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Practical English

How to improve your Listening skill.

The best way is to listen something in English everyday, of course. You can start listening to those bloggers who explain English texts and phrases in your native language. When their content becomes easy for you, search for your favorite themes in English and listen to those bloggers who create something not for learners. For example, I started listen to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW594XUfEnB5l_s35uRa-lQ and she helped me a lot. She reads texts in English and explain the material in my native Russian language. When such content became easy for you start working with bloggers who don't think about English learners at all. Just search for your hobbies in YouTube and listen to these podcasts. I love watching Fallout 4 Lore, Space, Nat Geo Wild, Mysticism, Workout etc. When you really love something it is a little easier to watch it in other language because even if you don't understand something you enjoy the content anyway. Well, you can just watch as much as you can and don't

The best way is to listen something in English everyday, of course. You can start listening to those bloggers who explain English texts and phrases in your native language. When their content becomes easy for you, search for your favorite themes in English and listen to those bloggers who create something not for learners.

For example, I started listen to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW594XUfEnB5l_s35uRa-lQ and she helped me a lot. She reads texts in English and explain the material in my native Russian language.

When such content became easy for you start working with bloggers who don't think about English learners at all. Just search for your hobbies in YouTube and listen to these podcasts. I love watching Fallout 4 Lore, Space, Nat Geo Wild, Mysticism, Workout etc. When you really love something it is a little easier to watch it in other language because even if you don't understand something you enjoy the content anyway.

Well, you can just watch as much as you can and don't force yourself to do something harder. But it would be better to do the maksimum work. I don't mean the every video analysis, of course. I just want you to analyse one video a week, if you can do more without getting sick of English do more.

So, you have to choose one day and one video and listen to it carefully. Pay attention to the meaning and make the notes of the significant details. You can even write them out. As you finished the listening you can rest for a minute or more, with purpose to give your brain a time for analysis. Then take a sheet of paper and write down a summary of that video.

When the summary is done you can retell that video out loud infront of a mirror. Just imagine that you narrate someone what you just watched or heard. How and what would you tell your friend or fellow? You can use your own notes and even summary but try to narrate from memory. And don't mumble, tell aloud as if you speak with someone in reality.

You can begin with short videos and choose longer and longer ones as you feel free with this technique. Elena Vognistaya's content is really helpful to start practicing this particular method of work with texts and videos. So, if you have never tried something like that and you have troubles with retelling or summarizing just try her Youtube channel for a while. There you start with simple but really interesting texts and you are getting used to retelling from memory out loud. It becomes your habit and that's cool because you don't even notice how it happens. Just don't quit with that habit when/if you leave her channel. I made this mistake once and it was hard to start retelling practice again after I used to simple listening and reading. When you get used to listen and read without retelling it's really hard then to start train your memory. I mean the ability to memorize the input and make a readable or listenable output.

So, if you think that you can understand what you listen and that's enough you are wrong. Because the only purpose of our brain in this World is receiving the information from someone and its analysing with the subsequent transfer to someone. If your brain can't do that simple work it means that you are on a wrong way and have to recover its natural function.

But that practice takes only one hour a week if you chose to do it only one time a week. The rest week you should just listen to podcasts, songs, audiobooks, lessons, lore. You can do it as you get up and do the morning routine. Listen to something in English when you drive a car or go on foot to a work or school. When I worked in a neighbour town and had to drive there every day Monday through Friday I listened to audiobooks and podcasts in both Russian and English languages. That year I finished about ten books and almost accomplished the course of grammar rules on one Youtube channel. More then a half of that year I gave my coworker a ride and we spent time chatting to each other. So, I couldn't listen to English podcasts and audiobooks those times but the communication with good people is really important so I didn't mind, of course.

Well, listen to English podcasts as much as you can and do the efficient listening at least one time a week. This method helps you to not only understand better what you are listening to but be more focused on that. You learn to pay attention to the content which you spend your time on. It is really important because you are getting used to dive in any information you choose to receive. You begin to understand that you have only the limited time and it makes you think better what you choose to listen to. You don't spend your time on an uninteresting content anymore because you are used to pay attention to what you listen to. Such a simple method makes a big difference between your life before and after you started practicing it.

You can say that it suits only to school, to pupils. But as I like to tell, only the practitioner will understand. So, try this method for one to three months at least and then you'll be able to discuss it objectively, with your own experience. But if you try this method for only three months I would recommend you to do it at list thrice a week.