4 Simple Yet Powerful Strategies to Learn a Language by Listening

4 Simple Yet Powerful Strategies to Learn a Language by Listening Lets dive into “The 13th  Warrior.”This movie stars Antonio Banderas as a court poet, Ahmad ibn Fadlan,  banished to a distant land because he fell in love with the wrong womanâ€"the lady of some big shot, definitely above his pay grade.He then finds himself in the land of the Vikings, whose culture and language is as distant as home.There’s a scene in the movie that should be thoroughly appreciated by language learners. About 20 minutes in, we see the main protagonist sit around the campfire in the company of brusque Viking warriors.The men roared with laughter as they compare personal stories, making fun of each other’s exploits. Antonio Banderas’s character sits in the middle of this vulgar banter unable to get into the conversation because of two reasons: 1) He’s a poet who wields the quill rather than the sword, and 2) He speaks no word of the language.The movie then shows a montage of him silently sitting by the campfire night after night after night. Hes silently o bserving, looking intently at lips, gestures and body language while listening for words, phrases and sentences that all mean gibberish.But over the course of several evenings, something happens.The conversations started becoming meaningful to him. He starts to understand one word. And then another. And another. Soon, he’s catching on to phrases, making sense of them little by little.The scene climaxes with Ahmad ibn Fadlan (Antonio Banderas’ character) suddenly speaking a coherent sentence that jolts the warriors into murderous attention. One of them asked him, “How did you learn our language?”With emphatic conviction, (and as the camera focuses squarely on his face), Ahmad ibn Fadlan replied:“I listened!” How We Learned Language as ChildrenThe previous section highlighted a specific strategy that we, as children, have used in picking up our first language. We know that it works, because now, as adults, we have a language that we can speak, read and write in.The strate gy I’m referring to is, of course, listening.It’s a shame that many overlook its importance in the language acquisition process.  Because the thing is, listening is the first and most important strategy in language. It is at the very core of learning a new language, so when making time to study, you need to make time for listening.Babies undergo a phase psychologists call a “Silent Period.” As the name signifies, this is the time before babies learn to talk and produce the words in their language, sometimes called the Pre-Production Stage of language development.But don’t be misled, the “Silent Period” is not a passive phase of silence. It is a very busy time for babies to assimilate the phonetic features of the linguistic environment. Even if you don’t hear them speak, babies are learning about the language. They are closely listening to the sounds around them. (Look at those cute round eyes!)And these tiny humans understand more than they let on. If you observe the m closely, you’ll realize that there’s comprehension in those eyes. They may be blinking in silence. But make no mistake, babies are listening, observing, integrating and adapting. They listen so closely that, in the future, they will soon be able to replicate the linguistic features of the people around them. (It’s no accident that babies in Texas speak with the same accent.)Adults trying to master a second language should borrow a page from little Johnny’s handbook.Listening is that effective and it’s that powerful! It’s a time-proven method that you would absolutely be crazy not to take seriously. If you’re experiencing difficulties in some stage in your quest to become fluent, it can often be traced to the listening part. You probably skipped it entirely and jumped impatiently into the sexy mission of learning the actual lines or the enjoyable competition of playing language games.But because listening is that important, I would like to give you a set of listening strategies that will skyrocket your learning ability. But I have to warn you, this is not your grandmother’s kind of listening.Applying these strategies may boost your abilities, but it’s not a walk in the park. You’ll probably be completely wiped out when you’re done, which can only mean one thing: Your language knowledge is growing and improving.4 Simple Yet Powerful Strategies to Learn a Language by Listening1. Choose Material Suited to Your LevelDon’t bite off more than you can chew.One of the most common mistakes language learners make is tackling materials that are way too advanced for their level. They skip to intermediate lessons without first listening to beginner material. Then learners complain that the speakers are talking too fast and they can’t make out the words.Imagine being taught Calculus in the first grade. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Yet that’s what language learners try to do when they perform listening tasks that are way above their level.The idea l listening material is one that’s a level or two higher than your current level. That means holding off listening to discussions by native French speakers about some esoteric economic theory when you are fresh off the boat. Better listen to kids talking about dogs, cat and apples. You would benefit from speakers who are only a little bit better than you. That way, your goal is more approachable and you are reaching just a little bit each time. And guess what? They speak more slowly too!2. Contextualize and Look at the Big PictureWhen you are digesting an audio or video clip, keep in mind that all conversations are spoken in a certain context. Words and sentences don’t exist in a vacuum; nuances are king. By looking at the big picture, you are making calculated inferences about whats going on in the conversations.Its not your job to know exactly whats said, nor all of the details, but rather to know what it’s generally about.When you listen to a conversation, get your bearings right and understand the situation. Are the speakers long-time friends, colleagues or family members? Then it might be reasonable to expect a lot of informal utterances and maybe even slang. Is it a conversation between a boss and an employee? Then the social dynamics will be a little bit different. (This is especially true in Asian cultures where they stick to specific hierarchical norms.)Look for context clues. If you’re watching a video, note the surroundings. Where are the speakers situated? Inside a conference room? A playground? A church?This location matters a lot. There are topics that would never be discussed inside a church, but would be fair game in a boardroom.3. Listen for “Key Words” for UnderstandingWhen I say listen for key words, the purpose is not so you can articulate or verbalize them. No! When I say listen for key words, it’s so that you can understand what is being spoken. There’s a big difference between the two. One is “listening for speaking,” while the other is “listening for understanding.”We want to listen for understanding. (In fact, nothing in this lesson is geared for speaking. Its all focused on comprehension. The speaking part comes much, much later.)If you think about how we learned to talk as babies, we understood first before we learned to speak. Research is