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English Listening Practice for Beginners Beyond Audio with Exercises That Are Truly Unique

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Morton Stokes


It’s a common problem with English listening follow.


Everything simply goes
in a single ear and out the other.


Ever heard that?


It means you
heardsomething however you didn’t really
hearto it. The data didn’t keep in your mind.



How can you avoid this with your personal English listening apply?


The answer is easy: make it enjoyable!


No matter how much you love, there’s all the time a time when finding out turns into hard, annoying or just plain boring.may be particularly troublesome when you’re not interested in the subject or can’t comply with the speakers.


Just like in your native language, you would possibly tune out (cease paying attention).



But make thefun, and this downside disappears!


In this post we’ll present you
three completely entertaining English listening exercises for you to improve your listening skills.


We’ll additionally explore some specific listening workouts you are able to do, which will help, but also your talking skills and vocabulary.


Ready to search out out how one can get English listening apply the enjoyable means?


What Happens when You Have Fun with English Listening Practice?


When an activity is fun, it’s pure to want to do it again. So when you get pleasure from your English listening follow,
you’ll be inclined to maintain on practicingand improving your English listening abilities.


But it’s not just in regards to the period of time you spend practicing. Having fun while learning can truly support the learning process itself.


It all has to do with, a chemical that gets released in our brains after we’re anticipating a reward or enjoyable experience. Dopamine helps control the experience of enjoyment. And based on research,.


In other phrases, when you enjoy the studying process,
you could possibly accomplish more.


In this publish, I’ll share threeways to follow English listening, so you will get excited and motivated to learn. No matter what your English stage is, you’ll discover listening workout routines to get that dopamine flowing and get learning!


For each English listening follow methodology beneath, we’ll provide our favorite sources and then sensible tricks to get probably the most out of them.


1. Authentic English Videos Online


Online videos are a go-to source for English listening practice as a result of yow will discover a lot of related, instructional and enjoyable content material. They’re additionally useful for studying to
recognize totally different accents, since they come from all English-speaking parts of the world.


Where to Find Authentic Videos for English Listening Practice


Here are some great sources for finding genuine English videos you’ll love:




  • This is an awesome online resource for
    formal, academic videoson any subject you might be excited about. Each video has just one speaker, speaking at a gradual tempo in a transparent voice. They also come with transcripts, a abstract and notes.




  • FluentU is the
    most entertaining but efficientonline useful resource for English listening follow. You’ll get
    genuine English videos
    , like film trailers, music movies, inspiring talks and extra, that’ve been
    transformed into personalized language lessons.


While you’re watching and listening, you’ll get
interactive captionsfor in-context definitions and example sentences. Hover over any phrase and the video will mechanically pause when you be taught it. After you’re done watching, FluentU supplies
flashcards and workout routines with audioso that you don’t overlook what you just realized.


You also can
filter the videosprimarily based on your interests and learning level. FluentU will even suggest extra movies based mostly on what you’ve already discovered!


In other phrases, you’ll get exposure to actual situations and conversations from the English-talking world, plus instruments to make sure you study from them. You can.


English Listening Practice Activities with Real-life Videos



Take benefit of subtitles:


Because these movies come from all walks of life, you would possibly discover one with an unfamiliar accent that makes the content additional-obscure. But don’t surrender!

Just activate subtitles to improve your understanding.


The subtitles help you follow any dialog when sound fails you. In particular, subtitles can help you understand non-commonplace accents, quick speakers and. The best course for learning English ’s like a stepping stone to fluent English listening comprehension.


This kind of apply can be
especially useful if you’re planning to make use of English to work in a multi-cultural surroundings, where there’ll be many alternative accents used.



Play a personality:


Acting out a video will assist you to
goal any confusing areas or new vocabulary
. Try to recreate the mood of the video, imitate the pronunciation and converse with the identical rhythm.


You may even
record your version and compareit to the unique video. This will assist you to pay attention for particulars in the English model, as well as your personal grammar or vocabulary weaknesses.



Make your personal related video:


This is an train for superior learners that takes the previous one a step additional. It works finest with educational videos like TED Talks, although you would additionally use news clips and even English advertisements.


After watching an internet English video, you can also make your individual clip primarily based on what you’ve listened to. This is a incredible approach to
put together for debates, professional meetings or presentationsin English, which are necessary for anybody who’ll be using the language in a business or academic environment.


