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  • hello everyone its Gabby from gonaturalenglish.com answering your

  • questions about why is it's so difficult to understand the news in English it is

  • frustrating when you don't understand the news because it is essential to

  • understand what's going on in the world especially now so in this lesson I'm

  • gonna explain about some common misunderstandings about understanding

  • the news in English and how you can quickly and easily improve your

  • listening comprehension and understand everything that you are hearing in the

  • news these days in English on a global scale so listen up pay attention because

  • this is important not only for your English skills but for your knowledge

  • and information remember knowledge is power so there are some common

  • misconceptions about why it's difficult to understand the news in English many

  • English learners think that newscasters or reporters or the people on the news

  • speak too quickly to understand but that's actually not true most

  • newscasters actually speak more slowly and more clearly than most native

  • English speakers do newscasters use less slang and less regional dialects they

  • tend to use a standard American dialect and of course I'm talking about

  • North American newscasters here in English and so listening to the news in

  • English is not difficult because the newscasters are speaking too quickly

  • it's more a matter of understanding the vocabulary this is the hardest part the

  • most difficult part of understanding the news and so I'm going to share with you

  • how we can solve this problem now I want to give a shout out to the sponsor for

  • this English lesson I talked II and I'm gonna share how you can get a special

  • you as $10 I talk credit when you sign up for online

  • English lessons and make your first purchase there this is another way that

  • can really help you to improve your English fluency your confidence in

  • listening and speaking again the real reason why you're not understanding news

  • as well as you would like to is vocabulary could also be a matter of

  • listening skills but the news is actually easier to understand than most

  • native English speakers because as I mentioned newscasters speak more slowly

  • more clearly and used less regional slang or dialect first when you're

  • watching the news understand the difference between global marginal and

  • local news the more local the news the more references to local business or

  • local economy or local landmarks you're going to have and if you're not from

  • that City or that town it's going to be more difficult to understand but that

  • doesn't mean that your English is bad that just means that you're not familiar

  • with that locality if you're watching the national news well you need to be

  • familiar with what's going on in that country maybe it's the United States of

  • America or maybe Canada but if you're watching the national news there's still

  • going to be references to the national politics the national economy and

  • national problems or crime or maybe some positive stories - the first thing that

  • you should do to improve your understanding of the news in English is

  • to watch the topics in the news global news preferably in your native language

  • first and then watch them or listen to them in English so I did this when I was

  • learning Spanish I wanted to improve my vocabulary and understand the news in

  • Spanish so I would watch a story in English about something

  • specific that was going on in the world right now and then I would watch the

  • same topic in Spanish and it was so helpful because there's many cognates

  • which are words that are similar for example in Spanish you have the word

  • fetus and in English you have the word virus which are spelled the same and

  • just pronounced slightly differently but I can definitely guess that they're

  • probably the same meaning and so this can be really helpful if you make

  • yourself familiar with a story or a topic in your native language first and

  • then watch it or listen to it in English because you'll be able to guess or pick

  • up the main idea even if you don't understand every single new word now the

  • news is full of new words that you may not have ever learned in your English

  • class so words that are specific to the weather or to politics or economy are

  • prevalent in the news but they may not have ever been on your English class

  • vocabulary test but this is why it's so important to familiarize yourself with

  • the news in your native language and then listen to it in English and see

  • what you can guess if there are no cognates if your native language doesn't

  • really have a lot of cognates with English or similar sounding or similarly

  • spelled words then you might want to start looking words up in the dictionary

  • or online but before you start looking words up or searching for the meaning

  • really challenge yourself to guess the main idea guess what's going on based on

  • your understanding of world news in your native language you can already

  • understand what's going on in your native language and applying that to

  • your listening skills in English when you're watching the news is so powerful

  • you begin to trust your listening and your ability to catch new words without

  • ever having looked them up in the dictionary or online I highly recommend

  • reading news stories before you watch them on TV or listen to them on the

  • radio when you read you give yourself more time to understand the words you

  • give yourself more time to think about what the meaning might be to guess from

  • your prior knowledge and by the way this is what makes learning English as an

  • adult actually easier than learning English as a child because you

  • understand concepts or news stories in your native language you know what's

  • going on in the world through your first language or your mother tongue and then

  • you can apply that to English so give yourself the chance to read about what's

  • going on first and then listen to it or watch it on TV this way you can take

  • your time and if you do want to research new vocabulary words that you've never