slowly showing the importance of comprehension over articulation. One of the reasons why language lessons don’t cross into a person’s long-term memory from the short-term memory is that there was no genuine comprehension of the lesson in the first place. It was memorized rote, without any real meaning to the learner. In that case if you give it a couple of days, the student will forgets all he or she has “learned.”So when you listen for key words, it’s so that you can work out what is being discussed. It doesn’t matter that you get the actual meaning of statements. In fact, it will be fairly often that you’ll get it wrong. But it’s impo rtant that your comprehension improves. Everything  else will follow from comprehension.To practice both contextualizing and listening for the big picture, its best to study with audio or video clips that have subtitles or English translations. The best place to practice in this way is with FluentU.FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.All of the videos are subtitled and translated, and every word comes with an in-context definition, image and multiple example sentences. You can even click on a word to see how its used in other videos across the site. Thatll teach you context for sure!FluentU currently services Mandarin Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Korean and Spanish learners.4. Listen for Specific Language FeaturesLet me prove to you for once and for all that listening is not a passive act. In fact, its far from it.Listening, at least the kind that propels you to linguistic success, is one of the most engaged and zeroed-in activities. The thing is, it’s not just about exposure. It’s not just about playing some foreign track in the background while working on something else entirely. That method is too inefficient for your time.Listening is an activity of intent. It’s deliberate and calculated.When you listen to a clip, be prepared to do it several times. I want you to listen to the different nuances, tones, rhythms, verbs, adjectives and tenses. But don’t do it all at once. So maybe for the first round, you listen for the tones and the melody of the conversation. Next you listen for the verbs. And so on.So a 90-second clip could take you an hour or two to completely digest. Are you ready for that kind of work?  Focus on a different linguistic feature every time you replay the clip, and things will slowly start clicking for you.Listening Opportunities for Language LearnersIf you are not living in the home country of your target language, look for every opportunity to be able to listen to the language being used in different contexts and circumstances. Distant immersion is a way to go and here are some suggestions:Children’s ShowsAs I have mentioned before, start off with the lightest material. So search for these types online.Children’s shows have the advantage of simple sentence construction and slower talking rates. It is, afterall, for kids. The lessons are often multisensory and full of vivid examplesâ€"all helpful for the language learner. These shows are formatted so that you can easily get the context for the different scenes.Besides, they’re also fun. The games and the music involved could keep you interested for hours and even make your day. There’s no shame in an adult watching shows for kids. So if youre learning Japan, for example, why not start watching some Japanese cartoons?YouTube and Other User-generated SitesYouTube is awash with video clips featuring nativ e speakers in different contexts, formats and levels of language sophistication. You can find videos that are funny, interesting, even awe-inspiring. Get yourself entertained, but do not lose sight of your purposeâ€"and that is, learning the language, not the magic trick, the recipe or the computer hack.Use YouTube to your advantage, so always pick videos that are just a level or two above your current state. As a beginner, if you got a home video featuring a mom/dad talking to his/her small child, that clip would yield low-hanging fruits for yourself.Movies, Concerts and NewsMovies have plotline and themes and are good practice for long-format listening. Foreign films will sharpen your contextualizing ability, which is one of the most basic skills you need for foreign language work.Songs also have themes and even stories in them. For example, a love song will have words and phrases related to the topic of “love.” Listening to foreign songs, especially nursery rhymes, can help y ou search for key words. But don’t forget that mining the songs is for comprehension.A newscast uses a special subset of vocabulary. One of its major advantages is that it shows a video while the story is being reported, so you get a leg up in the key words that you are listening for. So if you see strong winds and waves being streamed, you can fairly be certain that the news is not about some zoo animal giving birth.Theme-related PodcastsAs mentioned previously, contextualizing is a very important skill. So we turn to podcasts to hear words used in specific situations.Podcasts often deal with certain themes. They can talk about sports, fashion, politics, even religion. The advantage of listening to theme-related podcasts is that it gives you a highly focused workout on a certain subset of vocabulary. Because it narrows the field of interest, you can now focus on the specifics of the topic.Culture TalkCulture Talk is a subtitled interview of native speakers. It’s a double whammy because not only does it teach you about language, but it also touches on the realities of daily life in the language’s home country. So you get a special appreciation for the richness of the culture. Let’s say you want to learn about coffee-making in Uganda, for example. You can learn just that, as explained to you by one of the coffee makers herself.FluentUAs introduced earlier, FluentU is one of the most effective language learning websites today. Save yourself hours of searching through YouTube videos by practicing with FluentUs hand-selected authentic video clips instead.In addition to being engaging, informative and accurately translated, FluentUs videos are also organized by level and topicâ€"so youll immediately know which clips are right for you. Immersing yourself in the high-quality videos that FluentU has to offer is time seriously well spent.Friends Who Are Native SpeakersFinally, if you happen to have friends who are native speakers of the language you’re intere sted in, there’s nothing like listening to it in person. The acoustics are different, and the general experience is just more textured and vivid.Just make sure that your friends talk slower than their regular speaking rateâ€"especially in the beginning.  Then treat your friends for dinner because theyve shared with you something really precious: a new language.With these four strategies and new listening opportunities, you can take your language learning to the next level.You might even have your very own aha moment, just like  Ahmad ibn Fadlan with the warriors, when you can proudly exclaim: I listened! And One More ThingIf youre digging these strategies, youll love using FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU A pp Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website  with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the  iTunes  or  Google Play  store.