To have the ability to talk about the topic by yourself, pay attention to the next if you hearken to the original video:



  • The
    stressed phrases, which indicate what’s critical to a speaker



  • The speaker’s
    physique language, which conveys the mood or tone of the subject




  • Important names(people, firms, nations, and so forth.) which might be relevant to the subject


In your video, you possibly can record a direct response to what you watched: what did you agree or disagree with? What factors do you assume the unique video left out?


This listening exercise will prepare you not solely to listen for the key elements of any English speech, but also to have the ability to respond in English yourself.


2. Audiobook Fairy Tales and Fables


Fairy tales, like, are ideal for younger learners as well as
beginneradults to practice their listening expertise.


A fairy story is a simple youngsters’s story about magical creatures, similar to goblins, mermaids, talking animals, evil witches, scary dragons or pleasant giants. Fables are traditional tales, normally about animals, that teach an ethical lesson.


Because they’re written for youngsters,
the language is simple and the stories are straightforward to observe
. There’s also usually plenty of repetition, which might help you keep observe of the plot and memorize new vocabulary. Plus, the characters are sometimes not very sophisticated—it’s easy to acknowledge their conflicts, objectives and motivations.


This is very true for fables, as a result of they’re meant to teach lessons.


And whenever you’re having fun with these tales on audiobook, there are much more advantages. You’ll find that
the narrator typically uses a slow paceto accommodate young listeners. Fairy tales and fables are also usually
quick. English grammar exercises online won’t get misplaced or overwhelmed earlier than the story ends, and you can
simply re-listento a narrative to catch anything you missed.


Where to Find Fairy Tale and Fable Audiobooks for English Listening Practice


Here are some on-line resources to get fairy tales and fables on audio:




  • “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” on YouTube:Listen to greater than 60 classic fairy tales, multi function place! The steady, clear narration is perfect for English listening apply for beginners. There aren't any accompanying visuals, so you possibly can concentrate totally on the audio.




  • Want some selection in your English listening practice? You can find plenty of nice fable audiobooks with different English-speaking narrators. The audiobooks vary between one and 4 hours long, so there’s a lot for you to apply with.


 




  • This collection of tales also has completely different narrators, so you can listen to completely different speaking styles and accents. These are especially nice when you’re in search of brief practice. Most stories are between 5 and quarter-hour long.


English Listening Practice Activities with Fairy Tales and Fables


Depending in your degree of fluency and your learning circumstances, you'll be able to select one or a few of these actions.



Listen to a story multiple instances:


The first step is to put on a story and take heed to it without any interruptions or distractions
to see should you perceive the plot. At this stage, you’re looking for
key phrases. See should you can catch stressed phrases, comply with conversations and keep up with the move of the story.


This will allow you to learn how to pick up the final which means of English speech, even if you don’t understand every single phrase—a vital skill for efficiently conversing with native English speakers!


After the first pay attention, take a brief break to assemble what you’ve learned. Then press replay.
This time, take note of the small print.What adjectives are used to explain every character? What clothes do they put on? How is the setting described?


This is your likelihood to:



  • Practice utilizing context clues

  • Identify unfamiliar vocabulary phrases



While listening, jot down details.
Make it a game. For example, attempt to catch all the qualitative adjectives (e.g. beautiful, tall, robust). Note them down and see should you can add any when you hearken to the audiobook again.


If you've an English research buddy, make it a contest and see who can catch the most details!



Read after listening:


Fairy tales and fables are additionally helpful as a result of
it’s usually easy to search out text variations of the story you’re listening to.


Once you find an audiobook that you simply like, search online for an e-e-book or print version. Again, you possibly can attempt the Kindle retailer since it provides e-books with accompanying audio—this way you realize you’re getting the identical model of the story in audio and text.


After listening, read the story and hold observe of words, expressions or plot components that you just missed when listening. If you wrote any notes while listening,
compare those to the text.


You can even
guess the spelling of unfamiliar wordswhereas listening to the audiobook, and then attempt to locate them in the text to see whether you spelled them accurately.


Once you perceive all the words, their meanings and pronunciations, follow
studying out loud together with the narrator.


This listening exercise gives you the full expertise of how phrases are used collectively in English. By reading along with the narrator, you'll be able to notice where you do things in a different way from her or him regarding pitch, the length of vowels, rhythm and even velocity.



