What is the most important thing you can do to improve your English? My answer is to listen.
Listening is such an underrated tool.
When we listen to something in our target language of course we want to understand. But our goal shouldn't be just to simply understand. When we listen to something with the aim of understanding it requires a lot of brain power and concentration, especially at the early stages of our journey. I believe that listening should be separated into two groups, group A and group P or 'active' and 'passive'.
Let's begin with group A.
Group A or "group active" is when you sit down to watch a video or listen to a podcast with the intention of understanding as much as possible. Your goal is to understand in great detail.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with focussing on the material and it can be very useful, particularly when done in short intervals. However, you will soon after become tired and your ability to concentrate and absorb the new vocabulary will decrease.
But you still want to listen?
Then I advice you to take a more passive approach. This is where I turn to 'group P'.
Passive listening is something you do everyday! Do you ever message your friends while Netflix plays in the background? Do you have a colleague who talks endlessly while you're trying to finish writing an important e-mail but you still manage to hear them? Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions then you already listen passively.
The power of playing a podcast or a video in the background without giving it your full attention is extremely underestimated. Your mind will absorb new sounds without trying. Moreover, you will hear words and sounds you have already encountered previously but the passive listening will re-enforce them.
To conclude, I would say that you should actively and passively listen. Listen actively when you feel fresh and motivated and passively when you don't feel as enthusiastic. But remember that listening passively is always better than not listening to anything.
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