Dear dear friends! I'm Vietnamese. I love English and it is the only way for me to escape the boring and poor life. But I cant find the trust way to do it. I cant understand what they say. If U write a word down, I can know that but i cant see the same if I listen. So, Pls help me. Thanks a lot.
Listening!
18 Answers
Hi! I agree with all of the answers above. The best way to do is to expose yourself to the English language everyday. Incorporate this to your day-to-day life. Watch English movies, listen to English songs, and watch English proficiency training in Youtube. I also agree with the majority on listening to podcasts. Practice everyday and never give up!
Hi Quynh_Nguyen, I was like you, I didn't understand what the americans were talking, but I improved a lot my listening with musics, watching movies in English with subtitle in my own language and then in English.. And I didnt stop doing this, but today I have "TuneIn" in my cellphone, it's a radio, I can listen everyday the american Radio, it's so good! Try do that, you'll see the difference. xoxo honey..
There is a lengthy discussion on how you can learn to speak like a native English speaker here: http://languagelearning.guru/423/how-to-speak-like-a-native-english-speaker
It is important that you keep listening to the programs in English, watching movies and listening to music. The more you listen, the easier it will be for you to understand what they are talking about. First you have to learn to listen in such a way that you understand at least the general context, and then you should focus on separate words and phrases.
Trizza is right about pronunciation; there are tons of useful videos and podcasts that can help you learn it and it is important that you do that because it's essential for your speaking skills. I also recommend the Saundz app for learning pronunciation. I left the link in the previous discussion, so you can check it out :)
It is important that you keep listening to the programs in English, watching movies and listening to music. The more you listen, the easier it will be for you to understand what they are talking about. First you have to learn to listen in such a way that you understand at least the general context, and then you should focus on separate words and phrases.
Trizza is right about pronunciation; there are tons of useful videos and podcasts that can help you learn it and it is important that you do that because it's essential for your speaking skills. I also recommend the Saundz app for learning pronunciation. I left the link in the previous discussion, so you can check it out :)
People who like watching movies should watch them with English subtitles and, so far, I haven't heard anyone saying that movies are boring. In my experience, students generally like watching them. But of course, short YT videos and podcasts might be a good solution for those who don't like or don't have time for watching movies.
Hi :D
Well, I've had all of those difficulties you have. First of all, I'd like to say that you're not alone and all of English learners have the same matters. The thing is how you do to improve you listening. And, well, that is something you need to do with time and patience.
I've been learning English over the past 4 years and only nowadays I can listen and understand videos, music, etc, without much effort. It doesn't mean you'll take 4 years to do that, but, as I said before, it takes a little bit of time and patience.
I've never spoken to a native, so the ways I had to improve my listening were music, tv series, movies, videos, etc. At the beginning of it, I had started watching movies and tv series with subtitles, then I took them off and made effort to concentrate and understand what people were talking about. With music, I tried to listen and write down what I could hear and understand, as if I was writing the music. This exercise is very good because demands you to be concentrated and understand what the singer is saying. As you see, concentration is the key.
If you listen to music in english almost everyday, watch movie or tv series without subtitles, sooner you'll be perfectly understanding them.
Just remember few things:
Not all of the english audio material is made to english learners but to natives, which means that you don't need to be frustrated if can't understand something. Find the perfect way to practice your listening and don't stop studying the language!
I hope you have too much success!
(Be comfortable to correct my English if sth is wrong).
Best wishes :D
I faced this problem in the past but I solved it by listening daily to videos on Youtube and sometimes listening to music. I think watching movies isn't a good way because the movies are too long and this is boring . englishcentral.com has a lot of videos for famous people for five or six minutes only and you can choose your level :beginner ,intermediate or advanced
Or you could try with TV series with subtitles - the episodes are generally shorter than movies, and there is something for everybody. I suggest that you find a series that covers your area of interest - i.e. if you are in health industry, choose a medical drama. If you do journalism, or marketing, or teaching, there is series for that. And for science as well. Political sciences - checked :) It is good to follow multiple episodes with the same subject of focus, since there is plenty of repetition of crucial branch-related terms. You will learn new vocabulary without even noticing it.
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