Understanding spoken English is a lot easier in class than in real life. English teachers know how to pronounce carefully and choose words and grammar that are familiar to their students. Outside of the classroom it is often not so simple. So is there anything you can do to help you in your progress? Yes! Whether you live in an English-speaking country or not you can take advantage of a wealth of resources to do the most important thing - practice!!.
If you live in an English-speaking country you have an amazing opportunity to interact with native speakers - but you must take the initiative. If you are a student you should try to live in a dormitory where you will be mixed in with native-speakers, or request a homestay with an English-speakingfamily. See if your school can help you find a "language partner" who wants to practice your language, and set up an exchange where you practice both languages together. Second, give yourself a reason to talk to native speakers every day. Do not limit your interactions to people who speak the same language as you. Give yourself something to do every day that will force you to speak English - make telephone calls or personal visits to businesses to ask for information. If you don't have real business - create some!! Find out about flights and costs to return to your home country, the ingredients in a sandwich at a local restaurant or what the parking laws are in your town. Think up some questions to "interview" people on the street, telling them you are doing an assignment for your English class. When you are speaking to people concentrate on what they are saying. If you are having trouble understanding them, ask them top speak more slowly. Try repeating the information back to them to make sure you have understood, or try asking more questions based on the information you have received. Try to find a way to share a common interest with native speakers, joining a club or sports team, or volunteering to work with children or teenagers. Television and radio shows are your friends. If you can, invest in a television with "closed captioning". This system works just like movie subtitles - only the words are both spoken and written in English!!
If you live in a country where English is not the native or official language, you will have more of a challenge. If you live in a large city you may be able to find native speakers to practice with, such as in a language exchange agreement described above. There may be an American Library where you can borrow books on tape. Read along as you listen, and pay attention to places where words sound different than how they look - we shorten or lengthen a lot of words for convenience or to change the meaning. Technology can help you no matter where you live. If you have satellite television you may be able to receive either CNN International or the BBC. Watching will help you a lot. If you don't have access to an English-language station, you can still watch broadcasts and all kinds of interesting presentations on intenet sites such as YouTube or daily motion. Like cooking? Watch a cooking lesson. Interested in international affairs? Watch a speech by President Obama. Love music? Watch a song while you read the words just below the video. Do you have an English-speaking friend far away? Maybe you can get together occasionally on Skype! Do something every day to improve your listening - just keep practicing - and having fun!
