When we're worried about having conversations in English, we often think about how scary it is to speak. But listening is a crucial part of conversations. So what happens when we can't understand the person we're speaking to? We need to practise listening in a controlled environment, such as a classroom, where the teacher speaks clearly and maybe slowly. However, outside the classroom, people speak quickly and use idiomatic expressions that we may not have heard before.
We need to get used to different accents from all over the world. One main issue is when students are not familiar with different accents. They are always exposed to one variety of English, and that tends to be the American English, due to the influence of films, music, and pop culture. It's important to hear lots of voices and lots of accents so you can be ready for anything. We can improve our listening skills by asking questions to clarify what someone is saying. We can also watch or listen to something a few times a week and make sure we're watching something that has a variety of voices, such as interviews, talk shows, and chatty podcasts.
We can learn to understand different accents and voices by practising regularly. At BBC Learning English, we have lots of resources to help you improve your listening skills, such as our podcast series, Our Stories, where we tell real stories about our lives. We can also try to watch things that include fast, natural speech, and listen to podcasts that discuss various topics, including education, health, and technology. By doing so, we can become more confident in our ability to understand different accents and voices, and improve our overall English language skills.
