[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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How to Increase Listening Skills and Confidence<\/h2>\n
First of all, here are three basic principles.<\/p>\n
Limit the use of translation.<\/h3>\n
Translation is a habit that needs to be limited<\/a> because…<\/p>\n This doesn’t mean that you never<\/em> let them translate. Sometimes<\/em> having an equivalent from their first language is the only way to move them forward, but quickly move on and don’t allow them to keep returning to it.<\/p>\n When students hear a new word or expression, they need something to tie it to. As their teacher, you can help them with this by providing…<\/p>\n When you first<\/em> introduce a new listening “text” (e.g., video, story, song, podcast…) concentrate on listening and don’t provide subtitles or written script<\/strong> (yet).<\/p>\n The reasons for this are as follows:<\/p>\n Once they have listened without seeing subtitles or script the first time, and you have discussed some issues, then you can listen and watch again with the assistance of subtitles or text.<\/p>\n We want to prepare our students to take part in conversations. A large part of that listening involves reading a speaker’s facial expressions and body language<\/a>, which can vary from culture to culture. So, most of the time, your students need to practice their “listening” skills by watching videos, or watching you talk or tell stories.<\/p>\n You could use FluentU<\/a> to give students a leg up in this challenge.<\/p>\nFluentU<\/a><\/strong> takes real-world videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nIt uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the English language and culture over time. You\u2019ll learn English as it\u2019s spoken in real life.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nFluentU has a variety of engaging content from popular talk shows, nature documentaries and funny commercials, as you can see here:\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nFluentU makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive.<\/strong> That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nFor example, when you tap on the word \"searching,\" you'll see this:\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nLearn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes.<\/strong> Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you\u2019re learning.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nThe best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you\u2019re learning and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It even reminds you when it\u2019s time to review! Every learner has a truly personalized experience,<\/strong> even if they\u2019re learning with the same video.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p> \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \n
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Avoid confusing listening skills with literacy skills.<\/h3>\n
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Use videos because students can watch and listen.<\/h3>\n
![\"-learn-english-with-videos\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-5.png\")
<\/a>\r\n![\"learn-english-with-captioned-television-show-clips\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-2.png\")
<\/a>\r\n![\"learn-english-with-interactive-subtitled-dialogue\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-6.png\")
<\/a>\r\n![\"practice-english-with-adaptive-quizzes\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-7.png\")
<\/a>\r\n![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/SimpleText.jpg\")
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