Episode 180
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Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.
I'll be talking about passive listening, or in other words, listening in the background.
Later on, we'll practice conversation skills with the powerful Question & Answer technique.
Ok, let's get started!
In the language industry, there's an approach called passive listening. This means playing some English in the background while performing other tasks. In theory, you're learning because the brain is always learning, no matter how.
Interesting, huh? You just need to play some English while you're cleaning, jogging, surfing the Internet, etc.
Well, although this approach may be appealing to many of you, here's the bad news: It doesn't work as a whole system for developing a complete fluency in English.
The main drawback is that when we need to learn new content, our brain needs to pay attention, to be active.
So, in an ideal world, we would be 100% focused all the time while listening: We'd pay attention to every tiny detail: vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, etc.
However, as you may already know, idyllic things are sometimes hard to achieve. If you need perfect conditions every time you listen: for example, feeling rested, motivated, in a quiet place, then you will never start listening.
What you need is a compromise. It's ok to lose concentration from time to time.
Here's my suggestion: For new content, try to maintain your concentration as much as possible.
However, when you're repeating the same content, you don't need to focus 100% of your attention anymore because, in this case, you're just remembering and consolidating.
Another aspect to keep in mind: in this case quantity is more important than quality. It means that when you listen for two hours, and you only focus on 70% of your attention, it's still more efficient than when you're listening for only 20 minutes, and you succeed to focus 100%.
The accumulation of hours and hours of listening it's what truly helps you to become fluent.
Just think about children. They're not always focused when they listen, but they always learn.
My takeaway for today is: Try to listen as much as you can. Being focused is essential when you're learning new content, but when you're already familiar with the material, what matters the most, it's the amount of time you spend listening.
Ok, let's move on to the next section.
Now, let’s practice.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING
Mini-Story: Speaking Practice
Answer the questions aloud with short and quick responses. Repeat the Mini-Story several times to improve your speaking and listening.
Sarah was learning English on her own.
Was Sarah learning Spanish on her own?
No. She wasn't learning Spanish on her own. She was learning English on her own.
Was Sarah learning English at a language school?
No, no. She wasn't learning at a language school. She was learning on her own.
Who was learning English?
Sarah. Sarah was learning English.
What language was she learning?
English. Sarah was learning English.
Sarah was very busy, and she almost didn't have any free time.
Was Sarah very busy?
Yes. She was very busy. She almost didn't have any free time.
Did Sarah have free time?
No, no. She didn't have any free time. She was very busy.
What didn't she have?
Free time. She didn't have any free time.
How was Sarah at that moment?
She was busy. She was busy at that moment.
Did she have plenty of free time?
No, she didn't. She almost didn't have any free time.
When Sarah was commuting, she met Michael. He was also an English student.
Was Sarah sitting on a bench when she met someone?
No, no. She was commuting. In other words, she was using public transport.
What was she doing when she met Michael?
She was communing. When she met Michael, she was commuting.
Whom did Sarah meet?
Michel. She met Michael, an English student.
Did Sarah meet John, a Spanish student?
No, no. She didn't meet John. She met Michael, an English student.
Were Sarah and Michael students?
Yes, they were students. They were English students.
What were they?
Students. They were students.
When they were together, they were listening to English content.
Were they listening to English content when they weren't together?
No, no. They were listening when they were together, not when they weren't.
Were they listening to English content?
Yes, they were listening to English content.
Who was listening to English content?
Michael and Sarah. They were listening to English content when they were together.
What were they doing when they were together?
Listening to English content. They were listening to English content when they were together.
They were happy because their English improved significantly.
Were they happy because their favorite soccer team won?
No, no. They were happy because their English improved significantly.
Was Sarah happy?
Yes, she was happy.
Was Michel happy?
Yes. He was happy too. They were both happy.
Why were they happy?
Because their English improved significantly, that's the reason why they were happy.
Very good! It's the end of this mini-story. Some of the questions may seem a bit too easy, but remember, it's all about automating your English. The idea is to be able to answer without hesitation, without thinking and, of course, without translating from your mother tongue.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
passive listening
hearing audio while doing another activity.
in the background
playing without receiving full attention.
pay attention
focus your mind on something.
consolidate
strengthen information already learned.
familiar with
knowing something from previous experience.
quantity
the amount of something.
quality
how good something is.
fluency
the ability to speak smoothly and naturally.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
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