5 Fun Activities to Become Better at Listening Comprehension!

Activity #1: Watch More Shows

Yup, you heard me right. Now, your listening comprehension paper is *actually* based on your ability to understand the language through listening, so what better way is there to train your listening skills than watching shows, whether on television or via popular streaming platforms like Netflix? When you’re watching, you’re also listening closely to the dialogue or narration to make sense of what you are viewing, so it’s definitely an efficient and enjoyable way to train yourself to listen better.

One way that this can help is for pronunciation. Just imagine knowing a word but not knowing how to pronounce it. Through watching shows, you will get more exposure to the language and this can help you learn the correct pronunciations. Shows with native language speakers, just like great sitcoms like The IT Crowd (UK) or FRIENDS (US), are *awesome* for this very purpose because they tend to speak fast. So if you can understand the language at that pace,

you will have no issue unpacking the messages of the audio recordings during the exam. For a bit more of a fun challenge, try watching them without subtitles. But remember, don’t binge watch them instead of studying!

Activity #2: Listen to Podcasts

Now, listening to podcasts, *especially* if the topics discussed are of great interest to you, is *great* because they make you become a more active listener. Unlike movies, TV sitcoms, or even YouTube videos, podcasts require total focus on the audio. Now, this not only helps you get a better grasp of the language through listening, but it can also help develop your concentration and make you less susceptible to environmental distractions. When you are actively listening to podcasts, you are improving your ability to pay attention to what others are saying. In fact, podcasts can be even more effective as a learning tool, because the hosts areusually speaking in a more natural and conversational way, as compared to movies and TV series, which are often scripted. Don’t know where to start? Here are some suggestions:

• Luke’s English Podcast: You will learn important skills such as topic-related vocabulary, pronunciation and even colloquial expressions from one of the coolest English teachers in London.
• No Such Thing As A Fish: If you love learning about useless facts, then you will definitely enjoy this podcast! Each week, different hosts will share fun facts that they have gathered over the week.
• Crime Junkie: Are you a true crime fanatic? Then this one is for you! The host, Ashley Flowers, narrates everything from missing people to mysterious murders in a manner that will have you on the edge of your seat.
• This American Life: The presenters share funny stories, insightful moments and unexpected twists on different topics every week.

Activity #3: Practice Taking Notes while listening

Want to give yourself a bit more of a challenge while doing the above two activities? Try jotting down the main points while watching your shows or listening to your podcasts! Remember to write phrases and not full sentences, or to use bullet points because the focus is on getting the main points.

This way, you will be able to see if you can understand what is being said correctly and in turn, this can help you pick out the main points in your examination easily and quickly.

It will also be a good idea to note down any unfamiliar or difficult vocabulary that you hear so that you can look them up in the dictionary later. In this way, you are boosting your vocabulary too!

Activity #4: Listen to Audiobooks WHILE reading

Now, this is also something that can help you greatly when preparing for your listening comprehension examination. Often, I notice that my students are not really able to follow the text while the audio is being played. So this is a good way to practice doing exactly that.

Reading your book while listening to the audiobook helps to train your focus on the text and reduce your chances of zoning out. This can also help you match the visual and audio aspects of the words, preventing a scenario where you know what a word means but don’t know how to pronounce it. Also, listening to the narrator means that the intonation of their voice might lead you to uncover new things you might have overlooked in the physical text, thus boosting your overall comprehension of the text.

Start with your favourite book or a book on a topic that interests you. The good news is that you often do not need to buy the audio version of the book because you can check if it is available and borrow it on the National Library Board’s mobile application.

Activity #5: Play Listening Games

Listening games promote mindful thinking and they encourage thoughtful, attentive communication which connects the listener to the speaker through both verbal and non-verbal cues. Remember when you were younger and played games like Simon Says and Broken Telephone? Such games were fun but they were also imparting skills such as listening to instructions and reacting appropriately to input from others.

Now that you are older, there are still many games that you can play to help hone your active listening skills. In fact, any game that requires you to interact with others and engage in conversations or discussions does promote active listening! This includes board games like Monopoly, Taboo and Clue, and card games such as Uno, Saboteur and Exploding Kittens, where you need to pay attention to the moves and strategies made by the other players.

You can also create your own games with your friends and family. Entice them by letting them know that playing games together not only sharpens their speaking and listening skills but is also a great way to bond and get to know each other better!

So there you have it! That’s 5 FUN activities to help you become a better listener! I hope this video has been helpful for you. For more English tips, do check out the other videos on our channel. Till my next post, have fun trying out these activities!

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