5 STEPS – THE METHOD TO CONQUER YOUR LISTENING

Xem bản Tiếng Việt: Phương pháp 5 STEPs luyện nghe đột phá

It goes without saying that listening is the most important skill in any language, before you want to communicate to others in their mother tongue. First, you have to understand what they are talking about? Are they complimenting or blaming you? SO learning how to listen is a must if you want to use English as your second language. In this article VTENGLISH proudly to share to you-my readers, the 5 steps listening method, which I believe the most EFFECTIVE (and a bit boring) way to QUICKLY  help you conquer your listening proficiency.

To start off, you need to find a video that “fit” with your level, what I mean here is that the speed, topic, accent that suitable with your current level. For instance, if you’re a beginner, with limited vocabulary and grammar knowledge, you should find a topic which has normal speed and common topics, to name a few VOA learning English, American got talent/idol, etc. DON’T force yourself to watch CNN, CNBC, these channels aren’t mean for beginners, it will discourage you even destroy your motivation of learning. The topic that you choose is also crucial, let’s find topics that you’re interested in. I mean, the topics that you have some basic understanding in your own language so it’s way easier for you to understand it in English version. Or at least you like it, learning and doing something that you like, it couldn’t be better right! In conclusion, One word you have to remember in choosing video/topic is SUITABLE.

Anyway, in this article Vtenglish will focus on VOA report videos, this channel is suitable for beginner and intermediate levels, reading speed isn’t too fast, reporters are focus on pronunciation of American English. Especially, the topics range from common ones like sport, culture, people, environment to more complicated such as economy, finance, stock market, etc.

Alright, let’s dive into our 5 steps listening method

Step 1: Listen + Look at the subtitle (at least 2 times)

Yes, as simple as it sounds, you just need to listen and look at the subtitle simultaneously, this will help you have the first glance about the vocabulary and general content of the video or at least you can be familiar with the reporter’s accent and tone. Please repeat this process at least 2 times.

Step 2: Listen-Pause-Check vocab – read out loud (n times- until you fully understand all necessary vocabs).

Repeat step 1, but in this round, whenever you hear any new vocabulary. Let’s pause the video, check for the meaning of it (I highly recommend oxford or Cambridge dictionary), learn how to pronounce the word, try to understand the whole sentence which contained the new vocabulary, AND find the way to describe the word by yourself. (3 steps on learning new vocabulary). Then continue the process until the end of the video. Next, repeat the process some more times, until there is NO new vocabulary for you. Once you’ve done, time to move to step 3

Step 3: Listen without looking at the subtitle

Now you have the vocabulary, understand the general content, so it’s time for your ears working intensely. Play the video, whenever you miss a word, play it back for some times until you get it, repeat the process until you fully catch all of the words by using only your ears.

Step 4: Shadowing after reporter

Repeat step 3, but this time let’s try to shadow the reporters, in other words, you imitate their sound tone, the way they stress, the way they link words together. Repeat this step at least 3 times.

Step 5: Become a reporter

Last but not least, Let’s turn off the sound, look at the subtitle and read as the speed of the video, please remember the way you imitate in step 4. This time don’t forget to record your reading, later you can listen to yourself to see your improvement.

One last thing, 5 Steps listening method, it sounds boring (actually it’s boring) but it works. Yes! Not only it works BUT it quickly improves my students listening proficiency. SO don’t hesitate to try it yourself and share to me the result.

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