To improve English listening skills, we always need the most accurate listening materials and whether or not it is effective depends a lot on this!
So why do our English listening files always make their owners depressed, their listening ability improves little and how to choose the most accurate listening files? Let's read the article below and think!
- The file is too easy to listen to.
First, let's talk about files that sound too easy. Listening to audio is so simple. For example, you have gone beyond the level of listening to count numbers from 1 to 10, or greetings, asking about health,... but you listen to these files. Do you see the problem? Files are so easy to listen to that they get bored, despise them, and stop listening, just like talking to a boring person who already knows the whole story. Listening to these files over and over again is not a good way.
- The file sounds unattractive
These are audio files with content in fields we are not interested in. For example, you really hate the topic of plants, but listen to a lecture about how to grow plants. This listening file does not bring us excitement, of course it will reduce effectiveness. Because we don't like hearing about these things, we don't pay full attention and our minds naturally wander elsewhere.
How to choose standard listening materials to help improve listening skills effectively
- File listens to many difficult words and content
What do you think if you have to listen to a topic about politics, plant cultivation, space research…? Or more briefly, the specialized topics of scientists. These are very difficult topics because there are many specialized vocabulary that we do not fully understand, moreover, the topic is not attractive or interesting enough for us. Listening to files like this also makes us frustrated because it is too difficult and too advanced to reach.
- Listen to your level
How do you feel your English level is? I can understand at this level? If you can only understand normal conversations, start listening to them first. Then as your skills gradually improve, increase the difficulty. You can listen to 5 different files of increasing difficulty. In the past, I always listened very weakly to the content of parts 3 and 4 in a listening test, because they were mostly scientific presentations and lectures. I thought my hearing was so bad, I would never hear those things. But I was wrong. The truth is that I was able to hear, but at that time my level was not good enough. Later, when I got used to listening to English, I gradually understood a little bit, 60%, 70%, 90% and then the entire listening file. So, if you can't listen, it's not because you're bad, it's just that at that time the listening file was too difficult for you. And if you try, you will hear it at some point.
How to choose standard listening materials to improve listening skills effectively
- Listen to things that interest you
It could be a TV show, a reality show or a foreign news report that you love. This is better than listening to a CD from a textbook that you are forced to listen to for homework even though you don't want to.
Don't pay attention to what you SHOULD study. If you don't want to learn it now, then put it aside, even though it is very useful for you. If you don't like it, forget it. This may sound counterintuitive, but trust me, you're more productive when you're interested in what you're doing.
- Pay attention to emotions
Emotions are a very important thing. Even if you own an English book with attractive content, a brand new CD or a talented teacher... all are meaningless if you don't have emotions.
This is why CDs attached to books only waste more of our time. Meanwhile, the emotion of learning has almost disappeared from the to-do list when learning English. Our minds are programmed from emotions, even when we are happy, sad, angry or happy, we draw emotions. It's hard for us to ignore our emotions and hard for our brains to get lost in a sea of monotonous sounds from English CDs.
So you want to practice listening more? That means you should watch a lot of your favorite shows (in English).