How can you improve your listening skills, you ask ? Read on !!! I have some advice for you...and I do so hope that you find this mini lesson helpful.
Practice is essential as we all well know. One has to be disciplined and put in effort/make an effort... You do not have to spend hours each day in order to improve. Start with ten minutes per day and devote those minutes to listening to a short clip, the news or watching a short film. Try not to cram ( Do too much.) , essentially - you want to practice just a bit - each day. Do your future self a favour ! Start now. Listening to clips two or three times a week will not help - again : what we do daily, essentially matters most. Cultivate good habits.
Bad habits are easy to create - why not nurture healthier habits?
Here is a fabulous link to get you started:
https://www.englishlistening.com/listen
Why this website ? Well, all activities are filtered by accent, levels and topics - you are also able to choose the speed of speech. ( Most helpful for lower level learners / if you are starting out with practicing your listening skills. ) Try a free trial and see how you feel ! You may well like it !
Free listening practice :
http://www.elllo.org/
Let's begin :
English words confer meaning based on whether they are content or function words. Knowing the difference will help with both understanding and pronunciation:
Content words = Provide us with mental pictures /images - information, meaning
Function words = necessary words for grammar
Function words : purely there for grammatical purpose - such as : Articles ( a, an ,the), Prepositions ( at/in/over.) , Auxiliary verbs ( do, has, will etc.) and Pronouns ( He, she, ours etc.)
Content words : conjure up an image /a mental picture of something such as Adjectives/Nouns/Verbs and Adverbs
NOTE:
Content words are always stressed = enhanced/spoken louder whereas function words are glided over.
( This is apart from word stress itself where for example, words of two syllables : a noun is stressed on the first syllable and a verb, on the second. Eg: NOUN: OBject / Verb: obJECT.)
See more about word stress:
http://www.english-at-home.com/pronunciation/noun-and-verb-syllable-stress/
Let's try to practice : Read this aloud:
The man ate the apple while sitting at the sea, it was a beautiful day and he was content !
Which words did you say louder ? Which words give you a mental image?
Can you point out the content words ? Which words do you think provide a word picture ?
( Remember : Nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs are usually content words. Auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles, and prepositions are usually function/grammatical words.)
Now, read this : Man ate apple sitting sea, beautiful day - content !
( We are still able to understand the meaning/gist of what is being said - this is why content words are spoken louder - they are the most important because they convey the message to our listener.)
Tip when listening /watching movies :
Start watching films with subtitles - this will help fine tune your ears to naturally spoken English. By following with subtitles - you will understand better when the following happens:
Contractions ( It is = It's/ They are = They're/What is = What's.)
Varied accents ( i.e : American vs British/ Regional dialectical accent.) - where more elision/linking is used.
Examples of linking: What are = whaddah / could have = couldiv / where are you going / wherayagoin ? A lot = ahlod
Two main types of linking:
consonant ⇔ vowel
We link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound.
vowel ⇔ vowel
We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound.
How do I improve? You ask... well = more listening !
Instead of listening to English “when you have the time”, do it whilst driving home, cleaning the house or a few minutes each day before bed ! Download podcasts on your mobile phone - easy as pie !
Take a lesson or ten with me ! :) :) :) Movies with subtitles and short films are also reasonable. You have to do the work and train your ear ! Trust me, in time - it gets easier and soon, you will be able to get used to the way native speakers ''run through'' sentences.
LET'S PRACTICE :
Try this exercise sourced from ThoughtCo.com :
https://www.thoughtco.com/
Exercise
Decide which words are function and content words in the following sentences.
Mary has lived in England for ten years.
He's going to fly to Chicago next week.
I don't understand this chapter of the book.
The children will be swimming in the ocean this time next week.
John had eaten lunch before his colleague arrived.
The best time to study is early in the morning or late in the evening.
The trees along the river are beginning to blossom.
Our friends called us yesterday and asked if we'd like to visit them next month.
You'll be happy to know that she's decided to take the position.
I won't give away your secret.
Check your answers below:
Exercise Answers
Content words are in bold.
Mary has lived in England for ten years.
He's going to fly to Chicago next week.
I don't understand this chapter of the book.
The children will be swimming in the ocean at five o'clock.
John had eaten lunch before his colleague arrived.
The best time to study is early in the morning or late in the evening.
The trees along the river are beginning to blossom.
Our friends called us yesterday and asked if we'd like to visit them next month.
You'll be happy to know that she's decided to take the position.
I won't give away your secret.