12 Ways to Improve English Listening Skills & Understand Native Speakers

提高英语听力技能和理解英语母语人士的12种方法

Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Lucy!

大家好,欢迎回到Lucy英语

Today I want to talk to you about: How you can improve your English listening skills ?

今天的话题是：怎样提升英语听力

我准备给你一些小建议

So, I've got some tips that I'm going to give you.

If you do follow all of my English listening tips,

如果你确实按照我说的建议学习

then you should be able to start to understand native speakers

那么你应该可以开始更加容易和有效的理解以英语为母语的人说的话

more easily and more effectively.

We've got a lot to cover in the lesson.

这堂课我们要说的东西比较多

So, let's get started !

所以我们开始第一个词

There's a word that I'm going to be using a lot in this lesson and it is ''variety''.

在课程中，有个单词将会被用到很多次

它是variety（多种、多样）

I want you to use a wide range of resources and listen to a wide range of accents as well.

去找一些广泛的听力资源并且去听

不同的口音，为啥咧？

Why?

Well, I know a lot of you come to me and say:

我晓得你们这些伙计会跟我巴巴

lucy我想听正宗英式英语

'Lucy, I want to learn British English and to do that I'm only going to listen to British speakers'

但是如果你那么做了，你只听

英式英语的话，我认为

But in my opinion: that's not the right thing to do !

这不对，你晓得不？你将会

You are going to meet people from all over the world with all different accents and you're going to need to understand them.

碰见全球的伙计们

他们说不同口音的英语

你需要能全部理解他们说的鸟语

You don't want to just be able to understand British people!

你不会只想跟英国人

沟通吧？如果你还

So if you're not doing it already

没有开始做这些事，

I want you to listen to as many accents as possible.

我想让你去听尽可能多的口音

当你听得时候，我需要你

and when you're doing that

I want you to think about the different sounds that each accent makes.

去思考不同的口音带来的

不同的发音。我和

I made a video with the lovely Anna from English like a native

可爱的本土英国人anna一起制作了一个

视频，它是关于我们和学生之间

about the differences between our accents

的不同的口音的

and lots of students found that really really helpful

它真的有效，因为

because there's not one definitive way of speaking English.

这里没有一种限定的方式去

说英语，有许多

There are lots of variations: regional variations, variations by country.

地区有变形了的方式

不同国家也是，我是指英语

I mean English spoken in New Zealand is very different to English spoken in America for example.

在新西兰的说法

和在美国的是不同的，这是个例子

所以你需要能去识别分辨

So you need to be able to recognize more or less everything and diversify your English.

多样化的英语并且让你的英语也

多样化，再次关注这个词variety（多样化）

Focusing on that word 'variety' again

我和想你说关于

I want to talk to you about resources.

听力资源的事，因为我接下来要

For my next point, I want you to ask yourself a question

问你个问题，你要

I want you to answer it yourself honestly

老实回答！你到底

How much time do you actually dedicate to practicing and improving your listening skills?

花多少时间用于

练习系和提升你的听力技巧？

坦白从宽！大部分

Answer honestly !

Most of the students that I asked say around 1 to 2 hours

学生说1-2小时

即便如此

and even then they might be exaggerating a little bit

他们肯定吹牛了

Now you've recognized that: You're probably not practicing enough.

你已经认识到你

可能练习不足，我想

I want you to start practicing

让你开始脚踏实地的练习。

Honestly, practice makes perfect !

熟能生巧！

You're not going to suddenly wake up and be perfect at listening.

你不可能一蹴而就，突然

成就完美的听力，要花时间，

It takes time, it takes dedication

要花心血。它之所以能被成为技巧

and it's called a skill for a reason

是因为你必须去

is something that you have to develop principally on your own and also with help from others

自己完成绝大部分的工作并且

帮助其他的伙伴们。你可能要问

but what is listening practice you might be asking me.

啥是听力练习

我有许多推荐

Well, I've got lots of recommendations for you

给你！

which brings me to my next point: "Resources and more importantly variety of resources"

我接下来要说的点就是

关于学习资源的，还有更重要的多样化

的资源。最明显的就是看

Now the most obvious one is watching TV programs or movies in English.

