How to learn to understand English by ear? It’s great if a person studying a foreign language has the opportunity to live in New York or London for a month or two, that is, immerse himself in the language environment. However, there are other effective ways to achieve this goal. The main thing is to do daily.
Learning to understand English: vocabulary
Poor vocabulary is one of the main problems preventing people studying a foreign language from understanding its native speakers. How to learn to understand English by ear? You should start by expanding your vocabulary, allocating time daily (no more than 20-30 minutes) to learn new words.
Experienced teachers recommend that you do not set impossible goals. For a student studying a foreign language, it is enough to memorize 10 unfamiliar words a day. Before learning new words, it is advisable to repeat each time those that were remembered earlier. It is also important not only to remember how a new word is written, but also to listen to its correct pronunciation, paying attention to the stress, intonation of the speaker.
Remember abbreviations
How to learn to understand English by ear? For comfortable communication with foreigners it is necessary to understand what abbreviations they allow in colloquial speech. A person studying English should memorize the most common abbreviations, find out their meaning. Meet them not only during a conversation with residents of English-speaking countries, but also when watching TV shows and movies, listening to songs.
Having dealt with the most commonly used abbreviations, you must gradually include them in your own speech. You can start with the simplest options, say by saying gonna instead of going to.
Spoken phrases, slang
How to learn to understand English by ear? Obviously, foreigners do not communicate with each other, using only the “correct” phrases from the textbook. Only the study of slang, colloquial phrases will help begin to navigate the world of a living human language, to understand the interlocutors (broadcasters, actors, singers). It is advisable to start with the most popular words and stable constructions, gradually getting used to using them in your own speech.
It will also be useful to study the most popular proverbs and sayings that are used in everyday speech by native speakers.
Subtitled Movies
How to learn to understand English using foreign films? Experienced teachers recommend using subtitled films (English, not Russian) during class. This will allow the student not only to hear English words, but also to observe their correct spelling, which contributes to effective memorization.
Of course, not every film is suitable for beginners to learn to understand English with its help. As a training material, it is best to use a film project or a series focused on the level of knowledge of an English learner. You can also stay on the film, which has already been repeatedly watched in their native language. The best option for beginners is cartoons for children, in which compound words are rarely found.
Another important selection criterion is the clarity, intelligibility of the speech of actors playing central characters.
How to work with movies
When we only learn to understand English, it is better not to consider the educational film as a source of entertainment. This is, first and foremost, a manual with which you must work correctly. For starters, you can view only one episode, lasting 5-10 minutes, per day. During the first classes, this can take up to 30-40 minutes or more.
Work with the episode begins with the fact that it is viewed in its entirety (preferably twice), this allows a person studying English to get used to the speech of the actors. During the first views, you should not pay attention to subtitles. Then the episode is divided into parts, each of which is studied thoroughly with the obligatory reading of subtitles. If necessary, unfamiliar words can be translated using a dictionary, but first you need to try to guess their meaning. The final stage is the final viewing of the entire episode.
An example of a movie that can be used in class is Forrest Gump. English teachers recommend this particular picture because of the understandable, unhurried speech of the central character.
Audio lessons
How to perceive English speech by ear? Working with books in a foreign language will also help to achieve this goal. It is advisable to use audio materials with accompanying text (paper, electronic) at the beginning of classes. Of course, when choosing books, you must take into account your level of language proficiency.
The lesson begins with listening to the text, at this stage supporting materials are not used. After listening to the recording, it is necessary to mentally summarize the information received (for a start, in the native language). Then follows a second listening, during which the accompanying text is in front of the eyes. Particular attention is paid to unfamiliar words, however, you do not need to immediately look into the dictionary, it is better to try to understand their meaning from the context. New words must be remembered.
The lesson ends with an independent recitation of the text out loud. The volume of text that is studied at a time is recommended to be increased gradually, starting with small passages. An example of a suitable audiobook is Harry Potter as presented by Stephen Fry. The speaker has a clear pronunciation, also facilitates the perception of a fairly simple language.
Communication with a native speaker
How to learn to understand English speech well? This will help regular communication with English-speaking people. It is not difficult to find interlocutors these days in the global network; in your searches, pay attention to linguistic forums, thematic resources, and social networks. Of course, with a native speaker it is necessary not to correspond, but to talk using Skype for this. Experienced teachers recommend communicating with the cameras turned on, so a foreign language is easier to perceive.
For classes to bring real benefits, do not be shy to ask the person to slow down the pace of speech, repeat incomprehensible words or explain their meaning.
Songs
How to learn to understand English by ear? It’s great if a person studying a foreign language likes the work of foreign performers. Proper work with the songs will be of great benefit. For example, you can choose an unfamiliar composition with clearly distinguishable vocals, listen to it several times and transfer the memorized text to paper. Then the independent presentation is compared with the original lyrics.
When playing computer games, it is also recommended to give preference to the English language, without switching to Russian.
Reviews
How to learn to understand English by ear? Feedback from those who have already completed this task may be helpful. For example, among the most common mistakes that many people write about, there is a habit of newcomers to tackle overly complex material. Say, you should not learn to understand foreign speech, resorting to such series as "Doctor House", "Friends", which are not intended for beginners. Also, do not abandon the English subtitles, which simplify the process of understanding the speech of actors.
The greatest benefit, according to the opinion of many people who have tried various methods of learning English, brings live communication with foreigners.