English Listening Is the Key to Speaking English Fluently

Can you read English well but find it hard to speak? Do you understand the words in a book but not the people in a video? You are not alone. For many learners, the missing part is listening. In this article you will learn why English listening is the key to speaking, what to listen to, and how to make it a daily habit.

Why Listening Comes First

Think about how children learn their first language. For years they listen before they speak. They don’t study rules; they hear the same words and sentences again and again, and one day they start to use them.

Listening works the same way for English learners. When you listen a lot, you learn new words in context, you hear grammar used correctly, and you get used to the sounds, rhythm and pronunciation of English. Then speaking becomes easier, because the words and sentences are already in your head.

Learning With Your Eyes vs. Learning With Your Ears

At school, most of us learned English with our eyes: textbooks, grammar rules, word lists and tests. Many learners know more grammar rules than native speakers do, but they still can’t speak fluently. The reason is simple: reading and writing train your eyes, but speaking needs your ears.

Many teachers say the same thing. For example, A.J. Hoge of Effortless English tells his students to “learn with your ears, not with your eyes” (see our short review of Effortless English). Our lessons are built on the same idea.

Hearing and Listening Are Not the Same

Hearing is just noticing a sound. Listening means paying attention and trying to understand. English playing in the background helps a little, but active listening, when you follow the meaning, helps much more.

Listen to Easy English

The best listening material is easy for you. You should understand almost everything without stopping and without a dictionary. When the English is easy, you can relax, follow the story and learn new words from the context.

If something is too difficult, choose easier material: lessons for learners, stories for teenagers or children, or slow audio. You can also use harder audio if you have the text: read and listen at the same time, then listen again without the text.

What to Listen To

1. Stories and lessons for learners. Short English audio stories are clear, interesting and easy to repeat. Each of our stories also practises one grammar point.
2. Podcasts and YouTube lessons. Choose topics you like, so you want to listen more.
3. Audiobooks with the text. Read along the first time, then listen without the book.
4. Films and TV series. Start with English subtitles. At first you will understand the main idea; little by little you will understand more words and different accents (American, British, Australian).
5. Songs. Songs are fun and easy to repeat, and you can listen while you walk, drive or do housework.

Mix different materials so you don’t get bored. The most important thing is to enjoy it: if listening is fun, you will do it every day.

How to Make Listening a Daily Habit

• Use your free moments. Listen in the morning, on the bus, while cooking or walking. Short sessions add up.
• Repeat the same audio. Listen to one lesson many times. Each time you will understand more and remember longer.
• First the big picture, then the details. At the beginning, try to understand the main idea. Later, focus on single words and phrases.
• Answer out loud. Listening becomes speaking when you use your voice. In our listen-and-answer lessons you hear easy questions and answer them out loud.
• Be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. Daily practice is more important than long, irregular study.

Daily English Speaking Practice | Listening Training to Improve English Conversation

Start With Our Listening Lessons

English Easy Practice lessons are made for A2–B1 learners who want to understand spoken English and speak with more confidence. Every lesson has MP3 audio and a PDF text.

• The Stories Course: 21 short story lessons with normal and slow audio and listen-and-answer questions.
• The Shadowing Course: 60 real conversations with vocabulary, questions and shadowing practice.

Want to try first? Download our free story lesson (MP3 + PDF).

More Listening and Speaking Lessons

• Present Continuous Story for Listening and Speaking
• Learning English Grammar Story: Comparatives
• Present Simple Story for Listening and Speaking
• Improve Your English Speaking Skills with Short Stories