January 29, 2012
Listening to a recorded speech, song or movie in a target language is a great way to better familiarize yourself with a language you’re learning. If it’s not quite producing the results you want, though, you can integrate these activities along with the listening. Chances are, one of them could help alter your results.
- Use transcripts. If the audio you’re listening to has transcripts, read it while listening. Doing so will help you make better sense of what’s being said, especially if you’re still not comfortable figuring out the native accent.
- Slow it down. If the speaking style is a little too fast for you, slow it down. Start it with 3/4 normal speed and slow down further if you still struggle. The words should make better sense when you can listen to them enunciated more deliberately.
- Chop it into bite-sized chunks. Instead of listening to a 10-minute speech, how about cutting the audio up (there are free software that can do this) into 30-second chunks. At the least, the shorter audio should be faster to listen to, allowing you to repeat it multiple times.
- Parrot. Try speaking (or singing, if it’s a song) along. That could you improve not just your listening skills, but proper pronunciation and pacing, too.
June 1, 2011
Students who first learned a language using printed sources (e.g. books, web) often develop their reading abilities faster than their listening skills. If you’re one such person and you’re looking to even out your language development, you can put those reading skills to use in order to help raise your comprehension of spoken conversations.
The idea behind the technique, called Shadow Reading, is that you can use those reading skills to fill in the gaps in your listening ability by engaging in both activities at the same time. Doing so will help build the connections in your brain between the written elements of a language and their spoken counterparts.
How do you do this? You need two thing: a spoken recording in the target language and its accompanying transcript. There are CD sets and online downloads available that offer this type of combination (audio monologue and a transcript) as a learning tool for, as far as I’ve seen, the more popular languages out there.
If you can’t find material like this available for what you’re studying, you can go to YouTube to find a video in your target language, record the audio (there are plenty of software for that) and transcribe the audio (again, there are plenty of speech-to-text software for that, although you might need to do some searching to chance upon one that supports your target language).
Once you have the materials, you can then set aside practice time to do them. Just remember to focus your attention on the audio, all while using the transcripts as a reference tool for when you can’t figure out what the recording is saying.
September 10, 2010
Want to improve your language listening skills? Learn to trust your intuitive side.
Most language learners are too careful when they’re trying to understand what native speakers are saying. As a result, they not only try to figure out every word out of the person’s mouth, they try to break down the grammar and, eventually, end up obsessing about what they mean. While this could be fine while you’re in a room working with a recording from your language training software, it’s a terrible way to approach listening when you’re in an actual interaction.
If you’re in the beginning or intermediate stages of learning, you’re never going to have the comprehension level of a native speaker. Best warm up to the fact and do the best with what you’ve got.
Instead of obsessing over every bit of the language that is spoken, try listening for the gist of what someone is saying during a conversation. Pick up on their baseline meaning and follow it intuitively.
Being able to induce and intuit meaning is a frequently-overlooked skill in language learning. In truth, it’s one of the single most important abilities. Just as you don’t have to understand everything the news anchor is saying on TV to pick up the gist of news stories, you don’t have to be able to decode every word out of someone speaking a foreign language either.
The next time you converse with someone in their tongue, don’t fret over the details. Instead, look for the core meaning they’re trying to communicate and wing it from there. Trust your intuition and you’ll be impressed with the results.
July 8, 2010
Tried your hand a conversing with native speakers, but can’t figure out a lick of what they’re saying? Don’t worry, it’s normal. It usually takes much more than couple months of language lessons to get your listening skills down pay. Why is that?
- Your vocabulary’s just too weak. It’s possible that you just don’t have enough stock of a language to be able to comprehend what people are saying. The solution is straightforward: beef up your vocabulary.
- They speak in an accent different than your own. Even if you can identify words and phrases, accent can complicate the language heavily. This is why we recommend teaching be done using the target language’s accent – doing so helps familiarize you with their speaking patterns, so you can easily recognize them in real-world situations.
- They bring their own cultural biases into the language. The way native speakers use the language often bring idioms and cultural elements into play that sound perfectly natural in their local environment. Learning more about the local culture should help you on this end.
- They use slang that isn’t taught in formal classes. Slang, especially plays on words, are near impossible for non-natives to make out. Unless you befriend locals and spend time in their company, chances are, they’ll remain a mysterious parlance.
- They talk too fast. Since they’re perfectly familiar with the language, most native speakers will plow through their speech and pronunciations patterns quickly. Your limited time with the vernacular isn’t likely to help you much with regards to keeping up. The solution? Spend more time listening to native speakers, either through actual conversation, watching movies or listening to speeches.
May 13, 2010
Listening is just as important an aspect of language learning as speaking. If you can’t listen and comprehend what other people are saying, after all, then you aren’t going to be able to foster proper communication.
Most language training software on the market focus on speaking abilities. While it’s an undeniably important component for your success, it’s only one half of the equation. Failing to develop an improved ear for the language will cause just as much miscommunication as will a lack of polish in your speaking abilities.
How do you listen better? Here are a few ways:
1. Lots of practice. Aside from your regular in-lesson practice, it also helps to listen to as much of the language in action. Take advantage of resources, such as movies, music and podcasts, to improve your ability to comprehend spoken communication from native speakers.
2. Learn to suspend judgment. Listen to communication with an open mind, rather than constantly allowing your own bias and opinion to color what you’re hearing. This takes some amount of discipline and effort, as well as a conscious decision to really want to listen.
3. Practice shadowing. Shadowing is a listening technique that involves repeating what a speaker is saying verbatim, regardless of whether you understand the meaning or not. The idea is to hone yourself to listen intently, grasping every nuanced word and changes in tone.
February 4, 2010
Some language acquisition software I’ve seen emphasize comprehension as the driving force of language learning. This approach focuses on learning to process messages in the target language, heralding the importance of understanding words and phrases before using them yourself.
Memorizing endless amounts of phrases? Forget about it. In comprehension-driven learning, you work on comprehending the message each phrase is trying to convey. The idea is that if you can grasp what’s being said, the speaking will eventually emerge all on its own.
The most extreme example of this approach is full immersion. Drop yourself in a foreign land where everyone speaks the language, except you. Little by little, you’ll begin understanding their communication through observation. Once you gain a good facility for figuring it out, you can’t help but be able to converse yourself as well.
In comprehension-driven language learning, acquisition is believed to be a developmental process. First you must learn to receive input (lots and lots of it), then you can competently give your own. Your brain works to analyze language naturally, slowly giving you the facility to use what you’re absorbing from your environment.
What about memorized material? Under this concept, it does nothing but give a false impression of proficiency. If you work on comprehension first, your speaking becomes more ingrained, such that it will develop into a skill you can count on, rather than forget after a brief period of inactivity.
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