Everyone knows that there are four skills in learning a language， namely listening， speaking， reading and writing. They are always related in terms of usage， and speaking is viewed by learners as the most desirable skill in face-to-face communication in the globalization era. However， what is the answer to the following questions？
* What do you have to do before you speak？
* What does a child learn before he talks？
* What do you do before chatting？
Listen， of course！
In English learning， not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears！ Therefore， we should listen twice as much as we speak. Did you ever ask yourself， “How did I learn my own language？” In fact you never really learned it at all —— you just started speaking it. But this speaking was the result of hearing your native language for two or three years. All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking. For two years words went IN to your head and then words came OUT of your head. That is why hearing （and listening to） English as much as possible is so important to you now. The more English you put in， the more you'll get out！
Why is listening good for you ？
Listening is good for the English student because：
1. When listening， you are reviewing a lot of English usage such as vocabulary， grammatical structures， intonation， accent and your own interpretation.
2. You can learn new words and expressions by hearing them frequently.
3. General knowledge gained from television or radio news， features， or even advertising spots is certainly beneficial if you are a regular listener.
4. You can imitate what you hear and apply it with great confidence.
5. Listening can be a great “hobby” while you do other things such as cooking， exercising， relaxing， etc. In other words， you have no wasted time at all.
6. Listening is also a great way to train your attention.
The results of good listening
Confidence
To be able to listen well gives you confidence in communication. And the more confident you are at listening the more confident you will be at speaking.
Good communication
You can only talk sensibly when you can understand what is said to you. Failing that， you may miss important information presented to you， or respond in a funny way. Good communication means longer communication that is worthwhile communication. The better you become at communication the more foreigners will want to talk with you.
Develop good listening skills
Listening in everyday life is a real-time skill. Unlike reading， you often don't have the chance to adjust the pace of speech， listen again or check an unknown word. The need to understand what you hear on the spot makes it even more crucial that you develop the ability to listen well.
Basic advice about improving your listening
1. Don't worry if you don't understand every word. Do you think that listening is about getting every word that is spoken？ If so， think again. Even though good listeners may be able to get every word they hear， this is not their concern most of the time， as our experience with our first language tells us. Have objectives. So do specify your listening objectives when you carry out a listening activity. As long as you achieve your objectives， you are a good listener —— whether you catch every word or not.
2. Be a good listener. To start to be a good listener try this. Face the speaker squarely， lean slightly toward the speaker， do not fold your arms across your chest， look at the speaker， let them know you are attending. The speaker will pick up on this and will also become more relaxed. Listening is a part of communication.
Good listening habits
1. Pay attention to the listener， even though the subject may be boring.
2. Wait for the speaker to finish before you speak.
3. Maintain eye contact.
4. Listen for feelings as well as subject matter.
5. Show non-verbal responses to listening to demonstrate that you are listening such as nodding， smiling， leaning forward， etc.
6. Give brief verbal responses： “Yes，” “Yeah”， “Uh-hum，” “M-m-m，” “Oh，” etc.
7. Only ask questions to clarify something said.
8. Demonstrate you have an open mind by not responding negatively to the other person's ideas or feeling.
9. Paraphrase what you hear to make sure you have heard it correctly.
10. Work to make yourself really want to listen.
11. Listen carefully to understand the main message.
12. Maintain emotional control， no matter what is said.
Bad listening habits
The following are bad listening habits and can become irritating to the speaker. Try to avoid them whenever possible.
1. Interrupting the speaker.
2. Not looking at the speaker.
3. Rushing the speaker and making him feel that he's wasting the listener's time.
4. Showing interest in something other than the conversation.
5. Getting ahead of the speaker and finishing his thoughts.
6. Not responding to the speaker's requests.
7. Saying， “Yes， but … ” as if the listener has made up his mind.
8. Topping the speaker's story with “That reminds me … ” or “That's nothing， let me tell you about … ”
9. Forgetting what was talked about previously.
10. Asking too many questions about detail.
Practical ways to improve your listening
The following are just a few ways in which you can improve your listening.
Radio. Listen to the radio， especially Voice of America （VOA） and the BBC World Service. News reports are ideal practice materials because they are easily accessible and there is a real reason for you to listen. You want to know what's happening in the world. You could wake up five minutes earlier and listen to the news in English. Make it a goal to learn several new words every time. Try to imitate the announcer. Talk along with him.
