Imagine understanding rapid conversation between native speakers, effortlessly following your favorite English podcasts, or knowing exactly what is going on in an important business meeting. It’s achievable – and it all starts with listening.
If you’ve spent hours reading textbooks, memorizing verb conjugations, and reciting phrases in front of a mirror to learn English, you’ve been doing it wrong. Although these methods are useful in their own way, they’re missing one crucial element. Your ears.
Listening skills form the foundation of language mastery. You can’t communicate without them. Listening isn’t just hearing the words someone says. It’s also about understanding how the tone, emotion, and the underlying context of those words contribute to their meaning. As Ernest Hemingway said: “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
Learning English by listening helps you understand native speakers, learn how to spot important nuances in conversations, and feel confident in English-speaking environments. Immersing yourself completely in active listening is the only way to build that strong foundation.
Think about how you learned your native language. Did you start with grammar rules? Of course not. You listened. You absorbed. You repeated. Now, it’s time to recreate that process with English.
The only catch? Passive listening and active listening are two very different things. When the TV is on but you’re scrolling through social media on your phone, that’s passive listening. Or, when you’re in a group conversation but you’re actually thinking about what you’re going to have for dinner.
Active listening goes beyond simply hearing the words that another person says. It's about digging deeper to work out the meaning behind each word. It’s active listening that will help you become a fluent English speaker.
Typically, language fluency involves a combination of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. But listening comprehension helps you to build the foundations you need to achieve that fluency. So, how do you actively listen?
Note down new vocabulary and difficult phrases
Whether you’re in a group class or listening to a podcast, listen carefully to what’s being said and when you don’t recognize a word or phrase, write it down. This helps reinforce learning and provides a useful resource for you to use later. Don’t worry about spelling at this stage – the goal is to capture the key information.
Pause and replay
The beauty of working with digital content is that you can pause and replay it. When listening to an audiobook, video, or podcast, don’t be afraid to replay words or phrases as many times as you need. Each time, note how different sounds and intonations change the meaning of what’s being said. This will help your ears recognize a variety of speech patterns and ways to pronounce words.
Use transcripts
Find transcripts for your audio materials and follow along while you listen. Highlight any words you don’t catch. This practice helps you associate spoken words with their written forms, building a stronger connection between sound and meaning.
Use shadowing techniques
Shadowing means listening to a short section of audio, pausing it, and repeating what was said out loud. As best you can, mimic the speaker’s intonation, speed, and rhythm. Start with short words and phrases, then move on to long sentences – and feel free to pause or slow down the audio if you need. As well as your listening skills, this will also improve your pronunciation and speaking fluency.
These useful active listening techniques get you to focus on the underlying meaning behind words. By understanding, practicing, and learning from your mistakes, you will start to make significant progress in your English learning.
There are many ways to establish a routine for English listening practice. Here are a few of our favorites:
Be consistent with your practice
Work out how much time you can dedicate to listening. Regular, short sessions are better than sporadic, long ones. Even 15 to 30 minutes is enough to learn something new each day. The important thing is to be consistent. Choose two or three different slots where you have time to focus, for example, in the evening or on your commute.
Identify specific listening goals
Decide what you want to get out of each session. We’ll help you out with a few starters:
Understanding the context of a podcast
Successfully identifying different accents or dialects
Singing a song from memory
Learning key phrases from a video
Keeping up with a news report without pausing it
Clear outcomes like this will keep you motivated and on track.
Select the right level
Using the right materials makes a huge difference to your learning. If you’re a beginner, try podcasts for kids or simple audiobooks. Advanced learners can have a go at academic lectures, interviews, or more complex discussions. Feeling challenged but not overwhelmed is the trick here. If you’re not sure what level you are, take our free EF SET test to get started.
Include a mix of accents and topics
English is spoken in many countries worldwide. Integrating various accents from different countries and regions into your learning will challenge and improve your listening skills, as you’re more likely to hear different speech patterns, word usage, and pronunciation. Listening to different accents will also deepen your awareness of different cultures and help you understand and connect with others. Attending EF English Live group classes will give you access to a multitude of different nationalities and accents from all over the world!
In our group and private classes, we encourage learners to mix up topics to get a broad range of vocabulary. Some examples include:
Business
Politics
Art
Music
Entertainment
Environment
History
Technology
Listen to different sources
We know it's tempting to stick to your favorite podcasts or genres. But this will limit your listening exposure. Keep things interesting and mix-and-match audiobooks, comedy sketches, news bulletins, documentaries, debates, and songs.
Abraham Ramirez, a learner from Mexico currently taking our Business English course advises: “Find various sources to learn English. Use all the media available online like Spotify and podcasts. We have so much content available to us. It’s important to use it.”
In your weekly plan, aim to explore these different audio types and schedule specific time slots for each. This will stop you getting bored. Some useful resources include:
· BBC Learning English
· Podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify
· Online radio stations in English
Create a distraction-free environment
This one is vital. A good listening space will increase your concentration and therefore how quickly you learn. Choose a quiet spot away from distractions, put your phone on silent – or leave it in another room - and use headphones to minimize external noise.
Test your knowledge
Did you know that most people only remember about 17-25% of what they hear? After each listening session, write a short summary of what you learned. This forces you to think about what you understood - rather than what you heard - and highlights any gaps in your understanding, as well as areas for improvement. It also helps to improve retention and reinforces knowledge.
Other methods of testing your knowledge include taking online quizzes or assessments or having online English conversations with others. Our courses offer access to regular group classes so you can listen and learn from fellow English learners.
Sign up for an online English course
Doing an online English course is a great way to practice those key listening skills. EF English Live courses help you improve your listening, reading, writing, and speaking – but our group classes in particular will really get you to use those active listening techniques we talked about earlier. We advise taking regular group and private classes for consistency. With our online English courses, you can study wherever and whenever you want and meet teachers and learners from all over the world!
Listening to English at different speeds, in different accents, and with unfamiliar idioms or dialects can be tough for learners. Problems are likely to arise. But don’t be disheartened. There are ways to move past these problems – and they even help you learn!
Try these tips out:
Slow down the audio. Most mobile apps allow you to adjust the speed settings, which will allow you to catch more words and phrases
Turn on subtitles or use a transcript. Reading subtitles along with the audio will help you follow the dialogue and reinforce your learning
Break your listening time into manageable periods. Start with short sessions and gradually increase their duration
Choose engaging content. If you find your attention slipping, change the source material. Content that interests you will naturally keep you focused
Abraham, who went from a B1 English level to fluent in just three months with EF English Live, says: "I used to find listening really difficult. When I listened to songs in English, I didn’t understand anything. Today, I understand 80% of the song. Or I can watch a movie in English and understand it, and I love that."
Every sound, word, and phrase you hear is a step towards English fluency. Think of it as opening doors to new cultures, ideas, and opportunities, rather than just learning a language. Although it may seem daunting at first, remember that small, daily efforts to practice your listening skills all build up over time. Even if you choose just one technique from this article and use it today, that’s progress. Are you ready to tune in?
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