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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / July 2005Improving my listening
Hi you all. I'm a 27 years old spanish man (Spain, Europe), who has learned the english language mainly by reading a lot of things on Internet. I can read, more or less I can write, but I have a huge problem when it comes to listening. I've tried to improve my listening level with internet radios, and I know it's a good way, but sometimes I get terrifically lost, because I don't understand most of the words. I think it'd be great if I could visit some sites on the Internet which offer english talk, but I can read the conversation at the same time, so I can learn the way words have to be pronounced, and that will help me in future listenings. Do you know what I mean? Can you give me any advice and/or any web site to go? Thank you all very much! >Hi you all. I'm a 27 years old spanish man (Spain, Europe), who has >learned the english language mainly by reading a lot of things on [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >Thank you all very much! Loads of good internet audio, specifically aimed at learners, on the BBC Learn English page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml DC Yeah, that's a great site, and I use to go there often. But I'm not sure if there are audio files with their transcript to read while listening. Thank you Django! > Yeah, that's a great site, and I use to go there often. But I'm not > sure if there are audio files with their transcript to read while > listening. There are some in the Watch and Listen section at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/index.shtml For example, in the Beyond The Postcard section talking about British towns and cities, there are pop-up vocabularies, and sections of text where you can read the text, listen to it being read, and check your listening by selecting correct words. There are also comprehension exercises. Owain Thank you Owain, I've found it very helpful. It looks like there is a lot of material to practice listening. And learning about british cities is interesting too (i've listened a bit about Edinburgh :-) ) And beyond BBC, do you guys know any site with audio (and transcripts of the audio), which is not intented to english learners?. Some months ago, I found The Merrow Report, a U.S. radio program. You can download the past shows, and the transcripts. Do you know anything like that? Thank you all for your help! There are two avenues I often recommend to students like you. First of all, if you enjoy watching English-language films, you can rent DVDs with English subtitles. Should you choose to acquire these DVDs, make sure that you get ones with English subtitles on them, of course! The transcription on these is often not perfect, and that provides plenty of opportunities for you to stretch yourself instead of simply focusing on the subtitles and not matching them up to what you hear. The fast-forward and rewind features can also be used far more effectively than on VCRs. That's wonderful for lower levels of linguistic proficiency and for acquiring a basic understanding of the gestures that typically accompany speech. It will not really help you with more complicated English. If you're interested in really reaching for the stars, the next level is to get a "great literary classic" on tape and go out and buy the book cheaply in a paperback edition. Work through the book chapter by chapter, mining the lexical gold as you go by means of a good learner's dictionary and Internet resources (such as asking questions in this group). In point of fact, many simplified readers are sold (the major companies that put them out are Oxford and Cambridge University Press, Longman/Penguin, and Macmillan) with cassettes. The readers are graded so that you can start off with simpler ones and move into others as you achieve higher levels of listening ability. After you get done with whatever great classics you prefer, you can move into more specialized titles in modern fiction and non-fiction. Just buy the book and read along as you listen, stopping the CD wherever you wish to make notes. Research in this shows that if you do not understand 95% of the key vocabulary in a listening text, your mind will simply shut down and stop accepting input. It's a bit discouraging to find yourself in the middle of a CNN program and then feel the bar drop on your understanding. Working with transcripts in this manner is far more motivating. By the way, if you prefer working on-line (and getting something for nothing), you can find some books on tape on Kazaa and you can download the text of most eighteenth-century novels for nothing nowadays. Some Google searches and you'll be home free! Good luck. > Thank you Owain, I've found it very helpful. It looks like there is a > lot of material to practice listening. And learning about british [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Thank you all for your help! "Juan Ant." <barni07@gmail.com> wrote . > Hi you all. I'm a 27 years old spanish man (Spain, Europe), who has > learned the english language mainly by reading a lot of things on [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Do you know what I mean? Can you give me any advice and/or any web site > to go? One of the ways is to get to know an English girl and have good English conversations with her of course. Lion Thank you very much credoquaabsurdum. I'm going to take notice of you, and start watching english-spoken movies. I will combine that with some radio, reading, chatting, and browsing and asking questions in this group. See you soon guys! > Thank you very much credoquaabsurdum. I'm going to take notice of you, > and start watching english-spoken movies. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > See you soon guys! You're welcome very much, Juan. > Thank you very much credoquaabsurdum. I'm going to take notice of you, > and start watching english-spoken movies. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > See you soon guys! You're welcome very much, Juan. Good luck and we'll be waiting for you. Hello Juan!, I have some online English lessons that feature lengthy English Dialog audio clips. The question format is that you will hear an audio clip and then will be expected to respond to the dialog. There is corresponding audio text (e.g. the audio dialog typed out) if you have problems hearing the audio passages. If you want to make things harder than set the "Show Text" box to "No", which will cause the audio text to be hidden and, as a result, you will have to rely solely on your listing skills. Just make sure your computer speakers are turned up load enough! My students have improved both their listing skills and vocabulary by attempting these free lessons. Here is the address: http://www.mossmanresources.com/challenge/ P.S. You need Sun Java installed on your computer, if you do not yet have it you will be asked to install it when you launch an exercise for the first time. Thank you! I'll give it a go, and tell you about my progress. See you ;) |
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