Television. TV is an excellent resource for hearing and listening to English. The pictures help you understand what is being said. Especially watch CCTV 9， which is the English channel， to improve your listening skills. Try watching the news in English instead of Chinese. If you don't have access to a TV you may be able to watch movies on the Internet. Listening to others talk is good preparation for talking yourself.
Internet. It is now a lot easier to hear English-language radio news on the Internet. To be able to listen to radio on the Internet， you'll need to have special software called “players” installed on your computer. Most sites work with two players —— the RealPlayer from RealNotworks and the Windows Media Player from Microsoft. Both these packages are free and you may already have them installed on your computer. Search for English material on the net. Instead of chatting in Chinese on the net why not try chatting in English！ Check out web sites on the Internet that have been designed for， or by， students. Dave's ESL Cafe （www daveseslcafe.com）， Linguistic Funland （www. linguistic-funland.com/ tesl. html） and Virtual English Language Center （www. comenius.com） are good examples. Why not try 2english.com.cn which has recently come on line and is a joint Sino-British language learning project with support from the British Council， China Central Radio and Television University and the BBC. Two sections of this free website will interest you： “Living English” offers English language materials developed by the BBC and focuses on recreational English for sports， travel and music. “Working English” is intended for business professionals and has a systematic business English programme to improve business vocabulary， negotiation techniques and spoken English.
Music/ songs. Songs in English are everywhere， even on foreign-language radio and TV stations. Listen to them often and try to read the words of their songs. Repeat. Sing along. Write five sentences using some of the new words you hear. Enjoy singing in English with your friends. When you go to Karaoke bar try to sing at least one English song. Buy some cassettes or CDs， or make recordings， and try to write the words for an entire song. （Warning： don't depend on texts provided in Chinese magazines or On CD covers because they sometimes contain errors.）
Cinema. Outside the English-speaking world， many large cities have cinemas that show films in English， usually with subtitles. Make it a habit to go to these films. When you go to see English films， try not to read the Chinese subtitles. If you need to read the subtitles， at least you'll be hearing English even if you don't understand it.
Video/ VCD/ DVD. DVD has one really great advantage. You can play it over again. You can turn ordinary viewing into an active language learning exercise by：
（a） stopping the disc and comparing what you hear to what the subtitles say
（b） keeping a diary of any new expressions or words you learn
（c） recording any interesting or unusual translations you hear
（d） taking notes of any gestures or other body language you see
（e） covering any subtitles with paper （which you can remove if you really don't understand after listening several times）
（f） recording programmes from television and then watching them several times to improve your understanding
（g） playing English video games！
Tapes. Listen to tapes. Find books-on-tapes in your local library. Listen while you are relaxing in your dormitory or while walking or cycling if you have a Walkman. Choose a famous person whose accent you like， and if you can get recordings of him or her， imitate the way he/she speaks. You could also tape your own voice and analyse your own speech. You could also send a copy to your foreign teacher and let them correct your grammar and pronunciation. Exchange taped messages with a classmate. Record a few minutes and then ask your classmate to respond on the same tape.
Lectures. Lectures are the main way of communicating knowledge at university， so it would be of great benefit if you can improve your ability to better understand lectures. Comprehending academic lectures in a second language is not an easy task， because it involves skills such as coping with the lecturer's speech characteristics （e.g. accent， speed， intonation， expressions）， identifying the main ideas， and not-taking. Try the following suggestions：
* Jot down notes of the main points of the lecture and compare this with the lecturer's handout to see what you have got or missed
* Compare and discuss your comprehension with another student's
* Record the lecture using a Walkman and check your comprehension and notes as you listen to it again （but do be courteous and ask the lecturer for permission before making the recording）
* Review your notes shortly after the lecture to help you to remember the contents better， annotating or highlighting any key points for easy revision
Friends. Find a friend who also wants to improve his or her English and have lunch or dinner together —— speaking English of course. Make it a rule to have one evening a week in your dormitory as an English evening when only English is spoken. Introduce penalties if this rule is broken. Of course， this will practice your listening as well as your speaking. And if you don't have a lot of time to go out and meet people， at least you can chat a little by telephone. Play games printed in English， which require some knowledge of English （Monopoly， Scrabble， Life， Dictionary， etc.）。 Before starting， come up with a repertoire of basic commands for playing， and encourage the other players to speak only English.
