A question from Facebook:
“Sometimes with listening I can’t recognize some words. When I try to write them
down, I write them with wrong spelling so I can’t find them in the dictionary…
and every time I listen I can’t get the idea. Could you advise me please how I
can improve my vocabulary and listening?” Doc Meme
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Thank you for this question, Doc Meme.
I have been there and understand what you are going through. But
with practice everything will come at its place, I assure you :-)
At the beginning, I also had such problems with listening. At that
time, I worked as a computer designer. So what did I do to improve? Instead of
music while I was working, I put English listening tasks as a background. Again
and again, the same tasks till I got the main ideas. At home, when I was cooking
or ironing, I was also listening to English speech (TV, radio). And that was
each day. I was very motivated and also curious to find out new things. What
happened in the end is that my listening skills have improved significantly.
Initially, I wasn’t able to grasp most of the vocabulary but with regular
practice, I started to understand more and more of the spoken words. And I
started wondering, why at the beginning, I wasn’t able to catch the words? The
answer is simple – practice makes difference. English is another language with
different rhythm, intonation, stress. So you need time to get used to that and
practice, practice, PRACTICE :-)
Practice makes perfect.
So it is normal when you start not to be able to get most of the
spoken words. But do not give up :-) With regular practice, you can change that. When
there is motivation and passion, everything is
possible.
For instance, if you like, you can start by watching
movies with subtitles. You can see on my website: http://englishwordoftheday2010.blogspot.com/search/label/Movies under the category
Movies – the movies which I’m using with my students and which I like. Most of
them are with subtitles.
The thing is to be immersed in English language on a daily basis.
If you want to become good at anything, you have to spend a lot of time being
engaged in that activity.
Do let me know how you are going.
Wishing you lots of good luck with English and with everything
:-)
Kind regards,
Dimi
P.S. See the useful tips from BBC on how to remember new
vocabulary: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/grammar-and-vocabulary-exams/tips-remember-words
Here is also the site which I use with my students for
learning new words: http://quizlet.com
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