How to learn to understand English by ear - practical recommendations, rules and feedback

How to learn to understand English by ear? It's great if a person who studies a foreign language has the opportunity to live for a month or two in New York or London, that is, immerse himself in the language environment. However, there are other effective ways to achieve this goal. The main thing is to practice daily.

Learning to understand English: vocabulary

Poor vocabulary is one of the main problems that prevent people learning a foreign language from understanding its speakers. How to learn to understand English by ear? You should start with the expansion of the vocabulary, every day allocating time (no more than 20-30 minutes) to learn new words.

Experienced teachers recommend not to set unrealistic goals. For a student learning a foreign language, it is enough to memorize 10 unfamiliar words a day. Before learning new words, it is desirable to repeat each time those that were previously memorized. It is also important not only to fix in memory how the new word is written, but also to listen to its correct pronunciation, paying attention to the accent, the intonation of the announcer.

Remember the abbreviations

How to learn to understand English by ear? For comfortable communication with foreigners it is necessary to understand what cuts they allow in colloquial speech. The person learning English should learn by heart the most common abbreviations, learn their meaning. Meet them will come not only during a conversation with residents of English-speaking countries, but also when watching TV shows and films, listening to songs.

After understanding the most commonly used abbreviations, it is necessary to include them gradually in your own speech. You can start with the simplest options, for example, pronouncing gonna instead of going to.

Conversational phrases, slang

How to learn to understand English by ear? It is obvious that foreigners do not communicate with each other, using only the "correct" phrases from the textbook. Only the study of slang, colloquial phrases will help to begin to navigate in the world of a living human language, to understand interlocutors (announcers, 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.

Also useful is the study of the most popular proverbs and sayings that are used in everyday speech by native speakers.

Movies with subtitles

How to learn to understand English speech with the help of foreign films? Experienced teachers advise using films with subtitles (English, not Russian) during the lessons. This will allow the student not only to hear English words, but also to observe their correct spelling, which promotes effective memorization.

Of course, not every film is suitable for beginners using it to learn to understand English speech. As a teaching material, it is best to use a film project or series that is oriented toward the level of knowledge of the student of English. Also you can stop on the film, which has already been repeatedly reviewed in the native language. The best option for beginners - cartoons for children, in which there are rarely complex words.

Another important criterion for selection is clarity, intelligibility of speech of actors playing central characters.

How to work with movies correctly

When we only learn to understand English speech, it is better not to consider the educational film as a source of entertainment. This is primarily a manual with which you must work correctly. To begin with, you can only view one episode lasting 5-10 minutes a day. During the first lessons this can take up to 30-40 minutes and even more.

The work with the episode begins with the fact that it is viewed entirely (preferably two times), this allows an English learner to get used to the speech of the actors. During the first views, you should not pay attention to the 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 selected episode in its entirety.

An example of a film that can be used in the class is Forrest Gump. Teachers of English recommend this particular picture because of the clear, unhurried speech of the central character.

Audio lessons

How to perceive English speech by ear? To achieve this goal, work with books in a foreign language will also help. It is advisable to use audio materials with accompanying text (paper, electronic) at the beginning of the class. Of course, when choosing books, you need to consider your level of language proficiency.

The lesson begins with listening to the text, at this stage the accompanying materials are not used. After listening to the recording, you need to mentally summarize the information received (to start in your native language). Then a second audition takes place, during which the accompanying text is before your eyes. Particular attention is paid to unfamiliar words, but you do not need to immediately look into the dictionary, it is better to try to understand their meaning from the context. New words are necessarily remembered.

The lesson ends with an independent recitation of the text aloud. The volume of text that is studied at a time is recommended to increase gradually, starting with small fragments. An example of a suitable audiobook is "Harry Potter" in the exposition of Stephen Fry. The speaker has a clear pronunciation, it also facilitates the perception of a fairly simple language.

Communication with a native speaker

How to learn to understand English by ear? This will help regular communication with English-speaking people. Find interlocutors these days is not difficult in the global network, in search it is worth paying attention to linguistic forums, thematic resources, 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 included cameras, so a foreign language is easier to perceive.

To make real use of the classes, do not be shy to ask the interlocutor 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 who studies a foreign language likes the work of foreign performers. Proper work with songs will be of great benefit. For example, you can choose an unfamiliar song with a well-distinguishable vocal, listen to it several times and transfer the memorized text to paper. Then the independent presentation is compared with the original song text.

Playing computer games, it is also recommended to give preference to English, not switching to Russian.

Reviews

How to learn to understand English by ear? Useful can be the feedback of those who have already coped with this task. For example, among the most common mistakes that many people write about, there is the habit of newcomers to take on excessively complex material. For example, do not learn to understand foreign speech, resorting to such TV series as "House Doctor", "Friends", which are not intended for beginners. Also, do not give up English subtitles, which simplify the process of understanding the speech of actors.

The greatest benefit, if you believe the opinion of many people who have tried various methods of learning English, brings live communication with foreigners.