Role play with studying companions:


Grab some other English learners and bring the story to life!


After listening to a fairy story or fable on audiobook, function-playing can help
be sure to didn’t just
hearthe story, however
understoodit.


One particular person could be the narrator and the others can play characters, such because the evil queen and her speaking mirror in “Snow White.”


Try to
convey the temperof the story (story) in addition to make the correct speech patterns. If needed, hearken to the story a number of more times and pay close consideration to components like contractions, linking and rhythm. Native speakers use all of these parts naturally, but English students need to be taught them, and the first step in studying is to mimic.


3. English-language Comedy


Who doesn’t like a good comedy? Whether it’s a foolish movie, a standup efficiency or a traditional sitcom, comedy is a great way to unwind whereas additionally gaining essential English skills.


as a result of it usually
relies on wordplay and cultural references. Very usually, jokes use homophones, puns and rhymes, or reference well-known figures from English-language culture.


Of course, these are the identical reasons that English comedy can be fairly obscure. Certain content could be too tough when you don’t have a stable basis in English language and culture. Below, we’ll talk about which kinds of comedy are better for various studying levels.


Comedy Genres That Are Great for English Listening Practice


These are three kinds of comedy that I watch for English listening apply in addition to for enjoyable.


It makes great English listening practice for newbies, as a result of the
jokes often contain repetition or bodily humor, making them somewhat simpler to observe while listening. Check out this record of theto get started.




  • Comedy podcasts:These are higher for intermediate and advanced learners, as there’s typically plenty of complicated wordplay, multiple audio system and inside jokes (jokes which might be shared by a selected group).


Check out top-rated packages like,or.




  • Standup comedy reveals:Most standup comedy is finest suited to superior audio system. It’s fast, particular and the comedians bounce from topic to subject without warning. If you’re ready for it, this is an awesome approach to take in Anglophone culture and
    give your English listening skills a exercise.


I discover standups very personal. I am an enormous fan of a “area of interest comic” named Mike Birbiglia (his words, not mine). You might have by no means heard of him, however I even have listened tofor at least five years. I flew from one nation to a different to see his latest present. A lot of listening English apply there, I must say.


If you don’t know the place to start out, listed below are some larger names in the world of standup comedians: Louis C.K., Jerry Seinfeld and Wanda Sykes. You can also check
Rolling Stone’slisting of the.


English Listening Practice Activities with Comedy Shows



Watch with and with out subtitles:


Unless you’re practically fluent in English, there are almost definitely going to be some phrases and jokes you miss the first time.


If subtitles are available, you should use them to test your comprehension.
Watch as soon as without subtitles after which make an estimateof how much you understood. Half? English training ? All but one or two jokes?


Then watch once more, and
pause on the components you didn’t understand. Write down what you see on the subtitles and lookup any words or references that don’t make sense to you. You can even post questions in your favourite English learner online forum for assistance on jokes that you just’re missing.


Unfortunately, subtitles aren’t at all times obtainable for standup comedy, but you need to have good luck when you’re searching standup reveals on platforms such as Netflix. If you’re using a comedy podcast, see if the
podcast transcript is supplied together with the recording.



Pay attention to canned laughter:


This activity is specific to sitcoms. When you watch “Friends” or the “Big Bang Theory,” canned laughter (recordings of audience laughter) shall be performed in spite of everything the big jokes.


For English learners,
this is nice as a result of it lets you realize whether or not you missed a joke. If you don’t get the joke, rewind and listen once more, asking yourself these questions:



  • Did the speaker use a homophone or a homonym? Could the phrase or sentence be understood with a completely completely different that means?



  • Did anyone say something that was very unusual for their character? Or did they are saying one thing that solely that character would say?



  • Do the phrases have another which means, aside from what the speaker intends? Often, it’ll be something offensive or politically incorrect. (They do that a lot in “Modern Family,” by the best way.)


Doing this exercise many times is a great way to make yourself extra conscious of the subtleties of the English language and can assist
put together you for actual-life conversationswith English audio system.


 


Who mentioned English listening apply needs to be dull? With these fun audio assets and English listening workouts in your software belt, you can begin boosting your listening comprehension skills the enjoyable means.


If you
likedthis publish, one thing tells me that you simply'll
loveFluentU, one of the simplest ways to be taught English with actual-world videos.



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