1. Practice “Narrow
Listening”
“Narrow listening” means listening to many things
about the same topic. This method is more powerful than trying to listen to many different
kinds of things. Students who listen to similar things learn faster and speak
better than students who listen to different kinds of things. For example, you can choose one speaker
and find many things by him. Listen to all of his podcasts, audio books, and speeches. This is
powerful because all speakers have favorite vocabulary and grammar. They
naturally repeat these many times. By listening to many things by the same person,
you automatically get a lot of vocabulary repetition. You learn
faster and deeper! Another example is to choose
one topic to focus on. For example, you could read an easy book, listen to the
same audio book, listen to a podcast about the book, and watch the movie.
A.J. did this with his class in San Francisco. The
class read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
Then we listened to the audio book. Then we watched
(and listened to) the movie. Then we listened to interviews with actors in the
movie. His students learned a lot of vocabulary in a short time, and their speaking
improved very quickly.
2. Divide Your Listening
Time
Which is better: to listen for two hours without a
break, or to divide that time during the day? Well, dividing your listening
time is best.
By dividing your time throughout the day, you remember
more and learn faster.
So its much better to listen 30 minutes in the morning, then 30 minutes in the
car or train, then 30 minutes coming home from work, then 30 minutes before
sleep. In fact, this is the exact schedule we recommend to our students!
3. Use an iPod or MP3
Player
iPods are fantastic. You can put a big listening
library on one. Then you can carry your English lessons everywhere. You can learn English while walking,
while shopping, in the car, in a train, while cooking,....... With an iPod or
MP3 player, you don’t have to worry about CDs. Also, you can find a lot of
English listening on the internet. You can find lessons, stories, podcasts, TV
shows, interviews, and audio
books. Simply download the audio, put it on your
iPod.. and learn English anywhere!
4. Listen To Movies
Movies are great for learning English BUT you must use them correctly. Don’t watch all of an English movie. You
will not understand it, and therefore you will not learn anything. Only watch
one scene or segment per week (maybe 2-3 minutes). Follow this method:
a) First, watch the scene with subtitles in your
language. This will help you understand the general meaning.
b) Second, watch the scene with English subtitles.
Pause. Use a dictionary to find new words you don’t understand. Write the new
sentences in a notebook.
c) Listen to the scene a few times, with English
subtitles. Do not pause.
d) Listen to the scene a few times, without subtitles.
e) Repeat a) - d) everyday for one week.
On the second week, go to the next scene/segment and
repeat again. It will take you a long time to finish a movie. That’s OK,
because you will improve your listening and speaking VERY
FAST. This method is powerful-- use it!
5. Read and Listen at the
Same Time
Listening and Reading together are very powerful.
While you listen to something, also read it. This will improve your pronunciation.
Reading while listening also helps you understand more
difficult material. Read and listen to learn faster. After you do this a few
times, put away the text and just listen. You will understand a lot more and
you will improve faster.
