LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN!

The most popular advice I’ve been hearing from all you guys out there learning English is to LISTEN, LISTEN and LISTEN again.

As someone who lives in a foreign country, I would agree this is a fundamental thing to do.  I picked up Italian by living there and hearing it everyday. When I lived in London for two years, I lost practically all of it because I wasn’t hearing it everyday. So it essential that you try to listen to as much real English as possible.

So what does listening to authentic English help you do?

You told me:

1. It improves my accent. I hear the correct pronunciation of words and I copy them - listen and repeat
2. Songs are great for new words. And because I sing them over and over, I learn the words by heart.*
3. I learn lots of new words from the TV shows I watch
4. I listen to podcasts in the car - the same ones over and over until I understand it. 
5. The more I listen to, the more I can understand.
6. It doesn’t matter if I don’t understand every word individually, it is important that I understand the general gist.

What can I listen to? 

• Listen to podcasts - they're free and there are lots available
• Watch TV series (from the UK, USA and Australia ) 
• Listen to music - download the lyrics from the net and sing sing sing
• Listen to digital radio or the World Service
• Buy a graded reader with audio CD
• Watch the news
• Watch a documentary
• Watch a clip on youtube
• Join a group on skype and chat to people from all over the world

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging about my favourite things in English that I recommend to my students. I’ll tell you what level it is suitable for and where to get your hands on it.

I’ll be in touch soon!