Many of my students ask me how they can improve their listening skills in their own time. Although watching films can definitely help, I personally find the sound quality in a lot of movies can get in the way of comprehension – for example the background music might be too loud. Also, the language used may not always be entirely appropriate or pertinent to the student’s needs.
One source of listening practice I do recommend for English language learners, and often incorporate in my own lessons, is Ted Talks. These are videos of presentations given by expert speakers from different backgrounds on a huge range of topics, ranging from Arts to Zoology and last between 5 and 18 minutes, making them nice and manageable for those who need regular, focused listening practice.
The great thing about these talks is not only are they subtitled, but they come with a transcript too, which means they can also be used for reading practice, enabling you to focus on accurate use of grammar and the learning of new vocabulary. Subtitling can of course be turned off, which is what I usually encourage my students to do when they first watch the talk. I generally recommend the following approach:
- Choose a talk on a topic that interests you.
- Watch it through without subtitles for gist (general understanding).
- Watch it again with (English) subtitles on for accuracy practice.
- Study the transcript for detailed understanding and more in-depth language analysis.
- Watch the talk a third time – subtitles off – to see how much more you can pick up this time.
This is only one suggestion for how to exploit Ted Talks – you may find an approach that better suits you. In any case, do give this wonderful resource a try. The talks tend to be quite stimulating – so you won’t just improve your listening skills, but you’ll probably learn something new and interesting too! The content is free and accessible to all: ted.com/talks.
Happy listening 😊