Listening, especially to a new language, requires attention and time. Here are some suggestions to improve your comprehension and context identification skills.

• Before listening, reminding yourself of the sounds of letters will help you to prepare your mind.

• Think about the consonants, vowels, and vowel pairs.

• Think about common suffixes and prefixes.

When you listen try not to translate in your head. Creating an emotional connection to the words you learn in English will help you to develop fluency, and easily comprehend what others are saying.

If you’re not yet comfortable with the language, find the sound of it irritating, or don’t really have a desire to learn it, it’s going to be much harder to progress. So, overcoming these barriers is a major key. Find what you enjoy about the language or even take a look at the culture surrounding it, idioms, expressions, and find something positive to focus on. Then, when you’re playing an audiobook or one of our flash stories, or having a conversation, you’ll be listening with a willing attitude and mind frame.

Have a successful language learning journey!

-You Are Learning English Team

A group of experienced and certified ESL and English as a Foreign Language teachers