A Question About My English Understanding

Status
Not open for further replies.

prototype12

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Turkish
Home Country
Europe
Current Location
Europe
Hello Teachers,

I wanted to ask a question about that when I decided to improve and learn new things in english, I can write almost everything easily, and understanding, but when the subject comes to listening, I feel that I heard the words that I actually knew, I don't know . I just feel that I can't learn anything correctly , I want to do learn what is this and how can I deal with it. Please I need your advices

Best Regards
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hello. [STRIKE]Teachers,[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]I wanted to ask a question about that[/STRIKE] When I [STRIKE]decided[/STRIKE] decide to improve my English and learn new things, [STRIKE]in English,[/STRIKE] I can write and read almost everything easily, [STRIKE]and understanding,[/STRIKE] but when [STRIKE]the subject[/STRIKE] it comes to listening, I feel that when I [STRIKE]heard[/STRIKE] hear [strike]the[/strike] words that I actually [STRIKE]knew[/STRIKE] know, I don't [STRIKE]know[/STRIKE] recognise them. I just feel that I can't learn anything correctly. I want to [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] learn what [STRIKE]is this[/STRIKE] this is and how [STRIKE]can I[/STRIKE] I can deal with it. Please, I need your [STRIKE]advices[/STRIKE] advice.

[STRIKE]Best regards[/STRIKE] Unnecessary

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

I have made corrections to your post above. I hope I have successfully discerned the actual meaning. If not, please explain it in a different way.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
What are you listening to that is causing the trouble?
 
J

J&K Tutoring

Guest
Communicating in any language is done in one of- or a combination of- 4 ways, and I'll list them in order from easiest to most difficult:

1. Writing- You control the words used and you control the pace. You can take as much time as you need to find the right words.
2. Reading- You do not control the words used, but you do control the pace. You can take time to find out what the words mean.
3. Speaking- You control the words used, but you may feel pressure (real or not) to keep the pace up.
4. Listening- You control neither the words used nor the pace, unless you have an understanding speaker who is willing or able to slow down and help you to understand.

So, you say you have trouble understanding what you hear. You should be encouraged by the fact that you already do #1-#3 well! For what it's worth, I have difficulty understanding certain dialects myself, so don't be too discouraged.

It's hard to practice listening! Best advice I can give is to use TV shows or movies that have subtitles, BUT they are only useful if you can turn the subtitles off. If you cannot turn them off, then you are practicing your reading, not your listening. Go through a passage without the subtitles and make some notes. Then go back and turn the subtitles on to see if you understood correctly.
 

prototype12

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Turkish
Home Country
Europe
Current Location
Europe
What are you listening to that is causing the trouble?

When l hear something in english, it causes a trouble. I mean I cannot catch words correctly.
And so far, I just used academic english which is too easy in my school to understand but when it comes to daily speaking or beyond daily speaking, I am hard to understanding the words also I feel I had not ever learned English. So it's trouble for me. But now as I seached in Google, I read books which are level 1 and going up. And as one teacher gives advice , I will watch tv series or something like that without subtitles
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
When l hear something in English, it causes [STRIKE]a trouble[/STRIKE] me problems.

I mean that I cannot catch the words correctly.

[STRIKE]And so far,[/STRIKE] Until now, I have [STRIKE]just[/STRIKE] only used academic English which is [STRIKE]too[/STRIKE] very easy in my school to understand.

[STRIKE]but[/STRIKE] When it comes to daily speaking or beyond daily speaking, I [STRIKE]am[/STRIKE] find it hard to [STRIKE]understanding[/STRIKE] understand the words.
What is "beyond daily speaking"?

[STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] I feel as if I had [STRIKE]not ever[/STRIKE] never learned English (no full stop here) so it's a [STRIKE]trouble[/STRIKE] problem for me.

[STRIKE]But now as[/STRIKE] I have searched in Google (no comma here) and I have read books [STRIKE]which[/STRIKE] that are level 1 and [STRIKE]goes up[/STRIKE] above.

Please note my corrections above, in red.

I have changed certain words/phrases to blue and underlined them because I have questions about them:

Regarding "catch" - do you mean that you can't hear them properly or that you can't understand them?
Regarding "academic English" - what do you mean by that?
Regarding "in my school" - do you mean that at school, English is spoken very slowly and clearly so you find it easy to understand?
 

prototype12

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Turkish
Home Country
Europe
Current Location
Europe
Please note my corrections above, in red.

I have changed certain words/phrases to blue and underlined them because I have questions about them:

Regarding "catch" - do you mean that you can't hear them properly or that you can't understand them?
Regarding "academic English" - what do you mean by that?
Regarding "in my school" - do you mean that at school, English is spoken very slowly and clearly so you find it easy to understand?

For the first question, Yes I cannot grab some words when I hear
For the second question, I mean, in my school, spoken English easy to understand when my teachers speak in lesson
For the third question, Not so slow, not so fast, not as a native speaker

I want to understand native speakers in tv shows, cinema ,etc.
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
For the first question, yes I cannot grab some words when I hear them.
For the second question, I mean that in my school, spoken English is easy to understand when my teachers speak in lessons.
For the third question, I mean not so slow, not so fast

"Grab" is no better than "catch". If you mean "understand", just use "understand".
"... in my school, spoken English is easy to understand when my teachers speak in lessons" does not explain what you mean by "academic English". I think you have misunderstood the phrase.

In what situations do you need to understand English? How often do you find yourself talking to native speakers?
 

prototype12

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Turkish
Home Country
Europe
Current Location
Europe
"Grab" is no better than "catch". If you mean "understand", just use "understand".
"... in my school, spoken English is easy to understand when my teachers speak in lessons" does not explain what you mean by "academic English". I think you have misunderstood the phrase.

In what situations do you need to understand English? How often do you find yourself talking to native speakers?


Only, one friend who I speak with in English. But just, daily speaking . For example, how are you ; did you do your homework ; do you have any questions etc. But I want to understand when I read a newspaper for example, I don't understand when I read it. Or another example, I cannot understand when I watch news on tv. I do want to understand them.
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I have only no comma here one friend who I speak with in English but we just no comma here use [STRIKE]daily[/STRIKE] everyday [STRIKE]speaking[/STRIKE] language. For example, "How are you?", "Did you do your homework?", "Do you have any questions?" etc.

[STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] I want to understand English when I read a newspaper, for example. I don't understand some words when I read [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] them. [STRIKE]Or[/STRIKE] Another example no comma here is that I cannot understand [STRIKE]when I watch[/STRIKE] the news on [STRIKE]tv[/STRIKE] TV. I do want to understand. [STRIKE]them.[/STRIKE]

Note my corrections above.

The simple answer, really, is that your level of English is not yet high enough to understand the language used in newspapers. You need to read simpler texts. The same goes for watching the news. You can't jump from the simple English you use with your friend to watching news programmes. I imagine part of the problem is the speed at which native speakers speak.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
The Voice of America Learning English website has many recordings at different levels, complete with transcriptions. It's designed specifically for people who need to practice listening to spoken English.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Just, I want to answer [STRIKE]kindly[/STRIKE] politely. Sorry for my mistake.
Your motivation was fine, but I hope you see how calling unknown people "sir" can be rude. :) (I am male, so it works for me — but nothing in my username suggests that.)
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
prototype12, did you notice how many of your posts in this thread were deleted by a moderator, with the comment "Unnecessary. A click on the Thank button suffices"? Please don't write new posts to say "Thank you" to anyone. It makes threads unnecessarily long and adds nothing to the conversation. Click on the Thank button on any post you find helpful.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top