英语电视或者电影

This is great, but I think you can take it a step further.

这样做很棒，但是我想你

能更进一步

Maybe you're watching programs with English subtitles.

或许你在看有

英文字幕的节目。

That's good, but you don't want to rely on the subtitles.

可以，但是你不想依赖它吧。

我想让你去用你的耳朵

I want you to learn with your ears and not with your eyes.

学习，不是你的眼睛。

So what I recommend you do to take your listening to the next level is "Watch each program or movie TWICE!"

所以我建议你进入下一阶段的

听力练习。

每个节目看两遍

Probably, more achievable with programs short ones.

或者更多遍，看一些短点的会比较容易达成目标。

I recommend that you aim for something that's less than 30 minutes.

我建议你目标是看一些

小于30分钟的玩意，

So you could try a comedy like: Friends which is American English or maybe BBC news

你可以看一下老友记之类的美国式

英语喜剧。或者BBC

新闻，你只看

and you can just watch the headlines which would be British English pronunciation.

英式英语的标题的发音，

我想让你第一遍看的时候别瞅

So, I want you to watch it first with no subtitles, see how much you can understand.

字母，去看看你到底能理解

几分？然后看带字幕的

and then I want you to watch it again with subtitles, and see what you did pick up and what you didn't pick up and then note it for next time.

第二遍。去确认到底

哪些你懂了哪些没懂！

然后下次注意他们，

Don't be afraid to replay things again and again and again !

莫要怕重复，重要事情说三遍：

重复，重复，重复！

Learn the patterns of voice that we use.

学习那些成组的念法

If you've got a listening exam or you're going to have a telephone conversation or some sort of interview over the phone,

如果你在做一个听力考试或者

你要去做电话交谈

又或者有些通过电话的面试

you're not going to be able to read the person's lips which can be really useful.

你不可能去看着人家的嘴唇，

所以没法通过唇动辅助推测意思

所以你应该练习

So, you really ought to practice listening blindly !

盲听。有一个很容易被

So, one really really good tip that often gets overlooked is use audio books.

忽略的秘诀：

音频书籍。

Reading is great for building your vocabulary but it doesn't do much for your listening skills,

读书可以帮你构建

词汇，但是他不能帮你提升

听力技巧，因为他没这

because what a book does not offer you is a pronunciation guide normally.

功能给你：啥功能呢？

发音指导。

通常的情况是我肯定有些人这么做。

I'm sure some exist that do.

So, I would like you to start listening to audiobooks.

我想让你开始听

音频书籍，一些有趣的

Pick a book that is interesting and relevant to you.

可以吸引你的。有自己

Judge it by your level !

根据你的水平来选择教材。

If you're quite a low-level, choose a children's book.

水平臭的选小娃娃教材，

For more intermediate maybe go something for teenagers.

还凑合的就选中级教材。

很牛逼的话

and if you're advanced obviously go for something that's aimed at adults or maybe has a lot of technical language.

就选一些针对

成人的，或者是有很多

专业技术语言的教材。记住，如果你

Remember that: If you want to check your understanding you can always buy the book as well listen to a section and then read it, listen to another and then read it.

想要检测你的理解能力，

你要经常买些这种书来听。

听一个章节，谈后读一遍

再听再读！

This is a wonderful way of improving your listening comprehension.

这是个很棒的提升你的

听和理解的路子！最好的

The best website for audiobooks is audible

音频书网站是audible ，如你

and if you click in the link in the description box you can get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial.

点击订阅盒子里面的链接，

你可以得到一个免费的音频书，

有三十天的试用时间，没啥花费

There's absolutely no catch, so try it out and see if it works for you.

赶紧去抢啊，看看是否

对你有效。

One resource that often gets overlooked is youtubers.

一个经常被忽略的资源是youtube上上传的人。

我不是说我们

I'm not talking about us - lovely bunch of online English teachers.

可爱的在线英语老师，

That are all over YouTube at the moment.

我们已经上了youtube了。

Although I think we could help you a little bit with your listening.

