Becoming a better listener

Becoming a better listener You spend more time in school listening than doing any other activity. It is important that you understand most of what you hear so that you can learn about your different subjects and at the same time improve your English. In order for you to become a better listener, look first at the following list. It contains many of the things that can make it hard for you to understand what you hear:

the speaker talks too quickly
the speaker talks too softly
two or more people are speaking at the same time
there is background noise
there are other distractions
the speaker is boring (e.g. the topic is boring or his way of speaking is boring)
you are not concentrating on what the speaker is saying
there are no pictures or charts to look at while listening
you have no idea about the topic
the speaker uses many new or difficult words
the speaker?s sentences are long and complicated

Any one of the above problems alone can make it difficult for you to understand. But very often you are faced with two or three of them together. For example, you may be in a lesson where the teacher is talking quickly and in complicated English about a topic you know nothing about. Then your chances of understanding will be small.
However, there are quite a few things you can do to improve your comprehension of what you hear. These are listed below:

ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase what they said
pay attention
block out distractions
look at the speaker (ask to sit near the front of the class)
ask questions (aloud and silently)
try to picture and make connections (e.g. to what you learned in a previous lesson, maybe in your last school)
think about and answer silently all the questions asked by the teacher
listen to the other students
keep listening even if you don?t understand at first
listen for the teacher?s clues
ask someone after the lesson to explain what you didn?t understand
try to find out something about the topic before the lesson

If you do all these things, it will help you to become a better listener in class. But you can practise your listening understanding outside of the classroom, too. For example, you can borrow cassettes with stories to listen to at home, or try to understand the words of the pop songs you like. Watching English language TV or videos is a great way to improve your listening skills because what you see can help you understand what you hear. Working on increasing your vocabulary will also help you to become a better listener.

Finally, remember this: the more you speak to people, the more they will speak back to you. Talking with other students is a great way of getting lots of extra listening practice!

 ENGLISH-4-ALL  Source:

 **True friends are those who care without hesitations, who remember without limitations, who give without expectations and love even without communication. Friendship doesnt need everyday conversation doesnt always need togetherness, as long as the
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