Listen Engish without obstacles

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I am a Chinese English learner. I have learnt English as a foreign language for nearly ten years. The education emphasized too much on grammar and sentence patterns when it was of my middle school time. As a direct result of this, my reading and writing skills are ok but my listening and speaking are relatively poor. Whenever I listen to English, it always seems to me too fast to catch what the whole sentence means though maybe I know each word in it.I am now a linguistics major. The study of my new major leaves me even less time to get in touch with listening materials.
However, the problem is not about time, but that I don't know how to improve my listening. I know that there are many experts here. Can you give me your advice or just talk about your own successful learning experiences. Thanks!

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I like to watch DVDs in English with the English subtitles turned on. So if you don't catch the spoken words, you can still check the subtitles.

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urs53 wrote:

I like to watch DVDs in English with the English subtitles turned on. So if you don't catch the spoken words, you can still check the subtitles.

That's an excellent idea, Urs53. ESLs have to get used to the idea that what they see on paper is rarely what you'll hear in spoken English.

What did he do?

COULD be

Wadee do?

OR

Wa didi do?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Do you want to go? ---> D'yu wanna go? and this could be further reduced to one virtually one sound in rapid speech.

D'yuwannago?

Virtually all speech is subject to some degree of reduction, some a great deal. The endings of some words are attached to the start of the next. Whole words are incorporated into a single word, eg. 'going to' becomes 'gonna'; 'have to' becomes 'hafta'; 'want to' becomes 'wanna'.

In fact, in speech the nice little spaces you see in writing quite often don't exist at all. ESLs who expect these spaces are often flummoxed by the real everyday speech that they encounter in movies, songs and encounters with real English.

Modal perfects are subject to a great deal of reduction.

He might have gone --> He mida gone

She must have been sewing that for a long time -->

Shemustabinsewinthatferalongtime

Here's a polite introduction that can be and is often used to make any imperative, eg. 'stand up'; 'go and get me a coke' more polite.
"IwaswonderinifIcudgetchata ~ "

Can the ESLs write this out in the form that we see on the written page?

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Quote:

In fact, in speech the nice little spaces you see in writing quite often don't exist at all. ESLs who expect these spaces are often flummoxed by the real everyday speech that they encounter in movies, songs and encounters with real English.

Your words are marvelous, chichan. I quite agree with you. But the problem is how EFLs can conquer it.
Can anyone here recommend any English listening learning software or audio files. I am using Pimsleur French which consists of MP3 files to practise French listening. I think I am working well with it. But it is a pity that Pimsleur doesn't teach English in Chinese Sad

Does anyone know a similar software which helps poeple practise English listening?

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Hao--

Welcome to A2K.

If a young boy asked you how to develop muscles, you'd tell him to exercise.

You want to improve your understanding of spoken English. The same answer applies. Exercise your ears. Watch English movies. Listen to English tapes. Enjoy vocal music in English.

Gadgets really can't substitute for time spent listening.

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hao wrote:

Can anyone here recommend any English listening learning software or audio files.

Does anyone know a similar software which helps poeple practise English listening?

I'm sorry, no to both your questions, Hao. But the internet is alive with short videos and programs that you can watch and listen to.

Comedy Central, CNN, MSNBC, and some other news networks have short videos you can watch. ENLs have to listen to/watch an ad before the video but for ESLs/EFLs ads can be a rich source of language.

Perhaps some other able2knowers can post some links to language rich video sites for ESLers.

www.cnn.com
www.msnbc.com

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urs wrote:

I like to watch DVDs in English with the English subtitles turned on. So if you don't catch the spoken words, you can still check the subtitles.

I'll do the same thing when I'm watching an English or an Irish movie. Even though they speak the same language as me, their accent is so bloody thick that it seems like a foreign language.

Why have the Brits mangled the english language so?

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chichan wrote:

Perhaps some other able2knowers can post some links to language rich video sites for ESLers

.
That's a really good idea. Smile

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Oi 'av now oidea wart Gus be goin' arn abart, 'av ee?

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Quote:

Hao--

Welcome to A2K.

Thank you, Noddy24.

Quote:

Gadgets really can't substitute for time spent listening

.
And thanks for your advice. It's true that practice can never be ignored. But we cannot deny either that something desinged for language learners would make the process of study more enjoyable and efficent.

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In all seriousness, try this site......

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/

or even better......

http://news8.thdo.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/learn_english/default.stm

Good luck!

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Lord Ellpus wrote:

Oi 'av now oidea wart Gus be goin' arn abart, 'av ee?

What do you mean by that? Waht's the language?

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I will, Lord Ellpus. Thanks a lot!

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hao wrote:

Lord Ellpus wrote:
Oi 'av now oidea wart Gus be goin' arn abart, 'av ee?

What do you mean by that? Waht's the language?

That is English, spelt in the way that someone from the South West of England would pronounce it.

In proper written English, it would read " I have no idea what Gus is going on about, have you?"

(The "Gus" to whom I refer in the above sentence, is the rather ugly farmer who posted on page one of your thread, whose full title is gusratzenhofer)

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Quote:

That is English, spelt in the way that someone from the South West of England would pronounce it.

In proper written English, it would read " I have no idea what Gus is going on about, have you?"

I believe it will be terrible for me to understand that sentence when listening to it:p
Maybe I can tell what I think of the webs you recommended tomorrow. Smile

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Listen Engish without obstacles

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