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How to be a better listener

You spend more time in school listening than doing any other activity. It is important that you understand most of what you hear, so that you can learn about your different subjects and at the same time improve your English. Here is a list of some of the most common reasons why we have difficulty to understand when someone speaks to us:

• the speaker talks too quickly
• the speaker talks too softly
• two or more people are speaking at the same time
• there is background noise
• there are other distractions
• the speaker or the topic is boring
• you are not concentrating on what the speaker is saying
• there are no pictures or charts to look at while listening
• you have no idea about the topic
• the speaker uses many new or difficult words
• the speaker’s sentences are long and complex

Any one of the above problems alone can make it difficult for you to understand. But very often you are faced with two or three of them together. For example, you may be in a lesson where the teacher is talking quickly and in complicated English about a topic you know nothing about. Then your chances of understanding will be small.

However, there are quite a few things you can do to improve your comprehension of what you hear. These are listed below:

• ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase what they said
• pay attention
• block out distractions
• look at the speaker (ask to sit near the front of the class)
• ask questions (aloud and silently)
• try to picture and make connections, e.g. to a previous lesson
• think about and answer silently all the questions asked by the teacher
• listen to the other students
• keep listening even if you don’t understand at first
• listen for the teacher’s clues
• ask someone after the lesson to explain what you didn’t understand
• try to find out something about the topic before the lesson
• take notes while you are listening

If you do all these things, it will help you to become a better listener in class. But you can practice your listening understanding outside of the classroom, too. Watching English language TV or videos is a great way to improve your listening skills because what you see can help you understand what you hear. Even better is to watch DVDs with the English subtitles turned on. Or how about listening to a podcast on the internet? We also believe movie trailers can be fun and effective.

Working on increasing your vocabulary will also help you to become a better listener.

Finally, remember this: the more you speak to people, the more they will speak back to you. Talking with other students is a great way of getting lots of extra listening practice!

Copyright © 2012 by the Unna Education Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved. No part of this text and document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unna Education Ltd. Co.

以上為一些常用提問，回答之應對句子，有空時可以先背先來，再來閒時自己多練習，等真正需要使用時就可以得心應手地說出來了！

1. Asking better questions:

• Ask to know more:
  • This point [about…] is interesting. Could you elaborate on that, please?
  • What is your opinion about / on?
  • What do you think about?
  • Could you share your views regarding?
  • Can you clarify your statement for me, please?
  • Can you tell me more about [topic]?

• Ask to confirm my message:
  • Should I rephrase that?
  • Should I try it again?
  • Were you able to follow me?
  • Was everything clear to you?

2. Give better answers

• If you don’t understand the question?
  • Could you please repeat your question?
  • Am I right that you are asking about [paraphrase question]?
  • That is a good question; can we discuss it during tea time?

• Give your opinion
  • I think…,
  •  In my opinion…,
  • I’d like to…,
  •  I’d rather…,
  •  I’d prefer…,
  • The way I see it…,
  •  As far as I’m concerned…,
  • I’m pretty sure that…,
  •  I’m convinced that…,
  • I honestly feel that,
  • I strongly believe that…,

• Disagreeing:
  • I don’t think that…,
  • Don’t you think it would be better…,
  •  I don’t agree, I’d prefer…,
  • Shouldn’t we consider…,
  • But what about…,
  • I’m afraid I don’t agree…,
  • Frankly, I doubt if…,
  •  Let’s face it, The truth of the matter is…,
  • The problem with your point of view is that…

• Giving Reasons and offering explanations:
  •  To start with,
  • The reason why…,
  •  For this reason…,
  • That’s the reason why
  • Considering…,
  • Allowing for the fact that…,
  • When you consider that…

•  Agree Strongly with an Opinion.
  
  I couldn’t agree more!
  That’s absolutely true!
  Absolutely!
  I agree with your point.
  I’d go along with you there.
  I’m with you on that.
  That’s just what I was thinking.
  That’s exactly what I think.
  That’s a good point.
  That’s just how I see it.
  That’s exactly my opinion.

• Agree with an Opinion.
  
  1. Yes, perhaps, however …
  2. Well, yes, but …
  3. Yes, in a way, however …
  4. Hmm, possibly, but …
  5. Yes, I agree up to a point, however …
  6. Well, you have a point there, but …
  7. There’s something there, I suppose, however.
  8. I guess you could be right, but …
  9. Yes, I suppose so, however …
  10. That’s worth thinking about, but …

• Disagree Politely with an Opinion.
  
  1. I am not so sure.
  2. Do you think so?
  3. Well, it depends.
  4. I’m not so certain.
  5. Well, I don’t know.
  6. Well, I’m not so sure about that.
  7. Hmm, I’m not sure you’re right.
  8. I’m inclined to disagree with that.
  9. No, I don’t think so.

• Disagree Strongly with an Opinion.
  
  1. I disagree.
  2. I disagree with your idea.
  3. I’m afraid I don’t agree.
  4. I’m afraid your idea is wrong.
  5. I can’t agree with you.
  6. I couldn’t accept that for a minute.
  7. You can’t actually mean that.
  8. I wouldn’t go along with you there.
  9. You can’t be serious about that.
  10. You must be joking.
  11. It’s possible you are mistaken about that.

Copyright © 2012 by the Unna Education Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved. No part of this text and document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unna Education Ltd. Co.

How to handle small talk

These tips will come in handy whenever you are in a situation where you need to have a chat with people. Try to practice these principles, so when you need to use them, you are comfortable and can control the conversation.

