How to Hear English Everywhere
Two simple definitions
to hear: to receive sound with the ears
to listen: to try to hear
You are very good at languages. That"s obvious, because you already
speak one language very well - your own! And if you can learn and speak
one language well, then you can certainly learn and speak one or more
other languages.
But did you ever ask yourself: "How did I learn my own language?"
In fact, you never really "learned" it at all - you just started speaking
it. One day, when you were about two or three years old, you started
speaking your language. A few words at first, not full sentences. But
you spoke. And very soon you made progress without even thinking about
it. It was like magic!
But it wasn"t magic. It was the result of hearing. For two
to three years before you spoke, you heard people speaking your language
all day, and maybe all night. You heard people speaking your language.
Maybe you listened to people, but more importantly you heard.
them. Then, as if by magic, you started to speak. All that hearing was
necessary for you to start speaking. For two to three years words went
IN to your head. Then words came OUT of your head! That is why hearing
(and listening to) English as much as possible is so important to you
now. The more English you put in, the more you"ll get out!
So how can you hear a lot of English when you"re not in an English-speaking
country or family? Fortunately, there are many ways of hearing English
in almost all countries of the world.
Radio
You can receive English language radio in most countries. Two of
the best international networks are the BBC World Service and Voice
of America. Both of them have special programmes for learners of English.
You can find information about times and frequencies for your country
on their web sites. Click
here
for links to radio stations.
Television
TV is an excellent resource for hearing and listening to English.
The pictures help you understand what is being said. If you don"t have
access to English-language TV, you may be able to watch TV on Internet.
Internet
It is now a lot easier to hear English by Internet. If you"re reading
this at your computer, you can probably listen to some English-language
radio news right now, without even moving! To be able to listen to radio
on the Internet, you"ll need to have special software called a "player"
installed in your computer. Most sites work with two players - the RealPlayer
from RealNetworks and the Windows Media Player from Microsoft. Don"t
worry. Both these players are free and you may already have them installed
on your computer.
Music/songs
Songs in English are everywhere, even on foreign-language radio and
TV stations. Listen to them often. Buy some cassettes or CDs, or make
recordings, and try to write the words for an entire song. But choose
one that is not too difficult. That means it should be reasonably slow,
and with real words sung clearly. Some pop songs are very unclear and
are difficult even for native English-speakers to understand fully!
Cinema
Outside the English-speaking world, many large cities have cinemas
that show films in English, usually with sub-titles. Make it a habit
to go to these films. If you need to read the sub-titles, at least you"ll
be hearing English even if you don"t understand it.
Video
Video has one really great advantage. You can play it again . . .
and again. You can use video to watch film cassettes that you buy or
borrow. If there are sub-titles, you can cover them with paper (which
you can remove if you really don"t understand after listening several
times). And you can use video to record programmes from television and
then watch them several times to improve your understanding.
Friends
Try to make friends with English-speaking people so that you can
practise your English through conversation. Of course, this will practise
your speaking as well as your listening. And if you don"t have a lot
of time to go out and meet people, at least you can chat a little by
telephone.
Finally, don"t worry if you don"t understand everything you hear.
Hearing comes first! Understanding comes next!
