Hello, everyone
It’s been a while! I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather we’ve been having these days. In today’s post, I’d like to talk about things you can do to help improve your listening skills. When people talk slowly, it is easy to understand what they are saying but when you are in a situation where someone is talking at a native speed, it can be difficult to follow. Here are three simple things you can do to help!
1. Listen to Podcasts
You should find a podcast that you find interesting and listen to one episode every day for about a week. You can do this whilst on the train, riding the bus, cooking, or driving to work! Take note of words or phrases you do not understand and look them up in a dictionary. Continue this process and by the last day, you’ll find that you can understand much more than the first day.
2. Overhear a Conversation
This one might be a little difficult to do because of coronavirus. There are not a lot of tourists in Japan so overhearing a conversation on the street would be pretty rare. However, if you do come across people speaking English, take a moment to listen to what they are saying and see how much you can understand.
3. White Noise
White noise is sound that continues in the background while you do something else. Whenever you are doing your household chores (cooking, cleaning etc.) you can practice passive listening. You might feel you are not learning anything at first, but your brain is taking in everything that you hear.
These are my top 3 suggestions for improving your listening skills. Why don’t you give some of them a try!
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