Phone interview frustrated me

[Roamer]

Recently I had phone interview of English. Interviewers were in US and I was in China. We used a kind of connection called bridge. The voice on the line was not very clear. I did not understand a few questions, so I could not answer it correctly. Up to now, I did not receive any response from this company. I think this opportunity is totally gone.

[konungursvia]

Sorry to disappoint you, but if it comes down to actual hearing on a bad line, your English still needs work. A native speaker uses his or her knowledge of the language to decipher what is heard, even on a bad line. This is called "top-down" perception, in which the brain leads the ears, rather than the other way around.

Beginners and intermediate students don't have enough familiarity with the sounds and usage of English to do this. So, a bad line will make it difficult for them.

[Roamer]

It's OK. I always know I need continuous improvment for my English. There is no end point.
Could you bother to explain how to understand "brain leads ears" for English listening? When I do listening exerise, I alway try to find a quie place or get much high volum. Seems I need to change my way to do better.
Thanks a lot.

[konungursvia]

When you can't hear well, but it's your native language, your brain helps you guess the parts you can't hear, and lo! you do hear.

Similarly, when I go to the shopping centre, and they're playing very low or quiet music, I don't even notice the music until it's a song I know. Then I hear every note! That's top-down perception. The brain does more work than the eyes and ears.