9 Ways Listening Improves Your English

Sabrena Doherty Author

Why is listening in English so important? This article outlines the benefits.

What do Penelope Cruz, Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Shakira have in common? 

English is not their native language. However, they have worked hard at learning and, through hard work and dedication, have reached a level of English advanced enough that they can act in English. 

If you are reading this, it is probably not your native language either. And I am sure you would love to have their level of English. But you have been studying for years and you cannot get past a certain level - where you still have difficulties with understanding, with pronunciation, with expressing yourself fluently. And it is very difficult to see how you can get past this.

But it is possible! It requires motivation, persistence, and consistency, but it is possible.

Do you remember being in college, or university, or even school, and you needed to pass some exams? Or when you started a new job? You were overwhelmed, you didn´t know anything, but in the end, you achieved your objective - passing the exam, being able to complete the tasks in your new job. How did you do that? You studied, you learned, you practiced, and you repeatedly reviewed.

 It is the same with learning English. It is not impossible to reach the level you want to reach, but it does require long-term dedication and consistency.

There are various elements to learning the English language:

Learning grammar - grammar is like the building blocks of the language - you should learn the basics to help you understand how it works.

Vocabulary - learning vocabulary - expressions, verbs, conjunctions, adjectives etc - is like filling in the blanks to help you, to give you the means to describe what you want to say.

Reading, writing, listening and speaking are all ways of communicating. 

Pronunciation - working on this area is essential so that other people understand you - not to be confused with having an accent.

Watch the video for tips on how to improve your listening & speaking skills, using online resources:

While it is necessary to work on all these elements in order to learn English, the understanding and speaking are often the areas that people struggle with the most, and therefore require extra effort. 

Although it can be difficult to practice speaking if you don´t attend class or live in an English-speaking country, the good news is that it is relatively easy to incorporate listening into your daily life. 

Furthermore, listening to English does not only help you with understanding English, but also with other aspects. 

Read this article to learn 6 Steps to Improving Your Understanding.

9 Ways Listening Improves Your English:

1. Speaking - you are hearing expressions, vocabulary and grammar structures that you have never heard before or that you have heard before, with repetition you will be able to repeat more confidently.
2. Pronunciation - you are hearing how words should be pronounced, 
3. Grammar - You will know grammar rules and exactly how they are used, not because of knowing the rule, but because you have heard it so often that it sounds natural - which is always the better way of knowing something, as it flows more naturally from you when you are speaking.
4. Vocabulary - you will hear new vocabulary and you will also reinforce vocabulary that you already know, so it will be more natural for you to reproduce it.
5. Confidence - your confidence in your English will skyrocket because you will English will be more natural for you.
6. Making fewer mistakes - you will be less afraid of making mistakes.

 7. Improving your career opportunities - your improved English, and your confidence in your ability to communicate in English, means that your career options improve, especially nowadays when working from home is an option for many, and a lot of companies work internationally, with English being the common business language.

8. Reading - you will be able to read in English better because you will be more familiar with new vocabulary and expressions.

9. Writing - your writing will naturally improve as the aforementioned (above) areas improve.

As well as these areas improving,  listening to English is possibly one of the easiest and most time-saving ways to improve your language, as you can do it anywhere - in your car, on public transport, in the doctor's waiting room… anywhere you have a few free minutes. As long as you have material ready on your mobile phone, with earphones, headphones, or earbuds, you are good to go.

To know HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR UNDERSTANDING, read this article 6 STEPS TO IMPROVING YOUR UNDERTANDING IN ENGLISH.

How our Listening Challenge can help you.

As a teacher of professional English for 11 years, and a language learner, having moved to Spain with no Spanish, I have seen and experienced how effective listening to (and watching) English is. That's why I developed the listening challenge. 

It is great if you can listen to English as much as possible by yourself, but to really jump forward and see a big improvement in your understanding, as well as the other areas mentioned above, you need to have a plan to follow - an easy, step by step plan to improve your English comprehension where all you have to do is follow the instructions, and spend at least 10 minutes every day for one month doing the plan. 
Take a look here, OR try it FREE on our new membership HERE - where you have access to all our conversation classes, masterclasses, resources, and online courses and challenges, including this one.

If you prefer to work on your own, download your FREE step-by-step guide to improving your English HERE.

Categories: Improve Your English, Listening & Speaking