#7: How To Improve Your Listening Comprehension (English)

Hello! Welcome to Spanish in the workplace. The podcast for professionals looking

to speak better Spanish at work in order to create more money, more clients, more career opportunities.

My name is Anna Torre and I'm an actor, writer and Spanish teacher and I'm going to show you

exactly how to speak Spanish more confidently in high precious situations.

Well, I hope you're having an amazing day when I'll be listening to this.

Today, I want to talk about listening comprehension. I see a lot of Spanish students complain

about the fact that despite doing digital work every day, in listening to hours and hours

of Spanish content, be it podcasts, videos or TV shows, they still can't understand almost anything.

Students very quickly start to become discouraged and many wonder,

what is the best way to improve or if they will indeed ever improve at all?

You might think that I'm talking about beginners and in a way, I am.

But I see this often in the intermediate plateau and that is a place where a lot of people tend to

give up. So, if you find yourself in this position, what can you do about it?

The key to improving your listening comprehension is to find input you do understand at least 60

to 80 percent of the time. Some people want to run before they can walk and I am telling you

that when it comes to language learning, the key to success is patience. This is a marathon,

not a sprint. So, let's break it down into steps. Step 1. The first thing you need to do

is find content you do understand for the most part and listen to that. Not only will this

help your confidence, it will show you that even though it might not always feel like is,

you are in fact making progress. It is important that you look for content that you find

interesting. If it's just some boring text book a recording, my guess is that your motivation

will plummet fairly quickly. Finding material you enjoy consuming is key. There are podcasts made

for this purpose, like using slow Spanish, and you also have the option of playing audio

a half speed sometimes if you want to try content with a more native speed. Listening and then

really listening at different speeds can be a great exercise as well. Step 2. To begin with,

I would recommend that you look for resources where you can get a transcript of what you're listening

to. That way you can print them out and mark them. You could note down things like

silent letters or intonation or places where the speaker merged words together. Being able

to visualize a sound spoken can be great help at recalling them later, so I would recommend not

skipping this part of possible. Step 3. It is important that you don't try and understand

every single word. If you can get the gist of what's going on, that is great progress.

I am telling you, as a native speaker, I don't understand every single word in the Spanish language,

many times in conversation I just give the gist and move on. That might sound mind blowing

to some people, but think about it. Do you understand every single word in your native language

all of the time? My guess is no. They don't ever stop you from having a conversation. My guess

is no. So why do you put on yourself these unachievable standards when it comes to your Spanish

learning? If you focus on the big picture, you'll get better faster and you will save yourself

a lot of frustration. I promise. Step 4. Once you've listened to the audio, write down what it was

about, and if there are several speakers, write down their names. If you keep hearing a word

you don't understand, write it down so you can look it up later. If you find a phrase that is

interesting to you, try to write it down so you can use it in conversation later. Once you

feel you're understanding 90% enough you can move to more difficult content, but again don't go from

something that is beginning a level to native. It won't work and it will destroy your confidence.

So be smart and take baby steps. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, the turtle won the race

and all that. Those sayings exist for a reason. Step 6. Celebrate. This is a crucial step for me.

It is so easy to discount our progress sometimes, especially if we're not

anywhere near the goal that we want to achieve. It is important that you celebrate your wins

however small they might be and give yourself a reward. If you do, it will train your

brain to perceive learning Spanish as fun and that will make things so much easier. So, after you

sit down to listen to an order for five minutes, you should do a little dance or give yourself

a treat or a pat on the back. Whatever it might be, if you celebrate the load will get lighter.

So, why not give it a go? That's all I got for you today. If you have any questions,

please do get in touch. That's all I've brought, Seema.

Thank you so much for listening. If you're ready to take your Spanish to the next level,

follow the link in my show notes to book a free consultation. Have an amazing day.