Tips how to improve listening skill

Most beginners get difficulty in listening practice. Some of them cannot catch the dialogue due to their lack of vocabularies, pronunciation and grammar. Here are some tips to improve your listening skill:


1. Select a book with the cassette, which is suitable for your level. It will help you practise the listening easily and you can anticipate the level of difficulty.

2. Listen to the cassette without reading the text/ dialogue once or twice. When you find difficulty in grasping the meaning, listen again while scrutinizing the text/ dialogue.

3. Pay attention carefully to the pronunciation and intonation. If you want to improve your pronunciation, listen and repeat the dialogue/ text by pausing each sentence.

4. After listening to the text/ dialogue, do the exercise and check your answer with the answer-key or with your teacher.

5. If you watch TV, select the English program/ film. Listen to the dialogue carefully without reading the translation (text).

6. Listen to English songs and learn the words. If you like singing, memorize the words and sing them.

7. Practise the above tips everyday although only half an hour. By practising the listening exercises many times, your listening will improve faster.

Reasons to Improve Listening Skills

* To avoid saying the wrong thing, being tactless
* To dissipate strong feelings
* To learn to accept feelings (yours and others)
* To generate a feeling of caring
* To help people start listening to you
* To increase the other person's confidence in you
* To make the other person feel important and recognized
* To be sure you both are on the same wavelength
* To be sure you both are focused on the same topic
* To check that you are both are on target with one another