Listening is the most important form of communication, making up around 45% of the total communication time. We Listen to one another in conversation and study, as well as listening to stories on the radio, podcasts, the theatre, and television. Listening is followed by speaking at 30% of the time, reading 15%, and writing at 10%.
Language teaching often emphasizes speaking and writing skills, but by far the most important skills are the receptive skills of listening and speaking. Many foreign English speakers find listening skills to be the most challenging.
Many foreign language learners are surprised that listening is so challenging. They feel that with all the time spent on learning to speak, read and write, listening should follow naturally. Since you will spend nearly half of your time listening in your new language, you should spend as much time learning to listening, if you hope to become a fluent listener. Here are some techniques to help you.
Practice active listening
It is natural for people sitting amongst a group of friends and colleagues to want to contribute to the conversation. Unless you do, you may feel left out or unengaging. This is not the case. Dont confuse a passive process with a quiet one.
Listening is an active engagement even though you have said nothing. This is why an afternoon spent with colleagues who speak your target language can be so exhausting.
You may feel a little less as though youre sitting on the outskirts of the conversation if you employ some active listening techniques. Here are some ways in which you can signal your active listening stance
- Make eye contact with the speaker
- Nod from time to time to show your interest
- Lean toward the speaker. This should come naturally if youre listening
- Pay attention. Dont fidget or look distracted
- Make noises that show that you agree.
Spend time learning before you dive into a discussion
We all agree that children have a natural skill when it comes to learning languages so maybe they can teach adults something about learning languages. Children will often go through a silent period when learning a new language. Though researchers are not sure whether this is a necessary part of learning a new language, it may be a lesson for adults.
Adults seldom practice this silent period. Many are keen to try out their new language skills so they decide to practice their new skills in conversation before they have developed enough knowledge of the language.
Speaking a new language can be quite a nerve-wracking experience. When we jump into conversations before were ready we are likely not to listen to the other as we need all our brainpower to consider our next witty retort. When you decide to remain silent you can get the most out of your listening experience.
Having said that, you shouldnt remain silent all the time. Contributing to a conversation will give you the confidence and the motivation to continue to learn.
Have you understood the full story or just the outline?
When listening to a conversation dont forget to discover just how much of the discussion, youve actually understood. Sometimes we may have a good idea of the outlines of the story but weve missed much of what has been discussed. If youre unsure of how much of the discussion you have understood you could try these tips
- Quietly try to answer questions about the facts of the discussion
- Summarize what has been said
- Draw a picture of the facts
- Get into an imaginary discussion with the speaker by asking silent questions
- Translate the discussion into another language
- Imagine the next step in the discussion.
Learn the segmentation rules
In a foreign language, your short-term memory is shorter than it is in your native language. Heres why;
When we listen our brain segments the language into smaller bits in our short-term memory. The brain then takes its understanding of the language rules to put the segments into a logical sequence. The brain stores these segments as images and then uses the rules to put them all together.
When youre listening to a foreign language your brain has to remember everything that is said because you dont know all the rules of the language. By ensuring that make listening a large part of your language learning, youll ensure that you quickly learn the laws of segmentation in that language. Here are some suggestions on learning segmentation through listening
- Read a book while you listen to the audio version
- Watch series or movies on television or online
- Listen to the radio
- Socialize with native speakers