Finally. Don't worry if you don't understand everything you hear. Hearing comes first！ Understanding comes next！
* What do you have to do before you speak？
* What does a child learn before he talks？
* What do you do before chatting？
Listen， of course！
In English learning， not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears！ Therefore， we should listen twice as much as we speak. Did you ever ask yourself， “How did I learn my own language？” In fact you never really learned it at all —— you just started speaking it. But this speaking was the result of hearing your native language for two or three years. All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking. For two years words went IN to your head and then words came OUT of your head. That is why hearing （and listening to） English as much as possible is so important to you now. The more English you put in， the more you'll get out！
Why is listening good for you ？
Listening is good for the English student because：
1. When listening， you are reviewing a lot of English usage such as vocabulary， grammatical structures， intonation， accent and your own interpretation.
2. You can learn new words and expressions by hearing them frequently.
3. General knowledge gained from television or radio news， features， or even advertising spots is certainly beneficial if you are a regular listener.
4. You can imitate what you hear and apply it with great confidence.
5. Listening can be a great “hobby” while you do other things such as cooking， exercising， relaxing， etc. In other words， you have no wasted time at all.
6. Listening is also a great way to train your attention.
The results of good listening
Confidence
To be able to listen well gives you confidence in communication. And the more confident you are at listening the more confident you will be at speaking.
Good communication
You can only talk sensibly when you can understand what is said to you. Failing that， you may miss important information presented to you， or respond in a funny way. Good communication means longer communication that is worthwhile communication. The better you become at communication the more foreigners will want to talk with you.
Develop good listening skills
Listening in everyday life is a real-time skill. Unlike reading， you often don't have the chance to adjust the pace of speech， listen again or check an unknown word. The need to understand what you hear on the spot makes it even more crucial that you develop the ability to listen well.
Basic advice about improving your listening
1. Don't worry if you don't understand every word. Do you think that listening is about getting every word that is spoken？ If so， think again. Even though good listeners may be able to get every word they hear， this is not their concern most of the time， as our experience with our first language tells us. Have objectives. So do specify your listening objectives when you carry out a listening activity. As long as you achieve your objectives， you are a good listener —— whether you catch every word or not.
2. Be a good listener. To start to be a good listener try this. Face the speaker squarely， lean slightly toward the speaker， do not fold your arms across your chest， look at the speaker， let them know you are attending. The speaker will pick up on this and will also become more relaxed. Listening is a part of communication.
Good listening habits
1. Pay attention to the listener， even though the subject may be boring.
2. Wait for the speaker to finish before you speak.
3. Maintain eye contact.
4. Listen for feelings as well as subject matter.
5. Show non-verbal responses to listening to demonstrate that you are listening such as nodding， smiling， leaning forward， etc.
6. Give brief verbal responses： “Yes，” “Yeah”， “Uh-hum，” “M-m-m，” “Oh，” etc.
7. Only ask questions to clarify something said.
8. Demonstrate you have an open mind by not responding negatively to the other person's ideas or feeling.
9. Paraphrase what you hear to make sure you have heard it correctly.
10. Work to make yourself really want to listen.
11. Listen carefully to understand the main message.
12. Maintain emotional control， no matter what is said.
Bad listening habits
The following are bad listening habits and can become irritating to the speaker. Try to avoid them whenever possible.
1. Interrupting the speaker.
2. Not looking at the speaker.
3. Rushing the speaker and making him feel that he's wasting the listener's time.
4. Showing interest in something other than the conversation.
5. Getting ahead of the speaker and finishing his thoughts.
6. Not responding to the speaker's requests.
7. Saying， “Yes， but … ” as if the listener has made up his mind.
8. Topping the speaker's story with “That reminds me … ” or “That's nothing， let me tell you about … ”
9. Forgetting what was talked about previously.
10. Asking too many questions about detail.
Practical ways to improve your listening
The following are just a few ways in which you can improve your listening.
Radio. Listen to the radio， especially Voice of America （VOA） and the BBC World Service. News reports are ideal practice materials because they are easily accessible and there is a real reason for you to listen. You want to know what's happening in the world. You could wake up five minutes earlier and listen to the news in English. Make it a goal to learn several new words every time. Try to imitate the announcer. Talk along with him.
