3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills
By Nathalie V. Fairbanks

What's the easiest way to learn Italian? Spend three months in Italy! While you might need a little time to get organized, you can pretend to be in Italy by getting exposure to a lot of spoken Italian. (I picked Italian, but this is true for any language). Here are 3 resources you can use to dramatically improve your listening skills:

I. Your Textbook CD
Most language courses on the market today come with a recording. However, there are more and less effective ways to use it. Keep 2 things in mind:
1. Listening to your CD a few times from start to finish won't do much for you. Your brain needs repetitions in order to learn the new sounds, words and expressions. Instead, choose a text/dialog that you have worked on and that you understand when you read it. Now listen to that dialog at least 10 times in a row. Depending on how familiar you are with Italian, you might need to repeat this for several days. Keep listening to the same text until you understand everything, until you can "see" what they're saying. It will be just like listening to a conversation in English.
2. You want exposure to Italian only. Your goal here is to create a separate space in your brain that operates strictly in Italian. Switching back and forth between Italian and English won't be very effective.
If your CD has a mix of Italian and English (e.g., instructions in English), here's what you do: copy each Italian text/dialog onto a CD or save it as an MP3 file. Save each text/dialog as a separate file, then listen to it as described above.
If you prefer using a traditional tape, I suggest you make 10 successive copies of that dialog on tape. This way, you won't need to rewind every 2 minutes.

II. Radio Shows
Find a radio station that has shows in the language you are learning. Here are a few stations for the most common languages that you can stream over the internet: Spanish (Mexico):
Spanish (Peru):
French (France):
German (Germany):
Italian:
Radio shows can be a bit overwhelming at first because you have no written text to hold on to. Don't despair - you'll grow into it!
Find a show on a topic that interests you (business, politics, sports, arts, etc.). Listen to the same show every day, or every week, however often it is broadcast. It is easier to follow a conversation when you already know the topic.
If you stick to one show, you'll get familiar with that particular host's expressions and over time, you'll acquire the basic vocabulary in that area of interest. From there, it will be easy to expand.
By recording the show, or just using one of the show's recordings available on the websites mentioned above, you get a chance to listen to the same edition of one show more than once - a really good idea that will keep your frustration levels in check!

III. Movie Nights
Pick one night a week where you'll watch a movie. In addition to the language exposure, foreign movies help you to get to know the culture surrounding the language. I personally like our Netflix subscription, as they let you keep movies as long as you want and have a large selection of foreign movies. DVD's allow you to switch the subtitles on and off and to repeat scenes without constantly rewinding, which comes in very handy. Here's what you do:
1. Watch the entire movie with subtitles.
2. Pick one short scene (2-3 minutes) and watch it a few times, until you are thoroughly familiar with the dialog.
3. Turn off the subtitles...
4. You'll see where you are missing words and parts of the dialog.
5. Turn the subtitles back on.
6. Consciously fill the gaps - listen closely to the parts that seemed difficult and find out what they mean.
7. Turn the subtitles off again...
8. Repeat until you understand what's being said in the whole scene.
If you are learning one of the more common languages, you'll find DVD's of popular American movies that have been dubbed in Spanish, French, and sometimes German. You can find out by checking the left column of the movie description on the Netflix website.

This is how you can use dubbed movies:
1. Watch the entire movie in English first to understand the story.
2. Pick one short scene and watch it in English first.
3. Now watch it in the target language (that's the language you are learning).
4. See where you're getting stuck.
5. Watch it again in English and find out what you were missing.
6. Return to the target language...
7. Repeat until you understand the entire dialog in the target language.
In the end, the foreign movies with subtitles are more efficient. You can read the translation while you hear what they say, and although the translation doesn't always match the original wording 100%, the meaning is generally preserved.

Have fun!

Nathalie Fairbanks publishes "Language Learning Express," an e-zine for those who want to learn a language fast! Get your FREE subscription and e-book "The 7 Language Learning Secrets Your Teachers Can't Share With You" at http://www.SpeakEZLanguages.com

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