How to Practice Listening Skills

For many people, listening can be the hardest or most uncomfortable part of learning a language. In public places, we might feel embarrassed when we don’t understand, and people are waiting for a response.

At home, you might feel frustrated while watching a show. The scene and situation look familiar, but the words don’t make sense!

Let’s try to understand listening skills and look at some advice to improve them.

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The Four Basic Language Skills

With writing and reading, you usually have time and the comfort of knowing that you can use a dictionary or translator at any time. The person you are writing to isn’t looking at you while you try to find the best word or make a correct sentence. There is less pressure.

Of course, speaking can be embarrassing, too. However, you still have control. You choose words that you know. 

Also, there is sometimes assistance from others, especially when they know you’re not fluent. People might finish your sentence, or suggest a word if you’re confused. 

With listening, you are powerless! Especially in face-to-face situations. You can’t slow down the other person’s speech. You can’t tell them which words to choose. You can’t tell them to change their accent.

This lack of control is often what frustrates people whether they realize it or not. When we are not in control, we often give up.

What Can You Do to Improve Listening Skills?

Well, like all skills, we have to practice it in order to get better at it. Any type of listening is definitely helpful and better than nothing, but there are some ways to make better use of your time. 

Let’s first look at some material and content you can use to help improve listening skills.

Social Media

If you don’t have a lot of time or you have a short attention span, this is a great option. There are hundreds of people making short videos on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Try searching some different hashtags like #ESL or #practiceEnglish …. and find some teachers or content creators you like.

I recommend anamthelinguist on Instagram. Give her a try!

YouTube

Technically social media, but videos on YouTube are usually longer and much more detailed so I separated it! With YouTube, you also have more control over the video than with other social media platforms.

For example, with YouTube, you can slow down or speed up a video. It’s also very easy to go back a couple of seconds or jump forward. You can usually add computer-generated subtitles, too. Try listening without them first!

Kendra’s Language School has a ton of content and, in some cases, offers subtitles in different languages.

If your listening ability is a little more advanced, I would really just recommend finding any type of video you’re interested in and listening carefully. Ted Talks are very popular!

Movies and TV Shows

Video streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime are great resources for listening practice. You can find “easier” content that is aimed at kids and difficult content like courtroom dramas.

I highly suggest not using subtitles in your native language. If you’re reading, you’re not listening! Of course you can turn them on to help understand a situation. However, it’s probably best if you don’t use them. Children don’t have subtitles when they’re learning their first language!

Music

Music is a fantastic way to practice listening. You’ll be exposed to different intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation. Music can also help you remember vocabulary or unique phrases.

You can easily find the lyrics to a song using Google. Reading the words while listening to them will help a lot with understanding those difficult parts. Music can be really difficult, even for native speakers of the language!

The News

Listening to the news is also great. Reporters often speak about one clear topic and it might be something you’re already familiar with. On the other hand, vocabulary can be advanced. If TV news is too difficult, try listening to the news on this site. Most stories have audio!

Textbooks

There are a lot of great language textbooks that come with audio files (usually accessed via a link or QR code). The audio relates to exercises in the textbook and is a simple, but effective way to check your listening comprehension. 

Lessons with a teacher

Of course, real conversation will help you improve your listening skills, too! People from different parts of a country, different countries, and even non-native speakers of a language all sound different. 

For example, if you want to practice English and hear different accents, check out teachers’ introduction videos on iTalki. You can change or filter the home country of the teacher to find someone from the UK, the US, Jamaica, and more. You will quickly realize how different a Scottish person sounds from an Australian!

What Are Some Activities to Improve Listening Skills?

Use some of the sources above to find something to listen to. After you choose a song, a video, or a news story, try listening to it once. No subtitles, no writing, and no thinking. Just relax and try to enjoy it. 

If you choose a long video, just use around two to five minutes of it for the practice.

After listening once or twice, you should try adding other skills to the practice. This will help build connections in your brain and improve your listening.

• Reading – Listen again while reading the subtitles (in English), lyrics (if it’s a song), or transcript
• Writing – Listen again and try writing or typing what you hear. If it’s very fast, just try writing down important words. Connecting writing with listening is important for language building and a great skill for your career!
• Speaking – Have you heard of shadowing? The practice here is to just say what you hear. You will repeat the words from the video or song. Can you speak or sing as quickly as the audio?
• Questions – Try answering comprehension questions about the audio you listened to. For example, try the quiz at the bottom of the news articles on this site. Can you answer the questions without reading the story?

My Last Piece of Advice for Improving Listening Skills

Stop thinking! This may sound weird or confusing… and it is. But, most of us have a voice inside our head. When we’re thinking about stuff, we are “talking” inside our mind. If you’re talking, you’re not listening!

The simplest example is this: someone is explaining something to you and you understand everything fine. Then, they say one or two unfamiliar words. 

When you hear a word you don’t know or don’t understand, you stop listening and start thinking (talking in your head). You think things like “What did she say?”, “Should I interrupt her and ask?”, “Maybe that word means …?”.

During that time period when you’re thinking, the other person continues to talk. You don’t hear anything they say during that time because you are talking in your head! Then, you are completely lost…

So, even if there is something you don’t understand, keep listening. Don’t start thinking. You have to accept that you won’t understand every word.

This skill is something you can practice in your native language, too. Some cultures or people are better at “real” listening than others, so maybe you are already good at this!

Good luck!