Developing active listening skills in English is essential for anyone who wants to master the language.
Often, students come to the English language academy worried about learning vocabulary or improving speaking, as it is usually the exam that makes students most nervous.
However, having the ability to understand English perfectly makes it much easier to develop the rest of the skills, whether it is to have a conversation with a native speaker or to prepare for an official exam . preparing for an official exam.
If you don’t know how to develop your active listening, here we tell you how to improve your listening in English while you enjoy learning.
Tips for developing active listening in English
Immerse yourself in the language
This can be done through conversation classesor even more radical: by going to live in an English-speaking country. The point is to surround yourself with the language and soak up its sonority.
In other words, try to hear English words every day and end up thinking in English.
Listening to conversations in English
If you don’t have the financial resources to join an academy or buy a plane ticket, another way to travel is through culture. You can watch some of the best series on Netflix to learn English and and increase your listening comprehension.
Listening in English to learn is one of the best exercises to become fluent in listening. And, if you don’t like series, you can always watch YouTube or Twitch videos of native speakers talking to each other.
Listening to English words with attention
In addition to trying to listen to conversations in English, it is useful to do so accurately.
After all, that’s what active listening is all about. Try to pay attention to all the details and pay attention to phonetic differences, rhythm and intonation. One way to develop active listening in this way is to do the typical listening exercises for the exam in which you have to listen to a text and fill in the gaps.
These exercises are also useful for improving pronunciation.
Go to bars with language exchange
Sometimes we find it hard to pay attention to a screen, but not so much to a person!
If nothing motivates you to study, another way to listen to conversations in English is to participate in one. Paying attention to your interlocutor will force you to be present and will force you to understand what he or she is saying, since you will have to give an answer.
In addition, you will be meeting a native speaker who can help you improve your speaking and pronunciation as well.
How many hours a day should I practice listening in English to notice improvement?
Don’t lose your patience!
Learning a language is not a sprint, but a sprint.
You must practice every day you can and the efforts will often only be noticeable in the long run, but it is worth it.
Keep practicing and you’re sure to notice an improvement in no time!
And, if you need online classes to reinforce your practice or learning, Fun Talk will be happy to help you master the language.
We are a language center in Barcelona specialized in combining fun and teaching, so with us you won’t get bored! Contact us and start and start improving your English level.