  • seen or heard before you don't feel pressured by the fast pace that the news

  • reporter is speaking at I've done this a lot with Spanish by finding

  • spanish-language newspapers online and reading the stories and giving myself

  • the opportunity to find the meaning of those new words in the news

  • using the news to learn English is fantastic for improving your vocabulary

  • because the news is generally written grammatically speaking at a 5th grade

  • level that means that most 10 year olds can understand the grammar in

  • english-speaking news it's nothing complicated yes of course occasionally

  • you'll have more advanced complex structures but in general the news

  • reports on what is happening now in the present tense and it doesn't report on

  • historical facts or stories in the past as much as it talks about what is

  • happening right now in the present moment however much of the vocabulary in

  • the news can be advanced or very specific to a certain topic for example

  • if you're reading about health or technology or

  • the economy or politics you're going to find very specific vocabulary related to

  • each of those topics if it's still difficult after following these tips

  • reading or watching the news in your native language first and then watching

  • the news in English reading the news first in English before you listen to it

  • or watch it then try just reading the headlines in english-speaking news if

  • you just start with short phrases it's much less overwhelming than trying to

  • read a long article start with short chunks of English maybe short news

  • stories that are just a paragraph long and I'm going to share some

  • recommendations of news sites online also TV channels that I recommend for

  • practicing your English with the news it's really important that you practice

  • talking about the topics and news with an english-speaking conversation partner

  • this will not only help you to understand the vocabulary it'll help you

  • to remember the new vocabulary because you'll use it find someone who is

  • patient and can help you navigate and understand the new vocabulary that you

  • find in news stories this is an excellent opportunity to talk about

  • online English lessons with I talkie because you can sign up for a one on one

  • lesson where you can practice your conversation and even talk about the

  • news or the topics that you want to practice talking about you can practice

  • the vocabulary words that you're not sure about improving your pronunciation

  • with the native English speaker teachers and feeling comfortable with practicing

  • with their experienced teachers learning with I talking online is a very

  • efficient way to learn you can customize your lessons to do what you want to do

  • to practice what you want to practice and to learn what you want to learn you

  • can also schedule lessons anytime anywhere you have an intern

  • connection I talked he doesn't only have English lessons but they provide lessons

  • in dozens of languages as I mentioned I have taken Spanish lessons with them

  • I've also taken Portuguese Japanese and French lessons so there's a wide variety

  • of lessons available on the high talkie website I'm gonna share a link with you

  • down below so that you can get that special credit of 10 u.s. dollars

  • applied to your account after you make your first purchase I talking is also a

  • really affordable option it's about 30 percent of the cost of most online

  • tutors and a fraction of the cost of other online language apps like rosetta

  • stone or school programs where you have to pay thousands of dollars per semester

  • the really great part about I talking is you can schedule just one lesson or you

  • could schedule ongoing lessons for as long as you want so it's as little or as

  • much of a commitment as you want and need on the itoki website you can select

  • a teacher based on their ratings based on the style or subject that they teach

  • for example business English or conversational English and you can also

  • search for teachers based on what country they're from so if you want to

  • learn more about Canadian culture for instance you could search for a teacher

  • from Canada and I find this super helpful if I'm planning a trip or if I

  • want to learn something specific about a certain country's culture I can

  • experience that with a teacher at itok II so check it out by clicking on the

  • link in the description and through that link you can earn ten u.s. dollars in I

  • talk you credit after you purchase your first lesson this is a really exciting

  • way to learn English online anytime from anywhere and it can be super helpful for

  • you to practice talking about the news asking questions if you don't understand

  • something that's happening in the news and also to ask for different

  • perspectives what is half

  • in that teachers country and how do they view things what is their opinion how do

  • people from their culture react to news stories it can be quite eye-opening and

  • different than simply reading about a topic in the news so I highly suggest

  • that you try that out if you have any questions about that let me know in the

  • comments last but not least be careful where you get your news information not

  • all news sources are created equal I wanted to share some of my suggested

  • resources for reading the news online or tuning in to news programs on TV I would

  • suggest CNN NPR the BBC and for English learners specifically VOA news or Voice

  • of America news has news stories for English learners that are shorter and

  • easier to read also breaking news English is a good resource with English

  • news stories at the beginner intermediate and advanced level it's a

  • super way to advance your reading skills little by little tell me in the comments

  • do you usually watch news in your native language or in English have you ever

  • thought about using the news to improve your English listening skills before let

  • me know and I'll look forward to hearing from you if you enjoy English learning

  • tips be sure to subscribe here to go natural English and I'll see you next

  • time in next week's video bye for now

hello everyone its Gabby from gonaturalenglish.com answering your