The ideal listening material is a level or two higher than your current level. One of the most common mistakes language learners make is tackling materials that are way too advanced for their level. Choose Material Suited to Your Level and Interests 4 Strategies to Learn a Language by Listening 1. You’ll probably be completely wiped out when you’re done, which can only mean one thing: Your language knowledge is growing and improving. But I have to warn you, this is not your grandmother’s kind of listening.Īpplying these strategies may boost your abilities, but it’s not a walk in the park. You probably skipped it entirely and jumped impatiently into the sexy mission of learning the actual lines or the enjoyable competition of playing language games.īut because listening is that important, I would like to give you a set of listening strategies that will skyrocket your learning ability. If you’re experiencing difficulties in some stage in your quest to become fluent, it can often be traced to the listening part. Listening is that effective and it’s that powerful! It’s a time-proven method that you would absolutely be crazy not to take seriously. (It’s no accident that babies in Texas speak with the same accent.)Īdults trying to master a second language should borrow a page from little Johnny’s handbook. They listen so closely that, in the future, they will soon be able to replicate the linguistic features of the people around them. But make no mistake, babies are listening, observing, integrating and adapting. If you observe them closely, you’ll realize that there’s comprehension in those eyes. (Look at those cute round eyes!)Īnd these tiny humans understand more than they let on. They are closely listening to the sounds around them. Even if you don’t hear them speak, babies are learning about the language. It is a very busy time for babies to assimilate the phonetic features of the linguistic environment. It is at the very core of learning a new language, so when making time to study, you need to make time for listening.īabies undergo a phase psychologists call a “Silent Period.” As the name signifies, this is the time before babies learn to talk and produce the words in their language, sometimes called the Pre-Production Stage of language development.īut don’t be misled, the “Silent Period” is not a passive phase of silence. It’s a shame that many overlook its importance in the language acquisition process. Because the thing is, listening is the first and most important strategy in language. The strategy I’m referring to is, of course, listening. We know that it works, because now, as adults, we have a language that we can speak, read and write in. The previous section highlighted a specific strategy that we, as children, have used in picking up our first language. (Download) How We Learned Language as Children This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Listening Opportunities for Language Learners.Contextualize and Look at the Big Picture 4 Strategies to Learn a Language by Listening.You start to understand one word and then another, and soon you’re catching on to phrases, making sense of them little by little.Īs Antonio Banderas’ character said in the movie “The 13th Warrior,” when he was asked how he learned a language: “I listened!” Aug4 Simple Yet Powerful Strategies to Learn a Language by Listeningīut as you keep learning a language, something happens.
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