1. Always establish common ground

It is important to listen to the other people in the conversation, and to ‘link’ with what they are talking about. This establishes some common ground, and it is polite. It shows you are interested in what the other parties are talking about.

For example:

Speaker 1: Hi, where are you from?

Speaker 2: I’m from New York.

Speaker 1: New York? That’s great. I have never been there, but I sure would like to visit there. What is it like living in New York?

2. Never boast

We are sometimes seduced into boasting about our country, our job or our experiences. Rather, keep humble in your comments and never boast.

3. Be brief

Nobody likes to listen to someone who overshadows the conversation. Sometimes if we are nervous, we make up for it by talking too much.  Rather, keep your comments and answers brief, and stick to the topic and what is relevant.

4. Never talk about these 3 topics…

We must try to avoid talking about these 3 topics. They can be dangerous and detrimental to our conversations. Never talk about religion, never talk about politics, and never talk about … the weather.

The weather, you might ask? Yes, talking about the weather is a conversation killer. It is boring and obvious.

5. Talk about these topics

Talk about current affairs and news that is general and not sensitive. Many news events are linked with politics and religion, but try to stay clear of making personal comments about that.

Also, talk about your owns stories. Tell your experiences about everyday events. But remember, keep it short.

6. Free information

It is always difficult to assess what kind of questions might be too personal to ask. This is a great tip: listen for free information.

Free information refers to information given by the speaker, that the asker did not ask for directly.

For example:

Speaker 1: What do you think about Taiwan?

Speaker 2: I love Taiwan, I wish I can share it with my family one day.

The second part in Speaker 2’s response, was not asked by the first speaker. Speaker 2 gave his answer, and then he gave additional, extra and free information.

This free information is the key to a good conversation. Listen carefully, it will guide you to what questions we can ask or how to follow up on conversations. We will not share this free information if we are not willing and comfortable to talk about it. As to our example, Speaker 1 can now ask: So, you have a family. Please tell me about them?

I am sure these will help you when making small talk.

Good luck!

Copyright © 2012 by the Unna Education Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved. No part of this text and document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unna Education Ltd. Co.

Tips for improving English – Building a vocabulary

One if the problems we find with learning English, is that, even though we learn many words, we rarely use them. We always go back to our ‘default’ words. The ones we always use. A key point in improving English, is not only learning new words, but also using them.

Have you ever described something, and then use the word beautiful? We all do that. But did you know there are more than 35 widely used words with a similar meaning as ‘beautiful’. When we use the same word, like ‘beautiful’ every time, it loses its power. It becomes common. If you can replace it with another word, we add some color to our description and, maybe even, can use a better fitting word than the original ‘beautiful’.

So, what can we do about this?

Here is a very effective tip for widening your vocabulary and using your new words: synonyms. Let’s use ‘beautiful’ again. Depending on what you describe, maybe you can use the following: pretty, fair, handsome, striking, attractive, alluring, charming, bewitched, cute, foxy, good looking, appealing, delightful, and many more.

The same goes for ‘happy’. We love to say: ‘I’m happy’. But try to change the default ‘happy’ with another word that might be more suitable, for example: pleased, joyful, elated, blissful, thrilled, satisfied, glad, cheerful, content and many more.

Okay, so where to find the synonyms?

I would suggest to buy a thesaurus. A thesaurus is a dictionary – like book. You can look up a word and it will provide you with words that has a similar meaning. Another way is to use Microsoft Word. Select a word, right click and choose ‘synonym’ and it will give you a list of words.

Now, practice it!

A good way to use this is to practice it often. A good exercise I personally like and do often, is to take an article, choose a few sentences in that article, and try to replace the words but to keep the same meaning. Here is an example of a sentence I read in the New York Times:

Families involved in the study couldn’t park their cars in their garages because they were too jammed with things. Our fondness for stuff affects almost every aspect of our lives. Housing size, for example, has

ballooned in the last 60 years.

Right, let’s try this. Replace [almost] every word (you can keep articles and determiners the same) with another one. Here is my take:

Relatives caught up in the research couldn’t store their vehicles in their parking areas because they were too full with stuff. Our love for objects influences almost every facet of our lives. Accommodation size, for instance, has grown in the last 6 decades.

Copyright © 2012 by the Unna Education Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved. No part of this text and document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unna Education Ltd. Co.

Tips on learning new words:

When we learn new words in a different language, there are many methods we can use to help us to

remember the new words.

Here are some useful tips:

• It is not enough just to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:

– what words it is usually associated with

– whether it has any particular grammatical characteristics

– how it is pronounced.

• Try to learn new words not in isolation, but in phrases.

• Write down adjectives together with nouns they are often associated with and vice versa, e.g.

royal family; rich vocabulary.

• Write down verbs with the structure and nouns associated with them, e.g. to add to our

knowledge of the subject; to express an opinion.

• Write down nouns in phrases, e.g. in contact with

• Write down words with their prepositions, e.g. at a high level; thanks for your help.

• Note any characteristics of the words you are studying. For example, note when a verb is irregular

• Make a note of any special pronunciation problems with the words you’re learning.

Lastly, keep a separate notebook with a list of your new words. Read and review them regularly. Also, make use of technology to help you, there are many apps available to make flashcards or to help you to review.

Copyright © 2012 by the Unna Education Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved. No part of this text and document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Unna Education Ltd. Co.