Television. TV is an excellent resource for hearing and listening to English. The pictures help you understand what is being said. Especially watch CCTV 9， which is the English channel， to improve your listening skills. Try watching the news in English instead of Chinese. If you don't have access to a TV you may be able to watch movies on the Internet. Listening to others talk is good preparation for talking yourself.
Internet. It is now a lot easier to hear English-language radio news on the Internet. To be able to listen to radio on the Internet， you'll need to have special software called “players” installed on your computer. Most sites work with two players —— the RealPlayer from RealNotworks and the Windows Media Player from Microsoft. Both these packages are free and you may already have them installed on your computer. Search for English material on the net. Instead of chatting in Chinese on the net why not try chatting in English！ Check out web sites on the Internet that have been designed for， or by， students. Dave's ESL Cafe （www daveseslcafe.com）， Linguistic Funland （www. linguistic-funland.com/ tesl. html） and Virtual English Language Center （www. comenius.com） are good examples. Why not try 2english.com.cn which has recently come on line and is a joint Sino-British language learning project with support from the British Council， China Central Radio and Television University and the BBC. Two sections of this free website will interest you： “Living English” offers English language materials developed by the BBC and focuses on recreational English for sports， travel and music. “Working English” is intended for business professionals and has a systematic business English programme to improve business vocabulary， negotiation techniques and spoken English.
Music/ songs. Songs in English are everywhere， even on foreign-language radio and TV stations. Listen to them often and try to read the words of their songs. Repeat. Sing along. Write five sentences using some of the new words you hear. Enjoy singing in English with your friends. When you go to Karaoke bar try to sing at least one English song. Buy some cassettes or CDs， or make recordings， and try to write the words for an entire song. （Warning： don't depend on texts provided in Chinese magazines or On CD covers because they sometimes contain errors.）
Cinema. Outside the English-speaking world， many large cities have cinemas that show films in English， usually with subtitles. Make it a habit to go to these films. When you go to see English films， try not to read the Chinese subtitles. If you need to read the subtitles， at least you'll be hearing English even if you don't understand it.
Video/ VCD/ DVD. DVD has one really great advantage. You can play it over again. You can turn ordinary viewing into an active language learning exercise by：
（a） stopping the disc and comparing what you hear to what the subtitles say
（b） keeping a diary of any new expressions or words you learn
（c） recording any interesting or unusual translations you hear
（d） taking notes of any gestures or other body language you see
（e） covering any subtitles with paper （which you can remove if you really don't understand after listening several times）
（f） recording programmes from television and then watching them several times to improve your understanding
（g） playing English video games！
Tapes. Listen to tapes. Find books-on-tapes in your local library. Listen while you are relaxing in your dormitory or while walking or cycling if you have a Walkman. Choose a famous person whose accent you like， and if you can get recordings of him or her， imitate the way he/she speaks. You could also tape your own voice and analyse your own speech. You could also send a copy to your foreign teacher and let them correct your grammar and pronunciation. Exchange taped messages with a classmate. Record a few minutes and then ask your classmate to respond on the same tape.
Lectures. Lectures are the main way of communicating knowledge at university， so it would be of great benefit if you can improve your ability to better understand lectures. Comprehending academic lectures in a second language is not an easy task， because it involves skills such as coping with the lecturer's speech characteristics （e.g. accent， speed， intonation， expressions）， identifying the main ideas， and not-taking. Try the following suggestions：
* Jot down notes of the main points of the lecture and compare this with the lecturer's handout to see what you have got or missed
* Compare and discuss your comprehension with another student's
* Record the lecture using a Walkman and check your comprehension and notes as you listen to it again （but do be courteous and ask the lecturer for permission before making the recording）
* Review your notes shortly after the lecture to help you to remember the contents better， annotating or highlighting any key points for easy revision
Friends. Find a friend who also wants to improve his or her English and have lunch or dinner together —— speaking English of course. Make it a rule to have one evening a week in your dormitory as an English evening when only English is spoken. Introduce penalties if this rule is broken. Of course， this will practice your listening as well as your speaking. And if you don't have a lot of time to go out and meet people， at least you can chat a little by telephone. Play games printed in English， which require some knowledge of English （Monopoly， Scrabble， Life， Dictionary， etc.）。 Before starting， come up with a repertoire of basic commands for playing， and encourage the other players to speak only English.
Finally. Don't worry if you don't understand everything you hear. Hearing comes first！ Understanding comes next！
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