One of the most important things you can do while listening is to "pay attention." You should TRY to listen and understand. This seems like an obvious thing to do, but sometimes it is easy to forget. Why is it easy to forget? Well, when you are listening to a different language sometimes there are many new words and expressions that you can't understand. When you can't understand something, it is easy to let your mind think only about what you didn't understand. Some people tend to stop listening and think only about what they didn't understand. They forget about continuing to listen to new things and they concentrate only on what they didn't understand. It is okay to stop listening to think about what something meant, but don't completely stop listening to the new things. Always remember to focus your attention again to what you are listening to.
Another problem that happens when listening to something in a different language is that it is easy for your attention to stray (go to another focus of attention). You may find that while you are listening to English, you may become distracted by the sounds outside in the hallway. You may become distracted by the people walking outside your window. You may become distracted by what a student next to you is doing at his/her desk. It is easy to become distracted by things around you when you are listening to a different language. Why? Because when you are listening to something in a different language, you don't understand it as well as in your native language. Maybe you are listening to something interesting but because you don't understand it the way you would like to you become bored. You may become tired of listening carefully. You become tired because you are listening with great effort. When you are listening to something in English, try to keep your attention on what you are listening to. Keep listening with great effort. While you are listening do your best to pay attention and then relax after it is over.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
When you are listening to something try to do some dictation. This will help you discover your accuracy in listening. Sometimes we think we understand something because we think only about the general meaning. Thinking about the meaning is important but the exact words can be important, too. Can you write down the words of what you are listening to? Doing dictation can help you focus your listening on the exact language. It will help you discover how things are exactly pronounced. Give it a try. Try to write down some of the sentences you hear while listening.
You can also take notes - for example, writing down new expressions you hear, or the new words you hear. This will help you better remember the things you hear. This will reinforce the things you are listening to so that you can understand them when you hear them again at a later time or when you say them in a conversation.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
When you are listening to something in English how many times do you listen? You should try to listen many times to the same thing. Why? Each time you listen to something, you learn new things about what you are listening to. Maybe the first time you can get an idea of the general meaning. The second time, you may discover a new expression that you have never heard before. The third time, you can learn something about the rhythm of English. The fourth time, you may discover a different expression or word. The fifth time you may discover the pronunciation of a word or words. The sixth time you may discover . . . . The new things that you can discover each time you listen again are endless. If a listening is difficult for you, this can be very important for your understanding. Keep listening and each time, notice something new. When you do this many times, you will be able to understand more and more and you will find that your understanding really improves after six or seven times.
Also, even when you think you have understood something well, listen again. You will find that you can discover even more new things. The next time you listen to your favorite English song, listen to it and try to become aware of new things you can discover. Then listen again and discover more.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
Do you use the dictionary when you listen to something? You should try it! It is a great way to discover new vocabulary words when you listen to something. Using a dictionary can help you understand your listening and it will help you LEARN from your listening. When you are listening to something and you hear something you don't understand, try to find it in your dictionary. You will discover new words and their spellings.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
When you listen to something a good test for whether you were really able to understand something is if you can write down a summary of what you listened to. When you can write a summary, then that means you really understand something. Being able to briefly summarize something challenges you to determine the important points of something. It also challenges you to delete less important things. It challenges you to organize what you listened to, reformulate it and put it in your own words. The next time you listen to a passage, try to summarize it. When you feel you have summarized it well, it usually means that you have understood something well.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
What do you do when you don't understand something? Do you think about words you cannot catch? Do you just forget and listen to the things you do understand? Do you try to figure out the meaning? This last point is the answer. You should try to figure out the meaning. You should try to understand the meaning of something you don't understand. How do you figure out the meaning of something you don't understand? A really good way is to try to use the words that you DO understand to guess the meaning of what you don't understand. Use the information around the parts you don't understand to guess what you don't understand. Even if you don't understand everything exactly, that's okay. Just try to guess. Make a guess, and then try to see if your guess is correct by listening again.
See an example from Meidai student listening diaries.
Write things down (notetaking or dictation)
Noticing new things
Using the dictionary
Summarizing
Guessing