As far as active listening is concerned, it is about listening to any content with understanding and concentration. Critical listening goes through analysis and the evaluation of information. Empathetic listening is about the feelings of the speaker whereas sequential listening is related to listening to a series of connected ideas of the speaker.
Common challenges to improve English speaking skills
There are some common challenges to improve English speaking skills and they have been given as follows:
1. Limited vocabulary and fear of making mistakes
Students normally have limited vocabulary and their fear of making mistakes makes them underconfident. Lack of confidence comes because students have certain shortcomings in their English.
2. Limited exposure to English and less opportunities to practice
Students normally get less exposure to English and they don’t practice listening to English in any way. Because of this, they lack their English-speaking skills and they also have problems understanding the English speakers from any region. Lack of opportunities can also be one of the biggest reasons in terms of challenges to improve English speaking skills for students. Good exposure to English can be achieved through listening skills given in 11 proven ways to improve English listening skills above.
3. Grammatical issues and time management
Students often ignore grammatical issues in their English and they aren’t able to manage their time to practice English in a better way. Once they are able to rectify their grammatical issues and they may manage time in a better way, they will find that their English improves bit by bit every day.
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