how to practice listening? any advise?

[czarina84]

My ex-boyfriend was from Ecuador.  He told me that he learned English mostly from music.  I'm not sure if that was helpful, but I hope so.  I would take it one line or one verse at a time.  I'm trying to teach myself Spanish.  I'm writing down the lyrics in Spanish in one color and the translation of the lyrics in another color right below, line by line.  So the first line is in Spanish, and the second line is the English translation.  That has helped me.  I still have a long way to go, but that technique has helped me learn some Spanish on my own.

[xTinx]

Repetitive listening helps but you have to be sincerely interested in what you're listening to. Otherwise, your attention span would crash long before you get to the salient parts. It's advisable to have an appetite for sincere learning. You'll easily pick up ideas and insights. If there are words you have difficulty understanding, look them up online or have a dictionary on hand.

[rcdpink]

hi everybody , is there any listening tips? what should i do while listening to audiobook/podcast? ,  should  i , and how many times should i listen? i must listen to same audiobook/podcasts for 3 times? or listening to  different one is better? ? , and how listening improves my pronounciation? i live in egypt , i dont have anyone to practise with . soory for my bad english , thanks in advance

Hello my Egyptian friend. No need to be sorry about your pronunciation. In joining this forum we came on with an understanding that we would have these circumstances. But we are here to help one another nevertheless. Listening to an audio can be a challenge if one is not already familiar with the words and phrases of the language. The best way to become familiar with words and phrases is to read a lot and in reading wide. Actually for me, listening is secondary, reading is first.

[rcdpink]

My ex-boyfriend was from Ecuador.  He told me that he learned English mostly from music.  I'm not sure if that was helpful, but I hope so.  I would take it one line or one verse at a time.  I'm trying to teach myself Spanish.  I'm writing down the lyrics in Spanish in one color and the translation of the lyrics in another color right below, line by line.  So the first line is in Spanish, and the second line is the English translation.  That has helped me.  I still have a long way to go, but that technique has helped me learn some Spanish on my own.

Very interesting and very helpful. It sounds like a very creative way to learn a language. I have never tried it before but I thought about it before. I think I should actually give it a try. I think the words stick because they have a certain melody to them. Our brains tend to not forget melodies that are good.

[Tyrell]

I personally practice listening by listening (duh) to music in that language and watching movies in that language (with subtitles, of course). For example, I'm currently learning Spanish so I've been listening to artists like J Balvin, Nicky Jam, Daddy Yankee, Wisin and more. I'd open up the translation for the lyrics and read them as the line is sung. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

[czarina84]

Very interesting and very helpful. It sounds like a very creative way to learn a language. I have never tried it before but I thought about it before. I think I should actually give it a try. I think the words stick because they have a certain melody to them. Our brains tend to not forget melodies that are good.

I think it's also because being native English speakers, the melody is hard for us to grasp.  We are used to a more staccato way of speaking (for lack of a better word).  Our words don't flow into each other because English is a Germanic language and Spanish is one of the Romance language, which are more fluid and kind of melt into each other.  I think that's what appeals to me the most.  How different languages are from each other.

[宇崎ちゃん]

Listen to real world conversations multiple times over and over again.
It'll take time and patience, but it's definitely worth it.

Make sure the recording you listen to are real world examples.
Listening to slowly spoken versions may be easier to understand, but there will be a time you will meet with a native speaker of your target language and you will go like "holy shit, I can't understand a thing"!