HOW TO SELF- IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS? Hanoi, 14 th February 2009 Ngo Tuyet Mai Dean of Foundation Studies Department – Hanoi University

THE REMEMBERING CURVE Amount you are likely to recall if you do review. Amount you are likely to recall if you do not review.

Be Conscious of LISTENING I LISTEN Well only When I know that I have to/should/want to LISTEN

Listening- a disaster? Fast speed New words Different pronunciations Variety of accents Long conversations  difficult to remember information

Why are students find Listening DIFFICULT? Because ……………. They didn’t listen ACTIVELY They note TOO MUCH They CONFUSE note – taking with DICTATION/ SHORT HAND They do not pay enough attention to UNDERSTANDING & ANALYSIS They do not understand Why, What, and How they take note?

Deeply- rooted causes Poor pronunciation:  cannot recognized the already- known words Limited reservoir of vocabulary Lack of practice: Practice makes perfect, no skill can be mastered without sweating Lack of exposure to listening strategies

It’s so terrible………

I totally cannot make heads or tails of it!

What YOU should DO now? Listen as much as possible Read outloud as much as possible Practice good pronunciation as much as possible Pay attention to key words Key words= nouns, verbs or adjectives which are often stressed by speakers to signal their important points

What YOU should DO now? (cont.) Do homework on a regular basis: When doing homework, follow some steps 1st step: Listen and doing nothing, just close your eyes and try to get the main idea of the talk 2nd step: Listen and do exercises in the book 3rd: Listen and check what you have done 4th: Listen and write down the dictation 5th: Listen and compare your dictation with the tapescript that teacher gives you 6 th : Listen and repeat/shadow

What YOU should DO now? (cont.) Design your own exercises: Listen to songs is one way to help you to relax, so why not make the most of your entertaining time? Search for the lyrics of the song, and then omit some words. Then when you have free time, play the song and look at the lyrics and try to catch out the missing words.

Be aware of different TYPES of listening CONTEXTS Listen in classrooms/lectures Listen in daily life contexts Listen in IELTS LISTENING tests

Remember: Different types of LISTENING requires …………..  DIFFERENT SKILLS,  DIFFERENT STRATEGIES,  DIFFERENT TACTICS, AND  DIFFERENT TYPES PRACTICE.

Our Motto Wash your ear at least 30 minutes a day (by LISTENING to any thing in ENGLISH)

REFERENCE WEBLINKS FOR STUDENTS

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LISTENING! ANY QUESTIONS?