When you are listening in another language, the general rule is that more you understand, the more you learn. You therefore shouldn’t be shy about doing what you can to make listening practice less of struggle. This article gives fifteen ways in which to make listening more motivating and better for learning by reducing the level of difficulty.
Listen to something with comprehension tasks
People who say that they have problems listening sometimes just struggle to catch every word, which is something that even native speakers don’t try to do. Although trying to answer comprehension questions might seem to be a difficult challenge, it is easier to listen when you know which key information you are listening for, and so what things you can ignore. The topics of the questions can also help you imagine what is coming in the listening (related to a tip from below).
Listen to something at the right level
Most of your listening practice should be at the right level for you, meaning graded materials at Elementary level, B2 level, etc (rather than radio programmes and podcasts designed for native speakers). Sources include exams at your level (e.g. Cambridge First if you are B2 level), audio with graded readers (instead of audiobooks based on the original novels), and the extra listening materials offered on your textbook’s website.
Listen to something easier
If you get bored with language learning listening materials, other materials which tend to be easier include “simple English” news broadcasts. Materials for children like stories can also be easier, though some have problems like surreal stories and things that only children from that culture are likely to understand like names of local animals.
Avoid things that you find particularly difficult
Things which should be put aside for when your listening is better can include particular actors, particular singers, particular characters in dramas, particular topics, and more sophisticated kinds of humour.
Listen to something less intellectually challenging
If your brain is busy working out the hidden message, the underlying philosophy, etc, that will make it more difficult to use your whole brain just to listen to the podcast, song, etc. It can therefore be useful to choose materials which are less sophisticated than what you would listen to in your own language, such as listening to a radio soap opera like the Archers even though you prefer psychological mysteries in L1. Similarly, basic-level courses that don’t have any new information for you (Physics 101, etc) are often better listening comprehension practice than the latest research in your field (as long as you don’t find them too boring to concentrate on).
Listen to the same thing again and again
The more you listen, the more you will understand, and so the more you will be able to decode the sounds etc that are being used. Things that people tend to be happy to listen to over and over include songs, favourite poems, children’s stories, and comedy sketches.
Listen to something which repeats that information
University lectures can be good for this, as they tend to have a summary at the beginning, details in the middle, then a summary again at the end. Similarly, longer radio documentaries and morning rolling news programmes will often introduce the topic, interview people on it, then summarise it later on.
Listen to something similar
You can get similar benefits to listening to the same thing again by listening to another interview with the same person, the next episode of the same radio programme or podcast, the next audiobook by the same author, another audiobook read by the same actor, etc.
Listen to something that you are already familiar with
You can get the benefits of understanding more by listening to news about your country, an audiobook of a book that you have already read, a translation of a poem which you already know in your own language, a song based on a song in your own language, a lecture about a topic which is your speciality, etc.
Prepare before listening
Do some research before listening
For example, before watching a movie, you could read a summary on Wikipedia and look up all the new vocabulary there, read the book on which it is based, or watch the trailer with subtitles on. Similarly, many radio programmes and podcasts have a short summary on the dedicated page, sometimes including links that you can click on for more details such as the research that it is based on or biographies of the people involved.
Imagine what you might hear
Before listening to a radio programme, exam listening, etc, it is a good tactic to look at what is there (a photo, a headline, comprehension questions, etc) and try to imagine what you might hear. To help you focus on this, you could try writing your predictions down and then seeing what is true when you listen.
Listen for shorter periods
If you are having problems understanding a news broadcast, etc, it might just be that you are getting tired before the end, in which case you should split it into ten minutes per day, five minutes in the morning then the rest in the evening, etc. This is usually better than choosing very short listening texts like short news summaries, which can often be more difficult to understand due to using faster speaking speeds and/or missing out some of the information in order to make the information fit in the short time. Similarly, short stories and poems usually have more ideas packed into less time, so it’s generally better to listen to the audio of a longer graded reader or audiobook in sections.
Listen more slowly
Most things that play audio can also play it at 90% of the speed, 80% of the speed, etc. If possible and if you are motivated enough, you should then preferably listen again at normal speed.
Listen and read, then just listen
You shouldn’t do this too much, as you will get too used to understanding every word and so won’t be able to cope in the more common situation of having no text to help you. However, sometimes listening and reading can be useful for learning the pronunciation of particular words, spellings, sounds, combinations of words, etc, particularly if you are better at reading than listening. It can also be the only way to cope with some things you might have to listen to such as videos related to what you are studying. Times you can use this approach include with graded readers (maybe reading without audio, reading and listening at the same time, then just listening), TV programmes, podcasts that have transcripts, Zoom meetings, and YouTube videos. However, bear in mind that some of these use AI to make the closed captions are so are not always correct.
Step up the listening challenge then step back down
If you struggle with listening in a particular situation such as in university lectures or business meetings, it might be possible to make that seem less challenging by trying even more challenging listening materials at home beforehand. As well making it a nice relief to get to the somewhat easier challenge of what you usually find difficult, this should help develop useful listening strategies for such situations such as only listening for the key words. However, some of this kind of practice shouldn’t get in the way of the listening tips above, which are much more useful for learning how to recognise English sounds and how they are put together in speech.