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  • Hi guys, I'm Gabby Wallace and this is a Go Natural English Lesson. A lot of you have

  • written to me and told me that your biggest challenge in English is listening. I know

  • it can be difficult to understand native English speakers when we speak quickly. So I made

  • this video to help you out. I want to share with you the three biggest mistakes that you

  • may be making when you are listening to English. Alright. So let's get started with number

  • one right here. Listening is not the same as reading. This may seem obvious but the

  • way that we often learn English in school the way you may have learned English is with

  • a focus on reading and writing for academic purposes. Maybe in high school you had to

  • read in English but maybe you didn't have as much listening practice in English or you

  • didn't know how to approach listening. The way our mind words is with reading we are

  • visual learners. We are looking at the text on a page in a book and we are associating

  • the letters and the words and these shapes that we see on the page, which are letters,

  • we associate those with meaning. When you listen to English it's a completely different

  • process. We hear sounds, words, phrases and we need to associate those sounds with meaning.

  • This is especially difficult in English because the way that we write words, the way that

  • we spell is crazy. It is just crazy. We have silent letters, we have dipthongs, we have

  • words that come from other languages and pronunciation varies widely. So remember not to listen the

  • same way that you read. Okay. Number two, translating. It takes a lot of effort to translate.

  • Okay. When you hear words in English do you automatically try to translate them into your

  • native language? You might do this because of course you are familiar with and comfortable

  • with your native language and you want to make sense of English you want to understand

  • so you naturally try to translate it into your first language so that you can understand

  • what's going on. But translating is actually a waste of time. I'll tell you why. You're

  • putting a lot of effort into converting the meaning of a word into your native language

  • and then converting your thoughts back to English. In that time you are not hearing

  • the words that are being spoken while you're translating and you're not able to focus on

  • the person you are speaking with. So your mind is wasting a lot of energy trying to

  • translate the words that you hear in English into your native language and then back to

  • English so that you can add to the conversation. Now another reason why you shouldn't translate

  • is that when you get past basic words when you get into phrases, idioms, metaphors and

  • some cultural ideas or words that really only exist in English they are difficult if not

  • impossible to translate correctly in other languages. So I encourage you to listen and

  • match what you hear with meaning, directly. Cut out the middle man cut out the translator.

  • And number three the biggest mistake that you may be making is expecting to understand

  • 100%. Don't be a perfectionist. It is impossible. Even native speakers with good hearing do

  • not catch 100% of what we hear. It's normal. Aim for 60-80% understanding of what you are

  • listening to. Stay calm, stay relaxed and it will become easier to listen to English

  • and understand what you're hearing. I've made a full course with 17 secrets to improving

  • your listening skills in English so I'm going to talk more about these points and also share

  • 17 strategies for improving your listening today. Also the course includes 5 practice

  • session videos so that you can not only understand the strategies but use them. This course is

  • available on my website GoNaturalEnglish.com and it's called the 17 Secrets to Improving

  • Your English Listening SKills. So I hope that you'll come take a look because I want to

  • help you develop your listening skills for more confidence when you're engaging in English

  • conversation, more confidence when you talk to people at work, at school, in your personal

  • activities. So I know that this is a big need so that's why I'm addressing it. So come on

  • over and take a look at the course. I hope to see you there, in the course with me. I

  • am there to help you not only through videos but through question and answer. You can ask

  • me a question during the course about any listening questions that you may have. So

  • guys I'm a real person. I'm not just on video. I exist behind the screen and I'm here to

  • help you. Thank you so much for watching and I hope to see you in the 17 Secrets to Improving

  • Your English Listening Skills. Bye for now!

Hi guys, I'm Gabby Wallace and this is a Go Natural English Lesson. A lot of you have

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