虽然我们可以帮你

一丢丢去提升听力。

You have an amazing resource full of free videos and listening tools.

你有一个惊人的资源，

他充满了免费的视频和听力工具。

Find something that you're interested in.

去找一些你感兴趣的东西，

Maybe you're interested in Gossip, celebrities, science, current affairs.

或许你喜欢八卦新闻，

当前科学发展事件等。

Search for it in English and start listening to it.

用英语搜一搜，

开始听吧。我接下来的一点意见是多任务

My next point is multi task.

同时执行。不同于读书或者看电视，

Unlike reading or watching TV, listening is something that you can do whilst you do something else.

听力是一种你做其他事情的时候可以

顺带做的事。

So once you've found your ideal resource, start to build a sort of pack of resources on your smart phone or your computer that you can take with you.

所以一旦你找了了理想资源，

开始构建一个资源包，

把他们放在你的智能手机或者

电脑，反正你好携带就行。

So, if you have a long car journey, on the way to work, on public transport, whilst you're doing something else like cooking, something you don't have to concentrate on.

你可以在坐长途旅行的时候

或者上班路上，或者公交车上，

像是你煮饭的时候，反正是那些你不需要

非常关注的事情的时候，

都可以听一些

Listen to something in English !

英语的教材。现在又回到

and that links back to my question: "How much time do you actually dedicate practicing your English?"

我的问题了，你到底话多少时间

贡献在练习

So, say you spend half an hour traveling to work each day and half an hour traveling back home each day and you listen to something in English for the entirety of those journeys

英语上？你每天花半个小时

在上班的路上，还有半个小时

在回家路上。

你要在把这些路途上的时间都

拿来听英语。

Each week, you will be doing five hours of listening practice.

每周你就会有5个小时在

做听力练习。这是相当惊人

That's amazing !

If you do that, you will definitely improve in no time.

的，如果你能这么做的话。你会毫无疑问的

提升而不用花专门的时间。

The really great thing is that you're doing something productive and maybe learning about another topic through English.

很棒的一点是你

在做意见富有成效的事情，或许

通过英语学习一个其他的话题。

你会经常这么做！

That you would normally do.

So, it's really a win-win situation.

这是一个双赢的妙事！

My next tip is do not translate, do not translate.

接下来的秘诀是当你和他人说话

的时候不要翻译。

When you're speaking to someone in person, I want you to listen for context.

我想让你注意听

谈话的内容。我经常和我的

Something I always say to my students is "Fluency over accuracy !"

学生讲：流畅比准确重要。现在我

Now I speak Spanish fluently, but I do not speak it a hundred percent accurately.

可以说很溜的西班牙语，但是我

不是百分百的准确。

I have no problems with listening, I have no problems with understanding, and I have no problems with communicating.

我没有任何听的问题，

也没有理解的问题，更没有

沟通问题。

But if you were to film me speaking Spanish and analyze all of the errors that I make, you find quite a few.

但是如果你记录我说的西班牙语，

并且分析所有我犯的错误，

你会发现相当多。

It's really important to understand that you don't need it to be perfect, you don't need to understand every single word

理解很重要，你不需要

去苛求完美，不需要

去理解每一个单词，你需要做的是

You need to understand context and general meaning.

理解内容和大致意思。

如果你花费太多时间在分析

If you spend too much time analyzing each word,

每一个单词、对话、独白上，

the conversation or monologue will have moved on, by the time you finally understood the word that you are focusing on,

时间就溜过去了，你最后

就只理解了你注意的

那个词。所以事实上，你不得不

so you actually then have to catch up and you lose understanding.

去追赶，你没能理解。

So, instead of listening word-by-word

所以要用听整个表达去代替

listen to phrases as a whole.

一个个单词的听。

My next tip is learn speech patterns.

我下一个秘诀是学一下演讲。

Okay, I want you to research into how natives speak.

我需要你去研究一下

英语土著说话的方式。我们

The way in which we write something is certainly not the way in which we say it.

写和说的方式是

不同的。

English is not a phonetic language and we don't always follow our own pronunciation rules.

