Many young people complain about not being able to listen to English no matter how hard they try. They feel as if the English they learn and the language in the video are two completely different languages.
They can only understand when Vietnamese people speak English, but when listening to native speakers, they are completely clueless. Why is there this difference? And why is it so difficult for Vietnamese people to hear English? Let's read this article and "dissect" the problems Vietnamese people are facing when listening to English!
The main and most basic reason for difficulty listening to English is because we pronounce it incorrectly. The “English” we have learned is actually incorrect. Many Vietnamese people do not pronounce English words correctly but consider it correct and follow this path to form a habit. So when they hear native speakers speak standard English, they get confused and confused even if it's just a simple word.
Specifically, Vietnamese people often make mistakes such as:
Missing ending sounds: Unlike Vietnamese, English words often have final consonants such as /t/, /d/, /p/, /tʃ/. For example, with words that have the suffixes /s/, /es/ or /ed/, if you don't say them correctly, others will immediately misunderstand the meaning of the word (singular, plural) or the time of the action (present, past).
No intonation: Language is also used to express emotions. So, if you hear the same sentence but with two completely different intonations, it also has two different meanings. Example with sentence ”It’s my own fault” With a low intonation and lowered voice at the end of the sentence, it shows regret, but if you raise your voice, it shows anger and resentment.
Lack of accent: Accent in English is also extremely important. For example, the word "desert" when pronounced with the first stress is a noun, but with the second stress it becomes a verb, and their meanings are completely different. Therefore, if we do not pay attention to the accent, we cannot understand what the word means.
Mispronouncing silent sounds, not connecting sounds: This is also a common mistake of Vietnamese people because they do not know the silent sounds so they pronounce it wrongly, making the listener confused. Similarly, the phenomenon of non-articulation also prevents us from hearing correct pronunciation.
Do you think vocabulary has nothing to do with listening and speaking? Then you are wrong. Whether your vocabulary is large or small also affects your ability to listen to English. You can understand that sentence because you know the words in the sentence, so just one new word is enough to confuse you. But in reality, sometimes we may not need to know all the vocabulary to still understand the other person through the method of guessing key words and body language. However, those are just support tools, and cultivating a sufficient amount of vocabulary is still extremely necessary if you want to understand English.
Normally, people who do not learn English well will be very shy about mentioning this language. That's why we rarely spend time listening to videos, audio tapes or news reports in English. Not having the habit of listening to English regularly will make it much more difficult for you to listen and speak. You can't react in time to the sounds you're hearing, and your brain also cannot identify this language immediately if you have never been familiar with English before.
Many people complain that native speakers speak so fast that they cannot hear them. And they always have to ask to slow down a bit. However, in classes, seminars or meetings, we cannot ask the teacher or audience to speak slowly just because we cannot hear what they are saying. And that poses a problem, you can't always ask native speakers to speak slower, you have to practice listening to keep up with their speed. How to do this? You need a gradual process of listening and speaking practice. Once you get used to simple sentences, you can immediately understand what native speakers mean without having to worry about their speed anymore.
The reason this happens is because we are Vietnamese, a country that does not use English. If when it comes to Vietnamese, it's okay to be a little absent-minded. When you come back, you'll still understand what you're hearing, because it's our native language. But when it comes to listening to English, your mind always has to pay maximum attention. Just one second of inattention, you will immediately fall into a spiral of confusion because you cannot determine where the native speaker is talking, and your listening results will plummet from there. This often happens in international listening exams such as IELTS and TOELF. Therefore, you need to devote all your effort and concentration when listening to English to get the best results.
All of the above reasons make it extremely difficult for Vietnamese people to suffer from the "sickness" of listening to English. To overcome these weaknesses, you need to change your learning method today, spending more time practicing listening and speaking. Surely you will achieve success if you try and go in the right direction!