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The wrong way to improve your English listening skills

EngFluent

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[1] 00:01How do you improve your English listening skills?

[2] 00:06If you ask this question to English teachers, they will tell you the same thing.

[3] 00:11They will tell you to go watch movies

[4] 00:14They will say that watching movies is a great way to improve your listening.

[5] 00:20But there's a problem.

[6] 00:21A lot of English learners watch movies with subtitles.

[7] 00:26Some people use English subtitles.

[8] 00:29Other people use subtitles in their native languages.

[9] 00:34It doesn't matter what kind of subtitles you use.

[10] 00:38Watching movies with subtitles is a really bad way to improve your listening.

[11] 00:44And in this video, I'm going to explain to you why it's such a bad idea.

[12] 00:50But first, let me share with you my personal experience.

[13] 00:54So back when I was in college, I wanted to improve my English listening skills.

[14] 01:00So what did I do?

[15] 01:02Well, I started to watch movies with English subtitles.

[16] 01:07I thought that that was the best way to improve my listening.

[17] 01:12I was really optimistic.

[18] 01:14I thought that in two or three years, I would be able to understand native speakers.

[19] 01:21Unfortunately, it didn't work.

[20] 01:25After six years of doing that, I still could not understand native speakers.

[21] 01:31I still needed subtitles when watching a movie.

[22] 01:35I was really disappointed.

[23] 01:37I watched a lot of movies, but I still could not understand native speakers.

[24] 01:42At the time, I didn't know why it didn't work.

[25] 01:47But now I do.

[26] 01:49So let's talk about that right now.

[27] 01:52First, there's one thing about listening that you need to know.

[28] 01:58Listening and hearing are not the same.

[29] 02:01If you want to improve your listening, make sure that when you practice listening, you're

[30] 02:07really listening and not just hearing.

[31] 02:10So what's the difference between listening and hearing?

[32] 02:14Well, the difference is whether or not you're paying attention.

[33] 02:19If you're paying attention, then you're listening.

[34] 02:23If you're not paying attention, then that's just hearing.

[35] 02:27So let me give you an example.

[36] 02:30If you turn on the radio and pay attention to the sound from the radio, then that is

[37] 02:37listening.

[38] 02:38But if you turn on the radio and then you do something else like reading a book, then

[39] 02:44that's just hearing.

[40] 02:46You can hear the radio, but you're not paying attention to it.

[41] 02:50You are not listening.

[42] 02:52And again, if you want to improve your listening, make sure that you're really listening and

[43] 02:58not just hearing.

[44] 02:59You need to make sure that you're paying attention.

[45] 03:03Now let's talk about watching movies with subtitles.

[46] 03:07What's wrong with it?

[47] 03:09Why doesn't it work?

[48] 03:10As you might have guessed, it doesn't work because you're not listening.

[49] 03:15You're just hearing.

[50] 03:17So let me explain.

[51] 03:19When you watch a movie, you brain is trying to understand the movie.

[52] 03:25But there isn't just one way to do that.

[53] 03:27There are two ways or two options.

[54] 03:31The first option is to focus on reading the subtitles.

[55] 03:36The second option is to focus on listening to the sound.

[56] 03:41Now I have a question for you:

[57] 03:43Which option do you think your brain will choose?

[58] 03:48Reading or listening?

[59] 03:49Well the answer is obvious.

[60] 03:51You brain is going to focus on reading the subtitles.

[61] 03:56Why?

[62] 03:57Because it's much easier.

[63] 03:59The text on the screen is clear.

[64] 04:02So it's very easy for you brain to process.

[65] 04:05The sounds of people talking, on the other hand, are not that clear.

[66] 04:10So it's much more difficult for your brain to figure out what people are saying.

[67] 04:15As a result, you brain will pay attention to the subtitles and not the sounds.

[68] 04:23So when you watch a movie with subtitles, you're not really improving your listening.

[69] 04:28You're actually improving your reading.

[70] 04:32That's why it doesn't work.

[71] 04:34So the best way to improve your listening is to just listen.

[72] 04:39Don't read and listen at the same time.

[73] 04:42If you watch a movie in English, remove the subtitles, so that your brain will have to

[74] 04:48focus on listening.

[75] 04:50If you do that, your listening will improve much faster.

[76] 04:55That said, there is still a problem.

[77] 04:59If you remove the subtitles, then you won't understand the movie.

[78] 05:04And if you don't understand the movie, then it's going to be boring.

[79] 05:08So what should you do?

[80] 05:09Well, here's my suggestion:

[81] 05:12Don't try to improve your listening by watching movies.

[82] 05:16Just watch movies for fun.

[83] 05:18There is a better and faster way to improve your listening.

[84] 05:23And that's the subject of the next video.

[85] 05:25In the next video, I'll share with you the method I personally used to improve my English

[86] 05:31listening skills.

[87] 05:33So I'll see you again in the next video.

[88] 05:36And if you don't want to miss that video, make sure you subscribe to this EngFluent

[89] 05:41channel.

[90] 05:42And if you want even more advice on how to improve your English, go to EngFluent.com

[91] 05:47and sign up for the newsletter."

[92] 05:50Or just click these two boxes.