LEARNING TIPS

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS

Understanding a conversation, a TV show, or a movie may require some strategies. Follow the steps below to improve your listening skills.

First, try to get the main idea of what you’re listening to. For example, sometimes when watching a movie or TV show, you can try to predict the content by:

• looking at the images to understand the context;
• paying attention to the setting and the environment to try to understand the context;
• looking for clues to find out the level of formality;
• paying attention to what people mean through their body language.

Then, look for signs. Just as there are signs on the road to prepare us for what is ahead, oral language in general offers us some indications of what is about to be said:

• sequencing events: first of all, then, second, next, finally, etc.;
• giving examples: for instance, for example, such as, etc.;
• and other linking words and phrases.

Next, listen for specific information by:

• listening for names of objects, cities, etc.;
• paying attention to what the numbers refer to;
• paying attention to words that are emphasized in the speech.

Here are some tips to help you improve your listening:

Movies or TV shows

• Use the subtitles to learn English. You can pause and repeat the parts you don’t understand, remove the subtitles at some point to check your understanding of that part, etc.
• Use the context of the scene to help you infer the meaning of what’s being said. 

Music

• Use the lyrics when you listen to your favorite songs to help you learn pronunciation and intonation.
• Pay attention to the influences of oral language (contraction, variation, accent) that are common in songs.
• Write down the words you don’t know, look them up in a dictionary and include them in your glossary.

Adapted from: BRAGA, J.; RACILAN, M.; GOMES, R. "How to improve your listening skills". In: New Alive High. Língua Inglesa, Ensino Médio. Obra específica da área de Linguagens e suas Tecnologias. 1 ed. São Paulo: Edições SM, 2020. p. 18-19.