Why are you learning English? Why is this language important for you? To myself, without English I wouldn't be working, I couldn't be listening to all the songs that I enjoy... I couldn`t chat and talk... even being Brazilian, the first language for me is English. At this very moment, I'm accessing CNN, BBC and listening to some wonderful songs... in English.
So, you must evaluate your interests, your motivation and set goals to yourself, such as;
- listen to the songs you enjoy... with lyrics, to get used to the vocabulary along the listening
- watch movies with their original captions and pay closely attention to the characters speaking and pronunciation
- download podcasts (you have some links in previous posts, such as ESL podcasts and others) and their transcripts, but don't forget to put them aside, some time after, and just listen to them
- listen to Elllo and read the transcripts outloud to get used to the pronunciation and rhythm. Thus, you can do that with any podcast.
- watch videos on CNN. There are many pieces of news that you can watch and get the meaning.
- if you want something more informal and funny, here you have some videos on watchknow.org
You're going to have a good time laughing and learning with Misterduncan, an English teacher.
- read parts of texts outloud and pay attention to your voice, rhythm, intonation, pronunciation.
- you must understand and accept that it's not possible to translate all the words you hear. You must understand the conception and the meaning... don't be frustrated about that.
- translating is a waste of time because the meanings are completely different. Some schools, such as the one where I work, teach English inside the conception, not translating word by word, the focus is on the conversation, what becomes the course very dynamic.
- bear in mind that listening comprehension is one of the most difficult tasks. You must practice everyday, at least 20 min, 30 min a day.
- set your goals little by little, be patience with yourself, every learning process takes time. I didn't become a teacher overnight.
At last, but not least important, click on this link Learn English and read some tips to improve yourself. On these two links (eHow and 2LC), you have more tips to boost your learning process. Way to go!
