7: Train Your Ears, Immerse Yourself
Train Your Ears: Immerse Yourself in The Sounds of the Language
Besides speaking, it is also important to train your ears to the sounds of the language. If you are living in a small community with few English speakers, this will be easy. If you have an English-speaking roommate or lots of English-speaking friends, this will take more work. Try to spend as much time during the day listening to the language around you. Immerse yourself as completely as possible in the sounds of the language.
At first, everything will sound unintelligible. But after a while, you will begin to discern reoccurring patterns and sounds. Later, these patterns will resolve into recognizable words and phrases. Finally, you will begin to sense the meaning. Just like speaking, you have to devote regular practice to developing your abilities in this area.
If you are sitting in a café or are riding on a bus, you can listen to the conversations going on around you. Focus on picking out words and phrases that you recognize. The more you do this, the more you’ll be able to recognize.
Another way to develop an ear for the language is to immerse yourself in audio and video recordings of the local language. Listen to a lot of audio in the local language. Watch a lot of videos. Again, don’t worry about understanding everything. Just try to listen for words and phrases that you recognize. You will get better and better over time.
A fun technique is to find a copy of your favorite video dubbed in the local language. English subtitles can be helpful but are not necessary. If you can find one of your favorite videos, then you will already know what the dialogue is about. Watch the video over and over again and try to learn the dialogue. Learn to recite some of your favorite lines along with the speakers. Have fun acting out and saying these lines as dramatically as possible. If you pick a video that you enjoy, you will already have a built-in emotional connection to that video and to the language. This will help improve your learning and retention.
