How do you improve your English listening skills?
If you ask this question to English teachers, they will tell you the same thing.
They will tell you to go watch movies
They will say that watching movies is a great way to improve your listening.
But there's a problem.
A lot of English learners watch movies with subtitles.
Some people use English subtitles.
Other people use subtitles in their native languages.
It doesn't matter what kind of subtitles you use.
Watching movies with subtitles is a really bad way to improve your listening.
And in this video, I'm going to explain to you why it's such a bad idea.
But first, let me share with you my personal experience.
So back when I was in college, I wanted to improve my English listening skills.
So what did I do?
Well, I started to watch movies with English subtitles.
I thought that that was the best way to improve my listening.
I was really optimistic.
I thought that in two or three years, I would be able to understand native speakers.
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
After six years of doing that, I still could not understand native speakers.
I still needed subtitles when watching a movie.
I was really disappointed.
I watched a lot of movies, but I still could not understand native speakers.
At the time, I didn't know why it didn't work.
But now I do.
So let's talk about that right now.
First, there's one thing about listening that you need to know.
Listening and hearing are not the same.
If you want to improve your listening, make sure that when you practice listening, you're
really listening and not just hearing.
So what's the difference between listening and hearing?
Well, the difference is whether or not you're paying attention.
If you're paying attention, then you're listening.
If you're not paying attention, then that's just hearing.
So let me give you an example.
If you turn on the radio and pay attention to the sound from the radio, then that is
listening.
But if you turn on the radio and then you do something else like reading a book, then
that's just hearing.
You can hear the radio, but you're not paying attention to it.
You are not listening.
And again, if you want to improve your listening, make sure that you're really listening and
not just hearing.
You need to make sure that you're paying attention.
Now let's talk about watching movies with subtitles.
What's wrong with it?
Why doesn't it work?
As you might have guessed, it doesn't work because you're not listening.
You're just hearing.
So let me explain.
When you watch a movie, you brain is trying to understand the movie.
But there isn't just one way to do that.
There are two ways or two options.
The first option is to focus on reading the subtitles.
The second option is to focus on listening to the sound.
Now I have a question for you:
Which option do you think your brain will choose?
Reading or listening?
Well the answer is obvious.
You brain is going to focus on reading the subtitles.
Why?
Because it's much easier.
The text on the screen is clear.
So it's very easy for you brain to process.
The sounds of people talking, on the other hand, are not that clear.
So it's much more difficult for your brain to figure out what people are saying.
As a result, you brain will pay attention to the subtitles and not the sounds.
So when you watch a movie with subtitles, you're not really improving your listening.
You're actually improving your reading.
That's why it doesn't work.
So the best way to improve your listening is to just listen.
Don't read and listen at the same time.
If you watch a movie in English, remove the subtitles, so that your brain will have to
focus on listening.
If you do that, your listening will improve much faster.
That said, there is still a problem.
If you remove the subtitles, then you won't understand the movie.
And if you don't understand the movie, then it's going to be boring.
So what should you do?
Well, here's my suggestion:
Don't try to improve your listening by watching movies.
Just watch movies for fun.
There is a better and faster way to improve your listening.
And that's the subject of the next video.
In the next video, I'll share with you the method I personally used to improve my English
listening skills.
So I'll see you again in the next video.
And if you don't want to miss that video, make sure you subscribe to this EngFluent
channel.
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