Hi there! When you listen to English, you really want to understand every word… but that can actually cause problems,
Listening Mistake #3 – Trying too hard to understand every word
What? Let me explain.
Yes, it’s your end goal to understand everything… but here’s what often happens, unfortunately:
- You start listening.
- You hear a word or expression you don’t understand, and you start thinking and worrying about that word, or trying to figure it out.
- The speaker has continued while you’ve been thinking about what you didn’t understand. Now more words and sentences have passed by and you didn’t hear them at all.
- You worry even more because you’re having difficulty following the speaker, and now it’s even harder to understand because you feel nervous and insecure.
Obviously, this process is not good!
So here’s what you should do instead:
If you hear a word you don’t recognize, just let it go.
I know it’s hard, but try not to be a “perfectionist.” Getting upset when you miss a word or expression will only make it more difficult to concentrate and understand.
Let’s be realistic – when we are learning something or developing our abilities, of course we won’t do everything 100% right all the time. Making mistakes and not understanding words is completely normal; it’s a natural part of the learning process!
So please don’t “beat yourself up” (get frustrated or annoyed at yourself) when you don’t catch every single word while listening.
Just relax and keep doing your best. Be happy about what you CAN understand, and continue practicing – and over time, you’ll find that you understand more and more.
My Listening Course will give you plenty of listening practice that can help you make progress towards fully understanding English speakers! The lessons use a 5-step process that gets you closer and closer to the goal of understanding everything.
There are only a couple days left to get 50% off this course, so join today by clicking the link below.