英语不是一个一致的语言，

我们经常不按照

原有的发音原则去读。所以你能做点

So, what research can you do?

什么研究呢？你可以去看一些同音异形异义词

Well, you can look at homophones.

For example: These are words which have the exact same pronunciation but different spellings and different meanings.

例如一些词有几乎

相同的发音但是有不同

的拼写和意义。

I've actually got a video coming out on homophones very soon which i will put in the description box.

事实上我将会出一个关于

同音异形异义词的视频。我会

放一些例子在订阅盒里。

An example of a homeophone would be "bear" and "bare"

bear和bare就是同音异形异义词.

the same, but different spelling and meaning.

不同拼写和意思，

You can also look at minimal pairs.

你也可以看看容易混淆的词组。

Minimal pairs are words that have the exact same pronunciation a part from a single vowel sound.

容易混淆的词组是一些

有几乎相同发音，

都是从一个元音里来的。

An example of a minimal pair would be "ship" and "sheep".

ship和sheep就是一组minimal pairs。

元音的发音

...ship...sheep...

So that... and... of the same but the vowel sound is different.

不一样。

It's also important that you understand weak forms.

弱读也很重要。

So we have strong forms of words and we also have weak forms.

我们有重读的词，

也有弱读的词。

For example: The word "at", on its own I say 'at

例如“at”这个词，它是单独一个的时候，我读“at”，

But sometimes if I'm using it in a sentence or in conversation and I'm speaking very quickly I will say at with the schwa sound.

但是有事我把它用在句子里，

或者在对话里，我就会说的

非常快。我会说“et”，会带一个非重读音节的元音。

我不会说“at”三点钟，

I won't say 'at three o'clock.

I will say at three o'clock.

我会说“et”三点钟。

It's important that you recognize that the schwa sound can represent many vowels.

识别非重读音节的元音非常重要，

它可以帮你突出元音。你也需要

You also need to look at reductions

看一下缩写（我理解为连读）。我有一个

I've got a video all about the reductions "wanna" and "gonna" which is also in the description box,

关于缩写的视频，将会放在

订阅盒里，他会

that will really help you out especially if you want to use those

帮到你，特别是你需要用到他们的时候。

我知道你们是怎么做的。

I know a lot of you do

It's a really quick way of making yourself sound more native.

这是一个非常快速让你的

声音听起来更像母语，同时

and also contractions: I am => I'm; I will => I'll; she would => she'd.

缩写，例如i am "i'm" ,i will "i'll"

she would "she'd",学习他们非常重要。

Important that you learn those.

I'm also making a video on contractions.

我也做了一个关于缩写

的视频，已经上传了。我会

So when that's uploaded I will also put that in the description box.

放到订阅盒。

这就是我的关于怎么提升

So that's it for my lesson on: How to improve your listening skills?

你的英语听力技巧的课程。

Your homework is to comment below and tell me and everyone else: How you are going to improve your listening skills? now you've watched this video.

你的课后作业就是在下面留言并且告诉我

和其他人你是如果

提升你的英语技巧的。

你已经看了视频了，我想看

I want to see you be motivated and I want to see you make a change,

你是否会有动力去执行！我想看你

作出改变！我相信你！你需要

I believe in you and you need to believe in yourselves too.

相信你自己，不要忘了

Don't forget that: I now upload on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

我现在是周一

周三、周六更新哦！

And I also have a free live pronunciation and vocabulary lesson every Sunday at 4:30 gmt which is london time.

我也有一个免费的直播的发音

和词汇课程，在伦敦时间

每周日GMT 4：30,在Lucy的facebook

On my -English with Lucy- Facebook page.

页面。

Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media.

不要忘了联系我，

可以通过我的所有的社交软件，facebook

My Facebook and my Instagram is where I'm most active

instagram都行。我几乎都是

and you can also sign up to my mailing list

活跃状态，你也可以在我的邮件表里面注册一下，

如果你想收到我的邮件并在

If you want to receive emails from me and hear about updates before anyone else.

前他人之前得到更新的信息的话！

Alright then, I'll see you soon for another lesson !

好了，我会在下

一个课程里再见面！亲亲！

mooah :* <3